Who is the best 1911 Pistolsmith in the USA?

I expect he would say it is not his fault they could not make a $1500 gun of his specifications to sell for $800. He will fix its problems for $595.

I would call Bob Dunlap at PISCO "yes he is the AGI guy" but don't hold that against him . He knows how the 1911 works"better than most" and has worked with many factories on problems they could not solve and is also responsible for training at least a few hundred maybe thousand gunsmiths in his time at LCC . When I worked a PISCO we were the first Para warr station . And I think He built the Vega 1911's for a few years until they went out of business . He has seen allot of companies come and go in the gun industry

If you are planning on a MSRP of under $1000.00, with an industry standard discount for dealers and wholesalers, and a reasonable profit for yourself and the person who is going to build it you are going to have problems. You will quickly find out that just about everyone in that target price market is buying parts from overseas and usually having the guns built there as well. AND they are buying in very large volumes.

I was involved in designing and building the Bar Sto Precision pistol so I have more then a little experience with this. Plan on start up costs being well into the high 5 figures or low 6 figures and this assumes you already have a fully equipted shop and no outside labor costs.

The Luger copy would be a lot more then that because of the complex forgings and machining. You would need at least a 3 axis CNC, perferrably a 4 or 5 axis machine. Most shops don't have more then a 3 axis machine and a decent 5 axis machine from someone like Hass is going to set you back an easy $200,000.00 just for the machine without tooling.

Good luck, give me a call if you decide to do it and have the financing.

Best 1911 Pistolsmith

The 1911 is probably one of the most cloned handguns in the world. Like anything that gets cloned too much eventually you end up with a few "Retarded Children" ie. poorly fitted parts and malfunctions. The first 1911 I ever bought was a standard Springfield Armory 1911A1. That gun turned out to be the worst jamamatic I ever had. I never could get the thing to feed right even with factory ammo. I sold it, got rid of it and swore that I'd never buy another 1911 again. Then one day I was at a gunshop, saw a Wilson Combat KZ45 kevlar framed 1911. This pistol was expensive but I'd always heard that Wilson Combat built some reliable handguns, really stood behind their products, and alot of competition shooters swore by them. On a whim I decided to give JB's 1911 another try. This .45 turned out to be one of my favorite handguns. It feeds and cycles perfect even with the cheap Wolf practice ammo I like to buy. I still replace the shok buffers in the recoil guide and spring assembly once every 600 rds or so. The original recoil guide that came on it was also made out of plastic but I replaced it with a more durable steel one that I purchased at a gun show a while back. Other than that she still purrs like a kitten and doesn't jam. For those who've experienced 1911 regret I'd highly recommend you give Wilson Combat a try. They cost a little more but by the time you spend getting one handfitted and tuned by a gunsmith to work reliably you would end up spending just as much or more money than what you'd pay for a Wilson Combat product.

John Jardine is probably the best available. That being said, I doubt that very many really good custom 1911 guys would be enthusiastic about completing a project that involves YOUR company copying their best work after paying for a single gun. You need to get someone with a lot of manufacturing experience AND world class custom gunsmithing experience. You would then have to pay a hefty consulting fee to the original smith.

Colt is the best

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RonE said:

Colt is the best

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Ron, you need some experience with other 1911 makers before you post anything else about Colt.

At my local range they have a Wilson, an Ed Brown, and a Nighthawk for rentals. The guy that runs the range, a very experienced shooter, claims that the Nighthawk has been the most reliable 1911 out of the group and is very accurate.

John Jardine is probably the best available.

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Doubt John would have any interest since he is selling his own imported Valtro 1911's.

The Valtro is a perfect example of a semi-custom 1911 brought out by a "famous smith", built in Italy and 'massaged' by John in the USA. The prices keep going up, and up since introduction.

I guess it depends on what is meant by "the best". In terms of a gun that runs right out of box, puts lead on target, the Colt is as good as anything in the 1911 world. If you want a gun with a fancier finish, Novak sights, checkered frame, etc. then maybe a Nighthawk is for you. Just be prepared to pay three times as much money for a gun that likely doesn't run any better. I've owned a few 1911s, everything from a bone stock Springfield GI to Les Baer stuff. They all run. The only differences are the bells and whistles.

I think you need to do more research. Most of the specs in that list are not things most serious shooters want. I think what is needed is a basic 1911 built to the original blueprints. A gun that people would know would run straight out of the box. With original quality parts.

Besides, the good smiths are charging $400-$800 a gun just to massage it and upgrade a few parts. Seems unrealistic to hire one. All you really need is the blueprints and a good engineer with a stong background in QC. And 1911Tuner.

Anthony

Ed Sanders, of Sander's gun shop in Augusta Ga. Was voted one of the top 100 pistolsmiths in the country by "American Handgunner" Magazine (many years ago). He is Every bit of 80 yrs old now, and I think that he will fall over on his C&C machine dead, before he quits. He recently fixed a small prob on my marlin 336. he is a very nice person, unless you come into the shop with a gun, and start demanding things, or telling him how to do his work. Then he'll show you to the door. kind of like the "soup nazi" from sienfeld, but with guns. Good old guy.

I have only seen and fired examples of three of the Big name shops , Pachmayr Gun Works , Ted Yost and Carks custom guns .

All were fine guns worth $3,000+ .

If the sky were the limit and I wanted a 1911 built I would call Paul Liebenberg at Pistol Dynamics 2 http://www.pistoldynamics.com/index.html

After Paul I would consider Yost , Clark and Robar .

If I wanted a semiproduction high end gun I would go with Nighthawk , Ed Brown or Wilson .

If the sky were the limit and I wanted a 1911 built I would call Paul Liebenberg at Pistol Dynamics 2 http://www.pistoldynamics.com/index.html

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I would have to agree that Paul is one of the very top smiths in the country. The only reason he is not more well known is because he spent 10 years running the S&W PC.