Ned Christianson Custom Bobtailed Colt

[DHart]

Just thought I'd share some preliminary pics of this Colt. I just got it back from Ned Christianson yesterday - it was an old roll mark 1991A1 matte blue Commander. The gun was pretty much brand-new-in-the-box (even though an ORM) when I sent it to Ned a couple of months ago. And bone stock from the factory it was a great gun, very nicely fitted and stone reliable. A perfect candidate as a canvas for Ned's artistry.

Ned worked all over the gun from top to bottom... slide top serrated with a cross "X" motif which is repeated on the front strap and the bobtail MSH... the serrations extend up onto the grip safety pad too, which is cool. The carry bevel work is exquisite. There are a lot of great little touches all over the gun inside and out. Too much to elaborate on here. The gun is stone reliable, accurate, and feels superb in the hand. These pics are just quick shots so I could show the gun, but I plan to do a much better, more detailed photo session later. Here she is.

Colt 1991A1 Ned Christiansen Commander

Here's the before pic:

 

[Iggy]

He just keeps doin' his magic..Verrry nice!!!!

 

[2TransAms]

DHart,you are a black belt in the photographic arts! Great work by you and Christianson.

 

[John G]

Wow. Just wow.

 

[Gordon]

Holy .45acp! He's the man, and you are fortunate!

 

[YK]

Ooooooh! Beautiful, and I am sure great set up for carry.

I can't wait till my name comes up on Ned Christiansen's list.

 

[Rob1035]

man, the "after" is gorgeous, but I must say I prefer the before

 

[DHart]

Rob... the "before" was a nice gun, for sure! I almost didn't customize it. But then I decided that for a blued Commander I really wanted a new rollmark vs. the ORM. So that made it easier to send off the ORM to become a custom. I like the "no rollmark" look and didn't mind grinding off the "ORM". I would have had a much harder time deciding to grind off Colt's "NEW" roll mark, so the ORM model was a perfect candidate for a 1911 with no rollmark at all on the left side.

On the right side of the slide it still says "Commander Model"... I wanted to leave that rollmark because it looks very tasteful and identifies the slide as the original Colt Commander slide.

 

[Rob1035]

gotcha. FWIW- I absolutely love custom 1911s with bare sides, something about the gun's lines speaking for themselves or something

either way, great piece, as per usual

 

[45Badger]

Nice pistola!

After 12,000 or so rounds, my "Ned gun" is still my favorite for any use. Fits my hand like a glove, bullseye accurate, 100% reliable, and fast as greased bat fecal matter.

 

[Erik]

Nice "quick shots" of your new pistola.

I'm looking forward to the rest of the pics.

 

[DHart]

Here's one more pic... more to come later.

 

[1KPerDay]

Gorgeous. I hate to bring up the subject of price, but could you give me a ballpark figure? I'd like to (eventually) do something like that to my wife's combat commander.

 

[DHart]

1k... there are a lot of variables which affect price, but you might expect to spend from $750 to $2500 depending on your choices of all those variables. Contact your pistolsmith for details...

 

[pipoman]

That is a beautiful custom. I like bobs a lot. How long is Christianson's wait?

Ed Brown has been on my want list...this is giving me second thoughts.