TexasRifleman
Moderator Emeritus
This is the saga of a boring 1911. Boring because it's just a 1911. No bells, whistles, uber this or that, just a plain looking 1911. Boring because it doesn't give me any drama, just goes "bang" every time, no matter what I've fed it so far.
The story started back in January at the SHOT Show when I walked by the Ed Brown booth taking pictures for THR. Like so many booths there was something cool to look at and I'd usually snap a few and walk on. Except I didn't walk away this time. A short chat with the Brown folks about THR and why we were there led me to asking about their Centennial models. I looked at a couple of displays and they are impressive indeed. But sitting alone back in the corner of the display was this plain looking 1911. "What's that one" I asked?
Here's the pic I took back in January at SHOT. You can see I was focusing on shiny stuff! Didn't even put the boring SF model into the frame completely.
"That is the Special Forces model". OK, there's some marketing cheeeeese for sure. I go to comment on that and I stop myself. His company, he can call them what he wants. But, it's a nice looking handgun so I asked to take a look. To make a long story short before I walked away from his booth I had made arrangements (with a dealer friend of mine at the show with me) to order one of these as soon as possible.
Fast forward to the first of August and I get a phone call from my FFL that the order is filled. After a nice lunch of sliders and filling out a 4473 at the table (sorry about the ketchup on the form) we walked to the parking lot where I was handed this plain blue case and I was on my merry way.
** Side note here. In fairness to Brown, my dealer friend didn't actually complete the order in January, he bought 5 pistols all at once and waited until he had orders for all 5. Brown requires 5 to be considered a "stocking dealer" or whatever they call it. I don't want to send the wrong idea on lead times. Brown promised 3 months and it was pretty much right on the money.
Some pictures, then more on the gun.
I ordered this one with 4 Brown magazines, test fired in the gun. Believe it or not this is my first 1911 in .45, all my others have been in 10mm. Strange it took me this long. But, I had no .45 mags so I figured I'd start a collection
Like I said, it's just a boring looking 1911. No drama. It's a trick, more on that later....
No FLGR, no funky springs, just a plain old plug? I thought this was an Ed Brown. Boring
Brown calls this "Chainlink". It's boring looking too.....trust me, there's a happy ending to this lol.
More Chainlink. Note the frame to slide alignment. No uneven gaps, no loose fit. Boring
And put away nicely into my Tucker HF1. I love this holster, and hang onto it in hopes that someday I can open carry in Texas. In the meantime I wear it at the range and when I visit free states. That's another review, but it's an excellent holster. Not boring, very bling!
OK, so now to the boring review. I say boring because I'm used to blinging out my 1911's, and usually I do it with Ed Brown parts. So I was surprised he was making something so "plain".
But that's the beauty of this. I wanted an utterly reliable combat 1911. Not that my IPSC guns have been less than reliable, but I wanted one just for carry, and in .45. And that's exactly what I got. This thing is built like a tank. The finish is Browns Gen III coating, which is pretty much like tank armor as far as I can tell.
No full length guide rod, a religious argument really, but I've always used them (one pieces, not those 2 part monstrosities). But I figured it's 100 years later, maybe old JMB was right about the plug (turns out he was).
I didn't go for any of the stainless options either, just boring old steel in a dark finish. It's "just" a 1911.
So, I've taken it home, taken it completely apart, cleaned (didn't need it), lubed (didn't need that either, it was ready to go), and put it in the bag for a quick range trip.
Now it's been over 100 degrees for almost 2 months straight, so I have not had a long range session, just several short early morning shoots, and the boring old Ed Brown is still boring. Oh, as for the boring Chainlink, shooting in 100 degree weather requires a very good surface to maintain a solid grip with sweaty hands, the Chainlink is fantastic! Great grip but not painful like some more aggressive checkering styles I've tried.
It has fired about 1000 rounds now; Blazer, Georgia Arms Canned Heat, WWB, my reloads with both RN and SWC 230-gr bullets and it's so boring it hasn't failed to fire anything I've fed it. So boring it puts all the empties in a pile together. I have not decided on carry ammo yet, will be working on that later.
Here's a target, from about 15 yards out, just messing around. Boring, all right there together.... And the low/left isn't the gun's fault . Shocking I know....
So. It's a boring 1911. And as far as I can tell so far, it's the finest 1911 I've ever owned or touched. It's built for real use, by a man who knows what he's doing. Oh he knows how to make nice shiny guns too, my friend at SHOT with me bought a Dave Champion model that's absolutely beautiful and the Centennial Models are spectacular!
This Special Forces model is so boring that I'm taking it to Gunsite for their 1911 Centennial class in late September, and I'm not even taking a backup gun. Will update this review after that class, I expect a week at Gunsite will really tell the tale on performance.
So there's not much to say here really. If you have an interest in a 1911 that fires every time, all the time, made with the best parts on Earth by (in my opinion) the best 1911 'smith on Earth, look into the Special Forces model.
Cheesy name, boring handgun, and I'd buy 10 more if I could afford them.
It's so boring I don't think I could take the excitement of a 1911 that fails to feed, fails to lock open, or sprays bullets all over the target.
It's probably the last 1911 model I will ever buy, unless I see something else at the Brown booth at the next SHOT Show
The story started back in January at the SHOT Show when I walked by the Ed Brown booth taking pictures for THR. Like so many booths there was something cool to look at and I'd usually snap a few and walk on. Except I didn't walk away this time. A short chat with the Brown folks about THR and why we were there led me to asking about their Centennial models. I looked at a couple of displays and they are impressive indeed. But sitting alone back in the corner of the display was this plain looking 1911. "What's that one" I asked?
Here's the pic I took back in January at SHOT. You can see I was focusing on shiny stuff! Didn't even put the boring SF model into the frame completely.
"That is the Special Forces model". OK, there's some marketing cheeeeese for sure. I go to comment on that and I stop myself. His company, he can call them what he wants. But, it's a nice looking handgun so I asked to take a look. To make a long story short before I walked away from his booth I had made arrangements (with a dealer friend of mine at the show with me) to order one of these as soon as possible.
Fast forward to the first of August and I get a phone call from my FFL that the order is filled. After a nice lunch of sliders and filling out a 4473 at the table (sorry about the ketchup on the form) we walked to the parking lot where I was handed this plain blue case and I was on my merry way.
** Side note here. In fairness to Brown, my dealer friend didn't actually complete the order in January, he bought 5 pistols all at once and waited until he had orders for all 5. Brown requires 5 to be considered a "stocking dealer" or whatever they call it. I don't want to send the wrong idea on lead times. Brown promised 3 months and it was pretty much right on the money.
Some pictures, then more on the gun.
I ordered this one with 4 Brown magazines, test fired in the gun. Believe it or not this is my first 1911 in .45, all my others have been in 10mm. Strange it took me this long. But, I had no .45 mags so I figured I'd start a collection
Like I said, it's just a boring looking 1911. No drama. It's a trick, more on that later....
No FLGR, no funky springs, just a plain old plug? I thought this was an Ed Brown. Boring
Brown calls this "Chainlink". It's boring looking too.....trust me, there's a happy ending to this lol.
More Chainlink. Note the frame to slide alignment. No uneven gaps, no loose fit. Boring
And put away nicely into my Tucker HF1. I love this holster, and hang onto it in hopes that someday I can open carry in Texas. In the meantime I wear it at the range and when I visit free states. That's another review, but it's an excellent holster. Not boring, very bling!
OK, so now to the boring review. I say boring because I'm used to blinging out my 1911's, and usually I do it with Ed Brown parts. So I was surprised he was making something so "plain".
But that's the beauty of this. I wanted an utterly reliable combat 1911. Not that my IPSC guns have been less than reliable, but I wanted one just for carry, and in .45. And that's exactly what I got. This thing is built like a tank. The finish is Browns Gen III coating, which is pretty much like tank armor as far as I can tell.
No full length guide rod, a religious argument really, but I've always used them (one pieces, not those 2 part monstrosities). But I figured it's 100 years later, maybe old JMB was right about the plug (turns out he was).
I didn't go for any of the stainless options either, just boring old steel in a dark finish. It's "just" a 1911.
So, I've taken it home, taken it completely apart, cleaned (didn't need it), lubed (didn't need that either, it was ready to go), and put it in the bag for a quick range trip.
Now it's been over 100 degrees for almost 2 months straight, so I have not had a long range session, just several short early morning shoots, and the boring old Ed Brown is still boring. Oh, as for the boring Chainlink, shooting in 100 degree weather requires a very good surface to maintain a solid grip with sweaty hands, the Chainlink is fantastic! Great grip but not painful like some more aggressive checkering styles I've tried.
It has fired about 1000 rounds now; Blazer, Georgia Arms Canned Heat, WWB, my reloads with both RN and SWC 230-gr bullets and it's so boring it hasn't failed to fire anything I've fed it. So boring it puts all the empties in a pile together. I have not decided on carry ammo yet, will be working on that later.
Here's a target, from about 15 yards out, just messing around. Boring, all right there together.... And the low/left isn't the gun's fault . Shocking I know....
So. It's a boring 1911. And as far as I can tell so far, it's the finest 1911 I've ever owned or touched. It's built for real use, by a man who knows what he's doing. Oh he knows how to make nice shiny guns too, my friend at SHOT with me bought a Dave Champion model that's absolutely beautiful and the Centennial Models are spectacular!
This Special Forces model is so boring that I'm taking it to Gunsite for their 1911 Centennial class in late September, and I'm not even taking a backup gun. Will update this review after that class, I expect a week at Gunsite will really tell the tale on performance.
So there's not much to say here really. If you have an interest in a 1911 that fires every time, all the time, made with the best parts on Earth by (in my opinion) the best 1911 'smith on Earth, look into the Special Forces model.
Cheesy name, boring handgun, and I'd buy 10 more if I could afford them.
It's so boring I don't think I could take the excitement of a 1911 that fails to feed, fails to lock open, or sprays bullets all over the target.
It's probably the last 1911 model I will ever buy, unless I see something else at the Brown booth at the next SHOT Show
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