I did a little horse trading for this pistol and got it at a good price, quickly settling on a number mostly just on the strength of the Cylinder & Slide name. I'm not able to find out a whole lot about it other than the usual search engines' results so would appreciate the thoughts of other owners of these guns. I called up Cylinder & Slide and asked them how many they have made, and all I got as a reply was "lots." No telling what number they consider "lots" if they are a custom shop.
This particular sample has seen some holster time and I can't say I much care for the giant "ADVENTURER" down the side of the slide, but otherwise is in excellent shape. That giant lettering would have looked a hell of a lot nicer in the old flat font that Colt used to use on the 1908 pistol, for example. The slides have been polished or finished somehow so the lettering contrasts with the silver background and I was toying with the idea of having it refinished in all black and tone that screaming lettering down some.
The only review I could find came from "Combat Handguns," which usually means I believe about a third of what the writer says:
Adventurer Review. Cylinder & Slide still make the Adventurer, and although the specifications have changed somewhat compared to this pistol, I believe this one has most if not all of the same features:
Adventurer Specifications
It certainly does smack of quality, with all the expected sharp edges polished down to that "worn bar of soap" feel in the hand, and the safety goes on with a "snick" sound that bespeaks of hand-fitting and quality parts. The frame is Caspian, the barrel from Barsto. What looks like stippling is a little strip of 3-M ladder tread tape added for additional purchase on the front of what is a two-finger sized grip. The grip safety is crazy small but works perfectly. The pistol came with three magazines which hold five rounds and are nicely altered Metalform magazines. One malfunctioned when I got the pistol, but replacement of the (full-size 1911) magazine spring cured that. Andrew Jackson is in the photo just for a size comparison.
My personal experience is that this pistol is oddly accurate (I mean more accurate than I would have ever imagined) and is surprisingly not uncomfortable to shoot.
I'm not really a 1911 guy but I think this is a keeper. Anybody else feel the same way about theirs?