This is a gun I’ve had in the works for a while and one in which the concept phase became a truly collaborative effort between the customer and myself. The gun is an even mixture of items and features that the customer wanted as well as details and components that I wanted to do on the gun. It’s been one of the most fun projects to watch take shape and it is exactly the way I envision a bespoke pistol being built.
The base gun is a current production Colt Series 70 in carbon steel which got a host of customary features such as a welded frame and slide fit, EGW grip safety pivoting on a Wilson Combat Bulletproof ambi-safety, flattened and serrated slide top, hand-cut 30lpi checkering, complete line straightening, and best quality internals throughout the gun. The gun also features a stainless steel match grade barrel from Wilson Combat that I fit to an EGW barrel bushing and slightly extended slide stop from Harrison Design. I most often use carbon steel barrels, such as a Kart, but the customer requested a stainless barrel and this gunsmith fit offering from Wilson Combat is an excellent part.
The fun parts of a build often come in the form of special requests and details from the customer and this gun was no different. Some features such as front cocking serrations, ball-cuts on the slide, or a shortened slide stop pin/chamfered slide stop pin hole are items I have done many times in the past. While others, such as a trigger with raised edges and a recessed face, was something that I had never done before.
The sights on the pistol are a .100” wide front sight (narrowed from .125”) mated to a .125” rear notch that was deepened to allow maximum visibility of the front sight without seeing any of the front sight’s base or slide top. The gun was also fit with a Wilson Combat Bulletproof mag-well that I blended to the frame and hand-checkered at 30lpi to match the front strap. Two magazine releases were requested, one that is slightly extended and hand-checkered at 30lpi and the enlarged magazine release seen here that I checkered at 40lpi to match the 40lpi hand-cut checkering on the bottom of the trigger guard.
Rounding everything out was a thorough de-horn, a matte black DLC finish, and a set of VZ G10 stock panels.
Enjoy the pics!