Is this company still in business? Either someone bought them out or my search skills are lacking! TIA

I have no idea about what happened to the company.

But , I bought my Essex 1911 frame in the late 80s or early 90s. I built a pistol, much like guys are building ARs today.

I shot thousands of rounds through that gun and I'm still satisified with it today.

Picked this one up last week. It was sitting in the back of the showcase of a local ffl.
Seems to have some Ed Brown parts in it. Attached File

IIRC, Essex was bought out via bankruptcy by Iver Johnson who is now based in Florida...IJ is
still in business AFAIK.

It seems that some of the Essex 1911 pistols were quite good in overall quality for the price
but some have said they they were not so good at all and some funsmith's said they refused
to work on Essex pistols...

I have used some Essex stripped slides for builds back in the day and they seem fine overall
although they did have a few rough spots here and there but nothing too serious...

Good luck.

Iirc Essex never made complete pistols only frames. Back in the 70’s/80’s when usgi spare parts were common, ( and back when Colt was the only
Producer of new 1911’s) it was common to build pistols on Essex frames, which had a reputation for spotty quality

I have an Essex SS frame under a Springfield Armory slide that I acquired in the 90s.  Shoots great but the casting is very rough.

I built up several Essex frames back in the 80s, and the quality varied from specimen to specimen.  Mostly they were pretty good.  I did have one that I had to return for an exchange, but they stood behind their products.  IIRC, the pin holes were a bit off on that one.  And yes, Essex never built complete guns, AFAIK.  I used exactly one of their slides, but it was too rough for me to want to ever use another.  I still have the last Essex frame that I built up, with a Colt Gold Cup slide and CMC barrel on it.  It's a good shooter!

If I recall correctly, Essex supplied the frames that were used to build the "Silver Cup" pistols, which were WWII surplus Remington-Rand slides on Essex frames, with other GI parts.  These were put together by Interarms, and as far as I know, that's as close as Essex ever came to making complete pistols.

Essex also made frames for Detonics, including the little Combat Master.

I've never had any issues with my Essex frame.
7" AMT Slide
Fusion Barrel

Tony

I've got an Essex subcompact (5-shot?) frame that's been taking up space in one of my safes since ~1982 or so. I've been meaning to do something with it since forever. Should probably get after it before I shuffle off.



Q: does anybody make mainspring housing, hammer strut, magazines, etc. to fit these mini frames? Or am I gonna have to fab up something? That wouldn't be impossible, but the ex got the machine shop in the divorce... Ideas?

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edit to fix formatting...

The msh is a standard, but the rest of the parts should be semi available if you look for parts for a definite combat master.

I have one of those frames also.  I made my first set of grips for them by cutting down a set of Colt grips.  I also made the hammer strut and the same for the "grip plate" the same way.  I later found a place that had them, so I replaced my homemade with factory made. Numrich has aftermarket mags and grips.  Colt Officers mags will work, though they will stick out of the frame by about 1/4".
I stumbled across a complete Colt Officers model upper(slide and barrel and internals), so my Detoncs wears a Colt slide and barrel.  But, it works, and is often my EDC. FWIW, a Commander slide will fit on the frame, and I've got one fitted with a 10mm barrel(also from Numrich).

https://www.gunpartscorp.com/gun-manufacturer/detonics/pistol-detonics