Can anyone recomend a gunsmith who does good work on 1911 pistols. I am looking ot get some upgrades to my Springfield G.I.

Your best bet is Ed Vanden Berg.  He is located south of Houston by the AFB.

He is one of the best 1911 smiths in the country.

IM sent

Quoted: Your best bet is Ed Vanden Berg.  He is located south of Houston by the AFB. He is one of the best 1911 smiths in the country.

I'll second this.  Make the drive down to Ellington Field and see Ed.  It's worth it.

Try Derek Allison @ Sportsman's Guns 936-756-GUNS. You may also want to try Ken Henderson @ Kenco Arms LLC. Both are friends of mine and are in Conroe.

If you want attitude go to Vandenberg. I went to his shop to have the series II part of my Kimber worked over since it was not disengaging reliably.  I asked if I could watch the repair I was paying for and I got a smart ass "I don't run a school" comment from Ed.  He doesn't know he lost two complete builds I have had done since then on that day. His poor attitude, his lost business.

Quoted: If you want attitude go to Vandenberg. I went to his shop to have the series II part of my Kimber worked over since it was not disengaging reliably.  I asked if I could watch the repair I was paying for and I got a smart ass "I don't run a school" comment from Ed.  He doesn't know he lost two complete builds I have had done since then on that day. His poor attitude, his lost business.

Your lack of consideration lost you two excellent guns.  Maybe you got good attitude from another gunsmith.  Maybe you got a video and did it yourself.  I don’t know.  In all honesty 99.44% of all gunsmiths won’t let you in their shops to supervise their work.  They are craftsman and artists and like any other real trade prefer to work alone.  A good sculptor, Surgeon or Professional Chef have the same criteria.  To get the best results from these experts you have to let them work in peace.  You can’t hawk over them or hang around and gawk.  

Sorry if it was not handled the way you wanted it but he is one of the few guys I feel confidant I can hand off a custom 1911 to and get a gun that is 100% reliable.  Not just a gun that is 100% functional but one that I would bet my life on 100% of the time!  That’s what I want and that’s what I get with ed’s guns.  If it means he wants to work along and even sacrifice a chicken over it I don’t care.  

Quoted: Quoted: If you want attitude go to Vandenberg. I went to his shop to have the series II part of my Kimber worked over since it was not disengaging reliably.  I asked if I could watch the repair I was paying for and I got a smart ass "I don't run a school" comment from Ed.  He doesn't know he lost two complete builds I have had done since then on that day. His poor attitude, his lost business. Your lack of consideration lost you two excellent guns.  Maybe you got good attitude from another gunsmith.  Maybe you got a video and did it yourself.  I don’t know.  In all honesty 99.44% of all gunsmiths won’t let you in their shops to supervise their work.  They are craftsman and artists and like any other real trade prefer to work alone.  A good sculptor, Surgeon or Professional Chef have the same criteria.  To get the best results from these experts you have to let them work in peace.  You can’t hawk over them or hang around and gawk.   Sorry if it was not handled the way you wanted it but he is one of the few guys I feel confidant I can hand off a custom 1911 to and get a gun that is 100% reliable.  Not just a gun that is 100% functional but one that I would bet my life on 100% of the time!  That’s what I want and that’s what I get with ed’s guns.  If it means he wants to work along and even sacrifice a chicken over it I don’t care.

My thoughts exactly.
ETA...This is why they have waiting areas and "no customers allowed" signs in auto repair shops. Imagine somebody standing behind a mechanic questioning their every move as they tried to work????

Quoted: If you want attitude go to Vandenberg. I went to his shop to have the series II part of my Kimber worked over since it was not disengaging reliably. I asked if I could watch the repair I was paying for and I got a smart ass completly legitimate reponse to a dumb question  "I don't run a school" comment from Ed.  He doesn't know he lost two complete builds I have had done since then on that day. His poor attitude, his lost business.

I think the attitude problem walked in with the Series II problem.

I really like Derek at Sportsmans Guns and Ammo. I've been a customer of his for years and trust him with all of the firearms that i trust my life to for work. He's very knowledgeable about a variety of firearms and is a class three dealer and manufacturer of class two items too i think. He also has very good prices.

That being said, since he's a gun smith he is just like every other gun smith in the regards that he has a policy regarding customers overseeing his work. He even posts his policy on the wall and its something vaguely along these lines:

25 dollars an hour for me to work
35 dollars an hour for me to work if you watch
50 dollars an hour for me to work if you help

they can do it faster better and cheaper if you dont distract them with a bunch of questions and your breath on their shoulder.

I can understand your desire to look however. I remember bringing in a weapon once that required some hammering or something to be done, It was a stuck case or something. Anyhow i could hear him working on it in the back and it was all i could do to prevent myself from climbing over the counter to see what was going on.

In the long run its just best that you dont though.

I think I will try Sportsmans. I went to another local shop and the smith told me my gun is blued not prked. I looked at him and are you sure. He said yes. I said the Springer GI is a parked pistol not blued. He said they are blued. I chose to leave and never go back there for work by him. If you can not tell a parkerized finish over a blued finsh I do not need you working on my pistol. They another smith who works on sunday only so maybe I will go see him also.