Custom Built 1911s. Who builds the Best?

Many people would argue that none of the ones you list are true customs. I'm not touching this one...

None of the above.

Yeah, I agree that the listed builders are not really true custom. Having said that, I will tell you I shot an Ed brown the other day and was totally sold. That trigger was incredibly fine, like nothing at all except that it breaks. Makes me wonder whether just getting his parts and having them installed in my cheapie 1911 could yield anything similar.

rpenmanparker said:

Makes me wonder whether just getting his parts and having them installed in my cheapie 1911 could yield anything similar.

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I suspect that would have much more to do with the skill and approach of the person doing the installing than the parts.

ATLDave said:

I suspect that would have much more to do with the skill and approach of the person doing the installing than the parts.

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Yes, I tend to agree.

Texas10mm said:

None of the above.

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OK, then who? The guys listed may not be true custom guns. But off the top of my head I can’t think of any better. And didn’t they all start out by making custom guns?

rskent said:

OK, then who? The guys listed may not be true custom guns. But off the top of my head I can’t think of any better. And didn’t they all start out by making custom guns?

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Depends on what you're looking for. If you don't care about concealment and care even less about traditional looks, the practical gamer-oriented makers that seem to be at the top of the heap right now include Shay Akai, Matt Cheely, and Adam Nilson (Atlas Gunworks). But each of them kind of have their own style.

1KPerDay said:

I'm not touching this one...

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That actually made me LOL.

This is like the thread a little while ago asking about top end guns, but a price limit of $2000 was set and none of the listed guns were actually top end.

They all make very nice guns though from what I hear. I own none of them so I won't even offer an opinion.

I haven’t felt any slicker than SVI’s offerings. They cost more than the ones you listed but I didn’t see a budget, just “best”. Every part of their pistols except for springs are machined from billet and it’s hard to describe how smooth they are.

I don't know who builds the best, but I was bitterly disappointed with my Baer P2.

I had been shown one of the older Baers built in Illinois before they moved to Iowa. Beautiful gun, nicest 1911 I had seen to that point.

So I saved up and ordered a Baer P2 in 38 Super, around $1900 at the time. It came from the new factory in Iowa.

The blueing was so thin it wore through around the grip within 2 weeks.

The extractor hole in the slide was ovaled out by the drilling process, from my machinist training it looked like they used an off center bit and/or an excessive feed rate (drilling speed). You could wiggle the extractor hook and see the back end move back and forth. That also left a huge burr at the breach face that reduced reliability. I removed that myself, but it should have been found at the factory. It was obvious.

The front sight was cockeyed, you could see the right side of the blade from the rear of the gun. Of course it was blind pinned in place, so no way to replace it without a trip to the factory. The rear sight blade was poorly molded (yes molded). The top corners of the notch were rounded instead of square, and not the same on the left as the right. Pretty obvious the sights were some poorly made MIM crap.

It was accurate, well fitted and had a good trigger, but the corners they cut with the finish, the drilling, the sights left me very disappointed.

I'll never spend that much on a pistol again. I was more satisfied with my $850 Colt Super.

I'm not goin' anywhere near this....I'm not exactly unbiased......

To be fair, my Baer was fitted better than any gun I've ever owned. Slide to frame was perfect, it had obviously been fitted/lapped. Barrel/bushing to slide, again perfect.
I think the move to the new plant forced them into some cost savings measures.
It was also ~ 10 years ago, so maybe things have improved.

Can't believe everyone is so afraid to voice an opinion on what they like, or don't.

If you've spent that much money on a gun, you should tell the OP about your experiences instead of worrying about ruffling a few feathers.

Well if I won the lotto.

The likes of

Jeremy Ried
Ct Brian
Stan Chen
Ted Yost
Lou Biondo
Chuck Rogers
Chris James
Joe Chambers
Brandan Bunker
John Jardine
Jason Burton

Would likely make me go broke quickly.

There is a "right" answer - Cabot. But Cabot's guns are not "custom". They don't start with something else and try to tinker with it to make it better. They just make the best.

All I have is an elderly Pachmayr, a discontinued STI, and some solid guns from a local shop.

Of the name brand small manufacturers I have seen, a Nighthawk was the slickest, but I know a shooter who has one good one and one dud.
Wilsons I have seen were sound and consistent. Especially the Colt, a beauty and a hundred yard .45.
A Baer in town is not great, but I don't think it is getting the ammo it needs.

The only SVI I have seen and shot was very fine, a true custom a step ahead of the boutique companies.

I have been impressed with what I have READ of Accuracy X.

I've seen a lot of glorious pictures from Tarosean's list but never on the range.

There is no right answer. The whole point of a real custom gun is the bespoke nature of the build. It is picking the right smith for you, to do the work for you based on you. The prefect custom for me is not the prefect custom for you. Also use comes into play. What is the intended purpose for the gun. Form should follow function on a truly custom build. A perfect bullseye pistol is not the same a gun game race gun or a concealed carry piece. The only perfect custom is the one you want and you build IMHO.

WVsig said:

The only perfect custom is the one you want and you build IMHO.

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Thats it in a nutshell.

Sure you can spec a gun out with a couple of the ones listed but its not quite the same thing.

tark said:

I'm not goin' anywhere near this....I'm not exactly unbiased......

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Ol Les make you sign a non disclosure agreement?

Cabot

drk1 said:

There is a "right" answer - Cabot. But Cabot's guns are not "custom". They don't start with something else and try to tinker with it to make it better. They just make the best.

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They had to acquire a real gunsmith just to get them to run instead of look pretty.

Still no answer on which semi-custom maker to buy from.

The answer is all of them. Seems like lots of people have assortments of expensive pistols.
Unless you are one of those guys who posts "I am getting my first Brand X." He has his mind made up.

I’ve had the chance to shoot a bullseye gun that had been built by Evolution Gun Works, back when they still built comp guns. This was a Colt Series 80 frame & slide and everything else on it was custom fitted & non OEM Colt. The only thing I didn’t like about it was the fact that the owner wouldn’t sell it to me. To this day I think it’s probably the best shooting pistol I’ve ever shot. It wasn’t the prettiest thing to look at but in the hands of a good shooter to do it justice it could darn sure shoot dime groups at 25 yrs.

To me the best custom built 1911’s are built by the pistolsmiths who may not necessarily be well known by collectors or speculators. These craftsmen earn their reps by word of mouth by building fantastic guns for comp shooters who already are great shooters, but are just that much slightly better with a gun that is set up tweaked & tuned for the guy shooting it.