As a rule, custom 1911-style pistols of today are the best ever. In terms of quality of materials, workmanship, attention to detail, indeed, in every aspect of performance, current 1911s are so good as to be nearly incredible.

It didn’t just happen though. Progress in any field comes from building on the work of others. Isaac Newton once wrote, “If I see a little further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants.”

The post WWII era saw a dramatic increase in hunting and shooting activities. Competition handgun shooting meant bull’s-eye shooting, and a demand for highly accurate 1911 .45s. In the early 1950s several pistolsmiths began developing ways to meet the demand. The “Giants” of the era included such names as Bob Brown, F. Bob Chow, Jim Clark, Alton Dinan, George Elliason, John Giles and Frank Pachmayr. These men built remarkably accurate pistols. And they did it without the high quality, precision components we take for granted today.

Need a hard-fit match barrel today? The pistolsmith simply orders one of the many high quality, slightly oversized barrels available and fits it to the pistol. Back then no such barrels existed. The pistolsmith would take a standard barrel, build up the bottom lugs and barrel hood by welding, and then hand fit the barrel.

Even good base guns were hard to come by. Colt was producing commercial pistols again, but for years after the war supply could not keep up with demand. Military surplus 1911s and 1911A1s were available, but many were wartime production with “soft slides” (heat treated only at high wear points to speed production) and needed a lot of fitting and tightening.

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