Back to the future

The finished Bob Chow-Derr Precision Colt Commander. Blue over hard chrome
with ebony grips by Wood Caliber.

I tend to forget how creative gunsmiths from before I was born could be. Case in point: A client recently brought me a Colt slide and barrel. Bought as part of an online auction deal, the .45 ACP Colt Commander slide was fitted with a Smith & Wesson K-Frame revolver rear sight and a ramped front sight was seamlessly soldered on. The barrel was fit to the slide with an internal block to help barrel fit. The barrel bushing was stamped “Chow.” The rear sight nested in the slide elegantly. Real quality craftsmanship. I had heard of Bob Chow for many years but had never handled one of his guns.

F. Bob Chow, born in 1911 in California, became a very accomplished shooter and gunsmith. Chow was a member of the 1948 U.S. Olympic Team competing in rapid-fire pistol. He was also the first gunsmith of any renown of Asian heritage. He had a shop in San Francisco specializing in NRA Bullseye guns. In the ’50s and ’60s his work ruled the pistol competition world.

The Harrison Design rear sight replacement for a BoMar-style sight on a Ruger 10mm 1911.
The Harrison sight features melted edges, appropriate for a carry sidearm.

Slide Resurrection

Right off I decided I wouldn’t change anything on the slide. My task was to make a frame for the existing “Chow” slide. My thought was to build a lower complementing the brilliant work Chow did — maybe something ’70s style with a few subtle modern touches. I found an orphaned blued Colt Commander frame in the shop.

The Chow slide looked like it was for “conceal carry” so I stuck with this theme. First the trigger guard was forged square, very popular in the ’70s. The front strap was checkered 25 lpi for grip.

For easy reloads I chose to use a Stan Chen Gen 2 magwell (also checkered 25 lpi) which required cutting the .300 off the lower part of the frame. Next I fit my Derr Precision bobbed grip safety. It mimics a King’s Gunworks period part but is cleaner with smaller gaps after fitting. The internals are all new bar stock pieces by Cylinder and Slide with a Harrison Design “CC” hammer.

For the finish I elected for traditional two-tone. This differentiates the original Chow work in blue and my new work in brushed hard chrome. To finish things off I added traditional “double diamond” checkered ebony grips by Wood Caliber secured with satin hard chrome screws. The Wood Caliber grips have some of the best checkering I have ever handled on grips.

Commanders have always been a favorite of mine; they feel great in the hand and shoot very well. The finished gun shoots cloverleaf groups at 15 yards.

The muzzle end of a Colt Commander with Bob Chow’s sleeved Colt bushing.
Chow also modified the Colt barrel for better lock up.

Sight Options

For those who want a less “snaggy” option to the traditional BoMar-style rear sight, John Harrison of Harrison Design has the right replacement. The BoMar style sight cut is complex but John has a nicely shaped fixed rear sight that fits the cut. A small dovetail filler piece is slid into the current dovetail, the steel body of the new sight is screwed into the filler piece with two hex head screws secured with LocTite. The fit and finish are excellent. There are no square edges to get caught on clothing during a draw. Sights are available for most of the major manufacturers in solid black, single or twin lamp tritium. Mated front sights are also available.

Chow like many smiths in the early days of 1911 gunsmithing had to work with very little in the way of oversized parts. It’s to these early smiths’ credit they custom made everything by hand. Young gunsmiths can learn a lot from their work, I know I do.

I really would have liked to have met Mr. Chow. He was certainly ahead of his time, meticulous in his methods and a great shooter. There are a lot of little-known gunsmiths from the ’50s and ’60s who led the way in customizing. Many of today’s custom features grew out of their work.

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