The Turnbull 1911
Blued St eel as an Artistic Medium
The Turnbull 1911 on the right rests alongside a WWII-era 1944 Remington
Rand 1911A1. The Turnbull gun is a piece of art lovingly handcrafted. The wartime
Remington Rand was produced en-masse in an effort at freeing the planet from
impending slavery. While the design is essentially identical, the execution is most definitely not.
The modern combat pistol is typically cut generically out of steel blanks on CNC production mills and sports a molded polymer frame. Such a gun shoots reliably and well but each gun looks and feels much like every other. Nuances certainly abound and it’s this stuff upon which quality gun magazines — like Handgunner — are built. However, in many ways the latest greatest plastic pistol is much akin to a McDonald’s restaurant. It’s a mass-produced contrivance for common folk. While I enjoy a Big Mac as much as the next guy, every now and then I yearn for something better. The Turnbull 1911 is that something better.
The Turnbull 1911 looks like art but it seems comfortable in the presence
of these common articles of war. Despite its meticulous execution, the Turnbull
1911 began as an implement for combat and could still perform the role if needed.
Resurrecting The Dead
Turnbull cut its teeth resurrecting old beat up classic guns back to their museum-quality glory and the before-and-after pictures on their website are breathtaking. They offer refinishing, restoration and woodwork services for a wide variety of high-end projects. Nowadays the good folks at Turnbull take this compulsion for mechanical perfection and apply it to their new production guns as well.
Everything about the Turnbull 1911 is lovingly crafted. The case hardened finish on the frame is deep, rich and gorgeous. The blued slide has an almost mystical hue, a bit like the inky black between the stars on a clear night devoid of overcast. The parts glide across one another like greased glass and any imperfections have been mercilessly addressed long before this gun leaves the maker. Hefting this pistol for the first time is like appreciating an Italian sports car or a modern day fighter plane. It’s obvious there was no expense spared in its production.
I didn’t really want to shoot it. I had to send a note to my friend and boss Roy just to make absolutely certain I was really supposed to defile this thing with ammunition. Alas, he reminded me of the same axiom any proper sports car owner might. Why have it if you aren’t going to drive it? So, off to the range we strolled with the Turnbull masterpiece in tow.
The Turnbull 1911 is the arithmetic mean between implement of war
and objet d’art. Fully functional and hard-hitting downrange, the Turnbull
1911 sports a beautiful casehardened frame and deep blued inky slide.
Exercising Art
I have squeezed my share of triggers and a 1911 drops into my hand like an old familiar friend. The Turnbull 1911 reminds us of all the reasons the United States remains the trendsetter for everything of consequence on the planet. Our trucks are bigger, our music is louder, our military is badder, our economy drives everyone else’s and our appetites are unequalled. The Turnbull 1911 embodies this same sort of stuff.
The gun we tested is a standard no-frills 1911, if you can use the term no-frills in the same sentence with Turnbull 1911 without committing some sort of literary heresy. The mainspring housing is flat and smooth, the grips are pleasantly checkered, and everything about the gun just gleams. While this gun would render fine service as a defensive weapon, it’s not optimized for combat. The Turnbull 1911 is the arithmetic mean between implement of war and object d’art. It’s functional, robust — and beautiful.
The period correct two-tone magazines slip smoothly in and out in accordance with the laws governing mechanical perfection. The trigger is devoid of any pedestrian ridges and breaks like, well … glass. The ejection port is GI standard. To lower and flare this gun would be tantamount to depicting the Mona Lisa in a lace nightie. Propriety banishes the thought.
Shake the gun and it rattles, just like the originals, but there is nary a bit of mechanical sluggishness to be found anyplace. The GI sights are too small but this didn’t stop a zillion American GIs from liberating the planet with them 70 years ago. The limiting factor on the range at this point in my life is consistently my high mileage eyes and well-seasoned reflexes, not the hardware.
We had a stoppage or three early on. This is an old-school steel gun and it takes a few rounds to get everything settled into place. After all, one of the most prestigious 1911 manufacturers in the country recommends a 500-round break-in. Once the gun found its groove it shot exceptionally well. I thumped stumps at 50 meters until I grew weary of the exercise.
The sights are too small, but everybody’s were at the time. This didn’t
stop about a zillion young American GIs from using them to save the world
during World War II. The fit and finish on the Turnbull 1911 are perfection in steel.
The GI standard left-sided safety lever rests underneath a crisp rendition
of the Turnbull logo. Standard GI shaped hammer and grip safety here too.
Cerebration
So, what sort of gunman are you? Do you like the rub of plastic against your palm? Are you stoked when you land the used cop pistol from a stack at the gun show for a nice price? Are you satisfied to drive something tough to pick out in a parking lot? I am — and have been — all those things. However, if you are the sort who is ready to take it to the next level, Turnbull will get you there.
The Turnbull 1911 runs as well as it looks and it looks, frankly, extraordinary. For the discriminating gunman who might not buy his wristwatch at Wal-Mart alongside the rest of us, the Turnbull 1911 makes a statement. If James Bond were a real guy, a Turnbull would be his daily carry gun as he strolled through retirement post-MI6.
At the end of the day, however, the Turnbull 1911 remains a new production firearm not subject to the emotional restrictions demanded of an irreplaceable collectible. If your proclivities wander toward original unfired Colts then the Turnbull is the gun you actually shoot, while the original languishes deep in a safe someplace or under glass.
The Turnbull 1911 is not for everyone. In fact, it wasn’t for me. I am not at the point yet in life where I could afford to keep it. However, not unlike a high end sports car or an expensive timepiece, the Turnbull is a sort of personal goal. Packing a Turnbull 1911 during your daily sojourn through life is sufficient to earn the coveted moniker Gunman of Distinction. In the same vein a Bugatti Veron or Koenigsegg Agera is a supercar, the Turnbull 1911 is a supergun — refined, distinctive and rarefied.
