Dan comes up with some beautiful grips - just not often enough!

Those are good looking grips for sure.
Walker

No doubt about it,the 1911 is a classic,timeless design.

Back in 1968,El Monte,CAPD armed it's officers with Colt 1911s and they carried them cocked and locked in Safariland holsters. Thier motorcycle officers also carried 870s in a unique Lecco lock mount on their bikes.

A bank robber chose to cross swords with the MC officers and lost real quick.

The safest way to carry the 1911 is cocked and locked,just like the way John M Browning designed it.
I know in "Nam,the "book"said to carry the piece hammer down on an empty chamber. Yep,right,sure...uh-huh.

Cocked and locked with a 7 round magazine in place for a total of 8 rounds.

Wayne

Wayne--

Cocked and locked was the tactically correct way.

Remember seeing a security camera video of a security guard engaging some bad guys...pulling his pistol and trying to rack the slide to chamber that first round, only to be shot before he could do it.

I might have posted this previously...

I happened to talk to Armand Swenson one day in 1970 right after a shooting in which four California Highway Patrolmen had been killed by two men who attacked them with a shotgun and pistols after they had been pulled over in a traffic stop.* Armand was incensed, saying there was no way the officers would have been killed if one of them had been armed with a .45 automatic and had been properly trained in combat shooting. He said that such a properly armed and trained officer could have taken out both shooters, including the one armed with a shotgun.

*Newhall incident - Wikipedia The Newhall incident, also called the Newhall massacre, was a shootout on April 5–6, 1970, in Valencia, California,[a] between two heavily armed criminals and four officers of the California Highway Patrol (CHP). In less than five minutes, the four CHP officers were killed in the deadliest day in California law enforcement history.[1]

Larry

Larry,
Armans Swenson made some seriously nice 1911s back in the day.

The knife maker Bob Loveless also made a Colt Commander "smoothy" which he had taken his belt sander to and took off all the sharp edges. Made it like a used bar of soap.

The Newhall incident showed serious training flaws that had to be corrected. Some officers were found with spent shells in their pockets as they were taught to do at the academy so empty brass could be scrounged up.

Also they trained and qualified with 38 spl rounds and not the magnums they carried. Big difference.

My "Commander smoothy" is not,unfortunatley,a Colt Commander but a Glock Model 36.

Wayne

Wayne--

In the past few days I saw an online auction catalogue that included one or more of Bob Loveless's pistols.

I thought it might have been Morphy Auctions' September sale but looking through that catalogue and searching on his name I do not see the items that I viewed wherever!

And I do not see other emails from auction houses that I usually get.

If I come across it again, I will post it "for interest."

Larry

Found it:

Rock Island Auctions:

https://www.rockislandauction.com/catalog/89?utm_source=Rock%20Island%20Auction%20News&utm_campaign=6ee4ff21ed-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_07_21&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1f4b8db853-f049ba699e-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&keywords=loveless

Larry,

Some years ago,I had entertained the thought of getting a lightweight Combat Commander and sending it to Bob Loveless for his "smoothy" treatment.

Fortunately,I did not as he has passed away sometime later and probably the piece would have languished away in storage for some estate sale.

Like his knives,his gunwork had a long turn around time.

I do have a Colt 1911 that was accurized by Jim Clark back in 1970. Less than $200 and two week turn around. You are not going to see that again for sure.

Wayne

I did not know that Loveless worked on firearms, but I learn something new every day.
No Bob Loveless markings that I can see, but sure is different.

David--

When I read the description of the Loveless pistol, made me wonder about the attachment of the stock...which I think was prohibited under ATF/whatever rules.

I see there is some contention recently over adding shoulder stocks to modern pistols.

Now sure how all this might affect the sale of the Loveless pistol.

But that is for others to figure out.

Larry