The MEU SOC 1911 is a gun that is a bit of an enigma. A few different companies have built guns to meet the standard and claimed that their product was in the hands of Marines in the field. The Marines themselves have been rebuilding GI guns to their own specs using Quantico’s “rifle†section. Gunsmiths have done their best to replicate it. Why? Because it’s a no-frills, utilitarian, working man’s gun. It’s not a beauty queen on the outside, but it does its job very well. This is what got one of Dave Sams’ recent customers thinking.
This customer came to Dave after a few huge disappointments with other gunsmithing shops that didn’t give him his money’s worth. He checked out a few of my guns, actually bought one, and was hooked on Dave’s work. Why? Well, dressing up a gun to look nice is easy, but dropping a large chunk of change on a gun that is simply a factory piece dressed up a bit is foolish. Dave’s guns are pretty from the inside out. The exterior details mean nothing if the internals aren’t 100% right. Dave’s builds are tight, smooth, repeatable, and reliable. Not many bullseye or IPSC shooters have concern for pretty guns, they just want accuracy and total reliability. Dave cut his teeth with competition guns, and his defensive carry guns are no different inside… they’re just “prettier.†If you get a Dave Sams gun, you can rest assured that he built it, from start to finish, and nobody else helped. Nothing gets "jobbed out," not even the finishing. Unless you want a hard chrome gun or need aluminum re-anodized, he can do it. His parkerizing is pretty damn nice, just like everything else he does.
While this MEU SOC “replica†isn’t a pretty gun on the outside, shooting it makes you want to leave your woman, sell your belongings, and change your religion. It shoots like a top-end bullseye gun (because it is, essentially), and it runs like a sewing machine with anything you put in it marked .45ACP. It’s not a dead ringer for a Marine built 1911, but with all the documented variations, they aren’t, either. It wears a McCormick beavertail simply because they look, feel, and fit better. The stainless Bar-Sto Barrel is blackened (stainless blackened, a Sams specialty), and the magazines are blackened to match (this is not Wilson’s factory black mag). I can guarantee that anyone who has owned or carried one of these would gladly give up theirs for this one. I liked it so much I completely changed an order I’ve had in line for over a year to duplicate this gun (almost). It is that good.
I’ll let the photos tell the rest of the story.
Enjoy, JR, and happy shooting.
~Jim Keeney
Why have a shiny barrel in a GI gun? Nobody I've heard of can blacken stainless steel like Dave without spraying and baking it.
Note the subtle inspector's mark. For you slower ones out there
, it means Sams Custom Gunworks.
Nothing like a true match fit bushing with the serial number stamped on it.
A Dave Sams machined rear sight
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I think someone posted here or 1911 forum once that all custom guns should be posted with a target and I like that idea. Don't get me wrong, the beauty of all of these guns gets my juices flowing but nothing brings the finale like a ragged one-hole target.