Just thought I'd share some preliminary pics of this Colt. I just got it back from Ned yesterday - it was an old roll mark 1991A1 matte blue Commander. The gun was pretty much brand-new-in-the-box (even though an ORM) when I sent it to Ned a couple of months ago. And bone stock from the factory it was a great gun, nicely fitted and stone reliable. I wasn't all that keen on the look of the ORM, though, so I thought it was the perfect candidate as a canvas for Ned's custom artistry.
Ned worked all over the gun from top to bottom... slide top serrated with a cross "X" motif which is repeated on the front strap and the bobtail MSH... the serrations extend up onto the grip safety pad too, which is a very cool detail. The carry bevel work is exquisite as well. There really are a lot of great little touches all over the gun inside and out. Too much to elaborate on here. The gun is still stone reliable, but a bit more accurate now, and really feels superb in the hand. This gun is among the three or four nicest 1911's I have, including my John Harrison Colt 1991 Custom Government and a Colt Series 70 Government that Virgil Tripp recently customized for me.
These pics are just quick shots so I could show the gun, but I plan to do a much better, more detailed photo session later. Here she is.
Colt 1991A1 Ned Christiansen Commander
Here's the before pic:
BTW...I decided that for a blued Commander I really wanted a new rollmark model rather than the ORM that I had. So that made it much easier to send off the ORM to become a custom. I really like the "no rollmark" look (like Ed Brown's guns have on the slide's left side) so I asked Ned to grind off the "ORM". It would have been much more difficult to ask Ned to grind off one of Colt's "NEW" roll marks which are so beautiful, so the ORM model was a perfect candidate for a 1911 with no rollmark at all on the left side. (Yes, I'm a little picky about the look of rollmarks...
One of my many foibles, for sure! )
On the right side of the slide it still says "Commander Model"... I wanted to leave that rollmark because it looks very clean and tasteful and identifies the slide as the original Colt Commander slide.
As for parts, I prefer and wanted to stay with all original Colt parts except the sights, grip safety, sear, disconnector, barrel bushing, MSH, and grips.
Thanks, Ned, for creating a work of art with my Commander! That's two custom Commanders you've done for me... so now I've got to decide what the next project will be...
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Nice photographs as well.
