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This is a really nice 80's era comp gun built on an early SA .45 with a 64XX serial number range. The gun is unmarked, but the workmanship is exceptional. I replaced the pachmayr extended slide stop with a GI, but the rest is as it came from the 'smith.

It has no builders marks. I initially thought it was a Garthwaite as his comps were similar with a bull bar-sto barrel, but Jim said it wasn't his work.

It is pretty perfectly fitted-even the trigger has a little machined steel take up bump built into the front of the bow and the pad has been fitted vertically and horizontally to the trigger track. The Kings grip safety is likewise immaculately done as well as the machining and checkering .
The triger parts are old CMC and break at 2.25 lbs and crisp.

The ejection port is deeply cut with a small bevel rather than a flare and the magwell is a swaged affair that really works well.

Any idea who built this? I am guessing that maybe the SA custom shop in its early days "could" have as I remember them swaging magwells.

Any ideas?

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That reminds me of a Nastoff gun I played with a couple years back. That one had a squared trigger guard.

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"Domari Nolo"

Looks like some of Chuck Roger's work. He was a big fan of that sodered on Magwell from Ed brown back then. I still have that jig for the mainspring retaining pin around here somehwere that I used once. His checkering was awsome back then and the only thing wrong is the beaver tail that is on this 1911. Whoever built it did an outstanding job.

If you purchased the gun in SC it may have been built by Leonard Baity in Wilkesboro, NC. This looks a lot like a gun he built for me in the 80's.

The gun was purchased from CA. A friend has a Baity gun and we are going to compare notes.

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I was thinking Nastoff too.

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There are some major differences between this magwell and the Nastoff that Jason Burton posted, so I don't think so.

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It looks like a Kings built gun to me. I had a comp gun built by them from that era and it looks like its twin.

The bevel on the ejection port is rather unique and I think it was Ben Jones at Guncraft in Florida that I first saw do that. He also swaged some magwells very similar to that. Not many smiths used bull barrells in the early days. Would be nice to know who built that.

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Rio Rancho New Mexico

"I like double barrels....Aprilia, Ducati, and sxs rifles"

Glenn Martin also comes to mind in regards to the magwell.

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cvwinabq@live.com
Rio Rancho New Mexico

"I like double barrels....Aprilia, Ducati, and sxs rifles"

Interesting rounding to the front of the trigger-guard. If I'm looking at the pics right it looks like it's actually cut inward at the top where it meets the frame giving it a more rounded look. That could be the identifiabl key here.
The comp is very reminiscent of Austin Behlert's work, and may be the work of him or one of two gunsmiths that originally worked for him then went out on their own: Art Leckie of Leckie Custom, or Pete Carber of Custom Arms Company (C.A.C.) The Bo-Mars are also typical of CACs work. Sadly, Mr. Behlert and Mr. Leckie have passed away and Mr. Carber has left the business.
Forum-member M. Hall has a 10mm carry-comp built by Pete Carber, so hopefully he will see thsi and chime in with a comp comparison.

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"He who works with his hands is a labourer, he who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman, he who works with his hands, his head, and his heart is an artist."
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As for as the comp is concerned, it is identical to the one on my delta as far as the layout.
Mine is a carry-comp, which means the silde is actually shortened to 'compensate' for the
length of the compensator. The port is the same, and so is the sight and guide rod. As far
as the rest of the gun, well, I had Pete send it to Pete Single for checkering, and I don't care
for mag-wells, so....
If I was to hazard a guess, I'd say it's either Pete Carber's work, or, as Mark mentioned, Art
Leckie or Austin Behlert's....
I'd like to see more pictures of the comp....

I will try and get more pics.

Mark, the guide rod is not visible from the front of the comp, how about yours?

I had a Behlert full profile 10mm carry comp and this one is built to a higher level of fit and finish, and the comp is completely different. This has a threaded bull barrel while the Behlert comp had an integral cone.

All of the guncraft guns I saw had a horseshoe style magwell that was swaged. This one is open in the front.

Maybe Bruce Gray? I know he was a swager.

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I've seen a Behlert carry-comp gun also, and my Carber gun is much more precise....My guide
rod is 'plugged' at the muzzle-end, meaning-you can see where it would be, but it does not
protrude....from the side it looks exactly like yours, as does everything else comp-wise.

Mr. Lombardo,
I e-mailed the pics of the pistol to Pete Carber (we still keep in touch even though he's out of the biz). He said the comp is "old Behlert style for sure". He states the square ejection port is reminiscent of the work of a Canadian named Chris Thorn who worked in Behlerts shop in the late 80s to early 90s. The Bo-mars and large mag release are also consistent with the work from Behlert's shop at the time. Pete wasn't sure as to the rounded trigger-guard being anyone's "signature" in particular, but did say that there was alot of experimentation going on, and the quality of the work leaving Behlert's was inconsistent depending on who did the work. He started working for Behlert's in '89 and doesn't recall this exact gun. It probably pre-dates him; but there are enough similarities that it could have come from Behlert's.

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"He who works with his hands is a labourer, he who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman, he who works with his hands, his head, and his heart is an artist."
(St Francis of Assisi)

Anthony, did you e-mail pictures to George Smith? He was in Austin's shop during the era as well.

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"Domari Nolo"

Thanks Mark.

The major difference is that Behlert used cone comps and this is a Bar-Sto cone barrel that is threaded to the comp. Important to note is that this comp has no exposed guide rod at the front and looks like a comp/barrel kit Jim Garthwaite used to sell in the 80's. Jim is pretty sure it is his comp.

The mag catch is a C&S brand that they still sell.

I emailed pics to George a while back and he says it was not a Behlert or EGW job in his opinion.

I have never seen a swaged magwell out of the Behlert shop and most guns had some Behlert parts-slide guards, hammer/sear set or sights.

But you never know.

Thanks very much for emailing Pete pics of the gun. I will get some pics of the trigger modifications and post them also.

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I can't help a lick, but this ongoing investigation sure is interesting.

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Mine has a Bar-Sto barrel, and the comp threads to the barrel. I supplied all the parts for my build, as I'm pretty choosy what parts I like....so I
may have had stuff that looked more like your, had I let Pete choose what he wanted to use...

Like Pete said, there was no consitency at Behlerts, (at least when he worked there) and a lot of experimentation. They would build one gun one way, then try something completely different on the next one which was essentially the same package build as the previous one. So I'm sure based on his comments that it wouldn't be unlikely for there to variations in the way comps were attached, etc.

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"He who works with his hands is a labourer, he who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman, he who works with his hands, his head, and his heart is an artist."
(St Francis of Assisi)

the first 2 names that i thought of when looking at the photos were Bruce Grey and Steve Nastoff.

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Did you get the pics I sent of my Delta?

Per deb at SA, te base gun left Springfield as a basic parkerized model in July 1986.

Thats all I know for sure (for now).

Happy 20th bday, comp gun!

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Another "maybe" for the potential builder is Steve Woods. His comps were closed in front and his checkering was superb.

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That looks kind of like my compensated 1911. It was built up on a Colt Series 80 frame.

This one was purchased in northern Virginia and was allegedly made by Sandy Garrett but I have not tried to get any proof of that.

Here are some pictures of it that show some of the similarities. The grip safety on mine is not functional, so that is one major difference.

At this point it looks like Bruce Gray built it. The swaged magwell "sadlle" is identical to a picture of one I found online that he built.
I am pleased. The gun shoots incredibly well.

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CHECK OUT MY CUSTOM 1911 BLOG
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I'm no gunsmith but that magwell on Anthony's gun is not swaged. Just look at the outside lip and the MSH pin hole. That's for sure welded/soldered on and blended.

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Bob

Smiths and 1911s are what it's all about!

Hi Bob,
Without the gun in hand, how could you be sure of anything?

The magwell was definately swaged -after-soldering on. Note how the front of the magwell is spead out a bit, a hallmark of swaging. I have seen enough swaged magwells to know the difference...

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Have you contacted Bruce? You can reach him at bruce@grayguns.com

From what I gather, he tends to have a lot of irons in the fire, so can be hard to get a hold of. He was a very nice guy, so I'm sure he'd help you out confirming if he built the gun.

I just took a practical fundamental pistol course with him. The man can flat out shoot, so if he did build it, I'm not surprised it shoots well.

A thousand pardons, Anthony My gunsmith and I were on the phone together looking at your photos before I wrote my entry above. It never occurred to us that the magwell was soldered on and THEN swaged My gunsmith was building guns like that in the 80s too. Someone already said no two were alike. I have one like yours built on a springer from the early 90s and it was a great shooter. I handloaded a Bull-X 150gr. button-nose wadcutter very hot and that worked the comp very well.

Bruce Gray: Very unusual dude to put it mildly. I met him in '94 at the Reno Limited Nationals where I was having a really bad time with feeding problems in my Para .40. He ended up selling me a complete new top-end for it and I still shoot it today. The downside was he just kinda forgot all about the project halfway through He taught me to always check in with your gunsmith periodically to make sure you haven't dropped through the cracks. I just had the same experience with a grip maker.

Anyway, sorry Anthony.

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Bob

Smiths and 1911s are what it's all about!