On September 18 and 19, 2009, Advanced Armament Corp. is hosting their annual Silencer Shoot in Carnesville, GA. It is an event geared towards showing shooters the benefits of sound suppressors on firearms. As part of the Shoot, there are product demos, door prizes, and a Wounded Warrior Project raffle drawing. Rifle manufacturers Noveske Rifleworks, Remington Military, Daniel Defense, and Knights Armament are donating some pretty tricked-out AR-15s to the WWP Raffle. I was asked to build a custom 1911 to join the rifles, and it is finally complete.
Caspian Arms generously donated the frame and slide to get me started. As with all of Caspian's 1911 offerings, it was a great platform build on.
Kevin McIntyre at KKM Precision was responsible for entertaining my request for a one-off barrel configuration. It is a Para-Clark ramped barrel with a 1:24” twist rate to stabilize the subsonic 9mm rounds. Kevin has redefined “above and beyond” with his technical expertise and helpfulness.
John Harrison volunteered to send a set of his ignition parts to use on this pistol, complete with a long and short trigger. I’m glad I took him up on it – these parts are a great start to getting a crisp trigger job.
Stan Chen joined the fray by sending one of his proprietary Mainspring Housings. Stan's mainspring housing incorporates extra material that allows the pistolsmith to radically enlarge the magazine well opening to the rear in order to facilitate easier reloads. Necessity is the mother of Stan's well-executed inventions.
As with many of my builds, I used a Michiguns Extra Stout Plunger Tube, donated by Ned Christiansen. Besides being robust, the ESPT is simply a well-made item.
Evolution Gun Works stepped up to the plate with a healthy donation of small parts, many of them from their “HD” line of machined-from-barstock parts. Having the word "evolution" in their name is fitting - EGW continues to raise the bar.
Wilson Combat rounded out the package with several internal parts and three of their ETM magazines. There is a reason that Wilson is a household name when it comes to quality parts and top-notch people.
Featured on the pistol is Chuck Rogers’ Tier One rear sight, fabricated from barstock. We have elevated sights on the pistol to provide a sight picture just over the suppressor, but without being obnoxiously tall and interfering with most available holsters.
Without any one of the above contributors, this thing wouldn't have gotten off the ground. A heartfelt thanks to each of you.
I’m not sure I can offer a whole lot of commentary on the pistol. It is a straightforward build, and pretty standard stuff coming from my shop. Nothing real fancy, and I pretty much “colored within the lines”.
The Advanced Armament Ti-RANT 9mm™ raises the bar in pistol-caliber silencer performance. It is the quietest pistol can on the market, with the sound signature in the low-120 dB range. I don't have sound metering equipment, but if I can make a crude observation - I have heard louder nail guns.
Knifemaker Trace Rinaldi and I have said for a long time that custom knives and custom pistols go together like peanut butter and jelly. I told Trace about my involvement in this raffle, and his reaction was “Can I play too?” Trace makes some of the finest fixed blade knives you will ever find. His designs are known the world over for their high performance coupled with superior ergonomics. Trace is pleased to contribute his Enigma model, made of S30V steel with Paul Bos heat treat, and F-22 Raptor Carbon Fiber handle material. His multi-carry Kydex sheath was also custom-made.
To quote Trace: “Performance is Beauty. Simplicity is the final evolution of Complexity.” That holds perfectly true in his Enigma.
It was then Trace’s turn to recruit another piece to add to the kit. Trace sent an email and made a phone call to Don McLeish in Hawaii. Don is a self-proclaimed flashlight addict, and has taken to designing his own lights sold under the “McGizmo” moniker. Don offered a one-off variation of his Haiku model. A few comments written by Don on the CandlePowerForums:
This new light has a simple and hopefully unique (for flashlights) name. It's called the Haiku. I wanted a name that somehow alluded to the three levels and I also wanted to give recognition to the Japanese designer of the 3 speed converter which is at the heart of this light. The English version of Haiku is a three line poem that is quite limited in words and yet hopefully accomplishes that which it sets out to illuminate.
The Ti Haiku is a simple light with three levels of output and hopefully it provides the illumination required of it.
The Titanium Haiku is a 1 x CR123 powered flashlight. The Light Engine is a "three speed" Buck/Boost converter driving a Cree XR-E LED (Q5WG bin). The three drive levels are approximately 25, 125 & 650 mA to the LED with typical out the front flux (lumens) of 4, 30 & 135 respectively.
Lastly, to complete this package, we turned to one of the finest leather craftsmen working today. John Ralston is the genius behind 5 Shot Leather in Vancouver, WA. His LFA-1 Holster is a more recent design of his, paying tribute to his long-time mentor Lou Alessi. Joining the holster is a custom-made sheath for the Enigma, and a combination magazine and flashlight carrier. Each stitch is precisely placed, the molding is superb, and each edge is perfectly uniform. The level of fit and finish is unparalleled. John’s holsters would look good made from burlap sacks, but in fully lined cowhide with shark trim – they are gorgeous. Leathercraft in its finest form.
The above image is courtesy of John Ralston
A few more photos:
And there you have it, folks. Raffle tickets are available at
http://www.silencershoot.com. You don't have to be present to win this package, or any of the other fine merchandise in the Raffle.
I encourage you to visit and thank each of our contributors:
http://www.caspianarms.com
http://www.kkmprecision.com
http://www.harrisoncustom.com
http://www.m-guns.com
http://www.legacy-custom.com
http://www.egw-guns.com
http://www.wilsoncombat.com
http://www.thrblades.com
http://www.5shotleather.com
http://www.rogersprecision.com
http://www.advanced-armament.com
Thanks for all of your support of the Wounded Warrior Project!
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FAQ
From the markings on the barrel hood, it is a 9.
I feel it every day as I roll out of the old fartsack!! Hope you have a great weekend sir!! _John