And the unbearable wait begins...

[theturtle06]

Ok well some background - I moved to Denver from Indy about a month ago and landed a job at a gun shop

I've been having inpure thoughts about this pistol since I saw one. I talked to a couple Safari Arms owners and they all sang them the highest of praise. Now is my opportunity to easily order one and I'd be silly not to.

The only prolbem is the potential year waiting list and finding a holster. Good news is that the guy on the phone said some get out as soon as 3 months and I can see about a holster from Raven as I don't have much luck finding conventional leather holsters.

 

[dhdoug]

GREAT looking gun. i like some ...most of the oly stuff. getting ready to buy some bay front property in AZ??

 

[U.S. Patriot]

Ok well some background - I moved to Denver from Indy about a month ago and landed a job at a gun shop

I've been having inpure thoughts about this pistol since I saw one. I talked to a couple Safari Arms owners and they all sang them the highest of praise. Now is my opportunity to easily order one and I'd be silly not to.

The only prolbem is the potential year waiting list and finding a holster. Good news is that the guy on the phone said some get out as soon as 3 months and I can see about a holster from Raven as I don't have much luck finding conventional leather holsters.

Good looking pistol. As for a holster you may give BladeTech a look. They make holsters for guns, that are hard to find holsters for.

 

[theturtle06]

GREAT looking gun. i like some ...most of the oly stuff. getting ready to buy some bay front property in AZ??

I am looking at the land at 46 2nd Avenue

It unfortunately does not look like BladeTech makes a holster specifically for the Emforcer. Looks like more digging is in order

On a side note, Richard Nemier is one of the big wigs over at Safari Arms and he is one of the big wigs from the original Detonics operation in Washington state. I emailed them and got a reply from him saying he used to work there. I figured someone either took inspiration from Detonics in the triple recoil spring setup and well they sure did

 

[theturtle06]

Any other Safari Arms owners hiding out there?

 

[BrownDog]

Any other Safari Arms owners hiding out there?

I have owned my Matchmaster 5 for almost 18 years. I love this pistol. About ten years ago i sent it back to Richard Nemier for a tune-up. Mine came from the factory with a Schulman comp barrell

 

[Lock n Load]

When I was stationed out in Wash. at Ft. Lewis we toured the Oly shop, I was very impressed with their 1911 designs back then. I dont see enough of them locally to have ever purchased one though.

I had a few of their preban AR lowers and a ban era upper (SS barrel) that was extremely accurate.

 

[Hornett]

Any other Safari Arms owners hiding out there?

Angelina uses one.

Can't get a higher recommendation than that...

Although, she appears to be left handed and there is not a hint of an ambi safety. hmmmmm

 

[Bigum1969]

What part of the Denver-metro area do you live?

I lived in the Denver area for 10 years.

 

[MAHamlin]

It looks like that is a CCO variant. If it were me, I would stick with CCOs with 4.25" barrels so you can use Commander-sized holsters. There are a variety of CCO's available with similar prices to the pistol referenced above. I've been drooling over the Les Baer Stinger for a while now and am pretty sure it will be my next 1911.

Make sure you hold an officer-framed 1911 before you commit. The shortened grip isn't for everyone, although I have found that unless you have large hands you should be ok. Some people have issues with the back, bottom corner of the frame digging into their palms. There are bobtail or round butt options out there to help with that though.

If uniqueness is what you're after, the Oly fits the bill. I'm not a fan of the finger groove, but to each their own. I would investigate their customer service and warranty work. Finding 4" holsters should be doable, though. All Wilson Combat Commander 1911's have 4" bull barrels also, so their holsters might be worth consideration.

Here is a link to 1911forum.com thread where a poster has listed the more common CCO manufacturers with brief reviews of each.

Good luck though! It's always fun hunting for a new pistol!

 

[MAHamlin]

It looks like that is a CCO variant. If it were me, I would stick with CCOs with 4.25" barrels so you can use Commander-sized holsters. There are a variety of CCO's available with similar prices to the pistol referenced above. I've been drooling over the Les Baer Stinger for a while now and am pretty sure it will be my next 1911.

Make sure you hold an officer-framed 1911 before you commit. The shortened grip isn't for everyone, although I have found that unless you have large hands you should be ok. Some people have issues with the back, bottom corner of the frame digging into their palms. There are bobtail or round butt options out there to help with that though.

If uniqueness is what you're after, the Oly fits the bill. I'm not a fan of the finger groove, but to each their own. I would investigate their customer service and warranty work. Finding 4" holsters should be doable, though. All Wilson Combat Commander 1911's have 4" bull barrels also, so their holsters might be worth consideration.

Here is a link to 1911forum.com thread where a poster has listed the more common CCO manufacturers with brief reviews of each.

No DW CCO....then which one? - 1911Forum

Good luck though! It's always fun hunting for a new pistol!

 

[theturtle06]

I have owned my Matchmaster 5 for almost 18 years. I love this pistol. About ten years ago i sent it back to Richard Nemier for a tune-up. Mine came from the factory with a Schulman comp barrell

Now that is quality customer service!

What part of the Denver-metro area do you live?

I lived in the Denver area for 10 years.

I live in Highlands near Federal and Speer. As much as I liked Indy, I love Denver. I landed a job at The Firing Line in Auoroa if you ever stopped in there during your time in Denver.

It looks like that is a CCO variant. If it were me, I would stick with CCOs with 4.25" barrels so you can use Commander-sized holsters. There are a variety of CCO's available with similar prices to the pistol referenced above. I've been drooling over the Les Baer Stinger for a while now and am pretty sure it will be my next 1911.

Make sure you hold an officer-framed 1911 before you commit. The shortened grip isn't for everyone, although I have found that unless you have large hands you should be ok. Some people have issues with the back, bottom corner of the frame digging into their palms. There are bobtail or round butt options out there to help with that though.

If uniqueness is what you're after, the Oly fits the bill. I'm not a fan of the finger groove, but to each their own. I would investigate their customer service and warranty work. Finding 4" holsters should be doable, though. All Wilson Combat Commander 1911's have 4" bull barrels also, so their holsters might be worth consideration.

Here is a link to 1911forum.com thread where a poster has listed the more common CCO manufacturers with brief reviews of each.

Good luck though! It's always fun hunting for a new pistol!

Thank you for the input. From my understanding, the holster issue is not with the guns size, but rather the finger groove. I have handled a few and fired one Commander-sized gun and found it to handle quite similarly to a Government sized model. The Enforcer was a Commander-size gun I thought? Anyway, on the holster note, I fear my only option will be a custom holster - I'm looking to Raven Concealment as they seem to be the most affordable custom holster makers (not to mention all I hear is rave reviews on their rigs)

They offer a lifetime warranty to the original owner, and as I quoted above from a different poster, it looks like they take care of their customers.

Part of it is that I want to own a very unique pistol, but also I appreciate the innovations Mr. Nemier brought from the original Detonics company. And it is a SEXY pistol, at least in my eyes.

When I was stationed out in Wash. at Ft. Lewis we toured the Oly shop, I was very impressed with their 1911 designs back then. I dont see enough of them locally to have ever purchased one though.

I had a few of their preban AR lowers and a ban era upper (SS barrel) that was extremely accurate.

I have NEVER seen one in person but the pedigree of the company speaks for itself. I have a Detonics Scoremaster (full-size target 1911) that I'd put up next to any modern pistol and feel comfortable with it. Everyone I've let shoot it has fallen in love with it so they musta done something right

Thank you all for your ideas and input. I am dead set on this pistol or its brother, the Cohort, which is on a full-size frame. It's going to be for CC so I'm leaning more towards the Enforcer.

Angelina using one just makes it a bonus talking about it too

 

[Larryjr]

nice gun but now my impure thoughts are about Angela ... and the gun.

 

[MAHamlin]

nice gun but now my impure thoughts are about Angela ... and the gun.

Based on the description and the dimensions given the Enforcer is not a commander sized 1911. The description states a compact frame, which makes me think that this is built on an officers frame, not the full-size. The height given of 5" and capacity of 6+1 confirms this suspicion. A commander size 1911 is a full-size (i.e. government) grip with a 4.25" barrel and 3/4" shorter slide. The height of a government or commander 1911 will be 5.5", allowing full size mags in either model (7+1 or 8+1). An officer frame is .5" shorter in the grip than the government/commander, giving it a height of 5" and reducing the capacity by 1 (6+1 to 7+1). The Enforcer is listed as being 5" tall and having a capacity of 6+1 (if my memory serves me correctly), so I feel pretty safe in saying you have an officer sized frame there, which means your experience with the commander won't full translate to this model.

I would just hit a local shop and take a look for officer framed 1911 and ask to hold one to see how it feels in your hand. The officer size works fine for me, so please don't think I'm saying steer clear. I don't miss the .5" much and feel this sized pistol is very manageable. I just want to make sure that you are aware of the size difference and are sure it will be comfortable for you before you drop $1k on it.

One more thought, you should make sure the magazines are interchangeable with other officer sized mags. I can't imagine they would produce with a unique magazine, but better to check and be safe. How frustrating would it be to purchase a 1911 and then to be stuck with only factory mags as an option?

 

[MAHamlin]

In regards to the holster, I can't speak with certainty, but it doesn't look like the finger groove would interfere with many holster styles. My IWB holster (which is basically a Milt Sparks versamax-2 knockoff) doesn't look like it would interfere with the finger groove. Most holsters stop after the trigger guard in my experience. Anyhow, if you purchase the Enforcer I would try it out on some standard commander holsters before you custom order something. Just a thought.

 

[theturtle06]

Based on the description and the dimensions given the Enforcer is not a commander sized 1911. The description states a compact frame, which makes me think that this is built on an officers frame, not the full-size. The height given of 5" and capacity of 6+1 confirms this suspicion. A commander size 1911 is a full-size (i.e. government) grip with a 4.25" barrel and 3/4" shorter slide. The height of a government or commander 1911 will be 5.5", allowing full size mags in either model (7+1 or 8+1). An officer frame is .5" shorter in the grip than the government/commander, giving it a height of 5" and reducing the capacity by 1 (6+1 to 7+1). The Enforcer is listed as being 5" tall and having a capacity of 6+1 (if my memory serves me correctly), so I feel pretty safe in saying you have an officer sized frame there, which means your experience with the commander won't full translate to this model.

I would just hit a local shop and take a look for officer framed 1911 and ask to hold one to see how it feels in your hand. The officer size works fine for me, so please don't think I'm saying steer clear. I don't miss the .5" much and feel this sized pistol is very manageable. I just want to make sure that you are aware of the size difference and are sure it will be comfortable for you before you drop $1k on it.

One more thought, you should make sure the magazines are interchangeable with other officer sized mags. I can't imagine they would produce with a unique magazine, but better to check and be safe. How frustrating would it be to purchase a 1911 and then to be stuck with only factory mags as an option?

Thank you for the clarification. I somehow overlooked all of that as I was looking at the dimensions. I feel kind of foolish given that it's in plain text right there on that page!!!

It's funny how eye candy draws you away from the important things...like those photos with Angie

I will definitely handle an officer's size, and if it's not really what I am looking for, the Cohort will be what I want. The Cohort comes on a full-size frame with the 4.25" barrel. If it's really only an extra .5" on the grip between officers/fullsize frame, I can't imagine the concealability being dramatically altered for a guy my size. But if the officer's isn't what my hand likes, the Cohort will be, and I can deal with the extra .5" of grip I'd need to conceal. I have an advantage in that I can handle an officer's size easily at work

So, let's say I went with the Enforcer. I would have 6+1, but my Wilson ETM (which are 8rd) magazines would NOT function as a secondary mag? I always figured they would, but just stick out the bottom an extra inch or so.

I PMed a member on here who has a couple Safari Arms pistols and he explained to me that the issue is indeed with the groove. Quite frankly, I have been wanting to get a Raven Concealment holster after reading GREAT things about them, and it would be a great way to get a relatively inexpensive, custom fit, quality holster. If there are any other SA owners out there who CARRY them, please chime in as I am getting a variety of answers about the holster.

Thanks again to all for the discussion. I am learning more about SA and appreciate any and all input/discussion.

 

[MAHamlin]

As I understand it, the large mags will feed an officers frame, but I don't know if there are drawback aside from the looks. And I'm assuming you mean to use the full size mags just for range duty. If you plan on carrying and using the full size mags you should stick with the full size frame as there is no point to a shorter frame if there will still be a mag sticking out there. You can get 7+1 officers frame mags tho. I know Tripp and Wilson make them for sure. I would assume others do as well though.

 

[theturtle06]

I would carry the 6+1 in the gun and the 8rd as my secondary mag. And of course at the range I'd definitely be loading the 8rds and definitely using the 6rds to test for reliability too. I will check Wilson, and if they make a 7+1 flush fitting mag for an officer's frame, I am SET!!!

And bingo. Wilson Mags you were talking about