Ed Brown 1911 Commander 45ACP

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    Trapper Jim

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    22   0   0
    Dec 18, 2012
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    Arcadia
    This Ed Brown Custom Commander Ed Brown Products 1911 Handguns and Parts Review is up next. From 2002 I visited Ed in his shop during a visit to PASA Park. I laid out exactly what I wanted and didn’t look back. My yellow brick road down the 1911 path is colorful. Many of you will be able to relate.

    Growing up on revolvers and then spending time with Ray Chapman at a few beginnings of what is now called USPSA, I was convinced I needed to get into the 1911 cult. And so it begins. I started out with an AMT hardballer. At The Golden Eagle Championship in Evansville (Newburg) that gun had more jams and malfunctions than shooters who need hearing aids today. Jerry Barnhart helped me get through the match but I got rid of that gun the same weekend. I wanted something that ran…all the time..with anything I fed it. Period. I found a used Plaxco (couldn’t afford new custom guns) and it ran alright but it had hammer follow and I knew nothing in those days about fixing it. Being a rebel and trying to not drink the 1911 Koolaid Now comes my Smith and Wesson Model 645. It worked and worked well. Then I upgraded to a 745. It worked and worked well. I graduated to the 845 and finally to the 945 when it dawned on me, I needed to just bite the bullet and get a real 1911.

    This 2002 Ed Brown Commander is of course all steel (aluminum is good for beer cans) and the inside is finished as well as the outside. The slide feels like it is on ball bearings. I just love the top slide treatment being machined and serrated before the sight cuts. The Bomar sights are bruised but not broken. I have never had a BoMar or an Ed Brown Target sight fail. I do have an extended mag release on this as I do not like the Oversize buttons that some like on 1911’s. I do like to play with different grips on my 1911 and the paint ones are from Esmeralda. Exotic Grips by Esmeralda. This gun came with exotic cocobolo but in actual use cocobolo turn dark. There are other woods that keep their character, even with sweaty dirty hands and sunlight. As the picture shows and with all my 1911, I only use carbon tool steel for the extractor and ejector. There is a reason.

    I like the low profile all steel front sight on my all my serious guns. I have some Springers that I run FO on, but that is for the games only. FO deteriorate with uv light and cleaning chemicals, get brittle, fail in the field and the sight base has less steel material for hard knock use. Not my cup of tea for the street. The gun came with a nice pistol case and two magazines. The trigger broke right at 4LB, perfect for my street guns, and was as crisp as a freshly baked pretzel rod. When cleaning this gun after use, it only takes about four patches and the inside of the barrel becomes a mirror finish.

    I met Ed Brown in Columbia MO in 1981. Right off the bat, I liked this guy as he sugarcoated nothing and told it like it is. Like Chapman, he had very little patience for stupid people. Chapman wasn’t one for grading in purple ink. Brown was hammering together Colt guns and I wanted one of his flagships. Brushed Nickel bottom with carbon blue slide, Maxi Comp and full treatment was my first real 1911 that worked and worked all the time, not to mention very accurate as well. I shot godzillions of rounds through this gun and got all my money back in getting some more Browns.. In the reasonable priced custom market, I find these to all be good guns. Yes, there are some higher end guns that are nice but when I am asked today about which 1911 to get, I always suggest Springfield Armory for production grade and Brown, RR, and Baer for custom grade. These guns work and they last. Think of gunnernomics like this, If you are 25 years old and want to have a great shooting lifespan, you can spend $3000 on a custom 1911, shoot it all your life and skip looking around on the ground for failed parts now and then. Or, you can juggle many lower end guns, eventually wasting more money and you get to keep your Brownells Edge account in good shape. It seems like many of today’s shooters do not run a cost per rounds fired without a problem but yet say $3000 is too much to pay. Strange.

    Pistolcraft as taught in the early years was so much fun. Fluid Presentation, recovery and staying in the fight with a dependable tool was paramount. Very few combat courses were more than 15 rounds. Usually 12 so that revolvers could play too. There were few gimmicks and gizmos on our basic combat handguns and no one told us we were missing out as we got the job done on a “work with what we got” basis. That is the concept in my 1911 45Club stages. High Stress Combat (within safety guideline) Pass or Fail. It is revealing to say the least.

    So in between my journey, I have tried Colt’s, Paras, Taurus, Remington, and a host of no names. The time, despair and money that I had to put into these was a far less bargain than a $2000 Brown. Any Brown. I built me a few 1911’s from scratch and ended up with some great guns but if I had to pay for my bench time, trips to the range etc, my MSRP would have to be about $8000! Building 1911’s is a great way to understand them though and like others I can build them pretty easy today. I am still puzzled by the many gun owners who put up with stuff that won’t work ALL the time. How can one say he is ready for anything if his stuff don’t work and constantly test his skill? Strange.

    Now I know, on the average, $3000 may mean getting the custom gun or not for many Hoosiers today. If it is out of reach for an investment, then start with a Springer until you can afford a RR, Les Baer or Ed Brown Custom. If you never can get the finances then your Springer will go many thousands of rounds until you may need something.
    I am not paid any compensation for these reviews and tell it like I see it. These are my own opinions only and everyone is entitled to their own. As I look back I wish I would have not wasted money on this early 1911 trip. But experience is what you get, when you do not get what you want. The mind justifies what the heart desires and I had a big heart and the courage to forge ahead and learn the hard way. If I had it to do over again, I first would get a brain.

    Good Shooting Everyone!!!

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