"The Howdah" A Ned Christiansen Creation...

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  • cundiff5535

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    44   0   0
    Feb 19, 2012
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    Nwi
    Whats up guys, I hope all are having a great start to your weekend! As most of you all know from my post history, I have some pretty decent 1911's. That said, there are not many 1911's on the market or even builders of 1911's that I have not either owned or handled. I have to say, that has given me a much deeper appreciation for some of them, and been a real eye opening experience with others. With that said, A few weeks ago I was faced with a buying decision that would likely never come up again... "The Howdah"

    The gun was built by Ned Christiansen... If you dont know of him, I would really encourage you to go take a look around the web and read up on him. Not only is he a mechanical genius... he is truly the mad scientist... and he's one hell of a nice guy!

    Lets get into the Howdah...

    It is unlike anything I have ever seen, EVER. This 1911 is built on an LAR Grizzly Mark I in .45 Winchester Magnum. It is one of only two "spec" guns Ned has ever built (meaning it came directly from his head and was executed to his liking to then sell).

    The theme of this pistol was "dangerous game hunting", especially tigers. I am not sure a 1911 is truly capable of taking a tiger, but it sure would be interesting to wear this as your sidearm on an African hunt for big cats... Or deep into the Asian wild… for tigers!

    I want to dig in a bit on the details of this gun. If you're not looking close enough, you may just glance right past em!

    First up, the sights!!! The Howdah 1911 has handmade, one-off express sights that Ned designed based off of what you would see on a tiger hunters double rifle. They were fabricated from 4130 barstock. These sights can not be bought at a store... they were literally designed from the ground up for both fast acquisition and accuracy specifically for dangerous game hunting. These are heavy duty sights—the front sight is lugged and double pinned for extreme use and maximum durability. It has been drilled out and has a piece of large diameter elephant ivory inserted and recessed over a tritium lamp. If anyone here knows about African/Asia hunting double guns (for hunting dangerous game), you will see an extremely close resemblance of the rear sight featured on The Howdah... Its a robust ramped sight with a wide-open 90 degree "V notch" that literally looks like it was on a double rifle. Ned serrated the rear slope of the sight, drilled it out, and recessed it forward with a tritium lamp for low light conditions. Both sights are perfectly blended to the gun giving it a clean beautiful streamline look. The sights alone on the pistol are a true work of craftsmanship and pure class. They are not only FAST, but accurate.

    The parts... Ned used an assortment of premium parts and components to really refine the gun to be not only accurate, but super strong and reliable. Here is what those look like.
    • Ed Brown MSH
    • Nowlin Magazine catch
    • Nowlin Firing pin Spring
    • EGW Slide Stop
    • EGW Bushing
    • Chip McComick Grip Safety
    • Fire Control/Action Parts: Wilson Combat Sear, Ed Brown Strut, Wilson Hammer
    • Kings Custom grip screws
    • 25lb Wolff Main Spring

    I do not think giving a list of parts would do this Howdah justice as these are not just parts that were put into the gun. I want to take a moment and now talk through the actual modifications that Ned did to the pistol as well as those parts listed up top.

    First and foremost, the machining on the gun is like nothing I’ve ever seen. It’s literally mind blowing to look at the package and take in all the work and clean up done. The slide of the pistol has not only been dehorned and softened up just a hair (to prevent snags etc), its been corrected in every way. As mentioned up top, the gun has been made to house the express sights. As you look at the rear of the gun, you will see the serrations on the sights transition down to the frame. That sight falls off directly to more serrations, finally to some light stipple work. These are the small details that an untrained eye would simply gloss over. If you look at the top of the slide you will see a 4 diamond pattern. I know for a fact this wasn't Neds intention, but what better pattern for a Dangerous Game hunting pistol than some "diamonds". I can't help but think of African Blood Diamonds or those deep Asian jungle treasure hunts ... Kinda interesting how that just fell into place. Speaking of that diamond pattern... Sheesh, I have no clue how one thinks that up, calculates out how to cut that, or even puts that into motion by hand. The level of detail and handwork on that alone tells you all you need to know about the time and effort put forth in making this 100% quality and special. The frame of this gun has also been gone through, touched up, and reshaped. The trigger guard has had the square shape re-profiled to a tradition snag proof look (which IMO looks much better), the frame has been radically reduced in size as well. Ned couldn't go full crazy on reduction as the recoil of a 45 Win mag could eventually hurt the structural integrity... knowing Neds fabrication and mechanical background, you can be sure he has left enough metal for no major concern though. The front strap of this gun has been reshaped and high cut to let the pistol sit down in your hand. In addition to that, Ned took a Chip McCormick Grip Safety, blended it nicely, re-profiled it, and dehorned it to allow the user to get as high up into the gun as possible. This helps manage felt recoil.

    Lets talk more about that front strap. This pistol has Neds signature Conamyds which for me, may just be the very best front strap treatment I have ever felt. Again, the time and effort it must take to machine those out so perfectly is hard to grasp. Not only does the front strap have this, Ned also wrapped these Conamyds slightly both up front and on the back to make it appear that the gun is completely wrapped in these (again, those small details). That brings me to the Ed Brown MSH... The MSH has also been drastically reduced to minimize the girth. As most LAR owners know, this gun could be looked as as a boat anchor... Not this one! Once Ned cut the MSH, he then machined his Conamyds onto it. From there he then opened up the magwell nicely to assist in reloading during a tiger attack:). After all that, the frame and MSH were then welded, and recut and re-profiled wider to avoid any gaps that would have been seen due to reshaping the frame. Again... The gun is insane!

    If we look at the smaller details of the gun, you will notice that Nowlin mag catch, Ned took and cut 1/2 scale Conamyds to match the rest of the gun. The Wilson Combat thumb safety was also re-profiled and blended to the gun. He took the EGW Slide Stop flattened and serrated it and cut it to match the custom diamond pattern on the top of the slide. Ned also took the EGW Firing Pin Stop that was an over sized part, then reduced it down and had the radius recut to roll the hammer back to assist in felt recoil. The (physical) Trigger was actually lightened and refit to the frame... The control group was gone through with a fine tooth comb, all tool steel WC hammer, WC sear, disconnector, and Ed Brown Strut to give this pistol a slightly heavy (hunting), but very crisp trigger pull.

    From there Ned tested and started to work the barrel of the gun... The chamber has been reamed to give this gun a a slightly longer throat, the chamber is now perfect SAMMI spec for 45acp. The barrel bushing was replaced with an EGW and has been fit perfectly to the slide... it was bored and angle bored to fit the gun perfectly.

    Once all the work was completed, Ned took the gun, removed all machine marks, sharp edges, and blasted it down to bare metal perfection. It was then flat sanded and hand polished at Neds shop. Glenrock Blue (who does some amazing work) did a final polish and hot salt blued it.

    Once this masterpiece was completed, Ned gave the fine folks at Nutmeg Sports a call and had a set of Elephant ivory grips cut for this bad boy. He sent in pages of notes (which I received with the gun) that included dimensions and some hand sketched drawings of what he wanted in terms of scrimshaw on the ivory. As you can see these grips are as perfect as the gun is. A true masterpiece of art!

    The pistol has been test fired using CorBon's 320-grain solid load, these run about 1100 FPS. Even with the express sights, which are very fast up close, Ned was able to get just under 3" groups at 28 yards with no problem.

    As a whole, this 1911 is insane... actually a better word is "wild"! Literally from the base gun, to the caliber, to all the Ned Christiansen touches, it's hard to wrap your mind around all the logistics of the pistol. Especially, how one achieves machining those top diamonds with transverse lines. This 1911 is unlike anything I have seen before, it is certainly different than all the others in my stable (and I have some awesome ones). I am truly blessed to add another one off gun that will never be duplicated by anyone. I hope you all enjoyed the write up... I hope you enjoy the video of me showing it off (although I have misspoke a few times in the video), as well as the pictures I am including here in the thread.

    As always, feel free to comment, ask questions, etc... Always happy to give more thoughts and perspective to you all!!

    I do want to add, this will be my dedicated hunting gun. I plan to either take it Deer hunting, Hog Hunting, or something like that sooner than later. I will be looking to have a shoulder holster/chest rig made up for her. I am thinking some exotic elephant with orange stitching... maybe incorporate a tiger or something just to keep with the theme. I would love to hear ideas, holster maker suggestions, etc... Thanks a ton for reading a long!

    -Bobby Cee


     
    Last edited:

    Dean C.

    Master
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    2   0   0
    Aug 25, 2013
    4,429
    113
    Westfield
    WOW that is the best looking 1911's I have ever seen and I am not even a fan of your "standard" LAR Grizzlies (they look too blocky stock to me). I really like the sight system on the pistol as well it's very well blended into the handgun overall.

    Might I suggest Nightingale Leather, I think they can make almost exactly what you want. My normal first suggestion for shoulder rigs Alessi is unfortunately not an option as apparently Lou passed away recently.

     
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