Early on in life I learned the valuable lesson to never miss out on a good opportunity, and since that time I’ve done my best to recognize and take hold of the opportunities I came upon or that were presented to me. This personal list of opportunities would range from things like having the business partners that I’m blessed to have... certain memorable training/shooting experiences with all manner of neat guns and knowledgeable shooters... or something as simple as the opportunity to do my best... and in this case the opportunity to build for a customer a gun that is spec’d out how ever I want it to be. This gun is just one such example...
The gun was ordered by one of out favorite customers at the shop... which is kind of misleading because in reality they are all our favorite customers.We get to work with and for some of the best folks life has to offer and this gentleman in particular has been a customer and friend of ours for a number of years. He’s the kind of guy who always brings with him a smile and you can’t help but take part of that away with you. His only request for this gun was to have it built on a stainless Colt Series 70... from there it was all up to me.
And being a true icon of the firearms industry and a serious collector, a basic low-frills gun was never gonna’ cut it for this gentleman. Like all of our customers the function of the gun is a given and at that point is where the detail becomes preeminently important. It would be easy to simply matte blast the entire piece or not attend to the lines, wrinkles, and bumps that so often accompany a Colt base gun... but we have always felt that a good gun needs to be ‘visual’ as well functional. And, after all, this was one of those “opportunities” so why would I leave a stone un-turned?
Best grade is as best grade does... and as is our standard I started the build by re-fitting the frame and slide via welded frame rails. From there I fit a Kart barrel with EGW bushing, flattened and serrated the slide top, fit a Professional Grade rear sight mated up with one of our Gold Line front sights, and serrated the rear of the slide. Next was an S&A grip safety pivoting on one of EGW’s machined thumb safeties, a slightly extended and angled back mag-catch, best quality trigger job using a Wilson hammer, and of course only the best internals throughout the rest of the gun. The front-strap and main-spring housing were both hand checkered at 30lpi, the mag-well was beveled, slide bordered, and of course all lines were detailed and straightened. Finish the gun off with brushed frame and slide flats and a set of Spegel cocobolo stocks and the gun is ready to work. Enjoy!
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