Harrison Custom LW Commander

[Sam]

He said the package returned from Walter Birdsong and ready for me to come by and pick it up.

I bought this used Colt Lightweight Commander from a guy on The Highroad.org. It was in decent shape but like all factory Colts, it was sharp and not very friendly to my hand. I put half a box through just to see if it ran, it ran all right, also took some skins off my hand. Satisfied with its functioning, I took it to John Harrison to let him defang it and made it ready for carry.

John did the following (from my memory, not from the work order form):

Dehorned entire pistol
Bevel magazine well
Trigger job (4.5 lb) with short solid trigger and new sear
Wilson beavertail
Brown thumb safety
Yo-Bo Retro rear sight
SDM front sight that John installed his own gold bead
Serrated flat MSH and round butted
Match bushing installed using original Colt barrel
Reliability package
King's round commander hammer
Black T finish by Birdsong

This will make a good carry gun.

[rob_s]

Looks pretty dang good. What did you pay for the base gun and the work?

[dubb-1]

Nice, RT!

DW

[VA_Dinger]

Wow, that is truly one impressive looking 1911.

Let us know how it shoots.

[Sam]

I paid $700 for the base gun.

I put 100 rounds through it today, 0 malfunction, even with the gun bone dry. Recoil was sharp due to the lightweight frame but manageable.

Thanks all for the kind words.

[TOrrock]

Great looking pistol! I can't shoot a 1911 without a beavertail, or there is blood.

Let us know how that BlackT holds up to holster wear and cleaning!

Thanks for posting pics of the new toy!

[bigbore]

Originally Posted by dubb-1

Nice, RT!

DW

Now, you're just being nice. You're like me in that we both believe if it isn't steel and doesn't have a 5" barrel its not a 1911.



Waiting to hear how its holding up and reliabilty issues after the first 1K rounds.

[dubb-1]

While it is true that I have no interest in a 1911 with a barrel shorter than 5", I also know John Harrison and his work. That gun is built to run, and has a nice simplistic appeal. While there are some considerations to be dealt with when going to a shorter barrel, I don't fault those that like them. RT has a few guns from Harrison, one of which a Ti Commander. Now that is a nice piece.

As to Black-T, it holds up well. Even after high spots begin to wear, you'll find no corrosion issues. Black-T is my favorite finish for guns that are going to see some real use.

[Lumpy196]

Classy and clean, just the way a LW Commander is supposed to be set up in my book.

Im extremely jealous

[Sam]

I don't intend to shoot this gun into the ground. I'll put some rounds through it in the course of its and my lifetime but I don't plan to wear it out. It ran before I sent it to John and it runs even better now (more comfortable anyway). The longer I've had it, the more I've picked up on the minor subtle details that John put into the gun. Thanks all for the kind words.