Old Ugly has become irreplaceable by virtue of its immense sentimental value, so I'm looking to retire it from EDC CCW and replace it with something that wouldn't be a great loss if it ends up in one of the zillion-and-one ways things can go sideways for a CCW iron after use in the line of duty. With some hand issues I have, I have three things I'm rather particular about strongly preferring:
  • A rounded grip-safety-tang, something similar to a late-production WWII Ithaca
  • The A1-style arched mainspring housing
  • A short, rounded (WWII GI-style) trigger to better fit my short fingers


I tend to be partial to basic, no-frills close-to-GI setups like my grandfather carried in the line of duty over his USAF career--the one exception I'd make is I'd really prefer a threaded-barrel option from the factory, but "grip shape" trumps such luxuries every time. (I'm no stranger to 1911 disassembly and parts installation, but for an EDC CCW I prefer not to go changing things.) Back in college I preferred the Springfield (Imbel) PW9108L as a baseline, but it's no longer available. I started to look at Rock Island, but they use the sharp "spur" tang and exclusively use flat MSH's, and their triggers are a bit on the long side. The ATI GI-model has a strike against it in its long, square-edged trigger, but the back half looks almost perfectly matched to the one I've been carrying most of my adult life, so I have two questions.

  1. Does anybody here have any experience with these, and if so are they worth considering?
  2. Does anybody else offer a similar model as regular-production (not a limited run collector model) that has the same rounded grip-safety tang and arched MSH but also has a shorter GI-style trigger which I might look into as a possible alternate option?