Boomsticks: Another Mini-1911 bites the dust...

You think I'd learn.

In the last five years or so, at least four sub-5" 1911's have wended their way through my collection, yet none remain today.

First was the ParaOrd P.12-45. Despite repeat appearances in my battery and a generally good reliability record, this chubby little pistol never really caught my heart. I gave it one last chance at a fling this year, but it still couldn't make me swoon. Wide of girth and full of nastily cast parts, it was always just a Painted Ordnance at heart, and now it is gone.

Next was a Springfield V-10 Ultra Compact. I dumped a ton of money on this little beastie, but it always shot low for me. Plus, it was ported, didn't like anything other than full-power ammo, and the slide would rust if you looked at it crosseyed. I dumped a Beretta Border Marshal for it back in '01, and wound up swapping it for a 3" S&W Model 610 back in '04.

After that was a Kimber Compact. Less than 48 hours later I was trading it back to the friend I'd received it from: I just couldn't warm up to the little gun, with its MIM parts and its bastard slide length.

The most recent attempt was a Colt Gunsite CCO. It was nice and light, but its light weight and small size made it a flinch-inducing beastie for me if the range session went beyond a couple of magazines. Additionally, I had been exposed to a raft of cool 1911 customizing ideas from the fertile mind-meld of our two gunsmiths in the back, and I lacked a base gun to try them out on (I mean, the cheapest 1911 I had lying around was a Clackamas rollmarked Kimber with a sub-8k serial #; not exactly a piece whose frame you want to huck up in the mill vise....) So, I 86'ed the CCO in exchange for a stainless 1991A1 and a T/C Encore rifle (that's all I need: a way to spend each and every paycheck on new barrels and chamberings for the T/C,) and plan on building the 1991 up in grand style: checkering, grip reduction, beavertail, XS sights, et cetera, ad nauseum. Watch this space for photos as Shannon and Bob work their juju...