By Patrick Sweeney

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I took the Colt 1911 with me on my next range trip (a gravel pit outside of town), and I was soon crushed. Out of the box, it would not go a full magazine without malfunctioning. The problems were never the same, always something different than what had happened in the previous magazine. I said “magazine,” not box of ammo or practice day.

I had to learn some basic gunsmithing and gun plumbing just to get it to work. Once I got it going, I found that it was, at best, casually accurate. By this time, I had laid hands on a Ransom Rest, so I tested the Colt 1911. With Remington match wadcutter ammo, it could barely keep five consecutive shots on a piece of typing paper at 50 yards. For those who are so digital you’ve forgotten what paper is, that means it was, at best, shooting 8- to 9-inch groups at 50 yards from a machine rest. Nothing personal, Colt, but it is easy to see why there were so many people starting to pop up to build, and later make, 1911s back in the 1980s and so many gunsmiths willing to work on them.

I saved my hard-earned radio DJ money and sent off my Colt 1911 to a name ‘smith for accuracy work. He gave it the full state-of-the-art build, circa 1982. He welded and refit the barrel, peened the rails and lapped the slide to them. He fit a bushing to the slide and barrel that was so tight you could see oil oozing out when you turned the bushing into place. It was cutting-edge work and expensive, taking an agonizing five months to complete. Upon the Colt 1911’s return, in the Ransom Rest it could barely keep five consecutive shots on a piece of typing paper at 50 yards. (Admit it; you saw that one coming.)

By this time, I knew a local gunsmith. He was always behind in his work, and I asked if he needed help. He did, I joined, and I apprenticed for a year. In that time, I discovered how to do many things, including how to fit a 1911 barrel. One thing I discovered was that I simply needed a drop-in Bar-Sto barrel to make that pistol a tackdriver.

Soon after, I discovered bowling-pin shooting. Pin shooting was simple, five bowling pins on a steel-topped table. On the start signal, shoot them off the table faster than anyone else. The times of your best five of six runs totaled was your score. The fastest shooter gets first pick of the loot and all the glory. In order for me to be competitive, the Colt 1911 got extras added. The grip safety is a Safari Arms, the best to be had back in the Neolithic era. The sight is an original-design Novak. It has a King’s thumb safety. The best parts, the ones that shaved extra tenths of a second off each table, are the porting and the guide rod.

The Colt 1911’s guide rod first. You can’t get anything like it anymore. It is a Harrt’s Recoil Reducer, and the interior has mercury and a couple of ball bearings to work as baffles. The mercury, sloshing around inside of the tube, dampens recoil, and it adds a smidgen more weight. At this point, the EPA is probably scrambling a quick-reaction team to airdrop on my address, as mercury is hazardous. You’ve heard the phrase “mad as a hatter”? Mercury was used centuries ago as a product to finish hats, and those poor slobs who made hats went crazy due to their mercury exposure. It worked, but it was dangerous, and if it leaked, you had mercury all over the place.

Mag-well funnels like this are easier to install these days than this one was, which Sweeney soldered in the 1980s. Former competitors of this era such as Bill Wilson developed commercial solutions based on personal experience. Wilson’s doesn’t require gunsmithing.

The second is the