Commission-Rodriguez.. - Jim Garthwaite Pistolsmith, Inc.

THE COMPLETE BOOK OF THE
MODEL 1911
THE CUSTOM EDITION
ED BROWN CENTENNIAL
WILSON COMBAT
CONTEMPORARY CLASSIC
CENTENNIAL
FROM THE PUBLISHERS OF
GUNS & AMMO ANNUAL
USA/CANADA
$8.99
DISPLAY UNTIL 11/07/2011
LES BAER CUSTOM
CENTENNIAL
A gun test more than five years in the making.
BY GREG RODRIGUEZ // PHOTOS BY LANCE BERTOLINO
86 BOOK OF THE 1911
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GARTHWAITE’S COMMISSION
Custom pistolsmith Jim Garthwaite took the idea of blending the slide to the frame and went beyond filing. He gave the rear of the slide an
impressive 40-lpi checkered surface before flattening and serrating the Heinie rear sight. It all started with a Caspian slide, titanium frame
and Wilson’s match barrel.
A
quick look through Guns &
Ammo’s 2011 Buyer’s Guide
will reveal a plethora of 1911
offerings in varying sizes
and weights. Neophytes may fall prey
to the wiles of newfangled compact or
subcompact variants such as the CCO,
Defender or Officers Models, but for
most 1911 devotees there are but two
1911s: the Government Model and the
Lightweight Commander.
Those folks’ disdain for smaller 1911s
is not without merit. Though the smaller
guns seem like a better option for concealed carry, they can be fickle when compared with the way John Moses Browning
chose to design it. Those reliability woes
are largely a thing of the past, but gun
folks tend to be set in their ways, and few
serious 1911 collectors I know pay much
attention to those pint-size variants.
Most 1911-ophiles agree that the
Commander-size pistol represents the
most controllable sub-full-size 1911 and
the shortest 1911 that can be counted
on to run with the same relentless
reliability as a full-size gun. The
41/4-inch Commander is only
three-quarters of an inch shorter
than the Government Model, but
that’s enough of a difference to make the
gun more concealable and easier to wear
when you’re seated. Its shorter slide clears
leather more quickly as well.
All Commanders are not created equal.
The all-steel Combat Commander weighs
a beefy 36 ounces, while the Lightweight
Commander weighs over a half pound less
at 27 ounces. Its combination of reliability,
concealability and light weight has made the
Lightweight Commander the go-to pistol for
folks who pack 1911s on a daily basis.
I’ve owned several factory and lightly
customized Colt Lightweight Commanders over the years, but in 2006 I decided I
needed a full-house custom. I talked to several ’smiths about the project, but I decided
to go with pistolsmith Jim Garthwaite
(garthwaite.com) because he specializes
in building carry guns and was willing to
build one on Caspian’s titanium frame.
The Devil is in the Details
I could have had Jim build the gun on a
factory Colt, but I wanted to go with a
Caspian slide and frame set for several
reasons. Chief among them is being able
to order the slide devoid of markings and
a frame with a custom serial number. I
would have been perfectly happy with
an alloy frame, but I didn’t have a choice
since Caspian’s only lightweight frames
are made from titanium. Titanium sounds
cool, but the dust generated by filing and
cutting on it is toxic, and titanium is hell
on expensive cutting tools. Titanium
frames are also a couple of ounces heavier
than alloy frames. Not surprisingly, many
’smiths won’t work on titanium, so I was
relieved when Garthwaite agreed to take
on my project.
He started by beveling the magazine
well and carefully hand-sculpting the
frame for a higher grip. He also handcheckered the frontstrap and the alloy
mainspring housing at 30 lines per inch. I
like 30-lpi checkering because it gives me
the traction I need without tearing up my
clothes or hands. The checkering on my
Commander is perfectly executed, with
straight lines and crisp, sharp points.
Garthwaite also fitted a Wilson Combat beavertail grip safety. He reshaped
the safety a bit and smoothed the bump
at the bottom of the safety so it’s smooth
and round, yet still prominent enough to
ensure that I engage it automatically every
time I draw the pistol, even if my grip is
less than perfect. The safety is beautifully
fitted, with no sharp edges between it and
the frame.
Other frame-mounted controls include
a machined steel slide stop from Bob
Greider and a thumb safety from Ed
Brown. Garthwaite started with an
oversize part and sculpted it into a great
tactical safety that offers just enough of a
shelf for my thumb without getting in the
way. The safety engages smoothly and positively, with an audible and tactile click.
Garthwaite also added a checkered mag
release from Ed Brown. I am not a fan of
extended magazine releases, so I asked him
to go with a standard part, but he went
above and beyond. He started with an
oversize part that he cut down and angled,
with the high side toward the trigger. He
also checkered the catch. The combination
of the angle and the checkering gives your
thumb more surface area to push against,
which makes it easier to engage without
the added length that makes magazines
pop out inadvertently.
I ordered Videcki’s short, aluminum
trigger so the gun would better fit my
hands. Garthwaite installed his own tool
steel hammer, sear and disconnector and
then performed his carry trigger job. The
resulting pull is a clean, smooth three
pounds, seven ounces with just the right
amount of takeup and minimal overtravel.
The Commander-length slide I ordered
from Caspian is devoid of markings. Jim
lowered and flared the ejection port and
checkered the rear of the slide, the extractor and the ejector at 40 lpi to reduce glare.
On this particular gun, Garthwaite
applied 30-lpi checkering to the flat
mainspring housing and reshaped a
Wilson Combat beavertail grip safety.
And just like with the rest of this 1911,
sharp edges are gone.
Even after a half decade of use, the barrel
fit and slide-to-frame fit remain capable of
producing groups measuring well under two
inches in the hands of the author.
88 BOOK OF THE 1911
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BOOK OF THE 1911
89
GARTHWAITE’S COMMISSION
painted sights in low light. They work well
in bright light, too. Garthwaite regulated
the sights to hit dead-on at 25 yards with
Federal’s 230-grain Hydra Shok load.
Once he had all the parts fitted to his
satisfaction, he put the gun together and proceeded to take off all the sharp edges. Rather
than giving it that amorphous look that is so
prevalent these days, he tastefully radiused
the edges so the gun is smooth and snag-free
while retaining its distinctive 1911 profile.
Then he finished the pistol in black semigloss KG Gunkote and added a gorgeous set
of Goncalo Alves grips from Hogue.
First Impressions
My pistol seemed like it took forever to arrive, but I was so thrilled when I unboxed
it that I forgot all about the nine-month
wait. What struck me first was the obvious
quality of the work and its clean, classic
look, which is exactly what I envisioned
when I commissioned the gun. I know that
radical metal treatments are all the rage,
but some of those designs look like they’d
be more at home as piercings in some punk
kid’s nose than on a pistol.
Garthwaite’s hand-checkering and the
perfect fit to each part really impressed
me. So did his trigger work—my Garthwaite gun’s trigger still ranks among the
two or three best 1911 triggers I’ve ever
tripped. I was also very happy with the
finish. Though it lacks the soul and rich,
deep color of traditional rust bluing, it is
attractive and also corrosion-resistant—an
important feature here on the Gulf Coast
of Texas.
It’s been a long time since I first shot my
Garthwaite gun, but I can still recall how
reliably it ran and how impressed I was by
the tiny groups I printed with it. Looking
back at my notes, I fired several groups
right around 11/2 inches from a sandbag
rest with Federal’s 230-grain Hydra-Shok
load the first day I took it out, and it hit
right on top of the front sight, as I specified when I ordered it.
In five years of carry and use, this Commander has shown no accuracy degredation or
stoppages with defensive hollowpoints. This seven-shot, three-inch group is what to
expect of it at 50 yards.
The face of the Heinie rear sight is serrated
at the same 40 lpi. The top of the slide is
flattened and serrated at 40 lpi as well.
Garthwaite stresses the reliability of
his pistols, but he does a great job in the
accuracy department, too. Before he got
too far along with my gun, he fitted the
frame to the slide to make sure it would
shoot to his standards. He also hand-fitted
90 BOOK OF THE 1911
a stainless match barrel and bushing from
Wilson Combat and lapped them in. The
barrel locks up solidly.
I ordered Heinie sights, but I asked Garthwaite to leave the rear sight black and add a
gold bead to the dovetailed front sight. I am
very fond of gold beads for all-around work.
They don’t glow like tritium, but gold beads
never fade, and they’re brighter than many
HIGH-END GUN LEATHER
FROM MAT DEL FATTI
the Gunkote finish has held up very well.
I have also grown to love the front sight’s
gold bead even more, which works equally
well in bright sun and low light. It’s an
elegant touch on a gun as classy as the
Garthwaite Commander.
I’ve shot my titanium Commander a lot
over the last five years. It is still malfunction-free, and I never cease to be amazed
at its practical accuracy in training. Head
shots are automatic out to 25 yards, and
centered chest hits are a breeze out to 50.
It’s also hell on steel from the 100-yard
line. In preparation for this article, I spent
some time with it on the bench again, and
it hasn’t lost a step there either.
Carrying the titanium Commander is
as enjoyable as shooting it. Its shorter slide
makes it more comfortable to carry than
my Government Model while I’m driving,
and its lighter weight eases the burden on
my back when I wear it for long periods.
I am not about to part with my full-size
guns, but you don’t have to wear one for
long to see why the lightweight Commander is still so popular.
If you’re in the market for an attractive
full-house custom that shoots as good as
Before my pistol arrived, I commissioned
some special carry leather from Del Fatti
Leather (delfatti.com). I own a hunting travel company specializing in Africa.
Mbogo is the Swahili word for Cape buffalo,
which also happens to be my company logo
and Web site (mbogo.net), so I ordered
my frame with the serial number MBOGO1.
I wanted the holster to have an Africa
theme, so I asked Matt to make the holster
and accessories from elephant hide, which
is attractive and incredibly durable.
I chose Matt’s SSK-HTL holster, which is
a belt holster with two closely set loops.
I also ordered a single mag pouch and a
light carrier in matching elephant hide and
a double-thick black cowhide belt with
elephant trim. Fortunately, I ordered the
leather when I ordered the gun, because
Del Fatti isn’t fast. He’s not cheap either,
but he makes some of the most beautiful
gun leather I’ve ever owned.
My carry rig is every bit as nice as I
expected. The elephant hide is absolutely
gorgeous, and the holster is molded precisely to the gun so it holds the pistol securely, but not so tightly that it’s difficult
to draw. It is heirloom-quality gear that
has served me well for the last few years
and, by the looks of it, will continue to
do so for as long as I am able to strap on
Garthwaite’s titanium Commander.
it looks, you would do well to have Jim
Garthwaite build it. He understands that
a custom pistol needs to be more than a
pretty slab of steel, and he does what it
takes to make sure it will work well and
shoot straight right out of the box. My
custom Commander really stretched my
meager budget when I ordered it, but it has
been worth every penny.
American Eagle 230-grain ball clocked the fastest times, averaging 878 fps. However, this pistol
favors Federal’s 230-grain Hydra-Shok load.
A Long Field Test
Its accuracy and reliability earned my
Garthwaite gun a place as one of my
favorite pistols to carry. In fact, I’ve been
carrying it off and on for nearly five years
now. It’s rare that you see a gun test take
five years, but if nothing else, those years
have given me a long time to discover
any potential problems. Fortunately, I
haven’t found any.
The last few years have also given me
ample time to enjoy the pistol’s finer
points. The trigger is still exceptional, and
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ACCURACY RESULTS
Load
American Eagle 230-gr. FMJ
Muzzle
SD
Velocity (fps)
Average Accuracy
(in.)
878
9
2.30
Federal 230-gr. Hydra-Shok
831
8
1.65
Hornady 200-gr. XTP
868
11
1.80
Accuracy results are the average of five five-shot groups fired from a sandbag rest at 15 yards.
Velocity figures are the average of 25 rounds fired over an Oehler 35P chronograph placed 10
feet from the muzzle.
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BOOK OF THE 1911
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