One of my favorite pastimes is admiring the guns of the old-time lawmen. I visit museums and collect old photographs and books chocked full of those treasures that hearken back to a time we will never see again.
Some of the Texas Rangers from the past wore engraved guns that were presented to them by appreciative citizens. Others kept a “barbeque gun” to show off on special occasions while wearing a more conservative piece for everyday work. Some wore their decorated guns daily.
A particular time period I find most interesting is the early 1900s to the late 50s and early 60s. This era covers lawmen from the bandit wars along our southern border with Old Mexico. It was a transition period for lawmen who often worked horseback and then took off their spurs to utilize a modern invention called the automobile. A lot of those guys wore Colt Single Action Armies and Smith & Wesson Double-Action revolvers.
One of the earliest Texas Rangers from this era to embrace the Colt 1911 was Charlie Miller. By all accounts, Miller was the real deal — friendly to the good folks of Texas, but tough and deadly when he had to be.
It is said that Miller tied down the grip safety of his 1911s after being stabbed from behind by a criminal exhibiting poor judgment. The odd position of his aggressor made it difficult for Miller to properly grip his pistol and press the grip safety to stop the attack. He eventually got it done. Future wrapping of a thin rawhide lace tightly around the grip frame to depress the grip safety was his cure to the problem. Sheriff Jim Wilson has chronicled Charlie Miller tales in the past, as only he can do, and they are definitely worth seeking out.
This introduction is my way of taking the “long way around the barn,” so to speak, to showcase a beautiful, yet rugged, Vintage Edition 1911 offered by Custom & Collectable Firearms. As soon as I opened the classy black box, I thought to myself, “This is the gun Charlie Miller would carry!”
Custom & Collectable Firearms
Custom & Collectable Firearms adds custom touches to good guns to make them exquisite. This company is dedicated to producing top-shelf, unique heirlooms that are worthy of being passed on from generation to generation. They fall into an exclusive class of functional art firearms. Currently, they have guns available from manufacturers like Colt, Kimber, Henry, Daniel Defense, Springfield Armory, and Sig on their website.
Passing by their booth at the SHOT Show last January, I was immediately drawn in by two engraved Colt Pythons they had on display, one in stainless and the other labeled “Dark Series” with a deep black finish. Both revolvers wore good-fitting elk antler stocks. A color case hardened “1 of 100” Ruger Blackhawk in 45 Colt with a little tasteful engraving and figured wood stocks also had my full attention.
The Colt Government Model Vintage Edition, 1 of 300 in 45 ACP
The Vintage Edition is a stunning gun. It is built on a 5-inch Colt Government Model and is chambered in the time-honored 45 ACP. The slide and frame are beautifully color cased while the hammer, trigger, grip safety, thumb safety, and slide lock are blued. Heavily barked stag stocks cover the grip frame of this fine pistol, offering a good purchase between hand and gun. Not too thick, not too thin, they feel just right to this shooter.
Tyler Gun Works is renowned in the firearms world for quality firearms finishes. Bobby Tyler and his team administered the beautiful color case hardening on this pistol and dressed it in the elk stag grips. Both add a rugged, custom look to the gun.
The Vintage Edition is conservatively custom. Not too showy, but elegant at the same time. No-nonsense fixed sights ride atop the slide and follow along nicely with the subtleness of the gun. The fixed ramp front allows for a bold sight picture.
At the rear of the right side of the slide, just forward of the hammer, the gun is numbered for its particular place in the series of 300 guns. Mine reads “284 of 300.” Also on the right side, “Vintage Edition” is tastefully scripted between the ejection port and muzzle.
Functional Art Firearm
Pretty is great, but will it shoot? There was only one way to find out, so I packed up an assortment of 45 ACP ammo from Black Hills (230 gr. FMJ), Buffalo Bore (45 ACP+P 185 gr. JHP and 45 ACP +P 255 gr. Outdoorsman), and Remington (230 gr. FMJ) and headed to the range.
While this 1911 comes with one 7-round Colt magazine, I had an additional Never Unarmed 8-round magazine on hand that I received from Lynn Thompson of Cold Steel fame. Thompson’s Never Unarmed magazines are stainless steel, well-thought-out, affordable, and most importantly, reliable.
After a little take-up, the trigger on this gun breaks nice and crisp just a bit over five pounds. The clean break actually makes the trigger pull feel much lighter than what it is.
For starters, I ran several magazines through the gun shooting with a two-hand, standing hold from 25 to 50 yards on a small steel silhouette target.
In the first 60 rounds or so I experienced two failures to feed (one from each magazine) when the slide did not return to battery and completely chamber a round. This is not the fault of the gun, magazines, nor ammunition. It is a simple part of the break-in process and I only mention it as a reminder.
Any gun, especially one that is going to be carried as a defensive or hunting gun, needs to be thoroughly shot, broken in, and tested with the intended carry ammunition before doing so to ensure reliability. (Note: After firing groups, I ran another box of ammunition through the gun and both magazines with no further issues.)
As you can see from the photo of the target, this gun is a shooter, chewing ragged holes at 12 yards when I do my part. I pulled a couple shots in two of the groups and knew when I did it.
For accuracy testing I rested my hands on a sandbag while sitting and holding the front sight at 6 o’clock on the orange circles. After shooting groups, I left the bench and fired some more at the 50-yard steel target unsupported with two and one-hand holds. The pistol produced consistent ear-pleasing dings. This gun will shoot!
This is a beautiful, quality 1911 and one that folks will definitely inquire about when they see it. More importantly, it shoots as good as it looks. This particular edition is a Sports South Exclusive special run of 1 of 300 “Vintage Edition” 1911s, so don’t wait if you want one.
This is a gun that could certainly be purchased as a showpiece to proudly display under the dim light of a glassed case, but I’m seriously inclined to buy it and wear it in a leather holster and try to wear it out by firing as many rounds as possible through the pistol and passing it on to my grandson when I am an old man. I’m sure Ranger Miller would agree!
