[Bumper]

I can\'t make up my mind which I like best, so I usually carry one or the other....

 

[CHPBill]

What a pair!

That\'s a handsome set of handguns. Tell us some custom specifics about the 1911. Have you done any custom work to the Sig?

 

[Rickman]

That is a nice pair

and I can\'t remember saying that about anything but women in a long time.

 

[Bumper]

Springfield 1911 Champion .45acp

The Sig is, of course, a stock black stainless P226 in .40 S&W. So far have done no work on it. Although a bit on the large and heavy side, I love this weapon. The fit, finish and action is exceptional.

The 1911 .45 is a Springfield Champion model. It was used as a base for number of Robar customizations that the previous owner had done to the weapon. The outside of the frame and slide are finished in Roguard with a complete NP3 on all internals and slide rails. Other work include:

The slide was tightened to the frame lateral and vertical;
Match grade bull barrel (no bushing);
Custom guide rod and spring;
Beveled magazine well;
Lightweight match trigger;
Match sear ;
Complete dehorn;
Throat barrel;
Polish feed ramp and breech face;
Tune extractor;
Ejection port flared and lowered;
Stake link and hammer strut pin;
Upgraded spring kit;
Dovetailed front and rear nitesights;
Beavertail grip safety;
Custom thumb safety;
Crimson Trace LaserGrips.

There may have been some other work done on it, but I think that just about covers the work. This is one of the smoothest shooting 1911\'s I have ever used and, with the additional weight of the bull barrel, has light recoil for a .45 autoloader. The only thing I am planning on doing is replacing the LaserGrips with a set of Esmeralda custom cocobolo grips.

 

[CHPBill]

Custom Springfield

How much would you say is tied up in it after the initial purchase and all of the gunsmithing? $1100? $1200?

 

[Bumper]

re: Custom Springfield work

I expect that it is at least $1000 without adding the cost of the CTC LaserGrips. I asked the guy and he was not sure what he had in it. The grips were $239. After talking to a guy that teaches concealed carry at the range, I actually may sell the grips.

 

[Bumper]

Changes to my lineup

Well, I made a change to my lineup. I sold the Robar Springfield I have carried for awhile and bought a Kimber Eclipse Pro II as my new carry weapon. A couple of trips to the range last week to break it in has revealed that it is a better shooter right out of the box than the Springfield. I sold the Springfield to a guy at work. I didn\'t get the price I was hoping for but Hey! I was in a frenzy to buy the Kimber.

If anyone is looking for an accurate and good looking 1911, take a look at the Kimber Eclipse II. It comes with either a 3\", 4\" or 5\" barrel. I also changed from a Kydex holster (which I really liked) back to a leather IWB holster that I like even more. I will try to get some pictures posted soon. In the meantime, here is a stock photo of it.

 

[Bumper]

More changes....

I will have to get some new pictures, but I recently ran onto a REALLY good deal on a Glock Model 30 .45 and I have to tell you I really like it. For some reason I have never owned a Glock. I guess I always just thought they were ugly. Now that I have one I have come to appreciate it\'s simplicity. I have yet to take it to the range for test drive but expect that will change this weekend. My primary carry gun has been the Kimber lately and don\'t see that changing but the Glock is pretty nice to just shove down in your belt and go....

 

[CHPBill]

I like Glock. They are sort of like a Timex watch. They take a licking and keep on ticking

Seriously, I doubt that you will get the groups you get out of your Kimber or the Robar Springfield you had but they do make really good carry guns. If my memory serves me right, the slide on the Model 30 is about as wide as a railroad tie. One of buddies has had one for a couple of years and swears by it.

 

[Rickman]

I like Glocks, too. I have a Model 22 that I have had several months and it is a great carry gun.

 

[Bumper]

Okay, here we go again. I was going to put the Sig up for sale, but backed out when I figured out another way to buy a new full size Kimber Custom TLE. This is one awesome 1911. Much more accurate than the Robar Springfield I previously had the first time right out of the box.

I also acquired a Springfield XD .40 which I have been really impressed with. It is very accurate, experienced no misfeeds, is light and well made. I have only carried it a couple of times since I am not satisfied with the holster I have for it right now, but it also conceals well. I traded for it hoping my wife would like it. While she initially thought she would, she didn\'t once we took it to the range. While she likes shooting rifles, she doesn\'t like shooting handguns. I expect I will keep it for a while and then move on to a Sig P239.

 

[Bumper]

I decided it was time to drag out the camera. Here\'s a picture of my Kimber Eclipse Pro (bottom) and my Kimber Custom TLE II (top). These are my normal carry weapons with the TLE getting the most attention for now.

 

[Bumper]

The one on top is a Smith & Wesson 5904 9mm I used to carry when I was in the police reserves. The bottom one is the Springfield XD .40 I got a couple of weeks ago. A good, inexpensive and accurate gun that carries well when I am in the mood for something different.

 

[HotGuns]

Hey Bumper...

What kind of Reserves were you in ?

Did you have full police powers ?

 

[Bumper]

City and County of Denver Police Reserves. We were required to attend a reserve academy that was exactly the same as the regular academy but held on nights and weeknds. At the time, they were just re-implementing their reserve program and we had full police powers. I assume that is still the case but not sure.

Reserves are a funny thing to get involved in. I heard alot about the police unions not liking the reserves but all of the officers in training were great with us. At breaks in training when everyone would stand around and BS, they never looked down at us at all. The only thing I ever got was a \"why in the hell would you do this and not get paid\". It was funny, as soon as the guy said it he understood why. When I hit patrol I found the guys out there were damned glad to have us with them since they would have been riding solo otherwise. Not once sis any of them say, \"hey, you hang back because you are a reserve\" or anything like that. We had the same training and were expected to perform at the same standard that they were. They did however, sometimes give us crappy duty that nobody else wanted to do (parades or directing traffic). All through the academy I worked in the office entering FO cards into their system. I miss patrolling a beat but am too old to get back into it now.

I have often considered going in as a civilian volunteer which is just gopher kind of tasks. But cops have my utmost respect and taking some of the load off them so they can be on the street instead of doing menial tasks back at the office is a good thing.