1991A1 Customize?

[redhawk41]

I have a SS Colt 1991A1 ORM that I am considering having some work done on by Wilson Combat including:

- beavertail and hammer
- trigger job
- extended safety
- front strap checkering
- checkered not nylon main spring housing
- sights
- dehorn
- refinish

Just a range / nightstand gun the only purpose for the upgrades is "just because". Also I can't really afford to do it all at once so it would be a little here and a little there obviously the refinish would be last.

What are your thoughts would it be worthwhile to put $2k into?

[Aguila Blanca]

Originally Posted by redhawk41

What are your thoughts would it be worthwhile to put $2k into?

Since you asked ... my answer is no. The only one of those things that might make it shoot better is different sights, and that's certainly not worth $2k.

[WC145]

I have a completely different opinion. I have three custom built ORM 1991A1s, one in each size - Gov't .38 Super/9mm/9x23, Commander .45, and Compact (Officer's) .45 - and, to me, they are well worth the money put into them. They are all outstanding shooting guns, feel great in my hand, and look terrific. The 1991A1 is a terrific platform for a custom build and I am of the opinion that if you want to have one customized you should go right ahead and have it built into the exact gun you want it to be.

[zoomie]

What are your thoughts would it be worthwhile to put $2k into?

Unless that particular 1991 is special to you, sell it and buy a Wilson outright. It won't be a 100% cost-neutral comparison (you'll have to add some cash to the equation), but you'll get a gun worth what you have in it.

[BarryLee]

the only purpose for the upgrades is "just because"

From a purely practical standpoint it probably is not worthwhile. You could buy a GLOCK G17 and tons of ammo, but that isn't what you want. I spent more than I should and probably more than it is really worth for a Wilson a few years ago. I went to the range Monday and put a few hundred rounds through the gun and left with a big smile on my face. Bottom line it is your money and as long as your budget allows I say go for it.

[T. O'Heir]

It'd still be a less than $800 pistol(Approximate used value for a 1991 on Gunbroker) with 2 grand worth of work you'll never get back.
However, if you're going to do anything, do the trigger job first. The sights may be fine as is. Depends on what's on it now.

[JDBerg]

WC145, you have to give us the deets on those three beauties!

[WC145]

Originally Posted by JDBerg

WC145, you have to give us the deets on those three beauties!

Thanks for the compliment.
The Gov't was originally a .38 Super, the build was done by Robin Dietrich of Dietrich Gunsmithy here in Maine. Robin did all of the work on that gun, including fitting 9mm and 9x23 barrels to it. The finish is Ionbond DLC. The grips are hand carved giraffe bone by Tommy Two Feathers. Great shooting gun with any of the three barrels, though I run it in 9mm in single stack, it is smokin' fast.

The Commander is a Marc Krebs build from the mid-'90s. Marc was best known for his race guns but he also built some carry pistols, though they're hard to find. This one is just a terrific gun, great shooter, incredibly accurate, lots of little details that set it apart. Also, it has one of the best triggers I've ever felt on a 1911 and it still has the Series 80 safety in place and functional. It was finished in hard chrome by Metaloy.

The Compact was treated to Clark's Meltdown package back in the late '90s. About 6 years ago I had Robin Dietrich give it a facelift. He checkered it, fit and blended a checkered S&A MSH, recrowned and polished the barrel, then polished the rest of the gun and blued it. Joe Chambers made and fitted a new gold bead front sight earlier this year. The grips are mammoth ivory. The melt makes it a very comfortable gun to carry and it shoots as you expect a Clark built gun should.

[Jim Watson]

Parceling out gunsmithing will result in FedUPS getting more of your money than Wilson.

Save up and get it all in one trip.

[1MoreFord]

Originally Posted by Jim Watson

Parceling out gunsmithing will result in FedUPS getting more of your money than Wilson.

Save up and get it all in one trip.

Jim is right. You'd be paying $120 or more each trip to the shop these days.

Find a pistol you like with as many of the features you want as you can find and buy it. Sell what you have if you need the money to make the purchase. Don't feed FedEx and/or UPS along with some distant gunsmith.

[Cheapshooter]

What are your thoughts would it be worthwhile to put $2k into?

NO! Do the math. As T. O'Heir pointed out.
$800 gun.
+ $2 K work
= $800 gun
Even though because of my rule #1 I am not that concerned with the dollar va lue, I think I would just spend that $2K on a new gun with all the bells and whistles you want to add to the 1991A1.

[JDBerg]

Originally Posted by WC145

Thanks for the compliment

Well deserved, those are beautiful guns!

My $0.02 on 1911 pistolsmith work. I have 5 1911’s and 4 of them have been worked on by good 1911 pistolsmiths. If you have a good personal working relationship with a good ‘smith you can spend as little as you need to, or as much as you want to. I have been talked out of doing more work to my guns than I will ever spend on them. The best pistolsmith I ever worked with told me flat out that I needed to concentrate on becoming a better shooter with the gun as is and to quit messing around with the mechanics of the gun.

If the OP has enough rounds through that Colt 1991A1 ORM to know what it needs to be a better functioning gun, then he should get the work done.

[Cheapshooter]

If the OP has enough rounds through that Colt 1991A1 ORM to know what it needs to be a better functioning gun, then he should get the work done.

I guess I just miss the point somewhere. Two grand worth of "better functioning"?
My 1991A1 Compact functions just fine, and is as accurate as I can shoot. I think it has a couple simple mods from the previous owner, but nothing that would cost anything near that. $500 out the door about 12 years ago!

[Nathan]

- beavertail and hammer
- trigger job
- extended safety
- front strap checkering
- checkered not nylon main spring housing
- sights
- dehorn
- refinish

Sounds like closer to $1500 worth of work.

Not a bad set of features to add. I do wonder if you should have the barrel replaced with a new fitted match barrel and bushing too while the work is being done.+500 Stock Colt barrels are fine, but no great in the accuracy dept.

$800 gun.
+ $2 K work
= $800 gun

Please explain this math. When I see any custom gun listed for sale, they are asking the $2800 price. Often the work looks like bubba did it. If they have papers that match up to a name smith, the value is real, IMO.

What value will an unmolested Colt 1991 ever have?

[Don P]

IMO keep the Colt as is and save your money and spend 2K on a new pistol

[Cheapshooter]

Please explain this math. When I see any custom gun listed for sale, they are asking the $2800 price.

Did they start as a 1991A1? Or are they custom built from the ground up?
Still, don't see the point of spending two grand on a perfectly good gun when you could keep it prety much as is, and buy a gussied up custom for around the $2K

beavertail and hammer
- trigger job
- extended safety
- front strap checkering
- checkered not nylon main spring housing
- sights
- dehorn
- refinish

Take out the dehorn, refinish, sights, front strap checkering. Add new skelitonized trigger, full length guide rod, black micarta grips Replace the "checkered not nylon main spring housing" with checkered mainspring housinb with extended flaired mag well, and you have the 1991A1 I bought for five hundred bucks.

[walnut1704]

You never get all your money back on custom guns. Sometimes none of it. With a 1911 you might get some of if it's done by a big-name shop.

Why would anybody pay you $2,000 for $2,000 worth of work when it's probably not exactly what he would do if he sent his own in? They are going to want a big discount, otherwise they'll just get their own done, the way they want it.

I see them for sale for big money too, but that's not to say they get it.

[redhawk41]

Thanks for all the feedback.

I have a few hundred rounds through the gun and have not learned to shoot it well enough yet.

It all started because it gives me hammer bite so I was looking at beavertail safeties and of course it snowballs from there

[Bill DeShivs]

A Band Aid on your hand before you shoot is a hell of a lot cheaper.
If/when you can shoot the gun to it's maximum accuracy potential, only then will any accuracy modifications make sense.
Most of the other stuff is pretty useless.

[KyJim]

IIRC, Jeff Cooper said all that a stock Colt 1911 needed was a trigger job and better sights. I tend to agree that these are all that are usually needed. However, one of the joys of 1911 ownership is the ability to customize and then enjoy pride in ownership.

Will you get your money back if you sell it? No, but you will get more than the $800 value of the Colt, despite what some have posted here. Wilson is a coveted custom gunsmithing shop whose work will increase the price of a 1911, unlike some very fine work done by gunsmiths without a national reputation. If you are thinking of the upgrades as an investment, you'll be disappointed. If you think of them as something that makes the pistol YOUR pistol, then why not if you can afford it?