I had the opportunity to spend a little bit of time shooting several of the Republic Forge 1911s during the media day at SHOT Show 2016. Boy, those babies can shoot!
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Jon Hodoway shooting a Republic Forge 1911.
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Another shot of Jon shooting the Republic Forge 1911.
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On the floor of the show, I caught up with the men behind Republic Forge, Dale and Larry Pancake. I asked these two Texas oilmen how they ended up in the 1911 business? They were both very candid in reply, telling me that as big gun enthusiasts they had ordered some 1911s from other manufacturers but were less than impressed.
“It took us 18 months to get our pistols,” said Dale and Larry. “We just thought that we can do better.”
Once the decision was made to get into the gun-making business they knew that there would be some huge hurdles to face to build the gun the way they wanted to do it in Texas.
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The business end of one gun being run at Range Day.
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G-10 grips and two-tone finishes are only some of the options.
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First, they had to find the right raw materials for their forgings, then the right tools to make the parts and finally, the right people to build their version of the ultimate 1911 pistol. Well, as you can imagine this didn’t take weeks but years to accomplish. But as you can tell, it was worth the effort.
The have plenty of different combinations to choose from and they build on four variants of the 1911 platform.
- Government 5” & long slide
- Government with light rail
- Commander
- Officer
One of the key points that they were careful to make is that every gun, regardless of model finish or embellishment, has the same high-quality internal parts that are all steel. They will not sacrifice the reliability and function of their pistols by switching in inferior internals.
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Republic Forge allows you to build your very own custom 1911.
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A close-up of the grip, which you can customize to your liking.
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The finishes that are available are absolutely mind blowing, case hardened, Damascus, bluing, and every possible color of your coat. You also have mild to wild foregrip choices, such as mammoth or ivory. The baseline grips would be G 10 by VZ.
You can have your pistol in 9 mm, 40 Cal, 38 super and of course 45 ACP. Check out the Republic Forge website for more details.
$5,000.00 Rolex watches aren’t for everyone, neither are $300,000.00 Porsche automobiles,but if you want the best you pay for the time/skill/best parts to build it. YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR.
Yep.. didn’t even blink when he mention the price. Of course as Guns America says.. “Not overpriced, Just overpriced for you”.
Another 1911 can\’t somebody design a gun that is better than the 1911 but still have its sexy looks and beautiful trigger. 1911s how about 2016s don\’t give me wrong I love the 1911 I owned two of them one officer size and o don\’t give me wrong I love the 1911 I own two of them one being a WW2 colt and a Springfield EMP 9 but I am so tired of AR 15 and 1911 but I am so tired of AR 15 and 1911s stop copying everybody. another beautiful 1911 on the market congratulations and best of luck with your business to see what you think of next.
Wow, that’s some gorgeous product. Great to see folks building beautiful, high quality stuff in America again like we used to so many years ago. I wonder if Larry would include a jacket like the one he’s sporting with the purchase of an entry level gun?
1911 style pistols…OK ? New Company ? do something that Colt and all the others refuse to do…ambidextrous magazine release….and the Series 80 trigger with the firing blocking action…for those opposed to the series 80 trigger, the parts are easily removed….absolutely no reason other than CHEAPNESS to not install the ambidextrous magazine release….accuracy, reliability, and ease of use are the needs for a handgun…..even right-handed people may have a need to use their left hand to fire and reload…..have you ever attended some of the idiot manipulations that “RANGE OFFICERS/ INSTRUCTORS ” force left handed people to do to fire a M1911 on the ranges during familiarization or qualification firing ?
I have been to the site…they offer a TON of options…
And they are NOT cheap…
But…that is what CUSTOM really means.
These guns are like Cabot firearms…not for the faint of heart or light of wallet. LOL
MY dream custom came in over $7K…long slide…Damascus slide…mammoth tooth grips…all the goodies LOL
never carry it…imagine having to give it up as evidence if you ever shot someone with it? OUCH!
They have to be selling only to a very specialty market because their prices are through the roof and past the moon; outrageous.
I agree, the price of one of these is nuts. I could buy 5 stainless Springfield 1911s and still save $ over one of these. G-10 grips and finish don’t cost another 2-3 grand.
wow – who’d have thunk we could get randy ‘macho man’ savage and captain america, both gone to seed, in the same screen shot?
Great article. I enjoy reading about guns that I can’t or won’t buy or own. It increases my knowledge of the whole gun culture. Even though I won’t be buying a custom 1911, I won’t bash those that can or will buy. Speaking of buying, since the price isn’t mentioned, I assume the base model will be North of $2500?? Thanks!
Magic – click the link in the article – under “build your own” the base price is close to 2800. Go for 9mm double stack “high polish” with hammer upgrade – price goes close to 3900, add fancy grips for another 1200 … +++
Guess it aint a EDC or for LE – then who? Oh wait Texas – OIL $$ and such!
A quick trip to their web site indicates a rough starting price of 2795. And while it does seem like a very high quality 1911, and I hope their endeavor is successful, this price point pretty much puts it out of reach for the everyday would be purchaser. In case no one had mentioned it and dispite rumors to the contrary, the enonomy is still in shambles.