.45 ACP

The evolution and revolution of the 1911 are both alive and doing well. Modern machining and the lessons learned from 30 years of competition means even these classics can get the best triggers, sights, finishes and magazine wells available. These may be the Classic Division guns but they are leaps and bounds better than most of the 1911s of old.

The bill to surplus more than 100,000 1911 pistols through the Civilian Marksmanship Program is inching closer to passage.

Anyone familiar with NightHawk Custom knows that they produce superlative guns. The workmanship, function, and accuracy are second to none. I just wish you could hold this 1911 in your hands. You can feel the difference between this pistol and a mass-produced pistol immediately.

“The 1911 is simply the best known and still most beloved pistol design in firearm history and the Commercial is the design that people most identify with it,” said CEO and Founder Doug Turnbull. “It just made sense to honor this purely American firearm design by releasing it on Independence Day.”

I have been writing for over 35 years and until this project I’ve never owned or shot an Ed Brown 1911. When I contacted Ed Brown Products, I requested the Ed Brown Special Forces model, which has been the anchor of their pistols lineup for many years. If their base duty/personal-defense handgun was up to par, the other models would be also. I was not disappointed.

The name Multi-Sight, as it suggests, means that these pistols are ready to accept a variety of different types of sights with very little effort. The top rear of the slide has been milled out to accept a number of available drop-in tops.

Traditionally, pocket pistols have been in “mouse calibers” such as .25 ACP, .32 ACP, and .380 ACP. In the mid-seventies, one company set out to break all the rules. The result was Semmerling LM4, the king of the back-up pistols. And now, American Derringer is making a new version of this rare and radical classic.

“The Components will be largely industry sourced but fit to a very high gunsmith standard,” Bianchin told GunsAmerica via email. “I have no doubt the Alchemy 1911s will be best-in-class at the retail price point of just under, $2,500.”

Released at the 2017 NRA Show in Atlanta, Georgia, the CMMG AR-pattern .45 ACP Guard employs a patent-pending “Radial Delayed Blowback” system and feeds from .45 ACP-sized Glock magazines.