1911 Lovers

Fixed it. Much more of a GO guy than a show guy.....

 

Aaaaannnnnd I forgot I sent off my 2011 10mm to Bar-sto for a fitted barrel that is threaded so I can throw my Osprey on that too. I know the 10mm is faster than the speed of sound so we'll see how well the can will suppress. Either way, should be a hell of a shooter. It's already pretty accurate from the factory.
Rock Island Armory "Big Rock" 6" long slide double stack. Ambi safety, mag we'll, Hi-Viz sites, the whole 9 yds. Not cut for an optic but that's ok. I prefer irons anyway.

 

I bought it specifically to have it reamed for 10mm. Magnum.
You have to go through one of the small Boutique Ammo places that specialize in odd Calibers.
I have a reloader but I havent shot the thing enough to do a run on em just yet.

 

It's equivalent to the .41 Magnum.

 

You don't just clip that thing to your basketball shorts???

 

Yeah.....
The Wife gives me shit about the AR.
She calls it my Barbie Gun because I'm always buying accessories for it.

 

The FNX .45 was FN's entry to replace the Colt .45 for our Military.
As far as I know the Military ended up sticking with the Colt.

 

Back to 1911's...


While I'm currently on the hunt for a stainless Specialist Commander in 9mm, here's another model Specialist I think is pretty cool and would be interested in if I came across one:


LASD DSP Edition:

• Only difference from a standard Specialist is the black hammer, bushing/plug, single side safety and the LASD roll marks.

Not much is known about the numbers produced or where they all may have ended up. A few guys in the gun forum I frequent have a couple. I've yet to see one on the usual sites: Gunbroker, Arms List, ect...
Below is a post a guy made claiming to have been part of the design team and gives some history into how these pistols came to be. A pretty interesting read if you have time:


Copy/Pasta:


This story starts in 2014. Jim McDonnell, the Chief of the Long Beach Police Department, had won the primary and looked to be the next elected LA County Sheriff. Knowing his history with LBPD and with LAPD before that we knew he was a fan of the 1911. We contacted LAPD and arranged to send four of us to their 30-hour 1911 class, which would end up being in February of 2015. We also managed to get LAPDs policy on 1911s and some additional supporting information from people I knew in LBPD and elsewhere.

Sheriff McDonnell was elected and took office in the beginning of December 2014. Less than a week later we got a call and my Sgt transferred it to me. It was a department executive, and he asked if we’d ever considered authorizing the 1911. I emailed him the proposal within a few minutes.

The proposal went through several revisions and there was a lot added to it (other firearm platforms, proposals from different “stakeholders” for off-duty policy changes, exemptions letters from the CA 10-day wait, personal patrol rifles, and a couple other things that didn’t materialize) and by the time it had made its way up the chain there was a new problem.

The department had begun a conversion from the Beretta 92F series to the S&W M&P in 2013. It had been issued to recruits since 2010, but it was decided that anyone who wanted to convert would be able to do so. What started as a recommendation by the Weapons Training Unit for a three-day class ultimately became a one-day class with logistics of Beretta turn-in added. With the dinner break, bathroom breaks, etc., they maybe got five hours. Add to that a serious lack of accountability and some other issues and negligent discharges went through the roof.

The independent watchdog organization began an “investigation” into the increase and while I can only guess at the motives, probably decided that there was no way they were going to get rid of the M&P, they couldn’t really demand more training since the department could barely keep up with what was currently going on, but they could pick on the Surefire pressure switch, get the department to prohibit it, and call it a watchdog win.

They wrote a report. Much of the information in it is true, but there’s a lot of information that isn’t in it. Many of their recommendations were things we told them we were already doing, and other recommendations were based on a complete lack of even inquiring as to what we were doing. As far as I’m concerned it was a joke of a report but masterful politically… and I was the guy who had to come up with how to deal with the fallout. I wrote a lot of reports, memos, and ultimately stood in front of the Sheriff and the head of the watchdog group and tore the report apart. The department still has pressure switches. The people who wrote the report for the watchdog were gone within a year.

Anyway… long way to say things got delayed. Ultimately, in July of 2016 I was able to formally present the proposal to the Sheriff and the executive planning committee. In August 1911s were approved. The list of approved manufacturers included Dan Wesson among nine other companies.

That time was pretty exciting for several of us… We’d been wanting 1911s for years… decades in some cases, and here it was… what we thought would “never” happen. We came up with an idea. I suggested we approach a company to do a special pistol just for the current full-time members of the Weapons Training Unit when 1911s were approved – There were maybe 30 of us in total, and not everyone cared about 1911s. After considering several options, we spoke to Dan Wesson, and they basically said they could do what we wanted. This was the original “want”:

A five-inch barrel non-rail 1911 in .45 ACP, all black, with no markings (ie: no “Valor”) on the slide. The frame would have the Dan Wesson manufacturer information but nothing else and the serial number would be “WTU” for Weapons Training Unit and our individual employee numbers. I wanted it super low key so it would be something that we would know but that would be kinda “secret”. Calls were made and the ball started rolling.

Another instructor took the handle on the project. As things were moving along over several weeks, two things happened that I didn’t like. The first was that some people started pushing for the “WTU gun” to be available to anyone who worked, or had ever worked, in the Weapons Training Unit, including people who in my opinion should not have been part of what I wanted to be a very exclusive, low-key thing. Secondly, a push started for a “department” gun like Long Beach PD had with the Springfield Long Beach Operator.

Once, after several months, it became clear that the WTU gun wasn’t going to be that special for our small group, I had a conversation with my wife… Voicing my frustration I told her that at that point I’d rather have the Springfield Professional that had been my grail gun since the late 90s. She said, “then get the Pro”. So I did.

I don’t remember what ultimately happened with the WTU gun, and I don’t know what “specs” were ultimately asked for. I do know that some “prototypes” were made and ended up online They have the “Valor” marking on the slide and I can’t remember if the hammer or bushing is stainless (or both), but they have the WTU serial with a sequential number. I know of one former WTU tactics instructor who saw it advertised and bought one. Looking back now I wish I did but oh well…

So while the original WTU gun was being argued about with ideas and opinions being thrown back and forth, there was a push for a “department” gun that would be sort of what we thought a good duty 1911 should be. The Specialist fit the bill for pretty much everything and it was mainly aesthetic stuff that was requested. Some wanted the gun to be tan and green for the colors of the uniform, but that never materialized (thankfully).

I’ll address my hypocrisy in a bit, but at the time these plans/discussions were taking place I was totally against it. Like I mentioned in my other post, this was supposed to be “our” version of the Long Beach Operator, but that pistol came about organically from what was a solid 1911 program. Long Beach PD had been issuing the 1911 for some time, but their procedures were much different from ours. The SWAT Team had been running Para Ordnance pistols and weren’t happy, so they spec’d a model from Springfield. That pistol ultimately became the contract pistol issued to recruits during the academy.

Long Beach recruits would get this pistol, which was similar to a Springfield MC Operator but all black and with a magwell. It was nothing special from a features perspective, but it was something that wasn’t available as a catalog item from Springfield, which created an issue.

The way LBPD worked at the time - and I’m not sure if it’s the same now that they issue the M&P – recruits were issued the 1911 for the academy and their first year of probation. Following that (and there were exceptions) they were supposed to purchase their own duty pistol and return the issued 1911 so it could be re-used as an academy gun. According to my source who is very involved in his department’s training, the firearms staff figured that if a recruit could become proficient with a 1911, then they could adapt to whatever authorized pistol they chose after that first year. It’s not a horrible theory!

This apparently worked except a lot of officers wanted to continue using the 1911 they were “used to”, but there was nothing available that was the same Goldilocks model they had been issued, so Springfield started producing non-cataloged LB Operators so officers could purchase their own. Of course, other LE officers could do the same. Non-LE couldn’t in California because of the state’s stupid approved-handgun roster. Over time more and more “got out” into the world and a very cool reputation developed. I know it was a big thing in the SoCal area to get hands on a “Long Beach Operator” and I should have bought one. Story of my life.

So that really cool story about how the LB Operator came about? Yea – we had none of that. No history with 1911 use on the department since probably close to 1911… and now that it just got authorized and that maybe 0.6% - 2% of the department might carry we’re going to spec a “special” model? It felt wrong to me.

Back to the gun… The pistol ended up being a Specialist with a black bushing and hammer. The serial number started with LA. The .45s had a zero after the LA and the 9mm pistols had a five, then the sequential numbers.

The “DSP” meant either “Duty Service Pistol” or “Deputy Service Pistol”, but I think the former was the original meaning.

A single gun shop in the south county area worked with members of the WTU and Dan Wesson to sell the pistols. The WTU worked within the department chain-of-command so it would all be approved. It took a really long time for the go-ahead but eventually the guns started coming in and orders started getting filled.

At the beginning when the DSP idea went “public”, it was offered for deputies to be able to reserve specific numbers. This is a big thing on the department because everything is numbers. We have something like 28 stations patrolling 42 contract cities and unincorporated areas, and various unit numbers for specific areas, duties, or specialized units. I did my patrol time at Palmdale station, which is station 26. Unit numbers are in the “260” series. 263 is a mid-city unit. 264 is East side, 261 and 262 are West side and 265, 266, and 267 are county units (to patrol unincorporated areas). It’s common to want numbers that match. My Beretta 92LTT is serial 263, the LASD revolver I have (not used… I was after that time) has a department number that ends in 26, and the DSP in 9mm I eventually bought (we’ll talk about that in a bit) was serial number 26.

There were a lot of pre-orders and many of those were for specific serial numbers. Of course, the pistols weren’t delivered based on time of order but by sequential serial number. That meant un-reserved serial guns could be sold immediately, and many were. It also meant that if you had ordered a higher number, you had to wait while others got theirs. There was also an added wait for some people who had specified ambi safeties.

All this was going on while I was enjoying my Springfield Pro and largely ignoring the whole thing. Then I got a desire to get a railed 1911 in 9mm. I started looking and knew I didn’t want to go with Kimber, the Wilsons were out of my price range, The only railed Springfield at the time was the Combat Operator or whatever it was called, and it was both expensive and hard to find. I looked and looked and then realized that the pistol I’d been ignoring was exactly what I wanted, and they were available right now. I called the shop and asked if they had them in stock… they did. I asked if they had serial number 26 by chance (Actually LA5026 because it was a 9mm)… they did. So I was on my way down there.

When I arrived, I had to wait because they were having a meeting. When the meeting ended two people who worked for the office of the Sheriff left… I recognized them as I’d worked with both several times. After they left the gun shop guy told me (and this is one side of the story – I don’t know and didn’t ask for an official department position) that he had received permission from a Chief to sell the pistols, but there was some miscommunication at the upper level of the department and that the Sheriff had not approved the pistol in the configuration specified. The entire thing was to grind to a halt. He still sold me 5026 and I don’t know if he was able to sell what he had on hand or if he had to return guns to Dan Wesson. I’m guessing the issue had to do with the “LASD” on the slide as the department has trademarked a lot of the images, logos, and words associated with the organization.

Ultimately there was a serious communication breakdown that should have been rectified before an order was ever placed and they took any money. The entity that got screwed out of the whole deal was Dan Wesson. They simply received and filled an order and then had to figure out what to do with a bunch of guns they couldn’t sell – at least in the US… probably for trademark reasons.
I wanted to make 5026 a duty gun and I was pretty happy to have it, especially knowing that it had just become very limited. The problem was it had continual feed issues. I tried a lot of things from recoil springs to extractor tension adjustment and things would get a bit better but nothing “fixed” it. I contacted Dan Wesson at one point but never received a response. It might have simply been an overlooked email or they may have been pissed at us… I can’t really blame them.

 

https://www.smga.com/dan-wesson/dan...10-1-capacity-5-barrel-with-2-magazines-96710

 

Thanks... but that's a 2020 5" Specialist, decent price though. On most DW's the first 2 digits on the SN denote production year.

The 9mm Commander version was only available from roughly 2014/2015 to 2019 which is making this search like finding a needle in a haystack.

 

No worries...appreciate the suggestion.

It's been quite frustrating when searching because lots of vendors use "stock" photos of the guns they list for sale. There were some cosmetic changes from 2019 -2020 and several vendors are using pics of the old version when listing ads for newer version guns.

Case in point; old version on left - new on right

 

Yeah....Dont think you have enough .45's.
You some kind of slacker?

 

I'm a firm believer that everyone should own at least one Battle Rifle and Handgun.
Ya never know what might happen in this Crazy World we live in.
Oh....and a Scoped Deer Rifle.

 

Woah!!!
That first photo!!!
That's a Beautiful .45!!!!
My only Beef with the Colts is their lack of ammo capacity.
And it doesnt have to be this way!!
The FNX proves this with it's 15 round capacity.
But again I get the allure of the Colts,they're the Classic .45!!!

 

As the old saying goes: "If you can't shoot well, shoot a lot" Maybe that's why you choose to carry 17, I'm not sure, but carry whatever floats your boat.

 

Gonna have to argue that point.
More rounds is always better than less rounds regardless of the situation you find yourself in.
If that wasnt the case we wouldnt have battle rifles that hold 30 rounds.
To me the allure of the Colt .45 is it's History.
It's a proven handgun that will never go out of style.

 

Theres no argument to be made... you do you and carry whatever makes you more comfortable.

 

As I said....
I love the Colt .45!!! It's in a class by itself!!
The solution to its lack of capacity is simple....
Carry an extra Mag.

 

As I said, you do you.

Mag supply or capacity isn't an issue here. These are just the 1911's (minus the Specialist so add another 4-6 mags).





I do own other guns but only choose to share a select few online. I will never show all my cards.

 

Always a good idea.

 

Wife got me a DW Valor for my 40th a couple years back, I'll have to grab some pics. Absolutely love that gun, first stainless in the collection. .45 is my caliber of choice, though my daily is a 365 XL.

 

Valors are great guns and stainless is the way to go on them

 

Agreed, I did a lot of reading before I committed to it. It's a great shooter, but I do want to swap the sights out one of these days. That and grab a few Wilson mags

 

Great little video on the Colt M45A1...one of my 1911 grail guns:

I had intended to replicate one with the Springfield Operator 10mm but went another route. I still may do that someday after I secure a suitable base gun.

https://youtu.be/sM8HsSYO__0?si=33NNGTTXvMVOQuBZ

 

Yes, the Raider. I've seen a number of them, and they look good. It would definitely be the most cost-effective route.

 

I recently picked up a couple Springfield Prodigy double stack 1911s. I installed a holosun on the compact. They are nice shooters.

 

I really like the hi-cap 2011 platform. I have a Rock Island Armory 10mm "Big Rock". Long slide 6" 16+1 rnds. Currently getting a barrel fitted at Bar-Sto. Extended 6" threaded for a suppressor. Should be really something when I get it back.