SW1911 Question

[rimfireshooter]

Did any of the early PC SW1911s have the "old PC" quality like the 945 or was it too late?

 

[Sevens]

The earliest run of PC 1911 pistols with the JMB serial prefix were built to very high standards. What's interesting to me is that these earliest guns used the standard 1911 barrel bushing while later "PC" 1911's which were made after the fall of the real Performance Center actually made use of the Briley titanium spherical bushing which was made popular on the real deal Performance Center guns from years earlier.

The PC also offered two different 1911's many years back to be aware of — the Doug Koenig guns. The .45 is a very average production pistol. It's fine, it's nothing special. However the .38 Super is a real find, a pure example of the Performance Center craft. And the price typically reflects that.

 

[AveragEd]

The PC also offered two different 1911's many years back to be aware of — the Doug Koenig guns. The .45 is a very average production pistol. It's fine, it's nothing special. However the .38 Super is a real find, a pure example of the Performance Center craft. And the price typically reflects that.

I have one of those .38 Supers and can attest to what Sevens posted. I paid $1,800 for a possibly unfired one in its aluminum PC case with the extra set of grips and paperwork about 10 years ago from a guy in Texas who "had to have" an original Colt Peacemaker and wanted to raise some of the funds for that purchase. They are really cool guns when you look them over closely. The hammers are unique in that they are seriously lightened to the point where they are completely hollowed out and the slides are lightened by being relieved from behind the ejection port forward - that area is glass-beaded. And of course they were hand-assembled with all the internals polished and fitted. Sadly, those days are behind us.

There were two versions I have seen of that pistol. One is like mine, with a flat trigger, Wilson Combat rear sight and Patridge front sight. The other has a curved trigger, S&W rear sight and fiber optic front sight yet the 4th Edition of the SCoSW lists only the version I have.

I also have one of the PC1911s in .45ACP with the slotted slide and Briley bushing. It's accurate but that damned bushing makes disassembling and reassembling the gun difficult. When that gun was released, there was a videos on S&W's website showing a gunsmith removing and reinstalling it like a normal bushing but I'm here to tell you it doesn't work like that.

Ed

Edited to further support Sevens statement about what prices these things can command by adding that I arrived at offering that figure by seeing a completed GunBroker auction where one of those guns that had obviously been shot and came with no case sold for $1,700. If I recall correctly, the owner of mine was asking something like $2,100 for it.