The Commander!

IMG_0730 by Dandy Randy, on FlickrBest pistol ever? May look that way...
I would like to touch on the CCO style "Commanders" next. CCO is another 1911 reference the refers to any 1911 that has a "Commander" length barrel and slide paired with a "Officer" size frame. It makes for a more compact lighter weight package while maintaining what I personally refer to as a "combat size barrel length." CCOs are great! They retain all the basic 1911 configurations but have noticeably different "better" features than the full size 1911s. Sadly there is not to many CCO options out there but hopefully more people and manufactures will "see the light!" This Dan Wesson PM-C is slowly starting to work its way to the top as one of my BEST pistols of all time! A "series 70" pistol with all forged steel frame/parts and in 45 acp this pistol would also be considered the "Panzer Tiger Tank" of my 1911 collection.
 
Regarding CCOs, there was one I would've seriously considered as a carry gun if I were to switch to 1911s, the Sig Traditional Compact. It had the standard Commander slide shape as opposed to Sig's proprietary slide shape on their other models (similar to their P-series pistols). It was a true 4.25" barrel length with bushing and the standard recoil spring guide (I'm not a fan of the full-length guide rods), it had an external extractor, Series 80-style firing pin safety, and stainless steel construction. IIRC, the street price was around $1000. It was nearly everything I could want in a carry 1911. Unfortunately, I believe it's been discontinued.

I'll also admit I've fantasized about having one built from scratch using Caspian Arms components.
 
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I like these:

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ContinentalOp said:
Regarding CCOs, there was one I would've seriously considered as a carry gun if I were to switch to 1911s, the Sig Traditional Compact. It had the standard Commander slide shape as opposed to Sig's proprietary slide shape on their other models (similar to their P-series pistols). It was a true 4.25" barrel length with bushing and the standard recoil spring guide (I'm not a fan of the full-length guide rods), it had an external extractor, Series 80-style firing pin safety, and stainless steel construction. IIRC, the street price was around $1000. It was nearly everything I could want in a carry 1911. Unfortunately, I believe it's been discontinued.

I'll also admit I've fantasized about having one built from scratch using Caspian Arms components.
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The Sig line of 1911s is one of the weird ones to me. I too like the Sig line of 1911s and I do like the external extractor on a 1911 like the Sigs and S&Ws. However I have yet to get a Sig 1911 mainly because of one reason that Ive visually seen with some of the model Sig pistols especially in there smaller carry size 1911s . The Sigs seem to be the one of the most unique compared to the other traditional 1911 models out there. A lot of the Sig 1911s look to have wider slides and weird widths in the frame that cause them to not take as many traditional 1911 accessories and parts. They seem to be well designed and functional but they also seem to be more unique to just Sig only.
 
dandyrandy said:
The Sig line of 1911s is one of the weird ones to me. I too like the Sig line of 1911s and I do like the external extractor on a 1911 like the Sigs and S&Ws. However I have yet to get a Sig 1911 mainly because of one reason that Ive visually seen with some of the model Sig pistols especially in there smaller carry size 1911s . The Sigs seem to be the one of the most unique compared to the other traditional 1911 models out there. A lot of the Sig 1911s look to have wider slides and weird widths in the frame that cause them to not take as many traditional 1911 accessories and parts. They seem to be well designed and functional but they also seem to be more unique to just Sig only.
Click to expand...

I haven't looked at the Sig lineup in a while, but they had two different lines, the Sig 1911s and the Sig Traditional 1911s. The Sig 1911s had the "unique" Sig slide profile that you described, but the Sig Traditional 1911s had the standard 1911 shape and dimensions so regular 1911 accessories would work with them.
 
Here is my Combat Commander along with my Compact. The Combat Commander was the 2nd 1911 I ever purchased back in the late 70's.
about ten or twelve years ago while on vacation, our house was broken into and it was stolen along with three long guns. Three years later, I received a call and it had been recovered from a raid on a drug house in Detroit. It took about three years for the trial to end and the DPD sent it back to the local Sherriff's Dept. and they returned it to me. no real damage to it and while it was stolen with out a magazine, it came back with a nice 8 round magazine. It has always been a favorite of mine. A sweet shooting 1911 and easy to carry.
 

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I still own a Combat Commander in chrome satin;it is a serie 70.To me,the Commander is a little too light and doesn't balance well.But like they say,different strokes for different folks!While I've owned a few 1911,both in the serie 70 and 80,I must say that I couldn't see much difference as far as trigger is concerned.None were great,most are good and a few are bad.I even include the Gold Cup in this appreciation.The 1911 needs custom work to perform well.
My Combat Commander is not an accuracy maniac but it'll put them where it counts(read that a 4 to 6'' group at 25)but will feed anything you feed it with.Love that gun!
 
I carried a Colt M1991A-1 (old roll mark) Commander for a couple of years. Never shot a perfect score with it at qualifications, but pretty close (98%). It’s a nice gun, if I went back to carrying an auto I’d feel well armed with it.

I also have one of the satin nickel Combat Commanders from the ‘70s. Also a nice gun. It was originally my old partners back up gun as a State Trooper. No way I’ll ever sell that one.
 
The Commander was a backup conceal carry gun?? or a reserve gun in the rear with the gear?
 
I "experimented" with several versions of Colt 1911s in the late 70s and 80s my last two Colt 1911s were Commanders.......... one with alloy frame and another all stainless. At that time I felt the Commanders were the best practical 1911 for concealed carry..................

Today my only 1911 pattern gun is a Sig C3 CCO.
 
In 1975 I bought a brand new Colt for $175 in a gun shop in Wisc. It was a blued Commander. Kept it for a couple of years and the sold it to finance something else. Since then I have had about 50 more M1911's over the years, but never another Commander.
 
In 1972 while I was working at the Mercedes dealership in San Francisco, I commissioned F. Bob Chow to built a fully accurized Commander. He argued with me for two weeks before finally taking the order. Wonderful pistol that had to succumb to the need for $$$$ to start a business. Always had that gun in my mind so went and bought an STI Lawman 4.0 that is not disappointing at all. Here's the day I got it and sighted it in at 50 ft.

Stu
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