1911 Firearm Addicts banner

Grail Acquired, Ted Yost content inside

5K views 46 replies 35 participants last post by  AJP 
#1 · (Edited)
About 12 years ago I was scrolling through an issue of some gun magazine, can't remember which, and stumbled across an article on custom 1911's by this outfit called Yost Bonitz, and this sweet all business custom package called "1*". I was a young blossoming gun enthusiast preparing for a career in Law Enforcement, and up to that point, my interests were limited mostly to plastic "working guns", but that article opened my eyes, for better or worse, of the world that was custom 1911's.

Over the next 10 years, my love and appreciation of the 1911 platform continued to grow, I bought my first back in 2011, a spiffy new Les Baer, and continued to follow the scene. All the while continuing to see this "Ted Yost" guys name pop up, now over at Heirloom Precision, making the finest 1911's I had ever seen. Unfortunately, they were priced accordingly, and just weren't feasible for me at that point in my life.

Finally in 2017 I found myself in a position where commissioning a Custom was feasible, and after securing my wife's blessing, I went on the hunt for my perfect base gun. I picked up a beautiful 1954 Colt 38 Super, and made a call to Ted, now at Estate Sporting Limited.

About a year later, I now have the 1911 I have been dreaming about. It is a 38 Super with a 9mm caliber conversion with case. I should add Ted was an absolute joy to work with, and I really appreciated his enthusiasm toward the project. I also want to thank Texas Patriot Arms, without talking to him, I'm not sure if I ever would have finally gone through with this. And last but not least, my wife, I imagine the horror she must have felt when I told her what I wanted to do with our money must have been greater than when I found out how much she was paying to have her "eyelash's did", but she went along with it like a champ.
Gun Firearm Trigger Gun accessory Tan
Gun Firearm Trigger Tan Everyday carry
Gun Brown Firearm White Trigger
Teal Turquoise Display device Antique Metal




So here is a little Easter Egg for my fellow Colt enthusiasts, I had the crown of the 38 Super barrel finished in white, and the 9mm crown blued, as Colt did, and still does it
Metal Composite material Cylinder Material property Aluminium



Here is one with her sister, both wearing their work boots
Gun Firearm Red White Trigger
 
See less See more
6
#17 ·
Am I ever. Going into it, I really didn't think the wait was going to be that bad, especially with Ted's calendar system. Then about a week went by and impatience set in...

But, when my turn was finally up, it was pretty much the same as the Hattori Hanzo scene in Kill Bill, except Ted was more willing than Hattori. To paraphrase, "it will take me one month to build your gun". Link for reference
 
#9 ·
Congratulations, his shop is around the corner from my house and his wife works at the grocery store I shop at. I've been searching for a base gun for a Yost build, this thread may make me search harder ;)
 
#25 ·
I can't recommend it highly enough. Part of what finally made me pull the trigger was when I looked at my collection and saw that I had more invested in production 1911's, semi custom 1911's and lightly modified 1911's that I was trying to make similar to an HP/ESL full custom, than it was going to cost to buy the real deal Holyfield. It was quite the epiphany for me that it was time to just go ahead and buy what I really wanted and sell off the excess.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top