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The Non-Classic Swenson

2K views 14 replies 10 participants last post by  Bye Felicia. 
#1 ·
Evening All,

This gun has been floating on the online listing sites for while now and I recently stumbled upon it and pulled the trigger. Gun was advertised as a Colt 1911 with custom work done by Armand Swenson in 1980 for the buyer who was listing the gun.

I've only owned a few custom 1911s in my day and have recently had a hard time keeping my addiction at bay. Honestly, I knew very little about this classic smith until very recently. Obviously, after doing my due diligence and research this gun clearly doesn't have all the "Classic" Swenson features. full size, blued commercial colt with smith K sights, large ramped FS, Barsto Barrel, AS ambi-safety and beveled magwell, and arched MSH. No hard chrome, squared trigger guard or checkering.

In talking with the incredibly nice and patient previous owner he had this built with the request that it "not be a show-piece" but have done to it whatever would make it a "good shooter." The pachmayr grips are a recent addition as the other ones were wore out. The owner, now in his 80s, indicated he used it extensively for steel matches and carry.

This has been listed on-again / off-again on GA for quite some time so I did have some reservations, all that dissipated after speaking with the owner and researching more about Armand, quite an enjoyable activity in its own right. The price of the owners original listings were about half of what the gun ended up listing for which included magazine pouches, 8 magazines including WC, and a nice bianchi IWB holster (too bad the original owner was a lefty). There are no "A" or "S" markings on the gun and no makers marks other than the owners named etched on the slide and the owners initial stamped on the second sight lug. I think this is one reason the gun took so long to sell. I'll be honest, it gave me pause initially so I'd be interested in any thoughts from smiths here or "custom" experts.

There have been a lot of articles about the "classic" Swenson gun so I thought it would be fun to post up some thing that is different than that. The gun shows well-earned wear and the barrel still locks up very tight. For a custom, I love the utilitarian nature of it.

Range report to follow. Enjoy!

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#3 ·
It’s a beauty. If you have any remaining reservations don’t, I forwarded the photos to Jardine out of curiosity and he identified it as his Uncles work.

Get it to the range and let’s hear how she shoots ;)


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#5 ·
Thank you very much @simonp for doing that. I wouldn’t even thought if it. I just field stripped it for some well-needed clean and grease and noticed a few things I forgot to mention and founds some new things.
  • Rear of slide has vertical checkering lines cut.
  • Slide and slide stop bluing has a purplish hue, very nice.
  • Barsto barrel is marked “12 79” and still has marker left on it from fitting.
  • Bushing is a VERY tight fit to slide. As in I needed leverage. :)
  • Inside of dust cover is also marked with original owners last name.
I’ll post pictures next time I’m at the range. Thanks again.

Here are more pics.

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#12 ·
Personally the only heresy in my mind would be having anyone but John Jardine alter the gun.


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