(Above) SureFire’s X400 is the latest in their X-series of rail-mounted lights. Combining a white LED light and a red laser, the X400 can be switched to use the light, laser or both.
(Right) The rail on the Colt Rail Gun will accept common tactical lights such as these from (left to right) SureFire, Streamlight and Safariland. While the Safariland light has a narrow locking latch better suited to Glock/ Universal rails, it can still be used on the
to carry more than one pistol, it makes sense to keep them as close to one another as possible, so that your familiarity with the primary weapon carries over. And while the light rail is a great addition, I’m not quite ready to give up the first Number 17, so I’ll be using both guns interchangeably. As usual, we’ll start at the top of the slide and work our way down. The factory sights were replaced
with a wide-notch rear sight, and a gold-bead front (since the rail gun came from the factory with Novak sights, there was no need to machine the slide). While night sights are pop- ular, they’re not as necessary as you may think; if it’s too dark to see your sights, it’s usually too dark to identify your target without using a flashlight. Once the flashlight is on though, your pistol sights are silhouetted against the white beam, making them black
again, and eliminating the advantage night sights offer. It certainly doesn’t hurt anything to have them, but I generally use a gold-bead front sight instead. The rounded gold surface — especially on the highly polished, convex ones — reflects ambient light, making it visible even in low light. In bright light, the sharp reflection draws your eye quickly to the front sight. A match-grade barrel bushing
took the place of the standard one and, as with the rest of the pistol, all the sharp edges were removed from the slide. While I’m usually not much for pistols that look like they lost a fight with a belt sander, Novak’s car- ry bevel package subtly and compre- hensively removes all the edges and corners that can cut your hands and clothing. Along with dehorning the gun, the rail gun also got a complete reliability package. Since the factory
barrel seemed well fit —and because I had it on good authority that cur- rent production Colts are wonderfully accurate — I chose not to put in an aftermarket barrel, nor to have the slide/frame fit adjusted. Much of what makes the 1911, in
addition to its superb accuracy, is its handling
characteristics and crisp
trigger, which not only lets you take advantage of the pistol’s mechanical accuracy, but also lets you deliver fast follow-up shots. This gun is no ex- ception; the trigger breaks crisp and clean in what feels like the heavier side of 4 pounds, with a little takeup, no creep or over travel and a good, positive reset. In large part, this is due to high-quality action parts. The factory lock work was replaced with Novak’s
proprietary hammer/sear/
disconnect, as well as a low-inertia titanium firing pin for added safety.
The Answer’s fit and finish are flawless. 76
The rail of the “Rail Gun” is built for hard use. AMERICAN HANDGUNNER • 2011 SPECIAL EDITION
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