high thumb — tends to pivot the grip safety upwards, in effect engaging it. It’s a surprisingly common problem, and at some point, I think all of us have missed a 1911 grip safety at least once. Ever wonder why all the modern 1911s have “speed bumps” on them? Let’s not forget this is a defensive
weapon, a tool to save your life in a fight you didn’t start. You’re not guar- anteed you’ll get a perfect grip on your gun, and you’re not promised an opportunity to correct a faulty one. Since I plan on carrying this gun, I wanted an answer on it — just like my current carry pistol. The base of the Answer was check-
ered to match the frontstrap at 25 LPI by Pete Single, and the whole thing was blended to match the contours of the frame. The stock wooden grip panels were retained, the magwell was generously beveled to speed up reloads and two 8-round Novak mag- azines were included in the package.
In the course of testing (which I
actually started after I’d had the gun for a while, and had already started shooting it), the Colt Rail Gun con- sumed an additional 279 rounds of full-power ammunition including: 230-grain hardball from Reming- ton and Black Hills, 155-grain fran- gible from Rimrock Ammunition, short and long-range 230 tracer from Southern Ballistic Research and some mixed jacketed hollowpoints I had on hand. It has yet to malfunction and, true to my somewhat abusive custom, I have yet to clean or oil it. Time and weather kept me from putting it in the Ransom Rest, but shooting it by hand during a cold rain, I was able to con- sistently hit a 4-5/8" round steel target at 25 yards. While some popular polymer pis-
tols have had functioning problems with lights installed, the great thing about a steel gun is nothing really changes when you bolt stuff onto it.
Del Fatti’s SLP holster, as made for (left to right) my well-traveled Novak Colt, a light-rail equipped STI and the Colt Rail Gun. The STI holster came first; impressed that Del Fatti could make a holster that would hide a hi-cap like that on my 32" waist, the SLP has been my first choice for a concealed carry holster ever since.
With the rail adding an unbelievably negligible half-ounce in weight (a little less than a single round of hardball), I shot the rail gun both with and with- out a SureFire X400, which adds 4-1/2 ounces, and the gun had no changes in function. The latest in their popular X-series
of lights, the X400 combines a white light and laser into a rail-mounted package that lets you select light, la- ser or both. I have one on a registered short-barreled AR, as well as on the rail gun, and I usually keep them on “both” for home defense use. Since the laser has to be zeroed, the X400 has a side-mounted screw that clamps it into place, as opposed to the quick-
In the course of testing — which began after I’d already started shooting the gun — it consumed just under 300 rounds of full- power ammo ranging from frangible and tracer to hardball. Even from before I started counting rounds, it’s never malfunctioned.
78
The lockwork on the Colt Rail Gun was replaced with a proprietary hammer/sear/disconnect set from Novak’s. The heavier round-hole hammer helps insure primer ignition, even if there’s trash in the gun. The strong-side-only speed safety and Answer modification aid in rapid handling.
AMERICAN HANDGUNNER • 2011 SPECIAL EDITION
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