gun review: Colt/Talo Lightweight Commander .38 Super 1911
The tritium front sight is easy to pick up in any lighting condition. Focusing solely on the front sight, the Colt .38 Super hit to point of aim without effort.
much become the standard. I don’t really feel the need for two more dots on the rear sight, though. Jim Cirillo used to say the entire slide of a pistol could be used rather easily for point shooting. Seeing too much of ei- ther slab side of the slide or too much of the top of the pistol told your brain you weren’t lined up properly. Seeing a single front sight dot is quick and easy for establishing a fl ash sight picture. Using the black rear sight for a precision shot in the dark works as long as you have the extra second or two to make sure you’re lined up correctly.
While my tastes run to polished bright
blue fi nishes and walnut handles, a work gun for carry needs a fi nish capable of with- standing constant abrasion. Ceracote is all the rage today and fl at black on the slide would serve me well. T e two-tone look is appealing to my eye as well and the alumi- num frame is rather handsome when anod- ized in matte silver.
Grips on a combat gun are usually utilitarian, but custom versions to suit individual tastes are available in all kinds of materials (wood, aluminum, polymer, etc.). From hand fi nished, rare woods to sharp-checkered laminated wood, there truly is something for everyone.
21 The Police Marksman Mar-Apr 2015
The .38 Super - A Caliber a Bit Out of the Ordinary Most would assume that a 1911 should be chambered for the .45 ACP cartridge. It is the original. But 1911 pistols are off ered in 9mm, 10mm, and .40 S&W as well. But my custom 1911 would be chambered for the .38 Super cartridge. First introduced in 1929 by Colt, the .38 Super Automatic (with +P being added to the name in 1974) was a more powerful version of Colt’s .38 Automatic cartridge. T e Super added another 200 fps resulting from a higher level of pressure. T e story goes that law enforcement was under gunned and the criminal element discovered their getaway cars worked well at stopping bullets. More power meant the .38 Super would penetrate car doors and put an end to a few more of the gangsters. T e .38 Super +P is a semi-rimmed case and it provides more velocity than the 9mm Parabellum in equal weight bullets. Modern hollowpoint ammunition by Corbon and Buff alo Bore take the .38 Super +P to its highest performance limit, exceeding 9mm +P+ ammo.
Corbon’s website states their .38 Super +P cartridge launches a 125-grain jacketed hol- lowpoint (JHP) at 1325 fps out of a 5-inch
barrel for a muzzle energy of 487 ft lbs. For as close of an “apples to apples” comparison as we can get (because bullet weights diff er and test barrel lengths diff er), Corbon lists their 9mm at 466 ft lbs for a 115-grain bullet and 434 ft lbs for their 125-grain bullet. Continuing to use the Corbon website’s numbers, their 165-grain .40 S&W round has a muzzle energy rating of 485 ft lbs and their 230-grain .45 ACP gives muzzle energy of 461 ft lbs. T is is not to say that the .38 Super is the “end all, be all” cartridge for defense, but when it comes to muzzle energy, it bests the 9mm, .40 S&W, and the venerable .45 ACP cartridges. It is just as good, or even a tiny bit better than those common rounds and the .38 Super also provides the advantage of manageable recoil and fast follow-up shots.
Colt/Talo/Lipsey’s T ere are a few custom 1911 makers who would build my personal version for me. T ey would probably only charge me one arm and one leg instead of all four body parts. Talo has worked with Colt to create many semi-custom variations of 1911 pis- tols over the years. T ey’re not usually just cosmetic changes, either. A couple of years ago, they teamed up to create my dream 1911, they just did it without my knowl- edge. Lipsey’s distributed the special edi- tion to stores and the guns were snapped up pretty fast. By the time I happened to stumble across the fact that these Colts ex- isted, they were sold out.
Persistence led me to the secondary mar- ket where I searched
Gunbroker.com for several months. Brand-new LWT Com- mander .38 Supers were occasionally found for sale, but at a premium over the original $1,239 price. T en I found one used.
Buying Used To buy a fi rearm off Gunbroker, you either bid to win the auction or sometimes there is a “buy it now” price. T at was the case with this Colt’s $999 price. I clicked the “buy it now.” I have a local Federal Firearms Li- censee (FFL) that charges $25 to complete a transfer and handle the federal forms for purchasing a gun. I simply paid the Gun- broker seller and sent a copy of my FFL’s
www.policemarksman.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55