Wolf in sheep's clothing: is it or isn't it? This retro-classic from Tussey Custom is full of surprises

Guns Magazine, July, 2004 by Jim Gardner

"You're not actually going to shoot that, are you?" "Oh sure," I answered, locking the slide open and applying a couple drops of oil as if to further prove my intentions. "But it looks mint," he continued, "unfired even!" His eyes, which looked as if they might produce tears at any moment, were locked on the brilliantly blued pistol.

"Yeah, I don't know that it's ever been fired," I answered while sliding a magazine into wouldn't it be a shame to ..." The report of the first round drowned out the rest of his sentence.

I had to feel pity for the guy. After all, I'd been taken too when Roy Huntington, American Handgunner's stalwart editor had handed me the pistol some weeks past.

I had felt a slight tightening in my chest, a pounding in my ears, and I wiped a moist hand on my blue jeans before accepting what appeared to be a crisp, pristine GI-issue 1911 from the late teens. I was on the phone at the time and thus I pantomimed to Roy, asking permission to check the chamber. After all, you don't cycle a collector's gem like this without permission.

What I should have noticed was Roy's slight smirk.

New/Old Puzzler

After a minute of looking over the "old" gun I had more questions than answers, Flipping it over really raised an eyebrow, as the frame bore the legend: "Caspian Arms Ltd. Wolcott, VT, USA." What on earth did we have here?

Roy soon filled me in. This is from the shop of Tussey Custom, built on a special 1911 pattern frame and slide from Caspian Arms, and it's truly an interesting custom pistol. To start with, it's a breath of fresh air to see a custom .45 without all the "improvements" that seem to be required today. No mag funnel, no beavertail, no ambi-safety--in other words a .45 made the way the good Lord and John Browning intended.

Sure, a real collector would point out small details that weren't right for a early 1911: Long rather than short tang grip safety, a series-80 firing pin stop, sights not quite correct, deviations from original markings and a larger ejection port, etc. But put it in your mitts, sight along that polished slide and you can almost feel the sticky mud of the Meuse-Argonne under your boots or see the dark woods of the Ardenne forest.

If it were just a replica, that would be one thing, but there's more here than can be seen at first glance.

Checking Under The Hood

Cycle the slide briskly then press your thumb down on the barrel hood to check for lost motion. Nope, it's as immovable as the pyramids. The slide to frame fit is impeccable as well. There's no slop, no shake, and the slide travels along the frame ways slick as greased ball bearings.

Field stripping (thank goodness there's no fall-length guide rod to complicate matters), gives us a better look at what work has been done and how well it's been executed. The first thing noticed is how nicely the frame "deck" has been bright polished as part of the slide-to-frame fitting job. Likewise the barrel seat in the frame, the slide center-rail, the outside of the frame rails and the breech face. Even the ejector's sides have been brightened.

This sort of hand polishing is not only an elegant, old world touch, it gives the finished gun that smooth, slick feeling when the slide is cycled. In some areas, such as the breech face, taking the time to bring all surfaces dead flat and true as well as eliminating sharp edges where required pays dividends in reliable feeding as well.

Frame and barrel feed ramps have been properly shaped and polished to a mirror finish. The barrel bushing shows the right fit--tight enough to aid accuracy, but not so tight a bushing wrench is required for stripping. Behind the bushing seat, the barrel has been turned down almost imperceptibly, just enough to clear the bushing's inside diameter, improving smoothness and avoiding marking up the barrel's blued finish.

The trigger action is superb, breaking at just over four pounds and crisp as a winter morning. Getting a safe, reliable trigger pull like this while keeping the heavy steel trigger is a tricky balancing act. Also noticeable was an absence of excessive over travel.

The stocks are diamond-checkered walnut from Cylinder and Slide. They're handsome, hand-filling and look correct on the gun. The lanyard loop mainspring housing is by Smith and Alexander. We're lucky to have them offering these, as the surplus parts are becoming scarce as hen's teeth. Many of my working .45s wear lanyard loops. They can be mighty handy at times.

The sights deserve special mention. While in shape they look like GI sights, they're not. The front measures .104" in width, nicely matching the .125-inch wide rear notch. These are huge compared to the "fingernail sights" of the early 1911s and much larger even than the improved sights fitted to the 1911-A1.

A front sight this large and heavy would soon fly off the slide if only staked in place. Instead, Tussey silver soldered this front sight to make it permanent, and he did a splendid job, with nary a trace of a solder line on the exterior. These sights give a a free, modern sight picture while looking period correct, and really, this sums up the the entire package.