Ray Chapman was one of the top shots, using an M1911 against the likes of Jack Weaver, Thell Reed and Elden Carl. In a sleepy mountain resort called Big Bear, Jeff Cooper was holding “combat shooting” matches in the South West Combat Pistol League. Armand designed high-speed racing boats in his off-time.Īnd back in 1965, things were indeed happening fast in Southern California. Swenson loved guns and he was a gifted craftsman-a rare combination. His hobby was building custom hunting rifles using surplus Mauser 98 actions and stocking them with elegant pieces of walnut. A former state champion Golden Gloves boxer, the barrel-chested Swede worked a day job at Boeing. The late Armand Swenson remains the foremost of these pioneering pistolsmiths and the man who defined the custom combat. Along with lightening triggers and installing adjustable sights, the Government Model had never been customized specifically for combative purposes-a genre that later came to be known as “custom combat” gunsmithing-until a handful of pistolsmiths in Southern California began modifying the big slab-sided pistol for down-and-dirty use. 45.Ĭustom tuning of the M1911 is not new, but, prior to Swenson, gunsmiths such as Bob Chow, Jim Clark and Al Dinan had focused solely on accuracy work for NRA Bullseye pistol competition. His remarkable modifications to a Colt Government Model, however, are proving to be a watershed event in the development of the M1911.
The year is 1965, and the funeral of Sir Winston Churchill captures far more attention than the ministrations of Swedish gunsmith Armand Swenson. The Beatles play the first “stadium concert” in New York Lyndon Johnson is sworn in for a full-term as president and the first Colt M1911 Government Model is “combat customized.” Sandy Koufax pitches a perfect game against the hapless Cubs while Gemini 4 astronaut Ed White executes the first space walk above the Earth.
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