New gun arrived today. I can only give an initial opinion from examining the gun at the gun shop. This gun is a factory built "frankengun" as it uses components from both the new Illinois factory and the former Georgia factory.
1- FUSION GRIP PANELS are good looking but the wood inlay is not perfectly fitted. The guys in the gun shop loved the look of the grips. If you like smooth grips they will make you happy. If you want grippy grips these are not going to be your choice. For looks I like them, but I wish the wood inlay was done a bit better.
2- FRAME looks like it has a longer than normal dust cover? Not sure, I'll have to compare it to some of my other CMs.
3- FRAME has a distinctive grey finish, its a nice non-reflective finish, if the frame is stainless steel then its coated with some sort of spray or bake on finish. So I'm not sure what the frame is made of.
4- MAINSPRING HOUSING is interesting it has some sort of delta cuts into it, not lines, not checkering, but a modern delta/triangle design.
5- SLIDE is a matt black finish, its a different type of finish than is applied to the frame. Its also got some sharp angles/lines that are well done and look very nice, but if you are hoping for a "melted" or "smoothed" slide this is not going to make you happy.
6- SLIDE does not have the traditional Seattle scalloped rear with the forward set rear sight.
7- SLIDE has odd shaped front and rear serrations for racking the slide and doing chamber checks. By odd I'm not saying they are ugly, they are not, its just that they are different than I've ever seen on any other 1911. Perhaps I should have said 'distinctive' instead of odd. You'll either like them or you won't. I do.
8- SIGHTS are good. Front is milled into a dovetail in the front of the slide rather than being part of the slide so its like the AZ and GA guns in that respect. Rear sight is dovetailed all the way to the rear of the slide.
9- HAMMER looks good, its a triangle shape, and it is skeletonized. I have to think that might dig into your body during carry if you don't have a bit of holster leather to protect your side its going to be an issue.
10- THUMB SAFETY is very nicely shaped, its a modestly extended thumb safety, not so big that it will be a problem but big enough to easily engage/disengage.
11- TRIGGER has a very sweet pull, light, little creep, little over travel. I'm looking forward to actually shooting this gun.
12- MAGAZINE includes the finger extension. Only 1 magazine is included.
13- FIT & FINISH. Overall I'd say its pretty nice. I didn't see any glaring
errors in my initial examination.
14- ACCESSORIES: As noted, only 1 magazine was included. A gunsock, shooting glasses, ear plugs, padlock, large photo-filled instruction manual and a padded DETONICS range bag were all included.
OVERALL I'd say I'm happy to have gotten this gun. I'd still like to see (and buy) one of the guns they show on their website that has the front sight integrated into the barrel . . . but that is for another day. For now, if you want a more modern CombatMaster that still maintains some of the traditional features but also has a longer sight plane and an modern look to it, then you may like this gun.
1- FUSION GRIP PANELS are good looking but the wood inlay is not perfectly fitted. The guys in the gun shop loved the look of the grips. If you like smooth grips they will make you happy. If you want grippy grips these are not going to be your choice. For looks I like them, but I wish the wood inlay was done a bit better.
2- FRAME looks like it has a longer than normal dust cover? Not sure, I'll have to compare it to some of my other CMs.
3- FRAME has a distinctive grey finish, its a nice non-reflective finish, if the frame is stainless steel then its coated with some sort of spray or bake on finish. So I'm not sure what the frame is made of.
4- MAINSPRING HOUSING is interesting it has some sort of delta cuts into it, not lines, not checkering, but a modern delta/triangle design.
5- SLIDE is a matt black finish, its a different type of finish than is applied to the frame. Its also got some sharp angles/lines that are well done and look very nice, but if you are hoping for a "melted" or "smoothed" slide this is not going to make you happy.
6- SLIDE does not have the traditional Seattle scalloped rear with the forward set rear sight.
7- SLIDE has odd shaped front and rear serrations for racking the slide and doing chamber checks. By odd I'm not saying they are ugly, they are not, its just that they are different than I've ever seen on any other 1911. Perhaps I should have said 'distinctive' instead of odd. You'll either like them or you won't. I do.
8- SIGHTS are good. Front is milled into a dovetail in the front of the slide rather than being part of the slide so its like the AZ and GA guns in that respect. Rear sight is dovetailed all the way to the rear of the slide.
9- HAMMER looks good, its a triangle shape, and it is skeletonized. I have to think that might dig into your body during carry if you don't have a bit of holster leather to protect your side its going to be an issue.
10- THUMB SAFETY is very nicely shaped, its a modestly extended thumb safety, not so big that it will be a problem but big enough to easily engage/disengage.
11- TRIGGER has a very sweet pull, light, little creep, little over travel. I'm looking forward to actually shooting this gun.
12- MAGAZINE includes the finger extension. Only 1 magazine is included.
13- FIT & FINISH. Overall I'd say its pretty nice. I didn't see any glaring
errors in my initial examination.
14- ACCESSORIES: As noted, only 1 magazine was included. A gunsock, shooting glasses, ear plugs, padlock, large photo-filled instruction manual and a padded DETONICS range bag were all included.
OVERALL I'd say I'm happy to have gotten this gun. I'd still like to see (and buy) one of the guns they show on their website that has the front sight integrated into the barrel . . . but that is for another day. For now, if you want a more modern CombatMaster that still maintains some of the traditional features but also has a longer sight plane and an modern look to it, then you may like this gun.