Dick Heinie

Not so many years ago if you wanted a “modern” 1911 you had to have a custom gun built. Today we have so many modern 1911s it’s hard to keep track. What is even more impressive, most of them are pretty darn good guns. This is truly a golden age for those who love the 1911. You don’t need custom work to get a fine modern 1911. But you can still search for perfection.

It must have been the early1990s when I decided to order my once-in-a-lifetime ideal 1911. The pistolsmith I chose was Richard Heinie. We’ve all seen lists of the “top ten” 1911 pistolsmiths. Frankly I don’t place a lot of credibility on most lists. The reason is simple. Very few people have the knowledge and discrimination to make such lists. The few who do are generally the pistolsmiths themselves. I don’t know who the “best” 1911 pistolsmith is. I do know you won’t find any more respected by the top pistolsmiths themselves than Richard Heinie.

My best 1911 is built on a forged steel Springfield Armory frame and slide. Other components include a Bar-Sto barrel, Ed Brown magazine chute, beavertail and thumb safety, Wilson extractor, firing pin and firing pin stop, Chip McCormick trigger and lockwork, Heinie rear sight and Hogue diamond-pattern stocks. I’m sure there are other components every bit as good. I just don’t know of any that are better.

How many years I waited for this gun to be built I have mercifully forgotten, but it was more than a few. On the good side, Richard billed me the prices in effect when he started the work, not when it was done — which was fortunate as otherwise I likely couldn’t have afforded it.

A few things don’t show in the pictures. Let me talk about the trigger pull, as an illustration of the capabilities of a true master. I asked for a three-pound pull. Most times that means you’ll be doing well to get a reasonably consistent pull somewhere between 23⁄4 and 31⁄4 pounds.

I use a Lyman electronic gauge for measuring pulls. I’ve tested this gauge with certified weights; it is dead on. It measures to a tenth of an ounce. I usually take at least a ten-pull average and am accustomed to pulls varying a few ounces.

The first try gave a pull reading of 3 lb. I measured the pull 20 times. The average was 2 lb. 15.9 ounces. Seven of the 20 readings were exactly three pounds. There was barely an ounce of variation in the twenty measurements, and I suspect even that was primarily operator-error on my part..

I asked for the sights to be regulated to hit center at 25 yards with full-power ammunition (did I mention this is a .45 ACP? Was that even necessary?). Center is where it hits. The front sight is 0.115 of an inch, which with a 0.125 of an inch notch in the rear sight gives a sight picture I like.

At 25 yards it will put five shots into an inch with most any good ammunition. At its best it will approach half-inch groups. This is over a sandbag rest. I can’t always shoot this well. The gun can, though.

Do I think it is the best 1911 I own? No, I think it is the best 1911 anyone owns. I’m glad I got it when I did; Richard Heinie has such a backlog he has long since stopped taking on new customers. I guess I should feel guilty about featuring custom work no longer available.

I don’t, though. You probably don’t agree with my conception of the perfect 1911. Why, it should have ivory stocks, or different sights, or a left-side only safety, and you’ll rank your favorite pistolsmith against anyone.

That’s fine. I’m not trying to convince you to share my vision. I would like to convince you not to wait as long as I did. If you have a vision of a perfect handgun, if it’s what you really want, get it. It may take time, it may be costly, but if it is really your dream you will never regret it. And if it turns out as well as my perfect 1911 you’ll never sell it either.

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