"I have always admired the Colt "Combat Commander" 1911....but does a barrel that is 3/4 of an inch shorter & a rounded hammer really make it that much better as a carry gun? I have to wonder (esp about the hammer, if you carry cocked and locked)."
I have one of those. They're a sweet gun once you replace the grip safety with a beavertail type. That short tang and the round hammer will draw blood from the web of you hand in one hell of a hurry and yes, I have the scar to prove it.
I don't find it all that much lighter to be honest but it's a honest gun that will what needs to be done when the Vigaro hits the mixmaster.
I've been looking for years for one of the aluminum framed Colt Commaders and it light enough that it won't pull my pants half off. Right now I carry an S&W M60 but will try to figure a way to pack the Combat Commander.
I also have three customized 1911s, two by the late great F. Bob Chow, the other built on a Caspian frame with a Colt Gold Cup slide. On another note, how many have seen a Colt Gold Cup Combat Commander? It's in Commander length with Gold Cup sights and a standard hammer rather than the rowel type. A really cool gun that is quite accurate. It's stamped Limited Edition and IIRC only 500 were made in blue and 500 in stainless. The last stainless I saw had an asking price of $2K.
I cleaned that one up and put it away. I understand that if one has both, the collector's price is right around
$5K.
One of my Bob Chow guns was literally a freebie as all I had to pay for were the mods which were a set of S&W sights inletted into the slide and a decent, nay extremely decent trigger job. The other is a full blown fixed sight combat gun set up for the federal 230 gr. Hydroshok load. I'll just say it was 4figures, yet radically reduce in price for me. I know this need explanation so I'll keep it simple.
I grew up in San Francisco and would go over to my Grandmother's place on Saturdays for lunch and maybe do a movie. Guess maybe I was 11 or 12 at the time and one of the thiings I would do is go over to Mr. Chow's gun shop and be a pest and a half. Mr. Chow was always nice to me and as the years went on we became friends. When I got my first 1911 in a trade, I was 18 at that time, I took the gun over to him and he said to leave it with him and he'd fix it up proper. He called me about a week later and he's put the S&W sights on the gun and did the trigger job. IIRC, it cost me all of $35 for sights, no charge for labor. The second gun was years later. he'd built it up for a custom who wanted it done right. The guy apparently died and the family didn't want the gun. I got it for the cost of the work. $2K. He actually called my home in Nevada t let me know about the gun. I took off on Friday night, got there Saturday morning and got back home in time on Sunday to make it to my first graveyard shift. We got around California's then three day wait because I bought it on Tuesday and didn't pick it up until Saturday. It was registered to my dad who was still living in Frisco. He knew about the deal and said he'd register it in his name which is the same as mine.
I've run that gun through it's paces and it's a real fighting tool.
Paul B.