I just installed the new 10-8 sight and VZ grips on the pistol. I had my smith install the 10-8 trigger when I bought the pistol from him. This is certaintly not my first 1911, but it’s the first 1911 that I would trust my life with.
The first 200 rds the pistol had trouble locking back on the 47Ds, but after that it has not had any problems whatsoever. I have put 1,500 trouble free rounds through the pistol (my reliability standard) and it puts a smile on my face every time that I put it in my hand. I want to that Rob_S for his review, which pointed me in the right direction, thanks man! Also thanks to Ed Brown for offering this pistol without the “Special Forces” rollmark.
I don’t use 47Ds as I have problems with them as well, both in my SF and my 1*. I prefer the McCormick Powermags, but I believe the new Wilson Elite mags seem to be working fine.
If I had known when I bought my SF that it would eventually be available, or was available, without the logo I might have waited. However it seems that the non-logo guns are commanding a bit more of a premium and it’s not worth the added cost to me as there is no value added.
You also touched on one other thing that I would immediately change on any Special Forces, and that’s the grips. The grips on mine feel very thick and I’ve replaced them with one set of grips that I’m not too fond of. Eventually I’ll replace them with the same grips the 1* came with as they are by far my favorite all around grips. They are the VZ Double Diamond.
The 47Ds no longer give me problems, and have been great since the first two hundred rounds.
The pistol without the rollmark was actually the same price as the one with so I just got the clean slide version.
I agree that the grips need replacing, and I think I may switch out the DiamondBacks for the Double Diamond, but I’m not sure yet.
The sights and trigger I see as the biggest improvements over the stock parts. I can’t stand the Novak rear sight, and the 10-8 corrected all my issues with the sight. I am really enjoying the sight picture without the distracting tritium inserts in the rear. The curved rear notch is also very helpful in finding the front sight. The trigger is something that must be shot to understand, it feels great without the adjustment screw hole digging into my finger. It also has a fantastic break and very short reset. I will be trying the flat version on my Colt suppressor host to see if I like it more.
I ordered my EB Executive Carry through a “preferred dealer” and deleted roll marks were a no-cost option. I did have to wait 2 months though. I also got the Gen 3 coating like the Special Forces models have. I like the thin Alumagrips for carry. My gun had feed issues for a while until a conversation with Brown and some trial and error determined that this particular Commander likes a 22 pound recoil spring. Since then failure rate has been around 1/4 percent for 6000 rounds. I still lack a full-sized 1911, but when I get one it will likely be another Brown.
I’ve shot a bunch of regular-to-decent (Kimber level) 1911s but the more I dry fire this Ed Brown the more I like it. There are a host of little things that add up to make the pistol easy to handle and shoot.
The super-high grip safety is just one of them.
(Is that the trigger adjustment hole that wore up my trigger finger??? I am gonna take a bit of Emory cloth to it and smooth that sucker out)
I too want to swap out the grips for something with more bite. I have a trade in the works for some black Gunner Grips that will hopefully take care of that.
How’s your SF been running for you since your review? have you had the chance to put it up against RRA or NH? (Apologies if you did and I missed it; I’m only 4 pages into your near-epic comparison now )
