I am planning on sending my Rail Gun to MARS Armament in Utah towards the middle of April. I have read some good things about them, but they don’t seem to have a lot of press out there. Steve Morrison has been very good with bis communication and has promised me a very short turnaround on my pistol.
I am curious if any of you have had work done by them and what your opinions are?
Also, what do you 1911 guru’s think about my build plan:
Base pistol: Colt Rail Gun Series 80
Dehorning
Golf Ball front strap and flat mainspring housing (includes barstock housing, true and high cut front strap and housing )
Contour/Blend/Fit Harrison Design TAC Thumb Safety https://shop.harrisoncustom.com/extreme-service-tac-thumb-safety
Colt 1911 Reliability package (Government model)
Colt Trigger Job
Cerakote in Black
Does this sound like a solid build for a duty 1911?
Search for “Mars” guns in the 1911 sub forum here. You will find lots of posts. Steve is good people. I have a Colt series 70 there right now getting the axiom package and plan to have a black army built by him someday.
my favorite builds that he does are the black army repros, they are awesome and in my opinion his signature base gun. Search black army in this sub forum as well for an awesome right up on one Steve built.
I have a gun done by him. The attention to detail is very good as is all of the machining. I went with the MARS golf ball dimpling (the NOT pointed version), and am honestly surprised by it’s “grippy-ness”. You can drag the front strap across your face and nary a scratch, but if you grip the pistol, your skin fills the divots and it is anchored as well as any checkered pistol I’ve ever shot. Coupled with the Gen 2 housing having the same treatment and the grips he sold me that match, I honestly don’t know that I’d benefit from it being any “grippyier”, and I have pretty tough hands. I REALLY like the high cut front strap, the attention to detail, and the quality of the parkerized finish. I didn’t Cerakote it because it’s going to be a user for at least the first half of its life before getting a make over and possibly being handed down as the young ones grow up. Unless I have another one done by him eventually…
Check a few pages back for the thread on MARS 1911s. There was a period where he was hurting with his backlog, but if you follow him on FB it seems like he’s sending more pistols out then ever, and they all look great. I should note that when I got my pistol, I was convinced it shot low, and I wasn’t really impressed by it. I sent it back to him, he test fired it almost right away, produced a target, and shipped it back. A couple more trips to the range, and it didn’t shoot low anymore. Needless to say, I was kind of embarrassed…
Double tap…May as well add that I can’t comprehend a carry or duty without a magwell anymore. I’ve really come to appreciate them, and Steve did a great job.
I have one of his guns. They are top notch, and he has quite a following of loyal customers.
If you check out the MARS guns threads you will find some happy customers and great guns.
It’s great stuff - short turnaround time is relative (at one point they had a nearly 14mo backlog on complete pistol builds). With almost all good 1911 stuff, patience pays in quality, so I don’t consider that to be a significant negative.
I too, can’t really figure out why anybody would run a nice 1911 without a magwell at this point either; the ILAPs are just plain awesome.
I’ve had a Colt there since April 2011. I asked for the THUG package and a couple other options. My most recent conversation with Steve was earlier this month. He said “3 or 4 weeks.”
Fingers crossed.
I’m thinking about it now, and I can’t recall being quoted a set time. That being said, I did not expect it to be this long of a wait.
I do remember a phone call from him, about two years ago, and he was beginning the build then. We hashed out a few details.
I can’t complain about contact-he has been great about answering texts. He has sent some pictures also of the progress of the build.
I am sure it will be worth the wait. I just hope that he is able to have the gun done in the next week or so, as he said in our most recent conversation.
I had an Axiom done a few years back, took a little over 26 months if I remember correctly. Once we were actually in the building phase, I got regular texts and picture updates and it went rather quickly. It was worth the wait, which I understand has gone down since he stopped taking new work for awhile until he got caught up. I’m considering having him install a Wilson BP ambi safety on mine now, wonder how long that would take. I have a Colt Series 70 repro in the safe waiting to be worked on someday when I have that kind of money lying around again.
Yep, 4.5 years and counting for a THUG. Steve has been good about responding to texts and I have received some recent pics of work in progress. Hopefully it will be in my hands soon. Not sure I would go this route again.
Thats insane, I hope the THUG is worth it for you. I’m hesitant to trust their quote at this point, but no other major smith is taking work or has a wait time under a year…
