NEW OPEN GUN BUILD

[Badluck2]

I am trying to have a open gun build the way I want. I was going to have Gary from Gans enterprise build it but Gary's  work load is overloaded. I have all the parts to build a 9 major shorty .But no one to build it . I am looking for a good reputable pistolsmith that builds guns like Gans. If anyone knows one it would be greatly appreciated .

 

Thanks

[ltdmstr]

Venom seems to be a good choice.  He builds a lot of them and I've not heard any complaints.

[Rnlinebacker]

Venom, D2 customs, Rafferty, Carne Custom. All amazing in their own right

[japarker82]

2 hours ago, Rnlinebacker said:

Venom, D2 customs, Rafferty, Carne Custom. All amazing in their own right

All Masters 

[chase214]

Give Jeff Abernathy a call 

[CalTeacher]

I will also chime in for Don at Venom Customs.  I just got my gun from him and am very impressed.  His communication is top notch as is his work.  

[chowellacsbd]

I checked with Carne but their 12 months out

 

im planning an Atlas Athena-style build with Gans, when he slows down a bit.

[MikeBurgess]

Your kinda stuck in a weird place,

If you want it built soon you will need to find a builder that is just getting started, does good work and has not yet built a reputation for themselves.

If you want it built by someone with a good reputation then you will need to wait because they all have long backlogs. 

 

[chowellacsbd]

On 11/2/2021 at 7:26 PM, Badluck2 said:

I am trying to have a open gun build the way I want. I was going to have Gary from Gans enterprise build it but Gary's  work load is overloaded. I have all the parts to build a 9 major shorty .But no one to build it . I am looking for a good reputable pistolsmith that builds guns like Gans. If anyone knows one it would be greatly appreciated .

 

Thanks

when I talk to Gary next, I’ll ask what his actual timeframe is. He’s so quick it seems like a few months is an eternity to wait … lol

[Badluck2]

15 hours ago, chowellacsbd said:

when I talk to Gary next, I’ll ask what his actual timeframe is. He’s so quick it seems like a few months is an eternity to wait … lol

Thanks that would be great, His reply was very short. I have never met Gary but from his emails he seems to be a man of few words. But the guy does great work 

[Badluck2]

21 hours ago, MikeBurgess said:

Your kinda stuck in a weird place,

If you want it built soon you will need to find a builder that is just getting started, does good work and has not yet built a reputation for themselves.

If you want it built by someone with a good reputation then you will need to wait because they all have long backlogs. 

 

Your totally right ! Everyone I have emailed has told me they are backlogged out a year 

[donno]

Look up Jeff Abernathy of Tommy Guns USA. He has done several for me and all are great but most importantly, they are run. 

[Badluck2]

20 minutes ago, donno said:

Look up Jeff Abernathy of Tommy Guns USA. He has done several for me and all are great but most importantly, they are run. 

Thanks ! I will drop him a email

[donno]

1 hour ago, Badluck2 said:

Thanks ! I will drop him a email

Here is my 9mm shorty built specifically for 3 gun.

[BigBamBoo]

Don at Venom has built me a few VERY nice open rigs.

 

They run flawlessly. 

 

[mlmiller1]

Bad Dog custom guns in Coleman TX is an excellent gun builder.   Call & visit with Colt.  He builds some nice guns!

[Badluck2]

Thanks Guys!

[CalTeacher]

On 11/6/2021 at 5:56 PM, BigBamBoo said:

Don at Venom has built me a few VERY nice open rigs.

 

They run flawlessly. 

 

I have a replica of that gun with the green magwell that I just got from Don about a month ago.  It does, indeed, run flawlessly.  Looks good too!

[1028Tech]

Yes to Don at Venom Customs! 

[Bakerjd]

This is the triple threat Dan at D2 Customs built me last year. 3 uppers, one open major 9mm, one 40 cal limited and one 9mm limited. The fit and finish is just amazing. Gun ran 100% right out the gate on all 3 setups. He let me pick all the parts I wanted mostly. I asked him what parts he liked and went with that combined with what I like and it came out exaclty how I wanted. All Brazos slides, KKM Barrels, EGW and EE fire controls, LSI grip with limcat heavy magwell, geppart trigger, ect.. 

 

When he did mine he wasn't building guns full time yet so it was a bit of a wait, about 6 months I think. He was doing a ton of out of town work, he is a machinist and was doing a lot of in plant machine repairs at the time. He has since decided that building guns was his passion and has gone full time for that so wait times are a bit shorter now. Less then 6 months I belive. The entire build was super simple on my end. We talked though text and over the phone to get what ideas I had for slide cuts, trigger weights, ect.. and he sent pics of the uppers to see of I wanted to add some more milling or if they were good. Answered tons of questions from me, and still does. Hands down I'm 100% happy with it. 

 

 

Then I decided I wanted a 100% built for me custom SS 1911 in 40. And had been drooling over a build Don at Venom has had for sale on his site for a long time. That particular one was built with a square trigger guard and a couple other minor things I didn't like but the slide design was just plain awesome. Old school but with a touch of new school also. So I contacted Don and asked gim if he could do a similar one with the same slide design but the few tweaks I wanted. I shoot SS a lot and wanted this one to be pretty similar to my minor 9mm ones. He answered my email I think at like 10pm on a Sunday or some crazy time. We exchanged info, what I wanted, ect... and I decided to go for it. I haven't gotten it yet but man am I excited. I've played with one of his open guns and it was awesome. 

 

 

Some may ask why I didn't just have Dan do my 1911 and to me it's rude to take a design from one builder and have someone else copy it. So now I get to enjoy guns from two great builders. 

 

Hope this helps,

 

Josh

[trsrt8]

I'm surprised at how busy the good gun builders are right now it sounds like orders picked up last year, but makes sense with all the money people saved from not shooting or from the stimulus checks. I talked to Eddie, he's 18months out right now and Pat Rafferty is not taking new orders until next fall. I don't know if Brazos only works on 100% his own parts, but there's a guy at my range who had a new gun built in about a week.

[MuayThaiJJ]

I like the stuff I see coming from D2 and Venom, what about a Limcat?

[Bakerjd]

On 12/9/2021 at 5:15 PM, trsrt8 said:

I'm surprised at how busy the good gun builders are right now it sounds like orders picked up last year, but makes sense with all the money people saved from not shooting or from the stimulus checks. I talked to Eddie, he's 18months out right now and Pat Rafferty is not taking new orders until next fall. I don't know if Brazos only works on 100% his own parts, but there's a guy at my range who had a new gun built in about a week.

Brazos builds a great gun but he only builds his specific design. I'm not saying this to tale away from his guns just letting the OP know.

[zzt]

14 hours ago, Bakerjd said:

Brazos builds a great gun but he only builds his specific design. I'm not saying this to tale away from his guns just letting the OP know.

 

If you don't want a gun that looks like a Brazos Custom, order a short block with a Unique slide.  Then put what ever lightening cuts you want on it.

 

Having been around the block a few times, I'll just note that if I build another 2011 anything it will be on a Brazos short block.  If he offered 1911 receivers, I'd be using them too.  I'm not going to knock other frames and receivers I've used (except for STI and Caspian).  Brazos stuff requires less work than anyone else I've used.

 

I'll say the same about Matt Cheely.  If he makes a part, buy it.  If not, use EGW or EE.

[wanttolearn]

Rick Hebert was really nice to deal with and the pistol runs great