New Open Gun...

[Ron Ankeny]

Choosing the gunsmith for my new blaster wasn't easy. Benny, Bob, Dan, how's a guy to decide? I finally decided to try a gun from Matt McClearn and I am glad I did. Matt built a gun for me that ran flawlessly in the white, but when he sent it in for hardchrome the company that does his finish botched the job. Matt offered to do whatever it took to get me a 100 % pistol, including building an entirely new gun from the ground up. At no time did McClearn put his profit margin ahead of my satisfaction. Matt is not only a World Champion Shooter, he is a World Champion person.

Here are a few pics.

The gun is rather traditional because I wanted a pistol that is stable and soft shooting. When I placed the order, Matt and I agreed on a gun like he would build for himself to take to the world shoot. The only items I specified were the STI frame, magazine well and the thumb guard.

How does it shoot? I am glad you asked. My draw and reloads are pretty rusty. I ran a bunch of El Presidente drills this afternoon and my turning draw was averaging 1.4-1.45 seconds and the reload was running 1.35-1.40 seconds, but I had no trouble cranking out total times in the 4.75-4.85 range. What does that tell you about the shootability of this blaster? I like it a lot.

Edited March 3, 2006 by Ron Ankeny

[infinity]

what's the thumb guard on that? it deosn't look anything like a swenson...thanks.

btw, cool gun!!

[diehli]

Nice seeing eye gun, Ron!

what's the thumb guard on that? it deosn't look anything like a swenson...thanks.

http://www.1911store.com/index.asp?PageAct...WPROD&ProdID=82

[davidball]

I had been waiting to post this until I had a few more rounds through mine . . . .

I recieved my custom built gun from Matt McLearn in early February. My experience is similar to Ron's. I talked to many of the top builders - Dawson, Bob, etc. Emailed a couple of guys who work with Matt. I even started a thread here. Like Ron, probably would have been happy with any number (or all) of them. Went with Matt.

I didn't have any of the problems Ron had with the hardchrome. In fact, Matt said my gun just "went together great". And it is a work of art. The thing cycles like a dream, is absolutely accurate, no "play" anywhere, and looks great. I've managed to get only about 1500 rounds through it because of weather and other obligations. Not the slightest glitch. I dry fire it almost every evening. The gun and I are getting to know each other quite nicely. It will get it's first match action this weekend.

Matt is a first class guy. Just spoke with him last night about a guide rod problem with my wife's gun. Always willing to help. Always willing to chat. We are going to get some training from him at the beginning of April. If he instructs as well as he smiths and shoots, my club buds better watch out!

All in all I would recommend Matt and his workmanship unhesitatingly.

These pics are ones Matt sent me before hard chrome.

Edited March 3, 2006 by davidball

[Bill Schwab]

Ron: Is that Matt's comp? I'm assuming it's not titanium? What are your thoughts on the comp's effectiveness (sounds like a good comp from what's you've said so far)? I sold my open gun last year after the Nats and want Matt to build me a new one sometime in the future and am leaning towards his comp.

My experience with Matt is an echo of the above - he's a great guy, always willing to answer questions, and most importantly he builds the guns exactly how you want them.

[blue edge]

David, can I play with your new blaster SUNDAY? Sounds KooL!!

Is Jane jealous??

[Ron Ankeny]

Bill:

The comp is Matt's five chamber deep hole comp on a Scheumann Hybricomb barrel. Matt prefers the 3 hole hybricomp with 124-125 bullets over something in the 3n38 range so I went with his recommendation. I think he told me some guys prefer four holes but don't quote me on that. With 125 Zeros or 125 Montana Gold, the dot dips just a hair at 175 PF with SR7625. The dot settles right back to where it started with 3n37 but the concusion is horrible. The dot tracks like a champ and the gun is really soft with HS7 (dirty) and AA7 (my favorite so I hope it isn't as abrasive as in the old days). I also tried some 115 grain bullets over SR7625 that I used in my old shorty and the gun is very flat, but I get a little side to side wiggle and it hits hard in the hand.

My arthritis is the pits so I told Matt I wanted a really soft shooting gun. Matt immediatley came up with the specifications right off the top of his head, right down to the small parts. I laughed and asked Matt why he had all of that committed to memory. He told me it was the gun he would take with him to the World Shoot if he were going tomorrow. That was good enough for me. The only changes I made were the Brazos thumbguard and the magwell. I already had the magwell and the thumb guard was added because of the time Benny Hill threatened to cut my thumbs off.

There are so many great gunsmiths on this forum that I almost feel like crap for not being able to buy a gun from each one of them. I have had several Benny built guns and I just wanted to try something different. Kind of like the guy who buys a Chevy after having a dozen Fords. I know Bob Londrigan builds some of the best guns around, but at the time I placed the order Bob was backed up to the tune of a year. Dan Bedell and Chuck Bradley are a great combination, someday I really want a Caspian from George at EGW... well you guys know the story.

FWIW, I got off at 2:00 PM this afternoon and headed to the range. I really like this gun, a whole lot.

Edited March 4, 2006 by Ron Ankeny