TTAG ran into a new American gun company at the NRA show: Cabot Guns. [Caution: link triggers autoplay audio] You may remember our exclusive April piece on Cabot’s $4,300 GI 1911. In the months that followed, TTAG secured extended trigger time with test models to verify Cabot’s claim that each pistol produced will ship with specs that “exceed national match standards.” We visited Cabot’s factory to see how the company makes [what they say is] the finest tolerance 1911 in the world . . .

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Next week, I’ll take a hard look at the Cabot Guns’ difference, shoot their Jones and Rangemaster 1911’s with 10-time bullseye pistol champion Brian Zins, and show what $14,500 buys you (hint: look above). Watch this space. . .

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13 COMMENTS

  1. Yeh, when I was college student I had posters of Lamborghinis on my wall. I currently drive a Ford F-250.

    I really love 1911s. This may be the poster art for 1911 lovers. But I seriously doubt I will ever consider buying one. The price. For Pete’s sake, there has to be a way to produce a well-tuned, reliable, pretty 1911 for something less than the cost of a kitchen remodel. I know that someone out there is considering buying one. I am not jealous. I hope you enjoy your purchase.

    • Sid,

      You’re not alone, and you’re definitely right. This isn’t “every man’s” 1911. It’s designed to fill the niche of a niche market. Put it this way – they had a customer buy one of the higher end models. He took delivery, and thought it was too pretty. So, he buys a second one. One for the wall, one for shooting. Niche of a niche. Think guys who can afford to buy Dan Wesson and Bill Wilson without thinking too much about it.. Maybe this is the 1911 of my mid-life-crisis (when I get there). The entire first production run is sold out, so my guess is there are more than a few OFWGs, and other enthusiasts out there ready to lay down wads of cash for a firearm like this.

      There are many, many, many 1911’s out there that will meet every need, and you can in some cases buy bunches of them for the cost of one of these pistols. The Devil’s in the details with Cabot’s 1911’s – they’re a true work of art. I won’t be buying one – it’d take me years to pay for. Do I want one? You’re dang right I do.

  3. Benjamin T. Shotzberger says: “We visited Cabot’s factory to see how the company makes [what they say is] the finest tolerance 1911 in the world . . .”

    I have two questions about this claim:

    1. Does Karl Lippard know about this?
    2. Does this necessarily produce a better 1911?

    • The only way to find out who’s 1911 is to have a dance off. Followed by a shoot-off judged by the spirit of John Moses Browning.

    • Magoo:

      1) I have no idea – care to be the messenger with that bit?
      2) The 1911 they produce is to spec for JMB’s schematics. Time will tell..

  4. Their commercial and website are incorrect;

    The GI/Classic is not a reproduction of the 1911, it is a reproduction of the 1911A1. I realize it’s semantics, but there is quite a difference between the 1911 and the A1.

    For $4350, I could buy a mid-40’s Colt, a nice Rem-Rand, and be mostly on my way to an Ithaca. Or maybe a nice pair of US&S’s. Or have 1/3 to 1/5 of a Singer!

    I’d rather buy a nice set of [i]real[/i] 1911A1’s, rather than a vastly overpriced reproduction. I see the market for quality firearms, especially 1911-type pistols, but I don’t see the sense in that model.

    • ~10? I have no idea. What I know is what my dentist (who is a 1911 pistolsmith in his spare time) tells me. Buy an Armscor 1911–such as a RIA–and trick it out. You’ll have a 1911 that is competition ready and functional with anything you feed it for less than $1000. That’s good enough for me … When I’m ready for a 1911.

      I suppose if I had a million bucks in the bank, I might buy one of these for giggles. I would definitely buy one of these before I bought something as useless as a Ferarri.

  6. I wonder what the market value of these boutique 1911’s will be in a few years.

    My guess is that they will lose 90% of their value and will re-sell in the $800 range, at best. I just can’t believe there’s that much of a market out there for a $3000+ gun that’s only marginally better than the sub-$1000 version of the same thing. And once that minimal market is saturated, where do these gun manufacturers go then?

    My only hope is that the “let’s build a new version of an old gun” fad spreads out to Revolvers. There’s no reason one of these companies can’t make the equivalent of a 1970’s-era S&W K, L or N frame as the patents on those must have expired years ago. I actually might be interested in paying $1000 or more for a brand new gun that has the quality, the fit and finish, and the feel of those old wheelguns. S&W could do it too, of course, but it seems like lately they’ve been too busy cutting corners and pushing product out the door to focus on quality, more’s the pity.

  7. The looks on the guns are amazing, but when the lady was saying “no kick” it showed her shooting it, and it looked like a fair amount of kick. Not even mentioning her somewhat stiff arm posture as she held it

  8. thanks but no thanks, i’ll stick with my “mutt” m1911a1 that i’ve rebuilt to be exactly what i want. its not a “collector grade” gun, i’ve replaced most of the original parts with ones i prefer, and done the trigger/sear work myself, as well as polishing the feed ramp and working surfaces by hand. its my gun, from my own hands, and i know i can rely on it.

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