Earlier this year, the TTAG staff had a great time shooting lots of different models from Cabot Guns at the Best of the West Shooting Range in Liberty Hill, Texas. While the goal of the shoot was an impromptu torture test of the S-Class Commander, the gun that stole the show was a one-off Government model with walnut grips and a gorgeous antique finish.
We only got to put about 200 rounds of mixed ammo between the shooters through that gun that day, but it performed flawlessly. Not only did it run well, but it just felt great in the hand. The action was butter smooth, and the internals were clearly the best work Cabot has to offer. But the look, unlike the more modern lines Cabot usually has, this one was pure old school John Moses Browning. The gun that put the class in working-class. Everyone who saw it wanted to shoot it, and I don’t think anyone was disappointed when they did. I walked away from that day impressed with the S-Class, but that vintage finish 1911 has been on my mind ever since.
At the time of the shoot this finish wasn’t being offered in production. That was a disappointment that Cabot has thankfully remedied, releasing it as the Vintage Classic 1911 and at a lower price point than most of their models. I’d like to think mine and Dan’s fawning approval of it had something to do with that. If you’re looking for a higher-end, great performing 1911 that still looks like a 1911 get this one in your hands. Press release:
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Pittsburgh – November 29, 2016 – Cabot Guns, America’s premiere maker of high-quality handguns, announced today that it is introducing the Vintage Classic 1911. The Vintage Classic features a unique look resembles what gun enthusiasts prize in rare antique pistols. Though the finish is vintage-looking, it is fully modern and durable. The Vintage Classic blends a nostalgic, old-style look with the most advanced aerospace construction approach to building a firearm in the industry.
“The 1911 truly symbolizes the might of freedom’s march and its resilience against the tests of time,” said Rob Bianchin, CEO of Cabot Guns. “It would look at home on the bed stand of a home in 1945 or on the belt of a sheriff in Texas in the 1930s. Today, it has evolved, been remade and reimagined but it remains an ever-present testament to the superiority of design. It’s an ode to the original vision of John Moses Browning.” The Vintage Classic 1911 retails for under $4,000.
Cabot Guns developed the gun’s antique finish by accident. It’s a unique thermal chemical process. The patina it produces varies slightly from gun to gun – but that’s the whole point. Experience dwell loved guns had individual looks, a personality, so to speak. However, while old finishes will wear somewhat easily, this one does not. The finish is extremely hard. The Vintage Classic has a throwback traditional feel but is made with state-of-the-art mechanical modern aerospace construction.
The Vintage Classic is available in both full-size and Commander size. Like all Cabot Guns, the Vintage Classic begins with a solid block of steel. Its frame and slide are constructed of 416 Stainless Billet, which is hailed for its superior properties. Cabot’s computer-controlled precision machining and build processes are meticulously implemented by artisan craftsmen who ensure that each individual part is perfect in dimension and consistency. The company’s proprietary hardening process, coupled with an innovative thermal chemical treatment of the steel, creates the Vintage Classic’s distinctive warm finish.
The Commander offers Cabot’s Full-Cycle Technology. It retains the same cycle-length and legendary timing of Browning’s design in a Government size 1911. Both are hand-fitted with match-grade crown-cut flush-fit barrels. Standard on the Vintage Classic is a spherical gold bead front sight fitted in Cabot’s Reverse Dovetail. This eliminates potential snag points and maintaining true zero draw after draw.
A full-length front to rear slide-top serrations leads the shooter’s eye to a standard gold dot front sight, low-mount fixed or adjustable rear sight. Completing the slide are Cabot’s renowned Trademark Trinity Stripes, which provide significant tactile sureness when racking a round into battery.
The shooter’s interface with the Vintage Classic is further buttressed by grip-ensuring 24 line-per-inch Rhombus checkering along both the front strap and main spring housing of the pistol. The bevelled magazine well lends to faster magazine changes and feeds smoothly inside grips of checkered Turkish Walnut or white American Holly. A stand-out aluminium wire-EDM wire cut Tristar trigger compliments beavertail and thumb safeties. The one-piece full-length guide rod, slide stop and magazine release are all billet-made to hair-splitting specifications.
True to the unique nature of Cabot Guns, the Vintage Classic is also available in a true left-hand configuration.
Features of the Cabot Gun Vintage Classic include: proprietary hardening; proprietary Vintage Classic Finish; 5 in. match grade barrel, hand-fit, crown cut, flush fit; polished feed ramp; Cabot Trinity Stripes rear slide serrations; top slide serrations; lowered and flared ejection port; Cabot Aluminum Tristar Trigger; rhombus cut front strap checkering 24 LPI; rhombus checkered billet made main spring housing; Cabot Machined-in-Place Perfect Fit Ejector; Cabot Billet One Piece Full Length Guide Rod; billet thumb safety; billet – idiot scratch proof – slide stop; billet magazine release; billet beaver tail grip safety; Cabot 9-Axis Billet Constructed Barrel Bushing; beveled magazine well; highly figured Turkish Walnut – checkered with inlaid Cabot Medallion orWhite American Holly grips;
For more information, visit http://cabotgun.com/better-than-custom-1911-pistols/the-vintage-classic/#1
Media Contact
Rob Bianchin
(724) 602-4431
[email protected]
300 N. Pike Road, Sarver, PA 16055
Copyright © 2016 Cabot Press Release, All rights reserved.
SHOT Show Media And Friends
Our mailing address is:
Cabot Press Release
300 N. Pike Road
Cabot, PA 16055
Sorry, $4k isn’t “higher-end”, it’s ridiculous. Definitely better (and better looking) things to waste that kind of money on.
Stop with Cabot. Theyre fvcking junk with a joke of a price point. Enough.
Nope.
Well as long as you shills get your $ eh?
Shill for Cabot? Use the search function on this site.
I like the guns, but those three-starred triggers don’t do anything for me.
“I like the guns, but those three-starred triggers don’t do anything for me.”
Yeah, same here.
In the unlikely event a rich relative croaks and leaves me a pile of cash, I’ll only buy one one if comes sans that tri-star trigger.
Seriously, Cabot. Try an experiment next time you’re exhibiting it somewhere. Have one with and one without the stars and ask folks what one looks better.
(My marketing consultation fee is (1) Cabot Gun Vintage Classic)
And why aluminum for the trigger? Wasn’t mil-spec steel?
“And why aluminum for the trigger?”
And if you’re going to use aluminum for the trigger, why would you brag about it?
Yes. Ditch the tri-star trigger.
For me, the three-star triggers are an aesthetic disaster.
The effect is the same as when I see a really cute young lady who has chosen to put a bolt through her nose and get tats running up her neck. ie, one of God’s most perfect creations – utterly ruined.
Same deal here. All I can do is sigh, turn away and shake my head wistfully, muttering “I wish I’d seen it/her before… this… happened.”
Even worse when the tattoo is all over their chest. Like the girl from American Pickers. Why would you ruin those?!?!
It takes all kinds. I see that same girl with the ink up her neck, and now I’m interested.
And suddenly it all comes into focus. The same reason why you include in some reviews a scantily clad model who looks 15 years old.
Nah, Jon, it doesn’t take all kinds, we just happen to have all kinds. Some of which are demonstrably superfluous.
Mr Pierogie-I don’t belive I’ve ever had a scantily clad model in any review. I had my son in one picture once, but he was fully clothed, maybe you are referring to my flip flops?
http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2016/06/robert-farago/disassembling-ar-15-guns-beginners/
Oh, that’s not you in that video? My apologies then.
Mr Pierogie, that’s me in the video, but it’s not a gun review, not one of my articles, and she’s not “scantily clad”. Although I agree she does look 15, hence, not my type.
Of course, of course. Whatever you say, Jon.
Really, Pierogie? That’s what you’ve been going on about? I see now that I shouldn’t have given you the benefit of the doubt.
Mr Pierogie-thanks for admitting your mistake. Just pay more attention next time and you won’t be embarrassed again.
Kinda like paying top-dollar for “distressed-look” blue jeans.
Put your own wear and tear on your guns: every nick and ding tells a story of a well used and loved gun.
It’s why I have no room in my safe for queens. One or two of my guns are in near-mint condition, but that’s simply because I’m particularly careful with those, not because I won’t shoot them.
I was going to comment along the lines of your first sentence.
There is nothing classic or vintage in these guns, and the high price does not reflect a rough and tumble firearm like the 1911 was originally intended.
Nothing but a Neiman Marcus pair of distressed jeans. Heirloom item, maybe… classic, no.
Nothing vintage or classic at all about those trashy trigger cutouts and those grotesquely ugly slide serrations.
It would look a hundred times better if it looked more like an actual old-school M1911.
Exactly.
I’m with everyone else.
Way too over priced to be even worth looking at.
Here are the problems:
The design is over 100 years old.
Everybody and their brother makes a 1911 or an AR15.
Most of the people reading these articles are the blue collar crowd, not the rich rapper bling flashing type.
Like cars, the money is worth spending if you get function with it, example: Diesel truck, big money, big return. Mercedes super luxury shoe box, big money, low return, high bling.
Now, not saying it isn’t nice, not saying they didn’t put $4K worth of work into it. But this principle can be applied anywhere. If I precision machine, finish, fit, and kiss a 3/4″ boxed end wrench and stick a $2000 price tag on it… well…. there ya go.
Talked to Coonan Inc about the same issue. Id like to see them make a 44 mag version of their pistol, they said the idea was on hold because they are focusing on their “new” 45 auto line…..
So they made a one of a kind desirable pistol based off a classic beloved pistol and their new plan for success is to make the same pistol they derived their design from that everybody makes…….
Yawn….
What next, at diamond studded 1887 Winchester or platinum Model 97?
There’s no issue with a design being 100 or more years old if it worked. eg, The Mauser 98 is a design over 100 years old, and there’s no doubt that it is the safest bolt action design out there. There’s nothing wrong with the 1911’s design. It works, and works well. The 1911 design was tested far more rigorously than many commercial pistol offerings coming into the market today.
I gotta agree with everyone on the trigger stars. Gives an otherwise good-lookin’ gun a rhinestone cowboy (or GI?) look. While I don’t mind hearing about the ridiculously priced, high end market, I’m a young guy with a wife and mortgage in addition to a healthy love of guns. I need my guns to be what I am, a working man. As in good quality, nothing fancy and reasonably priced. I don’t need them to be pretty any more than I need my Chevy to be pretty. To me that means reliable quality for under $1K in a handgun. I got a Para USA 1911 that has always done right by me (I know there are plenty of Para haters out there). I don’t claim it is as good as the more expensive makes and models, but it does what I need it to do. I definitely enjoy reviews on what I guess are mid-range guns more than the higher end, b/c those are guns I could actually buy one day.
The question is why would you buy one?
If you have a pistol, 1911 or other, that does what you need it to do for a G-note why would you drop $4K on another one when there’s a ton of other stuff you could buy for that four large that would, arguably, serve you much, much better?
I’ve never understood the concept of dropping a ton of money on something “just to have it” unless it has some serious providence and is therefore a collectors item you can rationally expect to seriously appreciate in the time you possess it in which case it’s more of an investment anyway.
You may have meant ‘provenance’ instead of ‘providence’.
(Yeah, yeah, spelling and grammar Nazis, etc…) 🙂
Poisting from a phone has it’s downsides.
The upside is I don’t have to carry around my desktop.
“The upside is I don’t have to carry around my desktop.”
It’s cheaper than hitting the gym…
*snicker*
My first 1911 was a Para GI Expert Stainless steel model. I beat the hell out of that thing and never had a problem after break in. I have always wondered about all the Para hate out there.
Yet another multi-thousand dollar 1911. I continue to believe that a good chunk of 1911 aficionados are crazy.
Oh, but you can pay an extra $200 for tritium night sights so that you can find out how useless they actually are and then pay even more to get them removed and replaced with something useful in real life! “It’s a deal, it’s a steal, it’s the sale of the fucking century!”
If high end 1911 Aficionados are crazy are precision rifle shooters crazy? What about people who like expensive AR’s? People with an expensive taste in hunting rifles? What about high end shot gun fans? Most high end 1911 fans spend $3-4000 with some going higher per gun. Precision rifle/ benchrest shooters spend $4-5000 on a rifle followed by $2-4000 on a scope and rings, followed by lots of money for the best reloading supplies available and other gear. Ever see what some people spend on shotguns? those numbers get real high.
You may not see the value in an expensive 1911 but they are better fit, more accurate, have better triggers, and just all around shoot and feel better. Hunters may say their stock 700 is accurate and good enough for deer which may be true but a custom hunting rifle is still more accurate, smoother, and more ergonomic along with other stuff. These things may not matter to you but high end 1911 aficionados are not crazy just because you don’t see the value in having a better gun.
“… are crazy are precision rifle shooters crazy?”
No, they bought something worth having and got what they paid for. That kind of engineering and manufacturing tolerance doesn’t come cheap and the market for such things isn’t that large so a hefty price tag is to be expected.
“What about people who like expensive AR’s?”
Depending on what you mean by “expensive”, yes. They’re crazy.
“People with an expensive taste in hunting rifles?”
Depends on what they’re buying and if it genuinely reflects their hunting habits. If they’re hunting elk at 1500m, spend away on that .338 and optics. Sitting a deer blind in the U.P. of Michigan never taking a shot past 75 yards? Then yes, they’re crazy.
“What about high end shot gun fans?”
See previous. Replace “hunting” with “shotgunning”.
“You may not see the value in an expensive 1911 but they are better fit, more accurate, have better triggers, and just all around shoot and feel better. “
I fail to see the point in buying a 1911, other than as a range toy, past about 1990. They can have the best fit, be the most accurate and have the best trigger ever. They’re still not worth $4K if you’re gonna carry it because they’re heavy, low on ammo and the rest is a wash in a DGU situation so all you’re doing is paying more to carry more weight with less ammo and hand the cops a really, really nice gun if you’re forced to shoot someone with it. If your goal is to impress the police after your DGU and possibly have your gun go home with one of them instead of being returned to you post investigation then a $4K 1911 is right up your alley. At least you can reminisce about how awesome it was.
“It would look at home on the bed stand of a home in 1945 or on the belt of a sheriff in Texas in the 1930s.”
Really? Back then a whole house didn’t cost four grand. Even one with hot and cold running water.
A Sears mail-order shotgun shack was in the few hundred dollar range back then.
(Some assembly required. Mail-order bride sold separately.)
At the time the NFA became law in 1936 a mail ordered Remington 31 pump shotgun from Sears was $12. In 1929 a Thompson was $200. In 1944 a M1A1 Thompson was $45 with an A1 being $0.06 more expensive.
That’s why the tax stamp is $200. It was meant to price people out of the market because back then $200 was an astronomical amount of money.
I have come to the conclusion that Cabot Guns niche market is rich idiots.
To be fair, that IS a niche that exists.
Someone could design a gun for poor idiots, but it would have to be made in Austria.
If one has the money for such craftsmanship why not spend it there (and ask for a different trigger)? Personally, I am waiting to see the Korth PRS before I buy a .45. For me, “Quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten” is true.
If it’s your thing and you’ve got the scratch go for it.
Personally I think it’s retarded and I argued about this with jwtaylor a month or so ago. Sorry, there is nothing Cabot does that makes that gun worth an extra $3K compared to say, a USP in .45. Nothing other than, well, personal preference for an inferior pistol.
The Cabot is heavier, carries less ammo, isn’t as modifiable to the user, reliability is a tie and in the hands of 99.999% of shooters is the same level of accuracy. Yes, as I pointed out in that argument the Cabot may be as much as 7% “more accurate” but we’re already talking a pattern tight enough that most shooters can’t realistically make it happen consistently and in a gunfight it doesn’t matter at all.
The effective difference between the guns, in terms of carry, is that the Cabot is inferior until you get to the skill level of high end competition shooters where the difference between first and second place is a few millimeters in POI. For DGU purposes there is no real benefit to the Cabot, in fact it’s rather lacking IMHO, and the key difference is the price. A price you will regret if you have a DGU and the cops take your $4000 pistol (some states you won’t get that back). I’ll regret it too when they take my $1000 gun, but for the price of yours I can buy three more to have sitting in my safe for that eventuality.
Make a matrix to compare this gun to a modern .45 and this gun loses on all but one factor and it doesn’t win that factor by enough to be worth the price point.
Hey, if you love 1911’s, as I said, go for it.
All of your points are valid. The issue with your entire argument however, is you are basing it on daily carry. You do not buy a Cabot to daily carry, anymore than you buy a Pagani Huayra to be a daily driver. It’s a work of art, skillfully crafted, made in limited numbers, to just look and perform beautifully. Your HK is better in nearly every sense, except one could be seen as an ornament in an art museum, and the other is battle proven tool.
The reason I wouldn’t by a Cabot is that to me they are ugly. What I do appreciate about them is that they put a ton of work into fitting and finishing it. I have said this before, but I seem to enjoy repeating myself. The chance that you will end up defending yourself with a gun is very very small but as art you get to enjoy it every time you see and or touch it. Jon buying a Cabot has a 100% chance of enjoying it and a vanishingly small chance that he will suffer from a lack of capacity. I have acted similarly and ordered a Nighthawk Mongoose a couple months ago. Such a gun just gives me that warm fuzzy feeling that is definitely worth the money to me. A heavy steel and ivory (I bought grip ivory a few years ago) gun with a near perfect fit and finish is worth more to me than my higher capacity and lighter polymer gun that is likely more combat effective in more circumstances and certainly has much more fighting capacity per dollar. I will likely carry the revolver too. This is not even irrational since it is likely to give me more satisfaction. If I die for lack of a seventh shot, feel free to say you told me so:-)
The Mongoose is a cool revolver. Personally, I’m not a fan of wheel guns for carry. That’s not because of the ammo capacity issue really but because of what I view as safety flaws in a revolver that modern designs in semi-auto pistols have overcome.
As for the rest of it, if you want something that gives you the warm and fuzzies, that’s fine by me. Personally I’d go with something as well made but with some history to it like a old Luger in really good condition but that’s just me.
All in all I am a function over form type of person. I like old Land Rovers where all the parts for 40 years and interchangeable and the thing will climb a telephone poll. Don’t get me wrong, aesthetics are nice but they’re not something I’m going to pay a significant premium for. I carry a USP but my favorite pistol, which again IMHO bests the Cabot in all things carry-wise is my all steel 941 Jericho in .40 which cost a whopping $500. I almost never buy two of anything that’s not disposable but I liked that gun so much I got a second one (literally just to shoot two at the same time before I gave it one to my dad).
I’ll take two Kimbers for “less” than $4000
Alex
And I thought the Colt Government Model is the Vintage Classic.
Nope, that’s the real deal. Love mine.
Only Cabot 1911’s I’ve seen that I liked AT ALL were the matched pair, left and right meteor pistols, they were pretty sweet looking, but again $3million for the pair, not in my budget even if I dream real big or hit the powerball, if I had $3mil, well, i have a ton of better ways to spend it, I’m a poor white boy, if the police took my boring $600 xd45 service, I’d be crushed enough, even it holds far more rounds and is probably the most reliable, and accurate pistol I’ve personally ever laid hands on, my father in laws $1600 Kimber was quite nice to shoot, and comparably accurate, but again, not my price point seeing as I could almost buy three more xd’s for that price, and the stars, oh the stars, honestly makes the Cabot pistols look generic.
I wish I didn’t find 1911s so boring. The world would be my oyster if the 10,000th iteration of the same pistol was exciting.
I’m with Strych9 on this one. I do love 1911’s and my most expensive one was a bit over 1K but it got worked.
Function over style in this case and I’ll carry my Glock, HK or Sig.
What a lot of butt-hurt. Don’t like 1911s? Then move on. Can’t afford one that’s $4,000. Then don’t buy it. Don’t have a clue what you’re talking about? Then shut up. Drink your Coors light and leave the rest of us in peace. No wonder gun owners have a bad reputation.
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