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swensonContinued from page 49even say what happened next? Sufficeto say that Swenson resides in my safenow, and is featured in this article —along with pistolsmith John Harrison’sstunning tribute to this great master.Which brings us to the guns at hand.But WhyJohn said, “I’d wanted a Swensonsince I was a young guy, but familyneeds and reality reared their heads and itdidn’t happen.” Don’t we all understandthat one? Once John began to “pistolmith”as he says, he always thought he’dlike to try to build his own version of aSwenson gun, a tribute piece, if you will.“What if Swenson had lived anotherten or 15 years and seen the rush of1911 products available today? Howwould the ‘Swenson’ pattern pistol haveevolved,” pondered John? In Armand’sera, if you wanted a part, chances weregood you had to make it from scratchor modify an existing factory part. Asa matter of fact, Armand’s ambi-safetywas one of the very first custom 1911parts, and is still considered one ofthe very best in its class. But Armandwelded-up barrels, squeezed slides andpeened rails to get better fits, thingsmost ‘smiths today would never do.”Nonetheless, today’s custom 1911s,and even the higher-end factory versions,need to pay homage to the greatman. While others also lead the way, itwas Swenson’s tenacious willingnessto stick to it, no-compromise, “it shootsor it doesn’t go out of the shop” attitudethat led his drive toward custom touchesthat changed the functionality of hisguns. His work was geared toward amore accurate and reliable 1911, but hestill put touches aboard simply for thefun of it, “For the eye,” as he told me allthose years ago. John Harrison felt hecould do Armand justice — with somemodern twists.Modern Touches“What if is how I justified the incorporationof a beavertail grip safety, beveledcorners and edges, an oversizedmatch barrel and a front sight featuringa steeper, improved ramp profile,”explained John. “I thought these wereworthy features Mr. Swenson wouldhave incorporated had he had them inhis time.” John also explained that as headded more modern touches, he nonethelessstrived to stay within the style ofthe earlier time.“I tried not to take away from theSwenson-esque feel of the pistol,” addedJohn. “I resisted the temptation to addanything that might be considered currentdesign fad, yet take full advantage ofmodern craftsmanship and technology.”In Swenson’s day, he would tighten92 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • MARCH/APRIL 2010