"Lightweight" Commanders: A Little Personal History

I have been enamored with 1911s ever since I handled a Colt 1991 at a Denver gun store back in the '90s.

Credit: NorthwestFirearms.com

I handled a Glock 17 at the same time, and I hated it.

Credit: ReducerRecoil.com

My love shifted to the Colt Commander after a few years. And I'm talking about the original Commander which was later referred to as the "Lightweight" Commander, when Colt felt fit to introduce the all-steel Combat Commander.

There's of course a little back story that is slightly apocryphal, disjointed, and of course morphs over time. 

Let's see here!

I always like handguns. I starting getting Guns & Ammo magazine when I was in junior high. I thought the Ruger No. 1 was really cool for some reason, but it was definitely the handguns that drew my attention. And holy crap! I just scanned the entire Guns & Ammo homepage, and low and behold there were no handguns.

I remember looking through Gun Digest and the Shooter's Bible (back when they were both exclusively giant tomes listing all the guns that the manufacturers were will to pay to have listed in the annuals plus articles covering "new" developments and historical perspectives.). I was often drawn to the 1911 derivatives - and the ones that most often attracted me were the Colt Officer ACP models.

Credit: Colt, Defender (Series 80), current rendition of the Officer ACP

Accelerate a few years forward, and the darlings of the gun press circa 2000 were .45 ACP guns. .40 S&W was the new it caliber. But the gun press and industry experts were still enamored with the .45. Any gun manufacturer that upsized their .40-caliber and 9-mm guns to .45 ACP were on good terms with the experts.

The Para Ordinance Warthog was a perfect example of .45 ACP being the end all be all. The Warthog gave you 10 rounds of the big, slow-moving bullet from a small, heavy, thick, 1911-style gun.

Col. Jeff Cooper (Ret.) was a respected gunfighting expert. His gun of choice - even after promoting the 10 mm Bren 10 - 

Credit: IMFDB.org, Gunsite Edition

was the Colt Commander. I think it was the Combat Commander, but I am not totally sure.

Credit: Colt.com, Combat Commander (Series 80)

A Little History: Colt Commander

For those unfamiliar with the story, the Colt Commander was introduced in 1949 or 1950 - depending on whom is telling the story. The original Commander was lightweight. It did not take on the "Lightweight" name until the all-steel Combat Commander was introduced in 1970. But the most startling fact to some is that the original aluminum-framed Commander that was introduced in 1950 (or '49) was a 9mm gun!

Back To Recent History

For many, many years, .45-ACP ammunition was the darling of the handgun industry. Every manufacturer eventually introduced a version of new guns in .45, and the industry press almost always chose a cartridge that started with a 4 and ended with a 5.

Their dirty little secret was that, yes, the bee's knees was the .45 ACP, but most of them were secretly always carrying J-frame sized .38s.  

Back To Me

And really thinking back to that gun store visit, I remembered something. After that visit to the gun store where I handled the Colt 1991, I really wanted the Combat Commander version of that gun - or the Springlied Armory version.

GunAuction.com

I guess that I was concerned about the massive recoil of the .45 ACP from a lightweight package. That was before I bought a snubnose .357.

NEXT: "Lightweight" Commanders: Love of the .45 and .45 Deception!

Join the NRA

UPDATE: October 23, 2020

I finally bit the bullet and did it. I joined another gun-rights organization. I'm still a proud member of the NRA, bit the 2nd Amendment crowd needs to put its eggs in more than one basket.

Wayne LaPierre has overstayed his welcome. The State of New York has some legitimate claims against the NRA's top brass and definitely wants to neuter the organization. But the NRA is made up of million's of members and is a multi-faceted group that offers much value to its members and other fellow citizens.

But there are other organizations that are better at providing more targeted services for our natural right, and they are smaller and more nimble and are able to move quickly.

One such organization is the Second Amendment Foundation. As of last week, they are one stronger.

But again, the NRA is still vastly important. They provide tons of safety training, sponsor many events where gun owners exercise their rights, actively lobby legislatures, and make legal challenges to unconstitutional laws. I'm still a member. You too should maintain your membership or join the NRA. 

ORIGINAL POST: January, 2013

You might not like everything the NRA says. You might not like what Wayne LaPierre said about video games. You might not like that the NRA wants the federal government to fund putting police in every school on a short-term basis. You may want the NRA to help with mental-health research. There's a lot you might not like about the NRA, or that you want the NRA to do something, but the NRA is the 800-lb gorilla for gun rights.

I put a note on my calendar to ask my wife tonight to get an NRA membership. She hadn't had one for a while. I didn't have to ask. The NRA is now 4,300,001 strong.

And I'll be joining my second gun-rights organization shortly.

Obama threw down the gauntlet and sniped at gun owners right after Sandy Hook. The NRA launched the first real volley. Now Obama has loosed his return fire in this pitched battle, throwing one of the NRA's missiles back at us ("school resource officers", "a police officer in every school").

The NRA is a special-interest group, no doubt. It is my special-interest group. It defends a vital natural right enumerated in the Bill of Rights. I defend a vital natural right.

I am the NRA.

Time to write some letters, again. Congress, state house, governor, sheriff, etc, etc, etc.

Doomy Biden

 

"A dark winter is coming. C'mon, man."

- Joe Biden, plagiarizing Game of Thrones and Cornpop 

Halloween Hide and Seek

 

Time to play hide and sever!

Halloween-decoration fail.

Beware the man who only has one gun ...

 

Beware the man who only has one gun. He probably knows how to use it. - Clint Smith, Thunder Ranch

American Tactical Nomad: Unboxing

First In Series: ATI Nomad: Ordered

Previous In Series: Nomad Mock Unboxing ... Coming Soon

I picked up this shotgun from a local gun dealer several months ago, so this is a mock unboxing.

The ATI Nomad is an 18"-barreled, break-action, single-shot, folding shotgun. ATI lists it for $109.95 on their website. I got it for $99 out the door including taxes and shipping. The actual price I paid before the government bite and S&H was $83.

The Box

When I was at the gun counter getting my Nomad, I noticed that there was a hole in the side of the box, when the clerk took the gun out of the box to show me the shotgun. The hole was where the trigger could hit the box.

There was also interior damage to the box, but the box still protected the gun at those points. I'm surprised the box actually held together. I can visualize that the box was part of a pallet stacked 15 high with a variety of Nomads and was wrapped, dropped in a cargo container, trucked to a port, left Turkey on a container ship, trucked to American Tactical's home office in South Carolina, and then was recklessly shipped to my FFL. I'm surprised the box actually held together on the last leg of my gun's journey.

Internal box damage circled in red.

According to American Rifleman magazine, the Nomad is manufactured in Torun, Turkey for American Tactical.  I am assuming that Torun  Arms is the actually manufacturer, because it is the only shotgun manufacturer that I can find in that town.

Stuff

A manual, cable lock and instructions, and a ketchup-sized packet of Lucas Oil gun oil were included in the box.

Basic Operation

The trigger guard doubles as a sliding release that opens the action. The shotgun can be relatively easily opened one handed, but I am wary of closing it one handed by flinging it shut. Does it have an inertial hammer safety? Rebounding hammer? That's something to look into. There are no external safeties on the gun. I am also concerned about wear between the trigger guard and the screw that retains it, because the trigger guard slides back and forth.

Sliding action release and some very-early wear.

The Nomad folds neatly in half giving it a folded length of 20 3/4" and a depth of 7 1/4" from an overall length of 34 1/4". It is interesting to note that this shotgun can be folder a little more compactly (depth: 7"), but that pushes the trigger guard/action release to the rear. I wonder if that would weaken the release spring over time, if it is stored that way.

Folded Nomad with after-market shell carrier; slot for trigger guard in forestock.

Fit and Finish

The butt plate is held on with two screws and feels just about as hard as the synthetic. stock.

Things seem to go a little south when looking at the sling "swivels." The rear one is screwed directly into the plastic stock, and it's not straight. I didn't bother to tighten it in order to straighten it, because I don't know if I'll keep it, replace it, or just take it out. 

The front sling attachment can actually "swivel," but it doubles as the forward-stock screw, so I plan on leaving that one alone. It is also interesting to note that the rear sling attachment is plastic molded over a screw, while the forward one is all metal and does "swivel" back and forth, but that "swiveling" is really a loose screw.

Front sling attachment; front forestock removed.

The lettering and logo are nicely does, and the shotgun has been oiled. But there are a couple places of poor finish. The finish on the end of the barrel is worn, and the paint on the lower front edge of the trigger guard is chipped.

Ergonomics

Everything seems fine, but the cheek weld feels like a wooden sword against your fact, and it seems a little low.  I'll have a more detailed opinion after I take this Nomad to the range.

Accessories

You can easily fit some of the universal shotgun stuff to this gun, but I think the stock might be a little narrow to fit slip on butt pads. The receiver is drilled and tapped on both sides. It would be interesting to see what type of scope mount would fit the Nomad.

Overall

For a sale price of $83, my copy of the Nomad is one hell of a gun. But when I shoot it, it's probably gonna kick like a mule, because it only weighs 5 pounds. So I bought some lower-recoil 12 gauge ammo. I'm hoping the Nomad will hold up.

Specs

SKU: ATIG12NMD18

Action: single shot, single action, break action

Gauge: 12 (3" chamber)

Capacity: 1

Choke: fixed

Furniture: synthetic

Overall Length: 34 1/4"

Weight: 5 lbs

Folded Length: 20 3/4"

Folded Depth: 7 1/4"

MSRP: $109.95

NEXT: ATI Nomad Accessories

19 Crimes. THE UPRISING

 

I was easily drawn to this wine, since I had tried others of their varieties, and for a rum-barrel-aged wine the price seemed just right especially at $4 off making it $9 a pop.

For a rum-barrel-aged wine, the jammy, strong flavor with "enhanced" alcohol flavor seems to fit. BUT the rum flavor did NOT sing through.

Then I perused the label. Only a PORTION of tje wine deposited in the bottle is actually rum aged.

Disappointing. 

Nomad Mock Unboxing ... Coming Soon

It is really taking me a while to do an unboxing article for the ATI Nomad I bought months ago.

I promise I'll get it done real soon. I got to get it done before I festoon it with too many accessories.

Biden just lost ...

The first presidential debate Biden just lost ...

"I'm not a socialist. ... I don't support the Green New Deal." - Biden
"You just lost the Left." - Trump

"Antifa is an idea and not an organization." - Biden
"When a bat hit you over the head it's not an idea." - Trump
Biden just lost the moderates.

"Your party wants to go socialist medicine." - Trump
"My party is me. Right now I am the Democratic Party." - Biden
Biden just lost his sense of self.

"Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. ...
"Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. ...
"Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. ...
"Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha." - Biden
Biden just lost his train of thought.

Newspeak (2020 version)

 I've read "1984" 3 times (last time 30 years ago), and I basically remember very little of it. I feel compelled to revisit it.

The language of 2020 in the Overton Window is turning into a more nuanced version of the newspeak of 1984. 

Someone doesn't wear a mask, then they are "Murderers!" worthy of pepper spray in the face - for a start.

Someone supports the cops, then they are the same as murdering cops (all of cops are murdering people of color, or course) - so worthy of being murdered.

Someone that doesn't see racism behind every western-culture corner, then they are racist and deserving of cancelling (a SJW word), is definitely a racist, and is therefore aiding and abetting cultural and actual murder, and is deserving of being murdered.

All the attacks on normal life come with loaded words or flat out lying or redefining words:

"RACIST" Some conservative commentators have declared this word practically meaningless, because it has been turned into a one-size-fits-all club for hitting anyone that doesn't except the left's opinion that everything normal is racist. I do not believe that it is harmless. It might be misapplied, but it still stings and requires a response, because each incident of its use is often based on other lies.

TO BE CONTINUED