# Ed Brown



## Red-5 (Jan 15, 2009)

I have a local dealer that has an Ed Brown Special Forces in his case. I have been into his shop several times the past couple of months and it has been there each time.

I went in yesterday and just for the heck of it, asked his bottom line price. The number he gave me was OK, nothing special. I asked if he had anymore room in it, especially since it has been there for at least three months. He told me he would be willing to talk.

The thing is, I don't want to waste his time, unless I am serious.

What is you opinion on this firearm, and if you were going to spend $2K on a gun, would this be the one or would you look into something else. I would like to get a real quality 1911 for my collection, rather than buying one or two more lower end 1911's


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## VAMarine (Dec 25, 2008)

If I had $2K laying around for another 1911, sure I'd buy it. I've been drooling over that gun for a while. When you reach that price tier you're looking at Wilson, NCH, Ed Brown, Les Baer etc. they are all fantastic guns.

Another option would be to order a Fusion 1911, they're still somewhat new, it's ran by Bob Serva former owner of Dan Wesson. They're turning out some fantastic 1911s at a lower price point than those listed above.

But if you have the money, and the Ed Brown is what you want, I don't think you'll regret buying it.


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## Shipwreck (Jan 26, 2006)

I would go check the two 1911 forums.

I really like the Special Forces - I looked at Nighthawks and Ed browns really intensely a while back - There is a shop in Houston with tons of expensive 1911s, so I got to hold them all.

The chainlink of the special forces model is very nice. I had gotten in touch with Ed brown and found out that you could special order a stainless Special Forces model, instead of the black model.

That was what I was going to do, until a guy who bought an Ed Brown Kobra Karry model from my local shop had some really horrific treatment at the hands of the company.

After watching what happened to him - I deferred the Ed Brown. Too bad too, because I really liked it over the Nighthawks.

That may not have been a typical scenario for the company, but it was enough to make me pass.

Interestingly enough - on the 1911 forums, as the guy told his story - he was attacked by other members of the site.

I have noticed that if someone has a bad experience with these expensive 1911s, and they post about it - they get attacked a lot on those 2 forums. I've seen it when people complain about treatment they received from Nighthawk too.... I think that is pretty crappy.

Anyway - I ended up ordering something from the Springfield custom shop. I should have it in my hands in the next 2-3 months (there was a 9 month wait).


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## Tuefelhunden (Nov 20, 2006)

Never had the pleasure of firing one of those Red-5 but reputation is right up there with Wilson and the rest of the top shelfers. If it's what you want I doubt it will leave you wishing you'd bought another instead.

That's too bad Ship about the poor customer service. Especially spending that kind of money. And regrettably there are some who place fan boy loyalty over honest assessment and dialog. It's one thing questioning some one about the specifics of a negative accounting and a whole other matter to blast em for daring to say something negative about a brand. One of the reasons I really like this forum. Adults can have an adult conversation and even disagree on occassion without people coming a part at the hinges.


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## Red-5 (Jan 15, 2009)

Shipwreck said:


> Interestingly enough - on the 1911 forums, as the guy told his story - he was attacked by other members of the site.
> 
> I have noticed that if someone has a bad experience with these expensive 1911s, and they post about it - they get attacked a lot on those 2 forums. I've seen it when people complain about treatment they received from Nighthawk too.... I think that is pretty crappy.
> 
> Anyway - I ended up ordering something from the Springfield custom shop. I should have it in my hands in the next 2-3 months (there was a 9 month wait).


I belong to a lot of car forums (my real hobby) and you get the same thing. Say something bad about a favorite part or vendor there and they will hit you like a ton of bricks.

Thanks for some of the responses. Hopefully an Ed Brown owner will chime in. I have found that you can do all the homework in the world, but until you can actually fire the thing, you really don't know if you will like it. It is not as though you can go to your local range and rent one.

I would just hate to burn through $2K, only to find it is not all it cracked up to be.


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## Shipwreck (Jan 26, 2006)

Well, if its any consolation - the majority of people seem pleased.

I looked at Les Baer too - as the monolith model seems sweet. Most comments are positive about the company - but I found a few bad posts that were bad enough to give me pause.

I was gonna get a Nighthawk, but my local shop started carrying them recently... And as awesome as they look in the catalogs - when I held one, I just wasn't impressed. Not "beefy" enough - don't know how else to describe it.

I've owned several Springfields over the years, and I always regretted not buying that full rail TRP Operator in 2003.

When I saw that they made a custom shop Full Rail Operator - I jumped on it. It will be like a professional model in accuracy and fit, but with the full rail, hard chromed and in 9mm. 

Anyway - those Special Forces gun sstill catch my eye everytime I see them


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