Crockett's backup gun after the Detonics

[Gary1911A1]

Sorry Robbie, but I do not. I know the early ones had S&W Rear Sights and later a Millet Sight similar to the S&W. Later one they went to a Bo-Mar type rear sight.

[Robbie C.]

1 hour ago, Gary1911A1 said:

Sorry Robbie, but I do not. I know the early ones had S&W Rear Sights and later a Millet Sight similar to the S&W. Later one they went to a Bo-Mar type rear sight.

No worries. Thanks! It's funny how hard it is to find information on these, though. It's even tough to find good pictures of the Arizona Safari Arms pistols...most of what's out there seems to be Olympic stuff. I don't think this one has the original rear sight, though. It's adjustable, although it could have been ordered custom from the factory. My understanding is that wasn't uncommon with Safari Arms. It's also been fitted with one of those Double Ace rigs, which is interesting on its own.

[Robbie C.]

Ok...I've decided if there's one thing harder than identifying Sonny's sunglasses from a particular show, it's trying to identify anything made by Safari Arms while they were still their own company. I THINK mine's a Model 81 as opposed to a MatchMaster. It does have the S&W K-frame sight, but it also has a threaded barrel bushing (which I vaguely recall being a "thing" among 1911 people in the '80s...). This is actually the first 1911 I've owned (S&W 3rd Gen all the way for the most part), so it's a double voyage of discovery.

[Robbie C.]

And I decided to add to my 1911 voyage of discovery with a long slide Safari Arms (this time from WA instead of the original Phoenix stuff). Should be picking it up this coming week, and I'll be curious to see what the differences are in manufacturing quality and the like.

[Robbie C.]

Got them both now, and I gotta say Safari Arms stuff is interesting. Both of them have Behlert-style threaded barrel bushings (even though the documentation I've seen on the Olympic 6" Matchmaster doesn't mention that at all), and the fit is fantastic. And I still have no idea what models they are. By process of elimination (and the Wayback Machine) I've determined the long slide is most likely the 6" Matchmaster (the Big Duce was two-tone based on the slide material), but it has no markings to say either way. The Phoenix SA MIGHT be a Model 81 based on the lack of slide markings, but finding information on the pre-Olympic SA pistols is...well...difficult. They've both had parts swapped out (to the good in the Model 81, but the long slide got a crappy grip safety, mag release, and less-than-optimal thumb safety and slide stop), and the long slide has a low serial number. The Phoenix one is lower than most I've seen online. I think the long slide is going to turn into something of a project gun in some ways. but they're both pretty impressive artifacts of '80s 1911s (even though the long slide was likely made in 2002 or so...it doesn't seem to appear in the Olympic catalog until then). Another funny trivia note...most of the Phoenix Safari Arms pistols I've seen have ambidextrous thumb safeties, while most of the Olympic ones don't (and mine are no exception).

Terribly dull to many, I know, but for me it's kinda like finding a set of 1986 Ray Bans or something. They aren't going to replace my 4506-1 any time soon, but as far as iconic '80s pistols they're hard to beat.