ltwguns.com

First is a 1968 Commercial Colt with AMU slide (according to my very knowledgable source). The pictures speak for themself.

Second is a bullseye gun by Alton "Al" Dinan. Dinan was a well known bullseye smith many decades ago. Contemporary of Verdun, Shockey Chow etc. He passed in 1977. The gun is a Colt slide on top of what I believe is a Springfield 1911 receiver. The SN appears to have been moved. The SN if correct dates it to 1915.

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Gary Eastridge
http://www.randgfirearms.com

Gary,

Can you tell us more about that bushing?

Wasn't there another Bullseye gunsmith by the name if Giles (?) in Florida that modified the bushing?

Somebody famous does a screw in bushing from that era also I think.

Lester

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Lester Wang

Looks like the first gun has been Metaloy hard chromed. Not positive but most likely. Very nice older customs.

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www.originalmetaloy.com
'Original' Metaloy Hard Chrome
TactiKote® Polymer Finish

*1983-2008 25th Anniversary*

The bushing on the Swenson I am not sure about. It is knurled not threaded. Tight as heck. Waiting on JB to look at it and pass on his thoughts.

Dinan made his own bushings marked DINAN. To my knowledge they were just machined to his specs. Giles was another of the famous bulleseye smith from that era.

Behlert and others made screw in bushings. I am awaiting a picture of a BHP that the owner claims was built by Swenson. He advised it has a screw in bushing.

I am attempting to start a bio list of gunsmiths past and present on our website so everyone feel free to pass on info. Pics too.

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Gary Eastridge
http://www.randgfirearms.com

as always, some very cool pistols, gary

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Thanks very much,
Robert (13.45)
NRA Benefactor Life member

I have seen quite a few Swensons and other vintage smith work but have not seen a bushing done like that before.

Might have been done and a later time by someone else. I'll see what I might find out.

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www.originalmetaloy.com
'Original' Metaloy Hard Chrome
TactiKote® Polymer Finish

*1983-2008 25th Anniversary*

My Swenson full house LW comander has the same bushing knurl.

Jim

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An amateur practices until he gets it right. A professional practices until he never gets it wrong. Anon

Just guessing here, and I haven't seen the knurled bushing before, but I'd guess that this was before the era of oversize bushings, and the knurling was used to increase the O.D. of the bushing to afford a tighter fit in the slide. BTW Anyone remember the bushings made by Caraville Arms? They had a nylon ring inset into a groove in the bore of the bushing which the barrel rode through rather than having to fit the bushing to the barrel OD. They're also the same folks who mad the Double Ace conversion for the 1911 that converted it into a squeeze cocker.

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Don Williams
http://www.theactionworks.com
http://www.ltwguns.com

Gary that is a very cool Swenson Colt!!

That example is definitely a classic Swenson build in every way... the squared gaurd, checkering, K-frame rear (sans lug I noticed) w/red insert front, hand made thumb safety, barrel positioner, bordered and matted slide, and what's more it's built on an AMU slide. A neat gun and one you'd be wise to hold on to my friend.
I've seen that treatment on a couple other bushings that were in Swenson guns and I would tend to agree with Don that it might have been done to increase the O.D. I would say that it is certainly original to the build, which judging by the makers mark and certain mods, probably dates to around 1970.
I forgot to mention this when we spoke the other day... in addition to 1911s Swenson did indeed work on Hi-Powers as well some revolvers and the occasional rifle, although as I understand it most of his commercial rifle work was done in the 1960s. I remembered seeing something in an old American Handgunner article and confirmed it the other day after digging through my files. I also found a copy of Swenson's price list from 1972 wherein it lists modifications on the Hi-Power. This was also confirmed to me by another SoCal pistolsmith. It’s also worth noting that in the current issue of American Handgunner there is an article on Lee Jurras in which you can see a picture of Jurras shooting a Swenson Hi-Power.

As for the hard chrome I doubt it was Metaloy who did the plating. It is my understanding that Swenson used an outfit that was generally not associated with the firearms industry and instead tended to service the tool and die industry. As I was informed most of Swenson's guns were plated "after hours" by employees that did the jobs on the side.

Neat guns Gary!

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Heirloom Precision
http://www.heirloomprecision.com

It may not be Metaloy but it sure looks like the plating we were doing in that time period. Could have been replated by us some time after the gun was built.

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www.originalmetaloy.com
'Original' Metaloy Hard Chrome
TactiKote® Polymer Finish

*1983-2008 25th Anniversary*

I believe he used a company called Permachrome. Not affiliated with the firearms industry.

Seems like I read in that book behind the gun that he knurled the bushing the used a tapered rod to swage it and expand the OD of the skirt. It's really wild handling those old guns and taking them apart. It's like you can see what the old smiths were thinking, it's hard to explain. Like every one of them has a story or a curse word inside of them! You get the feeling you are reading a history book.

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"One thought he was invincible the other thought he could fly" well? "They were both wrong"
SIC VIS PACEM PARABELLEM