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Man I don't WHY I do this, but here goes... Has anyone ever had the opportunity to 'smith a Peter Stahl Linkless 1911 in any of it's various flavours? By this I mean the Springfield Omega, Federal Ordnance PSP07, (Mitchell Arms also sold a version for a short spell...) or build upon the linkless top end when they were available? I began my filin' and grindin' on the 1911 after the Peter Stahl Linkless was brought home to Germany and no longer offered in Canada or the US.

I had the opportunity while on Easter vacation, to look over a friends Springfield Omega chambered in 10mm. And although no longer available, I wish I had the opportunity to have a hand or at least my own attempt at making this pistol "work". For those unfamiliar with the Peter Stahl design, earlier versions had more than their share of oddities and quarks. Later versions, such as my friends Linkless suffered very little in the way of reliability. Unfortunately, I can't talk him out of it.

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Classic Custom

Jo:

I bought a blue 6" ported 10mm Omega about 13 years ago with two cases of Norma ammunition from a collector.

I was buying every 10mm I could at the time and had to have one as I had loved them from a distance when they came out but didn't have the means. The owner of a gunshop near where I went to school had quite a collection of them- the rare Omega Match with the adjustable breechface, two tone ones, multi barrel sets, etc.

I sold it some time ago but miss it. It made a great pin gun and was rediculously easy to shoot. If I wanted to shoot the best group I could that was the gun I grabbed. Mine didn't like 10mm ammo loaded at .40 S&W power factors (like the various 180 gr. FBI spec stuff that was popular for a while) but ran like a raped ape on any hot 10mm ammo including that original Norma.

The SA frame was fine and the trigger not bad, but the workmanship on the Stahl slide was more like we would expect from a custom 1911. Not a tool mark on it, nice attention to detail, and in my opinion very nice to look at.

I'm not sure if I would mess with the slide- the dual extractors were supposedly a headache (though I never had trouble) but of course you could do whatever you want with the frame as it is pure 1911.

I managed to cobble together the last spare parts SA had when I made a contact with a SA employee at the Single Stack Classic years ago but those new spare parts went with the gun when I sold it.

If you find one please post photos of it. I hope it brings you as much pleasure as mine did for me. I sure enjoyed evening pin matches with that gun when there wasn't any IPSC stuff to be found.

Brent

Brent, thank you for your reply, it's very informative! I too have the same impression of the finish on the slide assembly, very smooth and well finished! It's really too bad that this top end may not get another chance to circulate this side of the border again.

About 16 years ago I sold a stainless Berretta 92FS to put a deposit down on a Federal Ordnance PSP07. The pistol was ordered but never made it. By the time the inquiry was made as to why the pistol had not yet shipped, the supplier told the shop owner that he was unable to obtain anymore Federal Ordnance or Springfield Armory pistols with the Peter Stahl top end. I missed out. The sale of the Berretta DID buy me a brand spankin' new Colt Lightweight Commander though, which eventually became my 1911 of choice and has remained so today.

If the pistol barrels and guide rods weren't impossible to find, a good CNC machinist could.... *** Now Jo... don't speak that thought out loud!***

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Classic Custom

The Omega top ends are fine when they work but troublesome at best when they don't , which is often.

They are known for breaking small parts like firing pins and extractors, at least in the early versions.

If you shoot a steady diet of hot loads through one you will eventually bend your slide stop, as it takes all of the energy rather than the barrel bed. (ask me how I know).

The Springfield "linkless" looked like a better mousetrap, but didn't last too long on the market.

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