This project came across my bench
over one year ago.
The owner of the gun, gunsmith Dedan King,
designed the gun for his personal use.
When asked about the particulars of the gun
Dedan explained:
“I wanted to make something that
could have been made in the early 1900’s.
I used Caspian’s frame and slide, which are
made like the original 1911 .45.
I requested that the slide be made with no
markings because I wanted the pistol to be engraved.
I used a Kart barrel and bushing, some of the
small parts like the trigger, mainspring housing, hammer, safety and sights were
original pieces.
I had the grips made of vintage ivory by
Mike Poulin.
The holster was custom made by Karla Van Horne.
I have always liked the west and have ancestors
that were miners and ranchers so the holster was for them.
It is similar to a Texas ranger holster from
the turn of the century.
The Celtic/Norse knot work on the holster and
pistol were inspired by my Norwegian and Scottish Heritage.
The serial number is my initials.
I wanted something incredibly tight and
phenomenally accurate; it is one of, if not the most, accurate pistols I have
ever tried.
It has lots of big flats and nice simple
curves, it is really a classic design that seems like it is almost made to be
engraved.”
To match the holster and theme
Dedan wanted a Celtic design to flow throughout the parts of this custom
designed gun.
I have done a lot of scroll designs in my
career, but Celtic is a different animal. Leaves and sweeping scrolls demand
accuracy, but nothing like the complete mathematical layout and precision of
Celtic.
One cut that is a bit too deep or wide will throw off
the entire design.
The gun was a challenge that was exciting to
complete.
After many hours of drawing I came up with the
final design.
The actual engraving on the gun took 36 hours
to accomplish.
