Pistol_purview

This 38 super (not .45 as denoted on the slide) was crafted by pistolsmith Ben Jones out of Ruskin FL. Jones was a highly decorated Korean War Army Ranger, who also served with the French Foreign Legion in Vietnam in the early 1950’s. In addition to being a professional soldier and a consummate patriot, he was a master gunsmith and machinist. In 1981 he founded Gun Craft, Inc. GC was a professional outdoor shooting range but they also offered custom gunsmithing, which included everything from sporting rifles to competition shooting pistols like this one. He operated and promoted their organization worldwide through national events and competitions. Jones holds dozens of firearm patents that are still employed by the firearm industry today. Ben’s passion was designing and creating custom firearms and firearm accessories for competition shooters, as well as big game hunters. He himself was an avid hunter and outdoorsman who traveled the world to hunt exotic game. The first time I saw one of his pistols was in Layne Simpson‘s book. I remember that day because I vowed then and there that I would find one. That proved to be no easy task. They just don’t come up for sale very frequently. This example found its way to me through a friend and I will cherish it for all of my days on this earth. Ben was a master machinist and welder who (not unlike Boland) had inventive streak. His pivoting 1911 trigger was easier to install than others on the market and it fostered the same mechanical advantage—producing a safe, 2# pull.  When 38 supers were hard to find, innovative gunsmiths would weld breech block spacers to convert more commonly found .45 ACP guns. The gun is tight as a drum, the slide feels like it’s rolling on ball bearings, the trigger is exacting, and it has that one intangible trait that cannot be faked or manufactured…it has soul. Scotch pad in the background helps remove micro scratches. The bottle contains Mobile One because gun oil is a scam.