From 1911_purview

This is one of the rarest 1911s of all time—a Jim Hoag master grade 8” long slide. Jim built four versions of the 1911. The entry level was the police special, then class B, then class A, and then the master grade. The MG was Hoag’s top model and no expense or time was spared in crafting them. The slide was fit to the frame for a VERY TIGHT surgical fit. Hoag guns are so tight it feels like you need a team of Clydesdales to pull the slide out of battery. Hold my beer Les. Master grades featured hard fit Barsto barrels, Swenson thumb safeties, 50 line per inch checkering of the rear of the slide, and the option of a squared and checkered trigger guard. Additional time and energy was spent on MG to make them stand out from their more pedestrian counterparts. Hoag used files and increasingly grades of sandpaper to make crooked Colt lines dead horizontal and smooth. MG pistols could also be modified into “long-slide” versions. Long dongs had the slide shortened to the standard barrel bushing retaining lug slot. After that, a section of 4140 steel was precision bored and reamed to match exactly, then welded onto the slide. A shaper was used to cut the basic contour of the slide and then both horizontal and vertical mills were used to bring the steel surfaces down to a few thousands proud of the original slide. Then draw filing was performed using fine files, reducing the long-slide portion to the original slide dimensions. The Master Grade was subject to meticulous hand polishing of the flats of both slide and frame—an arduous process that took the better part of two days. The top of the National Match slides were welded so Jim could properly fit a Bomar and the front straps were also welded up to remove hideous serrations to make way for Hoag’s flawless hand checkering. That’s a lot of heat on a gun, but the dude was a gunsmith…not a parts assembler. So who’s the greatest 1911 smith of all time? I think Hoag has to be in the conversation. This gun is now completed with a set of Jean St. Henri grips. Jean (out of Malibu CA) was Jim’s dear friend, so this gun has now shod in its forever grips.