From 1911_purview

Colt slide over Wilson Combat frame by Al Marvel, shod in desert ironwood grips by Jon Aho. Years ago, I asked Pete Single about his biggest influences. He rattled off all the usual names, and then I heard the name Marvel. I said, Bob Marvel…to which he responded, no Al Marvel. Big Al started gunsmithing in 1958 around the same time Jim Clark, Bob Chow, Alton Dinan, George Elliason, John Giles, and Richard Shockey were producing guns for bullseye competition. There were only a few pistolsmiths in the Baltimore area and no gunsmithing school, so Al trained under Sergeant Nelson Lute, who was a local army marksmanship unit gunsmith of some renown. After a 36 year career as an air technician with the Maryland National Guard, Al retired in 1987 and devoted his efforts full time to the operation of Marvel Custom Guns. His contributions to pistolsmithing are too numerous to count, and as such, he was inducted into the American Pistolsmiths Guild in 1978 as the 12th member of all time. Pete gave me Al’s telephone number, and because he’s 87 years old, I wasted no time calling him to talk. No he doesn’t text. The man has almost 90 trips around the sun, and he is still sharp as a tack. I asked him about his greatest memory in his career, and without hesitation, he told me it was shooting with his friend and colleague Jim Clark Sr. at the National Matches at Camp Perry Ohio. I have started writing a book. It may or may not ever see the light of day, but it’s about this. And by “this” I mean an American art form that is ours and ours alone. You are looking at a 1911 made by a man who played a significant role in pioneering that art form. Is he as important as Armand Swenson? He is to me. And with that, I give the man his first IG hashtag. By the way, Pete Single drives over and takes Al to lunch every month