From 1911_purview

80 series Colt in .45 ACP by Ken Crawley. Born in 1941, Ken spent his early years in a small west Texas town south of Ranger. He lived on a farm and liked open spaces and hunting. He went to work for Martin Sprocket in 1958. His first job was sweeping up, but he spent a lot of time bugging the machinists to show him how to run the different machines. For twelve years, he worked in a variety of machine shops, including two years at Bell Helicopter. He learned about working metals while mastering most of the machines used in the tool making trade. The next 18 years were spent as tool maker for Skyline Industries in Ft. Worth. This job required a wide variety of skills and provided opportunity for prototype work. When a chemical sensitivity left his lungs too damaged to work in the polluted atmosphere of a machine shop, the logical next chapter was gunsmithing. All Ken’s expertise in tooling, machining, metal working, and design, coupled with his love of pistols and shooting, made him a very competent pistolsmith. He specialized in 1911 style pistols, and since 1987, he was at the workbench, sharpening his skills, building a loyal clientele, and competing in as many pistol matches as time would allow. Ken was a Masterclass IPSC shooter. He recently passed, so this gun and post are dedicated to his memory. Hand checkered grips by Jon Aho.