911_purview

This Colt long-slide was crafted by legendary AMU armorer John Miller, but she is really a gun by committee. The slide was welded up by Jim Hoag, using a new GI Colt National Match slide. Hoag made the front sight wider to mate perfectly with the Bomar rear .125 notch, for a perfect target site picture. John Miller out of Marietta Ohio took over from there. He fit the Hoag slide and a very scarce Smith & Wesson 6 inch NM barrel to a Colt 70 series frame. The trigger guard was done at an angle to mirror the angle of the cocking serrations and the grip of the frame. In the late 1970s and early 1980s long slides were all the rage, that is until compensated 1911s by Brown, Wilson, Plaxco, and others hit the scene. This is a very special gun, made by two legends for a third legend–Mr. Ken Hackathorn. The gun was published in Pat Sweeney’s 1911 book on page 126 with pictures by a 4th legend –Mr. Ichiro Nagata. My iPhone pictures suck but at least I indexed the grips screws in my picture, so I win. It was Southern California back in the day, so she is shod in priceless coffin grips by the venerable Jean St. Henri, who was Hoag’s buddy. Today’s post is dedicated to John who passed away recently at 82 years of age. John served for 32 years in the US Army, retiring as Chief Warrant Officer 2. John served two tours in Vietnam, maintaining military weapons shops in Vungtau and Saigon. After the war Miller worked for decades as a special deputy for the Washington County Sheriff’s Office as the founding member of the special response team. John was an expert marksman and won countless national IDPA and NRA national matches. John was renown for his “hard fit” AMU method of fitting barrels, and if you own a 1911 made by @thelarryvickers @108performance, Novaks, or Nastoff…you can thank John Melville Miller, who mentored all of them and more. These guns have stories, I aim to tell them. Golf glove by @footjoy –marketing guy please send me 3 more in left hand large.