The Future of the Custom 1911 | Paul Liebenberg Part 4

In the final chapter of our four-part series with legendary pistolsmith Paul Liebenberg, Guns & Ammo's Keith Wood explores the creation of Pistol Dynamics and the craftsmanship, engineering and philosophy behind Liebenberg's custom 1911s. After leaving the Smith & Wesson Performance Center, Liebenberg moved to Florida and returned to building handcrafted pistols. He explains what separates a truly scratch-built custom gun from one assembled from finished components and walks through some of the distinctive features of his work, including grip geometry, hand checkering, external extractors, slide and barrel timing, spring balance and his unique approach to practical handgun design. Liebenberg also discusses his commitment to keeping Frank Pachmayr's Combat Special alive, how Pistol Dynamics will evolve for the next generation, and why the era of completely bespoke, one-off custom pistols may be coming to an end. The conversation also looks at the resurgence of the 1911 and 2011 platforms, the challenges facing traditional custom gunmakers and Liebenberg's ambitious book project documenting five decades of work, innovation and firearms history. It's a fitting conclusion to our series with one of the most influential pistolsmiths of the modern era.