D&V Custom Colt 38 Super is done!

I got an email from Dave Helton today telling me he is done with my 38 Super Colt project. He still needs to test fire it and make any final adjustments, so it should be on its way back to me next week some time. It looks pretty good.....Am very curious to see the final product. Here is a list of what I had done, and the pics he sent me of the finished product. Looks like it should be a pretty cool ccw.



Machine Slide and Install ether Heinie or Novak Tritium Sights
Lower and Flair Ejection Port and Bevel Lower Inside Edge
Ed Brown Extended Ejector Installed
Machine Frame and install Ed Brown Memory Groove Grip Saftey
Wilson Narrow Extended Thumb Safety Installed
EGW Hammer, Sear, Disconnector installed with pull at 3.5lbs
Ed Brown Aluminum Match Trigger
Ed Brown Flat Checkered Main Spring Housing
Kart National Match Barrel and Bushing Fitted to Slide
Ed Brown Extended Magazine Release
Front Grip Strap Checkered 25 LPI with Ball Cut Top Border.
Complete Reliability Tune up
Install New Recoil Spring, Main Spring and Firing Pin Spring
Carry Dehorn of all sharp edges
McCormick Exotic Rose Wood Grips
Finished in Satin Black Ten Ring Polymer Coating

 

Bac, this is my first pistol from Dave. I have heard very postive feedback on him and your right, he has very reasonable pricing and pretty decent turnaround times. Although this is nowhere near a full custom deal, there are some pretty nice components put into this build. I am very interested to see the final product.

 

Good catch....I copied and pasted the normal Custom Pkg description from Dave's webpage. Obviously, I made a couple changes.....

 

I talked to Dave about this exact pistol. It was built for a customer that put down a deposit and backed out of the deal after it was built. Dave worked out a deal with the customer on the deposit that is allowing him to sell this pistol for such a good price. I would have been all over it, but like Bac, I am not an OD guy. If this pistol was black, it would be sitting in my safe right now. It is a hell of a price for what you get and Dave said it went together extremely well....

 

Update....I got the Colt from Dave today. I am very impressed with the work he did on this pistol. The slide to frame fit was snugged up, the ramped Kart barrel fit/lockup is excellent, the barrel bushing is tight and currently needs a little motivation with a bushing wrench, but I think it will loosen up a bit with some shooting. The finish is outstanding and the snakeskin front and rear strap work is very well done. I am going to try and get some rounds through it today. I have some of the new DoubleTap 147g Gold Dot ammo that I am very curious to try out. Because of the longer OAL, they will not work with my Wilson Professional, I am curious if they will work with the Colt. If not, I guess I will have to stick with 124g loadings for carry. I will update after I shoot it. So far I am very impressed with Dave's work and his pricing is very reasonable. So far so good!

 

It shoots excellent, although it does not like the DoubleTap 147g GD loads. It has the same problem that my Wilson does with this load....the OAL is too long and the nose of the round hits the ramp before it clears the mag lip and does not feed. I believe this is an ammo issue and I will call DT about this. It does the same thing on both of my ramped barreled 38 Supers. The 124g Gold Dot handloads fed and shot perfect (200 rounds) and the ball ammo also fed without any problems (100 rounds). Accuracy is excellent and it is a very comfortable pistol to shoot. I am very happy with it.