GUNS & AMMO
Turnbull 1911 Heritage
Edition Commander
Review
T
he Turnbull 1911 Heritage Edition Commander is a
masterpiece that weds restoration-grade artisanship with new gun production.
For decades, Doug Turnbull has built a lasting reputation
as the premiere gun restoration master. His New Yorkbased company, Turnbull Restoration & Manufacturing
Co., has turned thousands of worn and tattered relics
into gallery-worthy works of art, many christened with the
color case-hardening, exquisite engraving and charcoal
bluing that’s become synonymous with the company
name. He didn’t invent these techniques—he just perfected them. Turnbull’s newest introduction, the Model
1911 Heritage Edition Commander, demonstrates what
can be accomplished when the mindset of the restoration process is applied to the production of a new firearm.
The Commander,
which will be featured at the 2016
SHOT Show, is a
follow up to the
original Heritage
full-size 1911, introduced in 2014.
As Turnbull himself said, it’s all
about attention to
detail. “The idea
with the [Model
1911]
Heritage
Edition was to take the heritage of the old guns, with
the historical finishes, the color case-hardening and the
charcoal bluing, and bring that into new manufacturing,”
Turnbull said. “The result is a work of art.” Gallery worthy
it is, but range weary it is not. “That’s probably one of the
things we hear most, ‘That gun is too pretty to shoot,’”
Turnbull said. “But we always tell people, ‘These guns
are works of art, yes, but they’re meant to be shot. Shoot
it. Enjoy it. They’re meant to be used.’ Once people do
shoot the gun, they’re impressed. It’s not just for looks.”
BUILT FOR LOOKS, BUILT TO LAST
As good as it looks—and yes, it looks damn fine—the
Heritage Edition Commander is, as Turnbull said, made
to shoot. The gun features a forged frame and slide and
is CNC machined to meet the strictest specifications and
tolerances. All parts are fit by hand, tested, hand polished and feature roll marking, charcoal bluing and color
case-hardening. With an expert engraver on staff, Turnbull also offers customized engraving for those so desir-
ing. The Commander also features Novak dovetail-style,
white three-dot sights and double diamond American
black walnut checkered grips. The solid one-piece trigger is set between 4 and 5 pounds and, as range testing verified, makes for a highly accurate and enjoyable
handgun to shoot. In hand, the Heritage Commander
has the smooth, ergonomic feel of a custom gun, matching the elegant look of a masterpiece. The thumb safety
is easily engaged or disengaged without the need for
multiple fingers and a hernia-grade effort, and the slide
functions like an already broken-in gun. Disassembly is
a cinch thanks to the hand-fit parts. The gun ships with a
nice Turnbull case and a pair of two-tone magazines. At
the range, the Commander was tested with three different loads from HPR: the 230-grain jacketed hollow point
(JHP), 185-grain
JHP, and the
150-grain Black
Ops open tip frangible (OTF). Testing was conducted at 25 yards
from sandbags.
Group averages
were taken from
five-shot groups.
There were no
functionality
issues with the
handgun, which has a price tag of $2,850. The best
overall test group was 1.74 inches from the 185-grain
JHP, which also averaged 3.33-inch groups overall. The
230-grain JHP had a best group of 2.5 inches and an
average of 3.17 inches. The lighter 150-grain OTF pro X