Alchemy MEUSOC 1911

[Tokarev]

Lots of retro possibilities, that's for sure.

Here's a good read for those interested in 1911 Smith history:

https://www.americanrifleman.org/art...stom-combat-45

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[TiroFijo]

Which originals though? There were several iterations of the MEUSOC pistol with different parts. I'm no expert on the subject though, and your observation might be on the money.

AFAIK, none of the MEUSOC versions/generations had that grip safety.

[Trooper224]

AFAIK, none of the MEUSOC versions/generations had that grip safety.

That's covered in the video. It's their grip safety, and they included it for reasons.

[Tokarev]

A bit of info about the RestoMod (and MUESOC) guns:

[Timbonez]

I ordered one. I'll post it once I receive it.

[Tokarev]

A MEUSOC review although not the Alchemy gun.

https://www.gunsandammo.com/editoria...-review/498359

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[SeriousStudent]

A MEUSOC review although not the Alchemy gun.

https://www.gunsandammo.com/editoria...-review/498359

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LtCol Dyal is a very kind man, and a terrific officer and coach. It's been my great pleasure to chat with him several times about that particular pistol. I toted one briefly during the 1980's.

[TGS]

The holster pictured in that article is the Safariland 568 "Custom Fit", which is a funny name given it's basically a universal holster. We used to issue them as well, back when an agent might need to carry either a SIG P228, P229, SIG P229R, or even a Gen 3 Glock 19 depending on where they showed up at.

It was a horrible holster, and at least with our issued guns had little ability to retain the weapon through friction (maybe it was better with the longer slide 1911 and M9?). I'm horrified by the idea of using that thing to carry a weapon into a military combat environment. I'd imagine they bought them for the same reason we did, as the 1911 model was also the same model of holster for the Beretta 92, which theoretically could've also been used by the Recon guys, or Glock 19 for the Raiders. Thankfully with the full transition to Glock, we got rid of that holster and started issuing Ravens. I still keep a couple on hand just as universal holsters in case I go to the range with someone that wants to learn how to shoot from a holster with their random gun that I don't have a specific holster for.

@rcbusmc24, any insight on the choice/use of that holster? This might be a weird thing to focus on, but given my personal history with it I'm absolutely enamored (baffled?) by its use with the USMC.

[Timbonez]

Update: My ACW MEUSOC was ready last Thursday, but I missed the notification until after hours. I always get their CS emails in my junk mail (but not their normal marketing emails), and work kept me late anyway. ACW was out for the long weekend, so I finalized the remainder of the payment today and received shipping notification today. It should arrive by Thursday, but we'll see if I can make it to my FFL and pick it up same day. It's going to be a long day at the long day factory for me on Thursday. Always works out that way somehow.

Anyway, once it's in hand, I'll add some photos and my general thoughts on it before I have the opportunity to shoot it. Since this is my 4th ACW, I'm already familiar with their build quality, so I'm not expecting any surprises.

[SeriousStudent]

A MEUSOC review although not the Alchemy gun.

https://www.gunsandammo.com/editoria...-review/498359

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"A pistolsmith friend of mine was converting an M1911A1 into a MEUSOC clone for a mutual friend, and he reached out to ask me some technical questions."

So, this is me. I wanted to ask the guy that made the pistol for me if it was okay to review who made it, and for whom. He said to go ahead.

BrYan Eastridge built this gun for me. A bunch of you know him from the Pat Rogers Memorial Revolver Roundup, or American Fighting Revolver.

I had an old Springfield Armory 1911 with a Bar-Sto barrel and all of the other parts. I had always wanted a MEU(SOC) pistol. I carried one for a while on a deployment.

Many moons ago, Dave Berryhill (God rest his soul) relocated to North Texas. He worked as a gunsmith at a local very high-end shooting range here. We became friends, and often discussed the clones he built.

For those of you familiar with him, Dave passed away rather suddenly from cancer. He was a very nice gentleman, and before he was diagnosed, agreed to build me one if I did not say who did it and did not sell it. I agreed, then Dave became ill. I told him we'd work on it when he got better and as back on his feet in the shop. Very sadly, that never happened.

Almost two decades later, I mentioned this to a shooting friend. We talked often about nice 1911's. He offered to build the pistol for me, as a memento of our mutual military service. For those of you who do not know, BrYan was a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne, and was Ranger-Qualified.

He's also very gifted with both revolvers and 1911's, and studied JMB's design at the hands of Bill Laughridge.

I was able to hunt down the right parts, and Bryan was able to start work. It took him a couple of weeks to do so.

One of the kindest parts of this was all of the extremely generous people who helped with the build. I'm going to post a bunch of pictures later this week. It really is magnificent.