My wife's new convertible

[RandallZ]

No...not a Miata.

A few days ago (OK *10*, because it's Kalifornia), I bought a 4" Brolin L45C. The Brothers Lin (BroLin) made 1911s for a couple of years in the early '90s. They used Essex frames and who-knows-what other parts, and attempted to make a 'price-point' product. After the press panned them for failure to feed issues, they failed miserably. So, while the Brolin 1911s aren't common on the used market, when the pop up they sell really cheaply. Such was the case with this one.

My intention was to use the frame to build a Commander length pistol for my wife...I planned to buy a slide from Remsport or Caspian and chuck the strange 4" coned barrel (a la Officer's model) and slide. Imagine my surprise when I measured the frame and found it is a full sized government frame....

That was serendipitous. I just happened to have a 5" GI slide (probably made in Brazil) and parts awaiting assembly in my tool box [it was supposed to go on my on-again-off-again 60% frame project, but what the heck...].

With a bit of minimal filing and fitting, my wife now has a convertible 4 and 5 inch 1911. I haven't taken it to the range, yet, but if it groups 2 or 3 inches at 15 yards I'm pretty sure she'll be happy. I am going to add better sights, though.

Randall