I have never been a fan of using Forward Serrations, though I reckon that they look, uh, “cool,” in a way. Some of my pistols have them; most do not.

I accumulated three Les Baer pistols, from 2000 to 2018, and one thing that annoyed me was that I had to be careful not to insert them into a couple of my preferred leather holsters, due to their standard Forward Anchoring Barbs. I thought that I’d never get my Thunder Ranch Special out of one leather holster.

Horsehide holsters were one solution, as was Kydex. When I was able to resume carrying 1911 pistols, for police duty, I was gratified to find that the uniform-standard Safariland 6360 duty holster did not snag.

(Houston PD, in Texas, did, indeed, OK 1911 duty pistols, at the end of 2015. Some HPD officers were still carrying “grandfathered” 1911 duty pistols, that had already been on their “qual” cards, since before the big policy change, in 1997. I had let my 1911 duty pistols lapse, in 2002, after finally becoming too disgusted with the then-standard Safariland 070 duty holster interfering with my ability to get a proper firing grip, at the outset of the draw.)

In 2020 or 2021, after I had thought that my 1911-buying days were over, as I was, by then, retired, and really needed to down-size the pistol accumulation, rather than acquire, I encountered a well-preserved, pre-owned sample of the one full-length Les Baer 1911 that has never had Forward Serrations, the National Match Hardball. I loved the old-school, minimalist thumb and grip safeties, too. Resistance was, in the end, futile.

Actually, I can think of one serious tactical liability of Forward Serrations: They could provide better traction, to one’s opponent, in the event of a gun-grab attempt. OTOH, during some rough weapon-retention training, I did defeat one well-known trainer’s gun-grab attempt, by grabbing the front of the “sim” Glock, which enabled me to win the battle of leverage, defeating his use of the best take-away technique. (This “sim” Glock did not have forward serrations.) I reckon that the lesson is that one should NOT let an opponent grab a serrated portion of one’s pistol, if at all possible.

I'm not a fan of them from an aesthetic standpoint, but that is because I'm rapidly becoming a curmudgeonly old man too set in his ways. I don't see them as being either necessary or a negative in a practical context, I just hate the way they look when added to guns that didn't' originally have them and they don't do anything for me. Your mileage may vary. Now I need to chase these darned kids off my lawn...

@Rexster, my mind immediately went to Les Baer 1911s on this topic haha…

An LB Thunder Ranch Special was my first “serious” 1911 and I was enamored of everything about it except, as 92fstech mentioned about his SA Loaded, the gun’s FCS did a fine job of shaving gunleather from the inside of its holster haha…

I like how Baer cuts their serrations and, to my eye, even their FCSs “look better” than most, yet I really have no need for them.

As such, I was tickled to be able to grab a Baer UTC a while back from its original owner; among other things, he’d requested no FCS. I’ve seen that 1911 Heaven regularly carries Baers similarly set up sans that particular feature.

They are not necessary at all IMO. They make a nice gun look ugly. And while we're at it, so do rails and tails.

quote:

Originally posted by Bulldog7972:
That's why I won't buy a new Glock. I hate front serrations. And if you own a Glock and feel the need to check to see if it has a round chambered, why not use the loaded chamber indicator. All of my 1911's have that little peep hole in case I need to check the chamber. And why would I put my hand anywhere near the muzzle end of a gun unless the slide is racked?

We must share a common ancestor. My fingers never go near any muzzle unless I'm working on it. I have no interest in blowing my fingers off my hand. If front serrations are needed to cycle the gun manually, then I'm probably looking at a gun I would have no interest in.

quote:

Originally posted by Snake207:

quote:

Originally posted by sigmonkey:
I cut front serrations on all my revolvers. , and both of my shotguns.

For uniformity and manual of arms.


(edited, it's the pistol thread)

Well hell.

quote:

Originally posted by TheFrontRange:
@Rexster, my mind immediately went to Les Baer 1911s on this topic haha…

An LB Thunder Ranch Special was my first “serious” 1911 and I was enamored of everything about it except, as 92fstech mentioned about his SA Loaded, the gun’s FCS did a fine job of shaving gunleather from the inside of its holster haha…

I like how Baer cuts their serrations and, to my eye, even their FCSs “look better” than most, yet I really have no need for them.

As such, I was tickled to be able to grab a Baer UTC a while back from its original owner; among other things, he’d requested no FCS. I’ve seen that 1911 Heaven regularly carries Baers similarly set up sans that particular feature.

That is a great looking pistol.

This thread calls for the Fudd meme!

quote:

Originally posted by cslinger:

That is a great looking pistol.

Thank you!

Don’t like them. I prefer the original look and feel of the 1911…and I don’t like them on other guns.

I don’t press check my weapon. I know it’s loaded and treat it accordingly