I’ve been a huge fan of the 1911 for as long as I can remember. Each time I disassemble one of these pistols, I marvel at John Moses Browning’s genius. Likewise, I’m in awe that over 100 years after its inception, the gun is still a very viable defense weapon. So, I was happy to see Tyler Gun Works release a custom production, Government Model 1911.
The Tyler Gun Works Government Model 1911
I’ve lost count of the number of 1911 manufacturers there are today. Lately, Turkey and the Philippines have become sources of serviceable clones at economical prices. But for a 1911 to touch my soul, it needs to have all-forged and machined steel parts, precision fitting, and a deep blue finish. Unfortunately, those prerequisites add to the gun’s cost and put it out of the reach of most budgets—including mine.
Bobby Tyler of Tyler Gun Works took exception to this. Working with a sharpened pencil and calculator, Tyler concluded that he could build a gun that would touch our souls without needing a second mortgage or tapping into the kids’ college funds.
1911 Mecca
An event at the world’s 1911 Mecca—Gunsite—gave me a chance to interview Tyler about his newest offering.
“We were looking at projects for 2024 and the opportunity to put out a hand-built, hand-fitted 1911 at a reasonable price became a reality. There are a lot of 1911s on the market and our goal was to bring one out that would go the distance and was made right,” said Tyler.
The goal was to build a 1911 that looks good and also possesses the accuracy and reliability serious shooters need. Tyler wanted the base price to be between a Kimber and a higher-end shop like Wilson Combat and Nighthawk Custom. But parts were one critical element Tyler refused to go cheap on.
“If you tear down one of our 1911s you won’t find a single MIM (Metal Injection Molded) or cast part. The frame and slide, the foundation of our build, are machined from carbon steel forgings. Parts like the thumb safety, beavertail, and slide stop are machined from barstock.”
Devil in the Details
A couple of weeks before meeting at Gunsite, Tyler had sent me one of his Government model 1911s. The first thing I did was disassemble the gun and take a look at the parts. TGW uses Series 70-style frames and slides. There is no firing pin safety.
The gun features ambidextrous extended thumb safeties, a high sweep beavertail grip safety, a flat mainspring housing, and a lightweight aluminum trigger. Tyler undercuts the frame where it meets the trigger guard to aid the shooter in getting a higher grip.
With the internals removed from the slide and frame, I mated the two parts together. Placing the slide at its “in battery” position, there wasn’t a hint of wobble between the two parts. Raising the muzzle to 45ᵒ, the slide slid unhesitatingly to the rear. There were no signs of tight spots that might impede the slide’s cycling. Correspondingly, the TGW Government model uses a match-grade, stainless-steel barrel.
Tyler said, “We fit the lugs and barrel feet and even the barrel hood for both length and width. That gives the gun a consistent lock-up and we even lap the bushing to the slide and fit the barrel to the bushing.”
Equal importance was given to the trigger pull, which Tyler said, “We want it to sound like a glass rod breaking whenever the trigger is pulled.”
My test sample broke at 3.75 pounds with just a hint of take-up and virtually no overtravel. The reset was strong, which makes it ideal for target and defensive use.
Texas Hammer
A very cool feature is the silhouette of Texas machined into the TGW 1911’s hammer.
Tyler said, “Our Texas hammer is wire EDM’d at one of our facilities and you’ll notice that the state of Texas appears correctly on each side. You can imagine how intricate the machine work is. That is a proprietary hammer that will only be used in my pistols and represents where the gun is built and where we’re coming from and where we’re going.”
It’s important to know that the state of Texas silhouette only works one way and appears correctly on each side of the hammer. That takes some incredibly precise work from a very expensive piece of machinery.
Bluing
Tyler gives the frame and slide a traditional hot bath salt blue, resulting in a deep, blue finish. Remember the Colt Royal Blue from days of yore? You’ll be impressed with the bluing of the TGW Government!
Besides the deep cocking serrations fore and aft, the slide features the laser-engraved legend, “In God We Trust,” on the right rear of the slide. Likewise, the word “Government” is engraved underneath the lowered and flared ejection port.
On the left side slide flat, “Tyler Gun Works” and an American flag are engraved. The flats of the slide and frame are polished bright, while the rounded parts, like the slide top and frontstrap, are bead-blasted matte.
Bobby Tyler equips the Government model with double diamond, checkered walnut grips for a bit of nostalgia. They look great against the deep, dark blue finish!
1911 Essentials
I’ve always said the most important things needed on a 1911 used for self-defense are good sights, a decent trigger pull, and an extended safety that will never leave the user wondering if they are on or off safe. TGW’s Government model possesses all of these things.
The slide is outfitted with a genuine Novak rear sight that is drift adjustable in its dovetail for windage correction. Tyler opens up the notch on the rear sight enough that there is plenty of light on each side of the front sight to get perfect alignment. So often, this is not the case, and the front and rear sights blur together.
Tyler fits the front sight with a gold bead for fast shooting, and the eye picks it up immediately on presentation.
“The gold bead is a good addition. Whether you have 20-year-old eyes or 65-year-old eyes, what we were looking for was a clean sight picture,” said Tyler.
Shooting the Tyler Gun Works 1911
I had the opportunity to shoot the TGW Government Model for accuracy before heading to Gunsite. I shot all of my groups from a seated rest using a DOA Tactical portable shooting bench with my target at 25 yards. Three 5-shot groups were fired with each of the listed ammunition. The best group is recorded in the accuracy chart (below).
My single best group measured under 1 ½ at 25 yards, fired with Hornady’s 185-grain FTX Critical Defense rounds. The aggregate group size was just a hair over 1 ¾”! Three of my loads were standard range loads, with projectiles weighing between 220 and 230 grains.
The other three loads were hotter defense rounds with bullets weighing between 185 grains and 230 grains. Despite the different overall lengths and bullet nose profiles all rounds fed without a hitch. Correspondingly, I didn’t experience a single failure during my initial testing.
Gunsite Proofed
A week later, I found myself at Gunsite. Most of our first day was spent in the classroom with Tyler, learning more about his custom guns. The classrooms provided a warm and welcome respite from the 35-degree temperature and steady rainfall outside.
However, the next day, it started snowing at about 9 AM and didn’t let up until we secured from the range at about 3 PM. It was actually kind of fun, though, and challenging, as the fat snowflakes often obscured the sights and/or targets.
Doubletap Ammunition supplied us with a healthy dose of 230-grain FMJ .45 ACP rounds. So, we shot until we couldn’t feel our fingers. We’d take a break in the range shed to warm up and load magazines before getting back on the range.
As I said, we were all having fun, and the TGW Government model just kept chugging along.
Final Thoughts
Bobby Tyler says he’ll initially offer his 1911s in both Government and Commander configurations. Customers can opt for the traditional royal blue finish or a color-cased frame with a blue slide for a very distinctive look. Tascosa Machine & Tool will initially distribute the TGW 1911s.
For more information, please visit TylerGunWorks.com and TascosaMachine.com.
Tyler Gun Works Government Model 1911 Specs
| Capacity/Caliber | 8 + 1, .45 ACP |
| Overall Length | 8.60” |
| Height | 5.25” |
| Weight | 40-Ounces |
| Barrel | 5”, Match-Grade Stainless Steel |
| Sights | Novak Rear, Gold Bead front |
| Safeties | Ambidextrous Thumb Safeties, Beavertail Grip Safety with Bump |
| Frame | Forged Carbon Steel-Blued |
| Slide | Forged Carbon Steel-Blued |
| Grips | Double Diamond Checkered Walnut |
| Finish | Polished Blue |
| Accessories | Zippered Nylon Range Bag, Two 8-Round magazines, Cable Lock |
| Warranty | Limited Lifetime Warranty |
| Suggested Retail | Yet to be set by Tascosa Machine & Tool |
Performance
| AMMUNITION | VELOCITY | GROUP |
| Black Hills 230-grain FMJ | 807 | 1.82” |
| Doubletap 230-grain FMJ RN Match | 790 | 1.75” |
| Federal Action Pistol 220-grain TJJ Syntech | 734 | 1.90 |
| Hornady Critical Defense 185-grain FTX | 1042 | 1.45” |
| Remington 230-grain Golden Saber | 862 | 1.94” |
| Speer Gold Dot G2 Carry Gun 200-grain | 1012 | 1.67” |
| AVERAGE | 1.76” |
