What amount of work defines a handgun as being a custom handgun.

I have a Ruger Blackhawk that I have changed the grips and had a trigger job done by a local gunsmith. Is it a custom gun now or does it require more work that that?

Don't mean to be a wise crack but if the work you had done on your gun classifies it as "custom" then I'm a custom gunsmith.

To me it would have to have a custom barrel to be a custom

I would define custom work to be real Gunsmith Alterations.
Magnaporting
Slab Side the Barrel
Exotic Sights requiring more than a simple replacement.
Custom Trick Finish
Replaced Hammers, Backstraps, ejector rod shrouds, etc.
And probably a combination of several of the above.

My SS Colt XSE 1911 45acp Pistol has been sent off for checkering of the front strap. It has custom sights. It has had a Wilson Combat Grip Safety installed (Not the Drop In One). The Hammer and Trigger are Wilson Combat.It has a Flat SS Mainspring Housing with Magazine Chute attached also Wilson Combat. It is on the second set of Custom Grips. The first set was Ebony with Double Diamond pattern checkering. The present set are Black/Grey Two Tone with a StarBurst pattern. That is only part of the work that has been done to it over the last 20 years. I would call it Custom.

I have a 625, 610, and two 686 S&W's that are Power Custom Combats. I am not sure that they would really meet my requirements as a Custom Revolver.

Keep on working on that BlackHawk it may qualify as a Custom sooner or later. My BlackHawk came pretty trick. It is a Lipskey SS 5.5" Bisley 45 Colt with factory Rosewood grips. I have had a spring change done to it. Other than possibly some Throat work and possibly a new front sight if I can ever come up with a Fiber Optic for the 45 Colt I do not see much being changed on it. I do not see it ever qualifying to be a Custom Gun.

Just My 2 Cents

Bob R

Got to thinking about my guns when I read the above posts. I have two revolvers that are complete overhauls. Changed calibers, barrel lengths, appearance, cylinders, yada yada yada... I don't think there is anything that is "original" anywhere on those two guns. Even the grip frames were changed. I'd say they are custom guns.

But then there is my 1911. Only thing I did to it was put some wood grips on them that had a little bit of laser engraving on them. I don't classify that as custom at all. And I don't want that 1911 messed with at all. It is the Springfield TRP, and I have yet to find anything that needs improved on it. It is still a stock gun to me, and I bought it that way because of what was already on it.

Maybe the word "custom" is overused, or misused. Perhaps we should be calling them "personalized" instead. Or how about "unique-alized"?

I would say that you have a "customized" gun, but to call it a "custom" gun might be a wee bit of a stretch. I have a Bisley that has had the barrel shortened, throats reamed, new ivory grips, wolff springs, and trigger worked over and I wouldn't call it a "custom" gun. I have a 1911 that has had a new trigger, grip safety and arched MSH installed, new grip panels, feedrammp polished, as well as slide ceracoated with a reflex sight installed where the rear sight was and I wouldn't call it a "custom" gun either. But, then I did most of the work myself. Customized? Yes, but what all is in a word anyway ;-)

I think what you have is a personalized gun. I have many guns that are personalized to fit me and my likes. I only have a few that are truly custom. I guess a customized gun means different things to everybody.

I think that tuning a revolver with a trigger job, grips, sights, etc. is customizing or even tuning. A custom goes a whole lot farther in the number and severity of the modifications.

This revolver was merely customized at this point:



Before it became a full custom at this point:

This is highly subjective, tough to differentiate and really dependent on the individual. For me, I'd say there are three classes.

Customized/personalized/tuned, etc.. These are guns that have been tuned, restocked, maybe replacement parts like basepins, springs, sights, etc.. No serious modifications. Lots of stuff that the average person can do at home. Like this Colt SAA .38-40, tuned and stocked by Tom Sargis.



Mild custom. These are guns that have some modifications only a gunsmith can perform. Perhaps some advanced tuning like reaming throats, recutting forcing cones and crowns, coupled with other work. New sights that are not direct replacements. Metalwork like checkering or grip frame modifications. Maybe even simple caliber conversions would fall under this grouping but usually something that retains a majority of factory parts. A gun that is obviously not as it was from the factory but still recognizable. Probably upper end of the genre, this Bisley is what I consider a mild custom. Factory barrel, cylinder and chambering but with an action job, recut forcing cone and crown, minimum headspsace, freewheel, custom front sight, #5 basepin, Turnbull finishes and claro walnut by CLC.



Full custom. One that has been subjected to serious modifications. New barrels, particularly the octagon, ribbed, banded or ovate variety. New cylinders, particularly oversized five and six-shot. Although some five-shot conversions utilize the factory barrel and these would certainly still be considered "full custom". Standard and oddball chamberings. More involved metal work like topstrap conversions, grip modifications, anything involving welding and parts fabricated from scratch. Particularly if one-off. This is probably the closest I have to a full custom. An old flat-top rechambered to .44Spl, PacNor barrel, custom sights, full tuning, custom basepin, custom finishes and restocked in micarta by CLC. The .500 Jack is building for me would be the upper end of "full custom" with an octagon barrel, Bisley conversion, one-off custom basepin and front sight, some welding, ivory, engraving and Turnbull finishes.