excellent fit
This is the only MSH I have found that is .539 wide. This MSH is machined v. cast and has excellent finsh. All others I have tried, (note my comments) have been far too small in each dimension to fit without a very large gap. I use this for both Gov and Officer size MSHs. It takes a lot of work to shorten it down to an officers size, but still well worth the effort for a good fit.
Para expert
This is a sharp looking part but it will take some time and filework to fit it up with the para expert. it looks great on the gun.
Fit perfect
This is my third 817-ARCH stainless, they all fit perfectly, looks great and improves my grip, I have one on my custom built Caspian,Colt Combat Elite and this one is for my Colt Combat Commander
Super product - minor fitting required
This is the second ED BROWN MSH I've installed to my personal 1911's (this installation to a Kimber Eclipse II, the first to a Kimber ProCarry II). the installation to the ProCarryII was a true drop in fit. No issues whatsoever with weapon fit and function. The installation to the Eclipse II required the most minor of fitment to insure the weapons Schwarz Safety functioned properly - nothing that 10 minutes of careful filing and polishing of the upper tangs on the MSH couldn't resolve. I shoot much better with the arched MSH, so it is a must on any 1911's that I'm carrying. Kimber weapons are beautiful and MOH accurate, and now it's SUPER top notch for me. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED PART.
Pricy Alternative, Fitting Required
Looked good in the bag this S/S mainspring housing was an upgrade to the plastic part on my Colt Govt MK 1911A1. Took twice as long to install it as I suspected and required jamming the handle of the 1911 into something solid to get it to slide up into place. Nothing like the drop-in versions on the many youtube videos. The 25 LPI checkering tips are very aggressive and collect a bunch of dirt and skin in the tight grooves. In retrospect, I would have ordered a different pattern version for this MSH replacement part. This is also a pricy part to get a 3-star rating. I would not recommend this part to those shopping around.
nice look
Put on my Para GI Expert. It looks mean, but it does little to hold your hand in place. Checkering would be better. Requires fitting. I spent an hour with a file getting it right. Like I said, it looks great, but it does little else.
Rusts!
After about a year I started noticing some rust across the face of the scales. It got worse with time - as rust tends to do. My Springfield 1911-A1 is all steel and phosphate coated - this is the only part that is exhibiting any rust. My hands don't sweat particularly much. Aside from the rust it's quite well built and installed very easily.
Emergency razor in a pinch
Ed Brown parts are apparently not what they used to be - I see the last review was 3 years ago. While nicely blued, no attempt was made prior to blueing these parts to relieve the razor sharp machined edges, this includes the grooves that contact your palm. Every internal edge was unrelieved as well, along with the outside edges on the bottom. It's not an in-the-white part that's intended to be refinished, so this lack of attention to detail is unacceptable. I ordered two of these and they were identically bad. Made no attempt to install. Brownell's satisfaction guarantee is why I buy from them.
No Good
My review is exactly like Bob from Orange county below. I also bought a blue one before and it was great and fit perfectly. For all I know the blue ones might still be perfect, but the SS ones definitely do not fit. I bought it any way after reading Bob's review thinking that perhaps it was his gun or maybe Ed Brown fixed their style back to the old style. But no. The beveled rear bottom seems to be the new thing and that is that. They do not fit on a standard Springfield frame. It leaves the sharp points noted in Bob's great pics. I would post pics but they are the same. It's a shame because the overall fit and finsih is far superior to any other MSH I have seen. But if it don't fit right then it don't fit right. And shooting with those sharp points would be terrible. If Ed Brown decides to go back to the correct shape then I will buy a few of them. But until then it seems that the far inferior quality S&A is the only game in town for an arched SS housing.
Read before buying
I bought a blued Ed Brown arched MSH for a Colt Commander about a month ago and it was perfect. I just bought the stainless version for a Ruger SR 1911 Commander. It should have been a carbon copy of the blued model (Like the ad shows) but it is not. There is a very large bevel at the base of the new and improved model that causes the frame to poke out at each side of the base. When I called Ed Brown about it - the tech told me I would have to modify my frame to fit their part because that is how they make them now. These used to be my go-to part for carry guns but not any more. THESE ARE NO LONGER A DROP-IN FIT. I'll include a picture so you can see what I mean.
