HS-Custom Garrison 4.25″ 9mm

Grady Trent3 hours ago

0 0 9 minutes read

Editor’s Note: This article is also featured in the current Winter 2025 print issue of The Armory Life magazine.

I shot my first Springfield Armory 1911 for a feature in Guns Magazine about 35 years ago. At the time, Springfield was noted for accurate, reliable and affordable firearms of all sorts. It’s interesting to note things haven’t changed in the intervening years.

The stainless steel 4.25” Garrison 9mm makes for a solid foundation for a custom build project, like this one by HS-Custom, LLC. Image: Carson McDaniel/Springfield Armory

As a matter of fact, they’ve gotten even better. Over the decades, I’ve had dozens of Springfields come across my desk, and all of them have made me smile consistently when shooting them. I have written again and again about how I feel Springfield 1911s are the best value for the money from any company, anywhere, period.

When a reader asks me what “custom” 1911 they should buy, they usually offer a list of makers they are looking at. I most often simply tell them to go to Springfield’s website and shop until they find a gun offering the features they need or want, then buy that one. No fuss, no muss, and it comes with a guarantee, excellent accuracy, outstanding build quality and a family-owned company history. The best part is you get all that for about half the cost of a full custom gun, without any compromises in performance.

milling the front sight — Precision milling work is just the beginning of a custom sight. The real magic happens afterward, with hand blending everything so it looks like it grew there from the factory. Image: Author

Strong words? You bet. I’ve only been shooting for 60 years and have been in the industry for 43 years, so I’ve seen a thing or two. A few things stick out and can be surprisingly rare. Quality, reliability, affordability, engineering excellence and customer service often escape the realm of what’s possible for too many companies. Springfield Armory gets it, though.

The Gameplan

However, while you can get everything you need from a stock 1911 from Springfield, it’s always fun to see what a custom maker can do with one.

So, when Mike Humphries, editor-in-chief of The Armory Life, reached out to me about writing up a piece on a custom gun for the magazine, I happily agreed. Once we settled on a stainless steel 4.25” Garrison 9mm as the host gun for the project, I knew exactly to whom we should speak.

HS Custom Garrison on bench — The custom Garrison that resulted exhibited a great deal of attention to detail, from the cut checkering to the newly fitted parts. Image: Carson McDaniel/Springfield Armory

That person was Dusty Housel of HS-Custom, LLC, near me here in Joplin, Missouri. HS-Custom is owned and run by Dusty, a full-time Kansas National Guard Sergeant and veteran of two tours in the “sandbox,” as it were. Dusty, who has a passion for building custom 1911s, has a well-equipped shop and spends a great deal of time there — when he’s not fishing or shooting with his three boys! In fact, he explained that HS stands for “Housel & Sons” in case they want to work with him when they get a little older.

So, I got together with Dusty, and we worked up a plan for the pistol. Our question was, if someone wanted to make some changes to their Garrison (or any 1911 they had), what might they be, and why?

In my experience, a stock Garrison can shoot 1.5″ at 25 yards reliably and has all the bells and whistles — like good sights, a match-grade barrel, classic bushing style barrel fit, great sights, forged frame and slide, and more. What on earth would you need to improve? Well, nothing, actually.

precision milling of slide for slide release — Getting everything perfectly square isn’t optional in custom 1911 work. Each component is dialed in properly, because precision at this stage determines the quality of the final result. Image: Author

But what might you want to change? That’s the real question. A Springfield 1911 always makes a great base gun for a build. As Dusty told me, “I build more guns on ‘Springers’ than any other. I enjoy doing it because the specs are always spot-on with no surprises. Aftermarket parts are easy to fit, and I usually never need to change the basic action parts, barrel or other parts. It all depends on what the customer is looking for.”

So, I got with Dusty and asked him what he would do to a personal Garrison if he were to add some custom touches.

“It honestly doesn’t need anything changed; it’s already a solid pistol,” he told me. “But, if I were having some fun and just because I like to do the work, I might do a white ball inset front sight, Chen rear, a double arrow slide top pattern, Evolution Gun Works gunsmith-fit bushing and extended smooth recoil spring plug to start things off.

top strap HS Custom Garrison — In addition to new sights, Housel cut precise “double arrow” rows along the top of the slide. Image: Carson McDaniel/Springfield Armory

“I’d flush cut the stock barrel and crown it since they are top-notch barrels already. I’d also do a de-horn package and blend the stock grip safety a tad, adding a machine bevel to the bottom edge of the slide too. I’d add some more Chen parts since he already works with Springfield, so a Chen magwell, safety and mag release would be nice.

“I love the way a flush-cut slide stop pin looks, with 40 line-per-inch (LPI) checkering, so that’d be a go. Some 25 LPI frontstrap checkering would go on, and just some light trigger and action work on the stock parts as there’s no need to change them out at all. A final oxide bead blast and polished slide flats would do it. How’s that for off the top of my head?”

I was sold, and then set him loose on the project.

Build Sheet

White Ball Front Sight from Blank: $75
Stan Chen Rear Sight (w/ labor): $80
Double-Arrow Slide Top Pattern: $150
EGW Carry Bevel Gunsmith Fit Barrel Bushing (w/ labor): $60
EGW Extended Smooth Recoil Spring Plug: $15
Flush Cut and Crown Barrel: $50
Complete Dehorn/Light Carry Dehorn Package: $175
Machine Bevel Bottom of Slide: $50
Stan Chen Shooter Installed Magwell: $150
New Stan Chen Thumb Safety: $80
Stan Chen Magazine Release: $50
Flush Cut/Countersink Slide Stop w/40 LPI Checkering: $75
25 LPI Frontstrap Checkering w/Undercut: $225
Light Trigger Work/Stoning: $60
Oxide Bead Blast with Polished Slide Flat: $75
VZ Grips: $65

Make It So

Dusty dropped everything he was working on and concentrated on the Garrison. I shot it before the work using my Ransom Master Rest and found it to be a very reliable 1″ to 1.5″ gun with the right ammo. In this case, Black Hills FMJ wins as it does in most cases.

The gun ran fine, the sights were clear, safety worked fine, and I had no complaints. Frankly, I would have put it to work just the way it came out of the box. But to make a gun more personal always tugs at the heartstrings. I was curious to see what Dusty’s ideas would look like in the flesh and how it might change the way the Garrison handles.

HS Custom milling frontstrap of Garrison pistol — Dusty Housel of HS-Custom is shown here cutting the frontstrap checkering on the Garrison pistol. Image: Author

After detail-stripping and conducting a careful measurement of all the parts involved, Dusty told me not only was everything well within spec, but he wouldn’t need to touch the slide-to-frame fit as it was exceptional. He also noted that the same was true of the barrel and action parts. After gathering the aftermarket custom parts, Dusty went to work.

The front sight was made from a blank, and Dusty makes and installs the white ball insert. The insert itself is made from white polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) rod. It’s surprising how a small modification like this can make a big difference. The Chen sight rear is bold and easy to adjust for windage if needed.

One bit of work that always astounds me is when Dusty cuts the “Double Arrow” decorative lines on the slide top. He’s all about careful mill work, and the detail and accuracy never cease to amaze me. The word “talent” comes to mind easily.

HS Custom Garrison magwell — Housel fitted out the pistol with a Stan Chen Shooter Installed Magwell and VZ Grips. Image: Carson McDaniel/Springfield Armory

The EGW Carry Bevel bushing went in after careful fitting to the stock barrel and slide, along with the EGW smooth recoil spring plug. The latter offers a clean look and matches the bushing neatly. The stock barrel was then flush-cut and crowned, and Dusty took most of a day to do a complete “de-horn” the pistol. He also cut that practical and attractive machine bevel along the bottom edge of the slide. Slow and steady is how he likes to do it.

The Chen magwell slipped in neatly, along with Chen’s popular thumb safety. The curve nestles nicely under the thumb, secure and with a slightly different “feel” than the stock one. The Chen mag release has a slightly more aggressive pattern and comes to the thumb easily.

Dusty likes to do an elegant flush-cut and counter-sink to the right-side end of the slide release. On this job, he also added a very unique 40 LPI bit of checkering. It’s both attractive and practical, offering a secure spot for a thumb when pressing out the slide release. The 25 LPI frontstrap checkering always seems to be a good idea and goes well on the Garrison. Some opt for less aggressive checkering, but I’ve found this to be a good blend of both comfort and control.

Dusty also stressed he often uses the stock action parts on Springfield guns simply because they are robust and spec-out perfectly. With just some minor stoning and fitting, he had a reliable 4-lb. trigger.

Since the gun is stainless, he did a soft oxide bead blast, then polished the slide flats for a bit of eye candy. I’m guessing it’s about a 320-grit hand polish, and it looks just right to my eye.

Dusty told me the total cost for the work on this pistol would come out to around $1,300, give or take. Add to that the reasonable $917 MSRP of the base pistol, and you have a screaming deal if you ask me. And since it’s all custom work, ideas could change for you, sights might be different, cosmetic touches different, or just about anything else you can dream up. Even basic sight, bushing and action work can sometimes make a big difference in shootability for some shooters, so keep in mind it’s all up to you.

Shooting

All of this is fine, but does it improve the accuracy, reliability and handling? It’d be hard to improve on the reliability since past experience shows them to be virtually 100 percent pistols. Our sample here ran about 300 rounds prior to the build to settle things in, and it ran just fine.

testing HS Custom Garrison with Ransom Rest — The Ransom Master Rest eliminates human error and shows what this gun can really do. The rest doesn’t lie, and this custom Garrison proved it can deliver a one-hole group at 15 yards.

I dug out the Ransom Master Rest and we put things to a real-world test. Once the customized Garrison settled into the rest, our first 15-yard group was literally one ragged hold. Thank you, Dusty and Black Hills ammo.

25 yard groups sub one inch — Pushed out to 25 yards from the Ransom Rest, 5-shot groups averaged in the .75″ range — or even a bit better at times.

We pushed it out to 25 yards, and things opened up just a tad. After several groups with the Black Hills ball ammo, we determined this gun is able to shoot a pretty solid .75″ from the Ransom, sometimes even a bit less. Keep in mind, that’s with the stock factory barrel, stock slide-to-frame fit, and stock action (just smoothed a tad). As Dusty said, he enjoys using Springfields as base guns for all those reasons.

Final Thoughts?

As I’ve said before, I honestly don’t see any “need” to make changes to stock Springfield Armory guns. But if you’re like most shooters, it’s always fun to seek some custom touches to make a good gun a more personal one. Whatever your dream might be, a Springfield is always a great gun to use to build on that dream — and HS-Custom, LLC is a great gunsmith to help you do it.

Editor’s Note: Please be sure to check out The Armory Life Forum, where you can comment about our daily articles, as well as just talk guns and gear. Click the “Go To Forum Thread” link below to jump in and discuss this article and much more!