If you let out a loud, tactical yawn at the announcement of yet another new 1911 manufacturer, read on—you might just be surprised. The company is Alchemy Custom Weaponry, which makes very high-quality pistols, like the Prime 1911, at astonishingly reasonable prices.
The Alchemy Prime 1911
Alchemy Custom Weaponry is a division of Cabot Guns. I met Cabot’s owner, Rob Bianchin, and Alchemy’s master gunsmith, Rob Schauland, at a writers’ conference. They had Alchemy’s offerings spread out on a table.
Each 1911 was lying on a test target with impressively tiny groups punched through it. Groups that good are impossible to ignore. So, I picked up a couple of the guns, twisted the slides to check for movement, cycled the actions to check smoothness, and dry-fired them a few times to get a feel for the triggers.
While I was certainly impressed with the guns, I was confused about a couple of things and asked two questions. First, why is the initial part of the slide cycling so stiff? Second, why does Cabot have a division that seemingly sells the same product and competes with itself?
The answers were simpler than I expected. Cabot specializes in high-quality 1911s that are machined with an extreme degree of accuracy and very tight tolerances. Components fit together without the help of a gunsmith. The parts are also interchangeable.
On the other hand, Alchemy—the brainchild of its master gunsmith, Rob Schauland—builds high-quality 1911s the old-fashioned way, with oversized parts and hand-fitting. These are truly craftsman-made pistols.
Rob Schauland
Rob’s gunsmithing career began at Springfield Armory and continued with Les Baer before opening his own shop, Alchemy Custom Weaponry. While working for himself, Rob was also the behind-the-scenes 1911 expert who helped shape Cabot Guns.
In 2015, Cabot wanted Schauland to come to work for Cabot Guns. So, they purchased his company in order for him to relocate and work for them exclusively.
However, Cabot did not buy Alchemy with the intention of continuing its hand-fitted 1911 business. It was acquired for the sole purpose of bringing Schauland in-house.
However, in 2017, Cabot realized there was an opportunity to diversify the company and introduce a new brand of 1911s constructed with a completely different philosophy than Cabot. With that, Alchemy Custom Weaponry was resurrected.
Alchemy is charged with building no-nonsense 1911s. Its motto is “Everything you need and nothing you don’t.”
The company creates pistols with a mix of old and new—vintage styling with modern comfort, performance, reliability, enhanced ergonomics, and top-grade fit and finish.
Alchemy limits the styles and options they offer in order to facilitate manufacturing and production to keep costs low. The company currently produces four .45 ACP models. These include a Government-sized model called the Prime, a carry model called the Classic Carry, a compact named Brimstone, and an unusual Commander-sized pistol aptly dubbed the Anomaly.
The major difference with the Anomaly is that its hammer is spurless.
A Truly Custom Operation
Many of Alchemy’s parts are designed in-house. Alchemy does not use off-the-shelf frames and slides. Rob designs them all to incorporate traditional styling cues with ergonomic features—such as a high-cut frontstrap for comfort and control—perfected over his many years of building custom 1911s.
Alchemy boasts that its guns have the highest-cut grips in the industry. The higher hand placement increases comfort and helps reduce recoil flip.
Alchemy’s frames are made from U.S. forgings of 4140 carbon steel and machined in the U.S. to Alchemy’s proprietary specifications. Likewise, the slides are constructed in the U.S. from steel bar stock to Alchemy’s specifications.
Alchemy’s barrels are made in the U.S. from 416R-certified hammer-forged stainless steel. Bushings are turned from 416 bar stock stainless steel. Alchemy’s ignition components are constructed in-house from 420 stainless steel billet. The hammer, sear, and strut are made precisely using EDM wire machining. Disconnectors are constructed from tool steel.
While Rob does indeed build many pistols himself, two other highly skilled gunsmiths with 25 and 30 years of experience also work by his side. Regardless of who does the work, each gun is built by a master gunsmith. However, every Alchemy pistol is extensively reviewed, test-fired, and inspected by Rob.
Handling the Alchemy Prime 1911
Getting back to my question about why the initial part of the slide cycling is so stiff, Rob told me that he makes the lockup between the barrel and the bushing very tight to increase the gun’s accuracy.
The other elements necessary to achieve their high accuracy include fitting the frame to the slide and the barrel and its lugs to the frame by hand, along with the barrel link. Those components and fitting processes directly enhance the gun’s inherent accuracy. However, the most important part of practical accuracy—the shooter’s ability to shoot the gun accurately—is the trigger.
According to Rob, the Bob Greider trigger used in Alchemy’s 1911s is the best available at any price. Likewise, it is a favorite among elite custom gunsmiths. The trigger design that Alchemy uses has a setscrew at the back of the trigger pad, rather than at the front, for overtravel adjustment. So, there’s no hole in the face of the trigger to irritate your trigger finger.
Alchemy sets the trigger pull weight at 3.5 to 4 pounds or higher if desired. A 4.5-pound trigger pull is also available for duty/carry use.
Just the Facts Ma’am
As requested, Rob sent me a Prime pistol to evaluate for this article. My test gun had a hand-polished, blued finish.
It features Alchemy’s high-grip ergonomics, 25-lpi checkering on both the frontstrap and mainspring housing. Additionally, there is a beveled magazine well, tuned and polished extractor, lowered ejection port, and extended billet steel pinned ejector. Lastly, it features a polished feed ramp, throated barrel, Cylinder & Slide thumb safety, adjustable rear sight, fiber-optic front sight, and checkered walnut grips.
Buyers have several options when ordering: bluing or hard-chrome finish, various types of sights, right-hand or ambidextrous safety, and trigger length. There are more options for the barrel, slide stop, mag well, and grips.
All of Alchemy’s pistols offer an accuracy guarantee of 1.5 inches at 25 yards. An upgrade to 1 inch at 25 yards is also available as an option.
The Prime 1911 In Hand
When I received the pistol, I first checked the slide-to-frame fit by twisting them in opposite directions and pressing down on the barrel through the ejection port to look for movement. As expected, I was not disappointed, as both were as tight as could be.
Next was the trigger. It felt nice, crisp, and clean. My scale measured the pull at an average of 3 pounds, 12 ounces.
The gun felt great in my hands. While the design has supposedly been standardized over more than 100 years of production, all 1911s do not feel the same in the hand. Some actually feel terrible, but the Prime was just right.
In terms of the grip, the Alchemy’s 25-lpi checkering was a perfect fusion of texture and comfort. I have held many guns with checkering that was too fine and didn’t offer enough purchase. Likewise, some guns had checkering that was much too sharp and bit into my hand.
The Prime’s safety held firm, yet it was easy to operate, and the fiber-optic front sight greatly enhanced sight acquisition.
Holstering the 1911
The holster I used for testing is from the custom maker Overland Gunleather. Overland is probably the best-kept secret in holsters. The company’s work is beautiful—comparable to the best holster makers on the market.
Overland does not advertise since word of mouth keeps its workbench full. It offers several designs in a choice of leathers, including exotics. The company can even accommodate firearms with attached lasers.
The model I chose is the OGL-AXE. It features a cordovan body color, with a belt loop in black exotic leather to match my black belt. The IWB design keeps the gun tight to my body for concealment while still leaving plenty of room to grasp the gun’s grip.
The Alchemy Prime 1911 on the Range
Hitting the range, I found no disappointment. I fired numerous brands and styles of hollow-point ammunition and FMJ fodder, all with no malfunctions. The pistol handled smoothly, and the recoil was easily controllable under its steel heft.
I have been shooting tactical Tupperware for so long that I’d almost forgotten how steel guns feel and shoot. The Prime reminded me how much I like shooting all-steel 1911s.
Where the Alchemy Prime really shined was with accuracy testing. My goal in testing was to get groups as good as the test targets I saw at the writers’ conference.
Handguns are typically more accurate than most shooters can shoot them, myself included. So, I used a Ransom Rest (RansomRest.com) to eliminate the human variable. The Prime turned in an average best of 0.75 inches at 25 yards.
Handling an Alchemy pistol is the best way to appreciate its style, great ergonomics, and high build quality. Its top workmanship and high accuracy make it one of the best options on the market.
For more information, please visit Alchemy1911.com and CabotGuns.com.
Alchemy Prime 1911 Specs
| Caliber | .45 ACP |
| Barrel | 5 inches |
| Length | 8.625 inches |
| Weight | 2 pounds, 7ounces |
| Stock/Grips | Checkered walnut |
| Sights | Adjustable rear, fiber-optic front |
| Action | Semi-automatic |
| Finish | Blued |
| Capacity | Eight rounds |
| MSRP | $2,595 |
Performance
| Asym Precision 185-grain Match JHP | |
| Velocity | 830 |
| Average | 0.9 |
| Best | 0.7 |
| Federal 185-grain FMJ Gold Medal Match | |
| Velocity | 760 |
| Average | 1.0 |
| Best | 0.85 |
| Black Hills 230-grain FMJ | |
| Velocity | 821 |
| Average | 1.0 |
| Best | 0.75 |
Velocity measured in feet per second (fps). Accuracy measured in inches.
