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The American Classic Commander is a very capable, value-laden semi-automatic at an affordable price available in three finishes and two calibers. It takes the larger full-size American Classic Government’s features and mates it to a shorter 4.25” length barrel and shorter slide. This is the so-called Commander frame, but actually, the frame is the same size as the Governor’s. Dimensionally, only the barrel and slide’s length differ.

The result is 37 ounces of 4140 steel and various components in an overall length of 7.5” wrapped around a 4.25” long throated forged barrel. Height is 5.5” and width is 1.25”. Fit and finish are sublime.

This M1911-type is manufactured by Metro Arms Corporation (MAC) in the Philippines and imported by American Eagle of Wanamassa, New Jersey.

The Commander is a single-action 1911 available in 9 mm (9+1 capacity) and .45 ACP (8+1 capacity). It has three matte finishes. Hard chrome, which means almost everything including the slide, frame, trigger, etc. appears chrome or stainless. Only the sights stand out as black. Next is duotone – meaning a stainless steel slide on a black frame. The third choice is blue, which is really a very dark matte blue that is almost black for both the slide and frame.

Both frame and hammer forged slide are made of 4140 chromium-molybdenum alloy steel that’s well known for its wear-resistance, strength and uniformity.

The slide has vertical serrations in back and, since the slide is shorter than in the full-size gun, none in front. Partially burrowed into the slide are white-dot dovetail sights. The rear one is a Novak-style sight with its enhanced shadow-box shielding that cuts glare as it surrounds the pair of white dots. The result is faster targeting.

The frame has a corner butt as opposed to the rounded corner on some frames. The ejection port is cut down and beveled and the grip has frame recesses behind the trigger.

The trigger is a triple circle ported combat trigger with a texturized front face.

The gun has nice safety features including the extended left-side thumb safety and the beavertail grip that flows into the long beavertail above it. Also back there is a skeletonized hammer. Someone went out of their way to design it since the hammer’s internal framework inside the loop’s void is pure eye candy.

This 1911 has nice custom hardwood grips. They lack the original’s double-diamond arrowheads around the flat head screws, but they do have very nice fish scale checkering and a light blonde wood that will stand out at the gun range. In the middle is the large “M” Metro Arms rondel logo.

The imported American Classic Commander is an excellent value 1911 with finish choices and custom hardwood grips that make it a compelling choice.

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