Korth PRS SD Two-Tone .45 ACP

Korth doesn't build many 1911s, and when it does, the company brings the same obsession that earned its revolvers a near-mythic reputation. This PRS SD is the proof. It's a German-made 1911 in .45 ACP, dressed in a two-tone scheme that pairs a satin stainless slide with a deep black frame, and it carries the full Waffenfabrik Korth Germany roll mark down the dust cover.

The slide is the conversation piece. Korth replaced the usual flat serrations with rows of raised dimples, front and rear, a texture you won't find on any production American 1911. Light catches each one differently against the matte stainless. A long top window opens over the barrel, and the muzzle wears an integral ported compensator cut with three slots and stamped .45 Auto on the side. That's the SD part of the name, and it's machined as one piece with the slide rather than threaded on.

Look closer and the detail keeps going. The trigger is a skeletonized three-hole unit, the hammer is a rounded skeleton, and the beavertail grip safety blends into a black mainspring housing. The frame runs an accessory rail up front. Grips are gray and black G10 with aggressive checkering and a diamond Korth medallion at the bottom of each panel, and the frontstrap and mainspring housing carry that same dimpled treatment found on the slide. Adjustable LPA target sights sit out back.

This one comes cased in the fitted Korth box with two magazines, the safety manual, and the factory literature. It also wears the Korth gunsmith tag noting Martin Lauer as the builder. For a collector who wants a 1911 that almost nobody else will be carrying, this is a German house known for revolvers showing what it can do with Browning's design.