Korth PRS Two-Tone .45 ACP

Look at the dimpled slide serrations and you already know this isn't a Colt. Korth's PRS is the German firm's take on the 1911, and it carries the same obsessive build quality that made the company's revolvers legendary among people who care about lockwork. This one wears the two-tone dress: a satin stainless slide over a black DLC frame, with the rolling field of raised dimples that Korth uses in place of conventional cocking serrations. It reads as a fighting 1911 and a precision instrument at the same time.

The barrel runs 4.25 inches, the PRS Commander length that Korth lists as 4 1/4 Zoll on the factory tag. That puts it between a full Government and a true compact, and it balances well in the hand. The slide is rollmarked Korth on both sides, with Waffenfabrik Korth Germany running along the frame and the .45 Auto caliber stamp visible through the ejection port. Sights are a blacked-out rear notch paired with a tritium-style front, set into the satin top.

The details are where Korth spends its time. You get a skeletonized trigger and matching skeletonized hammer, a beavertail grip safety with a memory bump, a flat dimpled mainspring housing, and front strap stippling that matches the slide texture. The grip panels are richly figured walnut with a clean inletted border. Controls are crisp and the slide-to-frame fit is tight throughout.

It arrives in the fitted Korth case with the factory safety manual and a spare magazine in the cut foam. Korth builds these in small numbers and exports very few to the States, so they rarely surface on the used market. For a collector who already owns the usual American custom names, this is the German answer sitting on the other end of the bench.