Dehorning a fad?

"Melting" or a heavy dehorning is not a real recent development. It goes back, at least, to San Francisco pistolsmith Bob Chow. The really heavy "melting" doesn't do anything functional that a more moderately done dehorning wouldn't. The acceptance of the appearance of a "melted" pistol, is a fashion thing...perhaps even a fad. A tasteful dehorning, by contrast, will always be in style.

I think dehorning had become more in demand because, due to IPSC and IDPA, more people than ever are engaged in using holstered pistols in competition that requires the pistol to be presented and manipulated in a very rapid fashion. This is a very good way to find all of the sharp edges on a pistol.

If one carries their pistol to the range in a box, carefully seats it in their hand before firing, and can call an "alibi" if a malfunction occurs, then that pistol probably doesn't need to be dehorned. If one carries the pistol or uses it in practical shooting contests, then a dehorning is probably one of the best things one can do to the pistol. After all, one won't do well with a hand tool that hurts one's hand.

Rosco

[This message has been edited by Rosco Benson (edited 11-02-2001).]

I may be wrong on this, but I believe the first dehorned, almost melted automatic pocket pistol was the Colt 1903 in .32 caliber.

Square trigger guards did not last because they required different holsters, at least that is part of the reason. Checkering is still popular with more manufacturers offering it either as an option or standard - pretty cool. Checkering does not require a special holster. Also, checkering has now gone from checkering and stipling to various other forms such as scalloping.

You won't regret dehorning your gun because it was a fad. Whether or not it is a stylish thing to do should be absolutely immaterial. In fact, I have never heard anyone talk about how dehorning or melting improves the looks of a gun at all. They do help prevent snags and keep the sharp muzzle edges from shaving out the inside of your nice leather holsters (I had two Colts that did that).

As stated above, don't confuse a standard dehorning with a "meltdown" treatment. All that's really needed is to just break the angle on any sharp corners using a file. The gun would need to be refinished afterwards, so be sure to figure that into the cost. A "meltdown" is an extreme dehorning that is mostly aesthetic, and possibly a fad, as you suggest.

Back before the days of "factory custom" 1911s, the general rule was that you needed three things on a stock 1911 to make it ready for fighting: high visibility sights, a crisp trigger that you could easily manage, and a dehorning-- the idea being that the gun shouldn't cut you when operating it vigorously, such as during a malfunction clearance. A commonly heard expression was that the gun should feel like "a well used bar of soap" in your hand. Handguns are hand tools and shouldn't injur the operator under normal use. I remember at Thunder Ranch DH1 there were two students that had brand new, just out of the box stainless Colt 1991A1s. By the third day they each had band aids and tape covering all the cuts and sore spots on their hands. My 1911 had been dehorned and I didn't get so much as scratch.

Dehorning = good.