December 11, 2019
By James Tarr
The thumb safety is perfectly blended to the frame. Ed Brown’s Memory Groove beavertail lets the hand sit higher than any other beavertail, for reduced muzzle rise. It’s so high the hammer sits down inside it.
While the LS10 doesn’t have a true undercut trigger guard, it is cut higher in the front than what you’d get with an original frame pattern 1911. The higher you can get your hand on a pistol, the less muzzle rise you get, as bore height off the hand is the number-one contributor to muzzle rise.
The thumb safety is single-sided and extended. It has loud positive clicks up and down, which means it is perfectly fit. One sure sign this pistol was put out by a shop that knows what it is doing is the lack of any sharp edges or corners on the rear of the pistol, especially on the back of the thumb safety.
The slide release is Ed Brown’s Ledge model, which is a machined part that features a slightly more horizontal serrated surface than the original angled GI version. Shooting a heavily recoiling all-metal firearm, you will immediately notice any sharp edges at the rear of the gun, especially if you’re choked up on it and shooting your 1911 with the proper thumb-high hold.
As for internals, this pistol is not equipped with a “Series ‘80”-type firing pin safety, which means there are no extra parts mucking up a good trigger pull. The trigger break was crisp and measured four pounds even, on my sample. The trigger itself is a long aluminum model with three holes.
The magazine-well opening is beveled to smooth reloads, although this isn’t a competition pistol. The double- diamond hardwood grips give the gun a classic look.
The magazine-well opening in the frame has been nicely beveled to smooth out any reloads, although this pistol is not meant for competition. The grips on my pistol were double-diamond checkered cocobolo, held in place by hex head grip screws. And thank you, Ed Brown, for not jumping on the Torx screw bandwagon. Grip screws occasionally work themselves loose, and while everybody has ten sets of hex wrenches lying around, including a set in their gun-cleaning tool box, almost nobody has Torx wrenches.
Technically, this pistol is a Limited Edition, and it comes with the same lifetime warranty that all Ed Brown pistols do.