I've been into guns for as long as anyone can remember, but it wasn't until after high school that I began acquiring and training with handguns. And as I started studying the legal aspects of concealed carry in greater depth. Massad Ayoob quickly became my favorite author.

Ayoob is perhaps best known as an expert on the use of deadly force by civilians and police officers. But he's also an excellent competitive shooter, a lawman and a highly regarded firearms instructor. So when he sauntered into Ed Brown's booth at a trade show last year and started talking guns, Brown listened. By the time Ayoob left, Brown had his blessing to build a signature pistol to Massad's specifications.

The Massad Ayoob Signature Edition is built on one of Brown's excellent forged, stainless steel frames. The hand-polished frame is smooth and devoid of tool marks. The frontstrap is cut high under the trigger guard to allow a higher grip.

The most notable frame feature is Brown's bobtail modification. For those who aren't familiar with it (or missed our cover story on the Ed Brown bobtail in the July/August 2009 issue; see the article at Hand gunsMag.com--Ed.), the bobtail modification consists of a trimmed grip frame, mainspring housing and grips that angle in at the bottom, where the grip is most likely to print under a thin shirt or light jacket. The bobtail modification keeps the gun from printing yet doesn't alter your grip in the least.

The signature gun's frontstrap is checkered at 25 lines per inch, which I really like. It is not as hard on the hands or clothes as 20-lpi checkering but holds up a bit better and provides more traction than 30 lpi.

The upper half of the bobtail mainspring housing is also checkered at 25 lpi. The bottom is spared because little of it comes into contact with the hand due to the bobtail configuration. Checkering on the frontstrap and mainspring housing is flawless, with straight lines, sharp points and no run-out.

Other frame-mounted features include Brown's low-profile magazine release; stainless Hardcore slide stop; Memory Groove beavertail grip safety; and a trim, ambidextrous thumb safety. I am not a fan of ambidextrous safeties, but the Brown version is nice and trim on both sides, so it isn't likely to disengage inadvertently. The safety lever engaged smoothly and positively with an audible and tactile click.

Brown’s bobtail conversion doesn’t hurt your shooting grip at all, but it does reduce the gun’s profile and makes it easier to conceal.

Ignition parts included Ed Brown's Perfection sear and disconnector, both of which are machined from bar stock. His Commander-style Hardcore hammer is also machined from bar stock. Ever liability-conscious, Ayoob also requested an extra-heavy duty firing pin spring to prevent "inertia discharges" in the event the cocked pistol is struck or dropped on a hard surface. It's also cheap insurance against recalcitrant primers.

The trigger is Brown's classic, three-hole aluminum design. It has a serrated face and adjustable overtravel set screw. Per Massad's request, Ayoob guns will have a crisp, clean 4.5-pound trigger pull.

Some 1911 shooters prefer lighter pulls, but Ayoob has always advocated more reasonable trigger pull weights for carry guns. A slightly heavier trigger is less likely to be pulled accidentally.

Since it was designed for concealed carry, the Ayoob gun has a true Commander-length, 41/4-inch slide. Commander-length slides are just three-quarters of an inch shorter than a full-size gun, but that little bit makes a big difference in the concealability department. A shorter slide would be easier to conceal, but sub-four-inch 1911s are prone to reliability issues.

The slide, another Ed Brown part, is also forged from stainless steel. It is polished and then precisely fitted to the frame. The fit is nice and tight, yet it reciprocates smoothly on the frame.