March 28, 2024
By Stan Trzoniec
Ed Brown, a tool and die maker, came up through the ranks as a shooter. Frustrated by the lack of quality 1911 parts, he started a line of aftermarket parts that grew in time to the manufacturing of a complete line of 1911 handguns. In 2018, a milestone was reached when Ed Brown and his sons marked 50 years in business with the introduction of the second generation of their handgun line. It’s called the EVO, for their idea of “evolving the 1911.” The first EVO was the KC9, a svelte 9mm offering on a smaller, lighter and thinner frame. Now we have the EVO E9-LW, the LW for lightweight. It’s an aluminum-frame gun that takes advantage of modern technology to not only reduce weight but ensure durability and reliability.
The gun checks in at 30 ounces with a four-inch slide that has been thinned significantly for overall weight reduction. The slide top sports seven flat, custom-cut surfaces. Serrations are located both front and back, and they’re of a special design The slide features a heavy-duty external extractor, and the four-inch stainless steel bull barrel is fluted and polished bright, and it boasts a recessed crown. The gun incorporates a special full-length guide rod and a flat-wire recoil spring. Both the flat mainspring housing and frontstrap are checkered at 25 lines per inch. The Chen Magwell Gen2 has been relieved with a 360-degree funnel for snag-free reloading without adding any additional height to the frame. The striking red and black grips are Ed Brown’s Labyrinth cocobolo.
The grip safety with memory bump is standard, as is the Commander-style hammer. The trigger has been skeletonized, serrated with a non-slip surface and offers overtravel adjustment. The gun has a single-side manual thumb safety. This is the first gun in the EVO series to ship with a Vortex Venom six m.o.a. red dot. The black front sight is easy to change if you wish. Exterior parts are polished and complemented with a coat of a black, satin finish for durability, and resistance to weather and holster wear. When Brown established his business, he started with the original 1911 prints and then redesigned the gun via a CAD/CAM system, leaving extra metal in certain areas to be honed and hand-fitted by in-house craftsmen. The resulting guns stand the test of time, are accurate and made right from the start. The EVO E9-LW is all that, and if you’re a shooter looking for a 1911 loaded with custom features and backed by a lifetime warranty, look no further. Price ranges from $3,045 to $3,395 depending on options.
