Hera CPE: that old 1911 transformed

The Hera CPE as depicted on the LAN World website.

If indeed you're able to find one of these in stock at www.lanworldinc.com, don't get the UPS donkey rate (aka "ground") shipping unless you're okay with waiting the better part of 2 weeks to receive it. It would have been half the price and time via USPS so LAN World might want to consider that as one of their shipping options. That aside, Chris was great about keeping me apprised of availability status and the CPE arrived in 100% condition displaying typical German manufacturing quality (i.e. outstanding), a tool for shoehorning in your 1911 and a hex wrench for attaching the side-cocking lever. The various pieces took about 3 or 4 minutes to assemble and lo and behold my standard A1 turned into a new improved weapon crying out for a pistol brace and a sight of sorts. With a KAK Shockwave Blade in place and a cheapo red-dot, it suddenly all made sense. 

A 1911 is a formidable weapon in the right hands; by launching a large slow chunk of lead it has demanded respect from anyone unfortunate enough to stare down the muzzle end for over a hundred years and counting. But like all pistols it requires practice because, as they say, a miss is as good as a mile. So putting shots on target is critical (regardless of caliber) if you want to defend yourself in the unlikely event of a home invasion, or attack by a bear or cougar, or for general peace of mind if you're out-backing in the woods or just like carrying a truck gun. If you're a 1911 fan and want more assured hits under stress, then you should really give the Hera CPE a serious look. It's very compact and comparatively lightweight compared to a rifle, and will easily hang around your shoulder in perpetual readiness on a single-point sling. 

The Hera allows for full use of all controls so familiarity and muscle memory go unperturbed and if needs be you can revert to your favorite handgun in minutes. But here's the thing with carbine conversion kits - once ensconced I'm not entirely convinced anyone would bother removing the pistol (to use as such) other than to clean it, so it seems to me the real usefulness of this category of accessories is to reappropriate a lesser used sidearm and give it new life as something more useful. Pistols tend to be inherently accurate (witness Hickok45's 230 yard 1911 shots), what tends to make them inaccurate are poor sights and human error but remove those margins via a CPE and you have an entirely new animal. Out at the range this was exemplified amply. My host pistol is an old Armscor GI model with abysmal sights but 100% reliability so add in the stability of three contact points (right hand, left hand, cheek) and low and behold the steel plates were ringing noisily out to 25 yards. What I'd considered to be an old 5-yard swayback turns out to be a bit of a racehorse. Is it worth SBR-ing? Hell yeah, any reason to SBR is a good one. People like to speak disdainfully of pistol caliber carbines but I think for the majority of us Lazyboy pros and shortrangers there's nothing better. So dig out that forgotten old 1911 from the back of your safe, send off for your stamp and order up a CPE (Lanworld has one tan unit left in stock as of writing) - in my bestimation you'll find it to be a heck of a lot of gun and open up an entire gamut of self-defense & range-fun possibilities. https://www.lanworldinc.com
​AH