Cabot Guns is known for using the finest and rarest materials found on this planet and even originating beyond it for building their 1911 pistols. The material used in their latest project, the California pistols, is Damascus steel made by Damascene steel master Robert Eggerling but what makes it really valuable is not only Eggerling’s magic but also the source of the steel – cables that were once used to suspend the Golden Gate bridge.

Cabot Guns @ TFB:

• The 2023 Cabot Gun of the Month Club Pistols
• Cabot Leviathan OAK Collection Custom 1911 Pistol
• POTD: Cabot Moonshot 1911 Pistol
• Cabot Thunderstruck OAK Collection Custom 1911 Pistol

In 2019, Cabot acquired some of the original suspension cable wire from the storied Golden Gate Bridge. If you know anything about Cabot, you know that as soon as we lay hands on rare steel, we’re burning the midnight oil, working to turn it into museum-grade 1911 pistols. This time was no different. Over the last several years, we’ve collaborated with American metal artist and Mosaic Damascus steel genius, Robert Eggerling. The task: transform this historic material into museum-grade Damascus steel.

Eggerling has previously crafted some pretty masterful Damascus patterns for Cabot, but our wildest expectations were exceeded with the steel used to create these California pistols. After stripping the heavy coating from the pencil-thick cable bundles, Robert—somehow—forged completely unique billets of Mosaic Damascus that contain images of the Golden Gate Bridge within the steel!

The images of the Golden Gate bridge mentioned in the quoted text above can be found on the grips of the pistol and on the slide, where the front and rear cocking serrations would normally be. The deep etching of the bridge silhouettes on the slide and the patterns on top of the slide and trigger are created by a selective etching process. The slides are fitted with 14K gold front sights, as a homage to the California Gold Rush.

As in the case of many other limited edition Cabot Guns 1911s, the California pistols also come in a high-grade display/storage case. The cases of Cabot California pistols are made by master furniture maker Steven Parker out of ancient Redwood with a hand-rubbed finish and polished brass hardware. The cases also contain pieces of the Golden Gate bridge cable.

There are only four Cabot California pistols made with custom serial numbers: GOLDENGATE1 to GOLDENGATE4. The price for each Cabot California pistol was $59,900 and at the time of writing this article, they are all sold.

Pictures by Cabot Guns, www.cabotguns.com