1911 Project Gun - Progress Thread

[churchmouse]

This is a step a lot of people pass on. I have hours invested in this step over several guns.

 

[drillsgt]

This is a step a lot of people pass on. I have hours invested in this step over several guns.

You need a surface grinder!

 

[churchmouse]

You need a surface grinder!

I have access to 1....

 

[Steel and wood]

I Like watching people build and up grade there 1911. Thanks for sharing.

 

[vermilionbird]

thank you steel and wood! although we'll have to wait till the end to see if it's an upgrade and not just a mess

 

[churchmouse]

thank you steel and wood! although we'll have to wait till the end to see if it's an upgrade and not just a mess

Looks like you are on track.

 

[vermilionbird]

Just a mini-update for today. Did some light polishing of the breachface, disconnector rail and rounded the front edge. Also took a drill bit and did 2-3 light twists around the firing pin hole, by hand. Didn't wanna go crazy with it.

 

[vermilionbird]

I don't have a dremel or a finish reamer so throating and finish reaming the barrel was graciously done by Steve Owens of Integrity Arms. He was kind enough to squeeze this in between his work even though (to my knowledge) his books are closed and turned it around in just a day. Checking the barrel-frame ramp gap once again in the second pic.

 

[vermilionbird]

Installing a profiled and polished barstock Colt extractor with an oversized EGW firing pin stop. A bit of sharpie helps reveal where to file. I put a light bevel on the top edge of the firing pin stop but it's mostly for aesthetic purposes. I like the EGW firing pin stop since I can get it just right to where it'll stop any extractor clocking (rotating) or any front-to-back movement of the extractor. The small radius also helps slightly reduce felt recoil. I'll be tuning and tensioning the extractor in a later step. Just wanted to get installation done for now.

 

[drillsgt]

Nice job, the EGW FPS's go in most 1911's I work on. Are you going to dress the back of the extractor down flush with the slide?

 

[vermilionbird]

yup, toward the end when I'm dehorning the gun.

 

[vermilionbird]

Installed a Wilson bulletproof concealment mag catch that sits a little taller than the standard Springfield mag catch. The "40 lpi checkering" on the button is a little underwhelming so I'd probably try a different option on a new build. Cut one coil on the spring and did some polishing with 320grit sandpaper and lapping compound to get it to hold the magazine securely but to release smoothly with a firm push. Also checked to ensure that it wouldn't trap a magazine if pushed in all the way. I'll be dressing it down flush on the right hand side with the next update.

 

[vermilionbird]

Dressing down the right side of the mag catch to be flush with the frame. Filed on it from different directions to keep it level and square. Did the final polish with some sandpaper and addressed some of the sharp edges created in this process. I'm pretty happy with this one!

Extra material:

After filing:

Followed up with 320grit sandpaper:

The final result:

 

[vermilionbird]

I know not everyone agrees with this method of installing an ejector but it truly is fine. First I'm checking to ensure a magazine inserted all the way is not going to touch the ejector. After that, I glue it in with loctite 638. 638 is a high strength loctite meant for cylindrical fitting parts which pretty much describes the ejector legs going into the frame. It works and I'm not gonna worry too much about it. We're doing the plunger tube next.

 

[vermilionbird]

Rounded the edges of the Wilson bulletproof plunger tube before applying some Loctite 638 and staking the legs. I then went back in with a file to make sure there weren't any burrs or protrusions into the magwell from the staking process. I'm gonna take a few days off from posting updates for thanksgiving. Take care and be safe everyone!

 

[churchmouse]

Nice work so far.

 

[johny5]

Nice work so far.

 

[vermilionbird]

thank you all!

 

[vermilionbird]

And I'm back! Nothing real crazy this update, I just fit a Wilson ultralight medium trigger. This is only the second trigger I've ever installed (and the third I've attempted... I screwed up the first one months back) and there is no up and down play so I'm really happy with how this went. The key to this for me was filing in different directions to keep the surfaces level and square and checking frequently as I go. I really like the look of this medium trigger. I can't really put it into words but the proportions just seem right​.

 

[vermilionbird]

profiling the slide stop

Before:

After: