Custom 2011 Builds

[T-DOGG]

In the last couple of months, I've went from having no 2011 guns to having a Prodigy, a Staccato and now this pair of 2011 custom builds going.

@AllenM made me a most generous offer. Buy a Cheely frame from him, pair it with whatever slide and barrel I want, spend a day at his shop for a fee and leave with a frame/slide/barrel fit together along with an education. Rest of the plan was to finish the gun at home on my own. The plan got a green light, and I decided on pairing up the frame with a Caspian carbon steel slab slide along with a 5" KKM Precision bull barrel in 10mm. Little did I know, Allen also had a factory built STI shortblock in .40 he wanted to sell as well (frame/slide/barrel/grip all fit together). A deal was made for that also and we reamed the chamber to 10mm as well. Then another barrel he had go tossed into the mix and the Cheely gun is now going to be dual caliber, 10mm and .357 Sig.





I'm missing a lot of photos, because frankly I forgot to take them and it really would have slowed the jam packed day down.

The fun went as such (this is condensed and might have a few things out of order):
- Debur frame and slide.
- Hone slide bore.
- Measure and cut rails on frame and slide.
- Lap slide and frame together.
- Mill frame for barrel to fit properly (Para/Clark style barrel).
- Measure and cut barrel hood width.
- Measure and cut barrel hood length.
- Remove material from barrel to correct "springing" (barrel is "sprung" when in battery, do not want that).
- Measure and cut lower lugs on barrel to match slide stop pin diameter, verify thumb safety fits notch in slide.
- Chamber the barrel (finish ream to desired headspace).
- Remove material from areas inside slide to give proper clearance for barrel to drop down when out of battery (prevents slide from dragging on barrel hood during cycling).







Afterwards at home, I finished working on the slide inside to give a little more clearance for the barrel.




I discovered the STI gun also needed some slide to barrel clearance, so I worked on that gun as well. Using what Allen taught me, it took no time at all.

You have to make a channel just below the locking lugs for the barrel to drop down. It also hits on the recoil spring plug tunnel. More on this later.



The area below the barrel ramp on the STI gun needed a little material removed, to allow the barrel to sit against the cradle on the frame. More on that later.

 

[T-DOGG]

Once I had a better understanding of the barrel fitting process and what it took to properly fit a barrel, I began looking at my other guns. I thought the channel we cut into the slide was kinda weird, nothing against Allen at all, I just found it strange to me. I never noticed the inside of a slide with clearance cuts.....that is until I looked inside my Staccato C2 for comparison.

Notice the huge clearance on the Staccato, between the top of the barrel hood and the slide. You want around .012" or more clearance here, so the gun will be reliable and not drag during cycling. Staccato said "hold my beer".



Here is the channel they cut into their slides. So, Allen was not crazy after all! I never knew this was a thing and never noticed it ever on any 1911 style gun I've ever owned. Mind blown!



Here are the guns after I got home, forgot that pic earlier. I ate the banana gun before I left Allen's place. I threw the evidence away.

 

[indyblue]

You suck!

J/K, wish I had fab skills like that.

 

[T-DOGG]

Tonight I fit the .357 Sig barrel to the Caspian slide (purple gun). It's a used Fusion barrel. The hood width and length are super close to the 10mm barrel we already fit, and it really just needed some dressing to remove "springing" and also to fit the channel in the frame properly.

My setup to measure the springing. Slide clamped in vise, barrel installed. Gently push bottom of barrel into the slide to lock into place, set gauge to zero. Squeeze the barrel as hard as I can up into the slide and record the number. That is how much the barrel is springing. Springing is basically like having the barrel bent and bound up in the slide. It will affect accuracy and also give a wonderful popping into full battery at the very end of slide travel. Here we start at .015" on the dial indicator.



600 grit emery cloth on top of the barrel, just back from the muzzle end. Work the emery cloth, recheck, repeat.



Down to .0045", making headway.



There it is, no more springing. Verified the gun cycles into full battery without a catch/pop at the very end.

 

[T-DOGG]

After the springing was fixed on the .357 Sig barrel, I addressed the barrel not sitting on the frame's cradle all the way. The flat area on the bottom side of the feed ramp needed reduced ever so slightly, to keep the feed ramp from sitting up on the frame shelf.

This picture is artificially created, for illustrative purposes (and because I forgot to take a before picture).






Now fixed. Feed ramp slides right onto the shelf and the barrel sits on the cradle now.





Here is the channel for the barrel to slide into.




After that, I addressed the lower barrel lugs and slide stop fitment. I want to use the same slide stop for both barrels (0.200" EGW slide stop). If the fitment isn't correct, the slide won't go fully forward and the thumb safety won't go into the notch in the slide. Notice the rear of the slide overhangs the frame as well. No bueno.



I verified the barrel link was correct and cut the barrel feet back .005". All better now.

 

[T-DOGG]

Verified the thumb safety goes into the notch now.



And now this gun is setup to be dual caliber, 10mm and .357 Sig.

 

[DadSmith]

Verified the thumb safety goes into the notch now.

View attachment 318515

And now this gun is setup to be dual caliber, 10mm and .357 Sig.

View attachment 318516

Very nice T
You have some skill brother.

 

[T-DOGG]

Very nice T
You have some skill brother.

Well thank you. I've really only just begun, so the world is my oyster or whatever that saying is.

 

[wingrider1800]

Great work Spicy. Rabbit hole=

 

[T-DOGG]

Great work Spicy. Rabbit hole=

It's only money, I'll make more, or find something else to sell.

 

[wingrider1800]

It's only money, I'll make more, or find something else to sell.

That's the spirit!!

 

[MindfulMan]

I think that you need a 'brand', or logo to promote your work.
..... comparable to a Wizard stamp.

This way, people at the range will say "look, mine is a SpicyWeiner" (for example).,
as they point to a maker's mark stamped in the magwell (or where you place it)

 

[KokomoDave]

Do you have a different recoil spring vs the 10mm load which can be magnum quality (quite spicy to match the owner). I know the 357 Sig can use the same recoil spring of a 40, so just wondering?

 

[T-DOGG]

Do you have a different recoil spring vs the 10mm load which can be magnum quality (quite spicy to match the owner). I know the 357 Sig can use the same recoil spring of a 40, so just wondering?

Nothing in particular for .357, but I have a few different spring rates on hand, so I should be good.

I'm going to run a 23# recoil spring on the 10mm side of things with a 25 or 28# mainspring. Research shows 20-23 recoil and 25-28 main for 10mm is a good area to be. General consensus seems to be run a heavier mainspring than standard (23#), use a square bottom firing pin stop with a small radius (I run these from EGW already) and use those to control cycling speed of a 10mm instead of going really high on the recoil spring.

 

[KokomoDave]

Cool. Have fun if you have the patience...if not, bourbon helps!

 

[T-DOGG]

I think that you need a 'brand', or logo to promote your work.
..... comparable to a Wizard stamp.

This way, people at the range will say "look, mine is a SpicyWeiner" (for example).,
as they point to a maker's mark stamped in the magwell (or where you place it)

That is a great idea! I'll try and think of something.

 

[Benp]

Very cool journey, brother! This is awesome!

 

[Expat]

Thanks for posting. Congrats.
love the caliber choices

 

[T-DOGG]

Thanks for posting. Congrats.
love the caliber choices

Thank you! I'm having a hell of a good time right now.

 

[T-DOGG]

Received a crap ton of parts today. The real fun will begin soon enough.

Got a few of the 2011 barrels laser engraved, thanks to the beautiful man known as Allen. That is one cool machine!

Much better than my "custom" engraving job.