:GUNSMITHING: Practice run for my next 1911.

[philbert001]

I have had the 1911 bug since before I had one. For my next one, I have been thinking I want to fit everything myself. I have good mechanical inclination, and since I am an automotive painter, I know my way around shaping metal. However...That isn't enough to convince me I'm ready to spend the money, and possibly ruin it!

I decided I would use a commander size, ATI 1911 I have, as a Guinea pig! It needed a new ejector, and the new one came oversized. Since I had to blend that into the slide and frame, I figured I'd try it all here!

By the time I stopped, I had blended beautifully, (If I do say so myself!), the frame to slide, ejector, extractor, Beavertail to frame, lowered and flared ejection port, and beveled the magwell.

I didn't touch the rails, as they are as good as they are getting! (Actually pretty nice lockup on this gun!)

Here's the pics. I'll update after I duracoat the gun. (Ultra flat black slide and controls, FDE frame, and black grips!)
Did I forget anything, that I should be doing? I polished the feedramp, shortly after I got the gun, so that's done. I'll probably polish up the trigger before I reassemble it!

 

[IndyGunworks]

From what I see there you have the skills needed to build a 1911 from scratch. Confidence is the biggest obstacle when building one. ALL the knowledge you need to do it can easily be found online.

 

[Rob377]

That's some good looking work!

Tough to tell from the pic, but it looks like your extractor may be clocking a bit. I'd fit a new firing pin stop to tighten that up.

 

[philbert001]

Confidence is the biggest obstacle when building one.

I agree! As much as you want to hesitate, as soon as that phosphate, blue, or polish is cut through for the first time, it gets easier! (And the internet is a great coach!)

 

[philbert001]

but it looks like your extractor may be clocking a bit. I'd fit a new firing pin stop to tighten that up.

It is. I have another extractor and firing pin stop en-route! I went ahead and blended it with the old one, as a backup! (I love spare parts!)

 

[Corporal D]

Nice work, looks really good for a first attempt!

 

[1911ly]

Your work looks great! What is the purpose of modifying the ejection port? What does it gain?

 

[SERparacord]

Your work looks great! What is the purpose of modifying the ejection port? What does it gain?

Lowering and flaring the port does little or nothing for reliability, it just puts fewer dings and dents in the brass for the reloader. Cosmetic mainly.

 

[1911ly]

Lowering and flaring the port does little or nothing for reliability, it just puts fewer dings and dents in the brass for the reloader. Cosmetic mainly.

Ok. Thanks for the info. I learned something new!

 

[philbert001]

What is the purpose of modifying the ejection port? What does it gain?

It also aids in ejecting unfired rounds. (Not really the 1911's strong suit, in GI form.)

Thanks for the kind words folks! Does anyone have recommendations for where to get unfitted slides and frames? Who to use? Who to avoid?

 

[Rob377]

STI, Remsport, Caspian are all well known frame and slide suppliers. If you want a forged frame, it'll be STI or Remsport. If you're OK with cast, Caspian makes very good stuff.

Remsport is the company that actually makes many of the frames you know by other brand names.

 

[Kirk Freeman]

Nice work.

I just love these threads that showcase just how talented INGO is.

 

[philbert001]

Honestly, INGO gives me 20% bigger balls to dive into a project like this! I know support isn't far!

 

[philbert001]

Well, my 4 kid budget strikes again, and I was unable to do all that I wanted here. I wanted to put some adjustable sights on her, some G10 grips, and duracoat the frame FDE. No cash for goodies right now, so I went with what I had onhand. Ultra flat black duracoat for frame and slide, Magpul OD on the factory grips, after I made a mag release slot, and some white airbrush paint, to make the GI sights into 3 dot sights. I also filled in all the rollmarks except the serial number, to clean it up a bit! I used Evercoat metal glaze, (Automotive spot putty), to fill the rollmarks, eased in with a razor blade, and sanded level with 320 grit sandpaper. In the right light, they show just a touch, but not bad at all! This thing had rollmarks EVERYWHERE! They had to go! Overall, I'm pretty happy with it. I think when I have a few bucks to blow, I'm going to redo the frame in FDE, per my original plan, and replace grips and sights.

This was fun to tinker with, and will likely stay my test mule for my 1911 gunsmithing efforts. Perhaps use it to practice fitting some internals too, before I try one from scratch! Again, thanks for the feedback guys!

 

[ghitch75]

looks pretty good!!!!....

 

[Guido7562]

Very nice! Love the clean look of it, Great job!