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Gather 'round the fire, lads and lasses (1911 build)


brianj - now in Kansas

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Well, I promised a couple of weeks ago that I'd post this once I got everything finished and did a test fire. Everything is finished and test fire's completed, so here goes:

 

As my signature notes, I'm a 1911 fan. I'm old enough that my military service predates the M9, and the 1911 was the first duty weapon I was ever issued. I already owned several 1911s in various barrel lengths, but like Obi-Wan used to say, "A Jedi makes his own lightsaber."

 

I gave the folks at 1911Builders a call, and got a package ordered. I ordered their CCO 1911 with a serialized aluminum frame, Para ramped, and milled for a Vortex red dot. Uncustomized kits are generally out the door in a day or two according to the website. Unfortunately, with the holiday season being upon us, it took an extra month or so for everything to get out the door. I finally received the kit and decking and rail cutting jigs from 1911Builders the Friday before Christmas. I'd also laid in a pretty big order from Brownells as well. When everything finally showed up on my doorstep, I was both happy and sad. Happy, because the web site said that the kit was supposed to ship with a full-length guide rod, but it shipped with a GI guide rod instead. This made me happy. Then, it said that the frame was supposed to be a Series 70. Instead, it was Series 80 (with one of those never-to-be-sufficiently-damned spacers between the sear/disconnector/hammer and the frame. This made me sad.

 

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Figure 1: lots of parts

 

 

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Figure 2: some assembly required.

 

 

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Figure 3: the takeoff ramp (Evel Knievel, wherefore art thou?)

 

After an inventory to make sure all of the parts were there (these kits are sold without grips, so I had to grab them separately), the first order of business was to deck the frame. Fortunately, the decking jig made that fairly easy. Surprisingly, the frame didn't require all that much decking. I took off maybe 0.002" - 0.003". The dust cover was already in spec, and so nothing was done. The decking jig also serves as a guide for drilling the sear and hammer pins, and so I took care of things at that point (interestingly enough, the jig allowed me to drill my sear pin hole more accurately than at least one of my commercial 1911s). After the decking and the drilling came the meat and potatoes of the procedure: cutting the rails. 1911Builders sells a jig that will cut the rails for you slicker'n anything. After measuring the width of the slide, you measure the width of the frame, and do the math on how many passes it will take to actually cut the rails. I'd have to go back and read the instructions, but I'm pretty sure that it was 0.003" per pass.

 

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Figure 4: Give me a pass, Vasiliy. One pass only, please.

 

As you can see, the frame mounts upside down in the truck, while the depth of the cut was controlled by the black knobs on each side of the jig, which adjusted pressure on the carbon steel cutters. The process was to figure out where light contact was, and then repeatedly pass the frame through the cutters, advancing 1/4 turn on the cutters each pass. Between re-greasing the threads on the frame mount every 5 passes or so, and adding cutting oil with each pass, things got very messy very quickly.

 

Finally, the rails were cut, and the time came to lap the slide onto the frame. I was hoping to not have to order away for lapping compound, so I went in to the local auto parts store and requested lapping compound. The young gentleman behind the register had no idea what I was talking about. When he went back to ask his boss, his boss told him that "Lapping compound is what old guys call valve grinding compound." We all got a big laugh over everything, but, as the finest grit they had was 220 grit, I figured I'd be better ordering off to Brownell's (AGAIN) after all.

 

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Figure 5: Insert lapping joke here.

 

After the lapping was completed, then came time to do all the fitment for the various parts. I got pretty lucky in that most of the parts required very little fitment in order to work correctly (the thumb safety and disconnector were notable exceptions to this). Specifically, the barrel was just a hair too tight. I took a couple of passes with a stone on the top lugs, and life was good.

 

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Figure 6: Checking the slide to barrel lockup.

 

However, there were some parts that needed filing: the fourth (and last) major thing that had to be done to the frame was fitting the grip safety to the frame. That took a bit of filing and some intestinal fortitude (for someone that is much better at it than me, go look up "Mosin Virus" on Youtube. That guy rocks). I also did some filing/fitting to the back of the frame and slide.

 

For those that need a refresher about the disconnector issue I had, more information can be found here: http://illinoiscarry.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=70910&hl= .

 

Finally, all the parts were fitted, and it got warm enough this past weekend for me to Durakote the weapon. After I Durakoted the frame and slide, I pulled out the benchtop buffer/grinder to polish some of the external parts.

 

After letting things dry the minimum amount of time, I took it to the range tonight to show off to a couple of my friends that work there.

 

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Figure 7: Basic black goes with anything

 

And, even though the Durakote people would be mad at me, I couldn't resist sending 5 rounds through it. Just to check the zero on the red dot:

 

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Figure 8: 5 rounds at 7 yards supported.

 

 

So, the big question from everyone seems to be, "How much did this set you back?" Honestly, it was WAY more expensive to build than to buy. The unmodified 1911 kit by itself was $800. Milling it for a Vortex Viper (and including the Vortex Viper itself) brought the price of the kit up to around $1100. Then there were all the jigs, stones, tools and suchlike. If I had to guess, I'd say that all of the jigs and tools probably set me back an additional $700 or so. If anyone is REALLY interested, let me know and I'll go back and try to do the math.

 

However, for me, I knew going in that it was going to be at least twice as expensive to build a 1911 as it would have been to buy an equivalent. However, it gave me a month and a half's worth of entertainment and cussing as I tried to get it all to go together.

 

If anyone has any questions, let me know.

 

Bri

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I would be curious to know how well that Duracote holds up over time.

 

I will as well. When I was talking over plans for this build at the local range, a couple of the guys kind of gave me weird looks when I said I was going to do Durakote over Cerakote. Originally, I'd wanted to have the frame anodized, but I couldn't find anyone to do a type 3 anodize on the frame unless I was willing to either wait 2 months or put in an order to anodize a couple of hundred frames. Anodizing it myself was an option, but the big issue is finding a good power supply that you can trust (and finding a way to neutralize and get rid of a gallon or so of battery acid after).

 

So, it came down to spray coatings. The two things that finally tipped the scales in favor of Durakote were:

 

1: It can be applied at home without any specialized tools.

 

2: It can be patched. If you chip it or screw it up, you can just hit the area with 1200 grit sandpaper and respray it.

 

Be warned, though: if you decide to Durakote something - Durakote is runnier out of the can than you might expect. I ended out with a couple of small runs on the frame.

 

Bri

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Great project and great pistol!

 

I admire your desire and determination!

 

How soon before we see BrianJ Combat Customs pistols out there?

 

LOL!!

 

First, there's that pesky ATF Class 7 license I'd have to get.

 

And paperwork. Lots and lots and lots of paperwork.

 

Maybe... once I retire and I have to find something to do to keep myself busy and Mrs. J happy...

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And so to round things up, the new 1911 and I went to the range Sunday and I put about 50 or so rounds through it.

 

After the first 30 or so rounds went through the barrel and we knocked the rough edges off of the rifling, things started to REALLY look good:

 

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Figure 1: Functional bullet magnet behind target.

 

So, this was 3 x 7 round magazines (total of 21 rounds) unsupported at 7 yards.

 

I'm not going to say that I'm any sort of 1911 ninja, but I think that this is close enough for government work.

 

Brian

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