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Page 5 of 6
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1911 Project Under Way
by DA/SA 9/30/2019, 12:19 pm
First topic message reminder :
I decided to try building a 1911 lower receiver when someone on here (jglenn21?) posted that Foster had them on sale.
First was to measure it a bit and find that the sides of the frame are basically parallel with the exception of a raised area on the right side where the roll mark and serial number were applied. The area was worked down using a fairly fine stone until flat.
The rails were then ground perfectly parallel to each other and to the centerline of the frame as well as centered on the frame. The slide I am planning on using now slides about a quarter of the way on without forcing it.
I worked on the setup until it was perfectly repeatable and only a few tenths deviation on the test indicator when sweeping the frame side for flatness. This way I can repeat the setup if I need to grind any further.
I had a little time left, so I went ahead a fit the trigger taking a thousandth at a time off of the upper surface until it just slit into the frame.
That's it for the first Saturday afternoon.
Just ordered some parts from EGW to give me something to do next Saturday afternoon...
I wasn't going to post this project, but I got inspired to give this project a try after seeing someone else's post, so perhaps this might inspire someone else to give it a try!
If there is any interest, I'll keep posting updates.
I decided to try building a 1911 lower receiver when someone on here (jglenn21?) posted that Foster had them on sale.
First was to measure it a bit and find that the sides of the frame are basically parallel with the exception of a raised area on the right side where the roll mark and serial number were applied. The area was worked down using a fairly fine stone until flat.
The rails were then ground perfectly parallel to each other and to the centerline of the frame as well as centered on the frame. The slide I am planning on using now slides about a quarter of the way on without forcing it.
I worked on the setup until it was perfectly repeatable and only a few tenths deviation on the test indicator when sweeping the frame side for flatness. This way I can repeat the setup if I need to grind any further.
I had a little time left, so I went ahead a fit the trigger taking a thousandth at a time off of the upper surface until it just slit into the frame.
That's it for the first Saturday afternoon.
Just ordered some parts from EGW to give me something to do next Saturday afternoon...
I wasn't going to post this project, but I got inspired to give this project a try after seeing someone else's post, so perhaps this might inspire someone else to give it a try!
If there is any interest, I'll keep posting updates.
Last edited by DA/SA on 9/30/2019, 4:42 pm; edited 1 time in total (Reason for editing : typo's)
DA/SA- Posts : 1483
Join date : 2017-10-09
Age : 68
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Hawkja and targetbarb like this post
Re: 1911 Project Under Way
by DA/SA 10/26/2020, 6:05 pm
A bit of 25 yard slow fire with 160's and 180's after it was chambered.
I think it's going to be OK
I think it's going to be OK
DA/SA- Posts : 1483
Join date : 2017-10-09
Age : 68
Location : Southeast Florida
Re: 1911 Project Under Way
by mikemyers 10/26/2020, 10:26 pm
So, what was it like to finally get to do some shooting with it? Does it need to "break in", or because of how precise you were, is it all set to go to Perry? Any changes you plan to make because of how it felt?
When you get time, can you post a photo of the completed gun, just the way you plan to shoot it? Which sight and grips are you using?
When you get time, can you post a photo of the completed gun, just the way you plan to shoot it? Which sight and grips are you using?
mikemyers- Posts : 4236
Join date : 2016-07-26
Age : 80
Location : South Florida, and India
Re: 1911 Project Under Way
by DA/SA 10/27/2020, 3:16 pm
Hello Mike,
As far as shooting it, my limited Bullseye experience has been with a Marvel .22 conversion which has minimal reciprocating mass. When I first shot this one it had a 1" Ultradot on it and it felt like the slide was running in slaw motion with the scope moving with it rather than stationary like on the Marvel. It was pretty weird at first. Now it has an Ultradot Matchdot II on it, which is even heavier, but I kind of like the feel of it now that I have shot it a bit. I find the Matchdot II to be convenient in that it seems to want four or five clicks up to shoot at 50 yards vs 25 yards and the elevation knob is right in front of my face to remind me of that.
The lockup on it is pretty tight, which is what I wanted, so it will need a bit of exercise to get it settled in, but it seems to be doing well so far. The target above was shot as a "single shot", as it wouldn't quite eject the cases at that time and needed the slide racked every shot. A couple tenths more powder took care of that for now.
No plans for Perry or anywhere else really, as I'm just in this to compete with myself for now to see how far I can take it. I may eventually venture up the road a couple hours to a NRA match though with the Marvel rather than the local club match that hasn't been happening for a while now.
As far as changes, I'm just tinkering with different trigger configurations presently to see what I shoot best with.
Grips are Herrett Nationals with nearly .125" shim under the left panel as my hands are nearly full grown. I'll shoot it a bit with these grips and then a bit with slabs and see which work best. One step at a time.
As far as shooting it, my limited Bullseye experience has been with a Marvel .22 conversion which has minimal reciprocating mass. When I first shot this one it had a 1" Ultradot on it and it felt like the slide was running in slaw motion with the scope moving with it rather than stationary like on the Marvel. It was pretty weird at first. Now it has an Ultradot Matchdot II on it, which is even heavier, but I kind of like the feel of it now that I have shot it a bit. I find the Matchdot II to be convenient in that it seems to want four or five clicks up to shoot at 50 yards vs 25 yards and the elevation knob is right in front of my face to remind me of that.
The lockup on it is pretty tight, which is what I wanted, so it will need a bit of exercise to get it settled in, but it seems to be doing well so far. The target above was shot as a "single shot", as it wouldn't quite eject the cases at that time and needed the slide racked every shot. A couple tenths more powder took care of that for now.
No plans for Perry or anywhere else really, as I'm just in this to compete with myself for now to see how far I can take it. I may eventually venture up the road a couple hours to a NRA match though with the Marvel rather than the local club match that hasn't been happening for a while now.
As far as changes, I'm just tinkering with different trigger configurations presently to see what I shoot best with.
Grips are Herrett Nationals with nearly .125" shim under the left panel as my hands are nearly full grown. I'll shoot it a bit with these grips and then a bit with slabs and see which work best. One step at a time.
DA/SA- Posts : 1483
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Re: 1911 Project Under Way
by mikemyers 10/27/2020, 8:00 pm
If it's "tight" like a Les Baer, they say to shoot 2,000 rounds before you start fine-tuning things, for the gun to break in. I know, because I have one. I think that's what you wrote:
.....so it will need a bit of exercise to get it settled in....
Something I don't understand, the people I know who are the most talented seem to prefer the 1" Ultradot. I've got two MatchDot II sights in a box, but got the one inch model on their recommendation. They didn't tell me specific reasons, but they seemed to feel the additional weight on top of the slide was bad. Someone with more experience than me could give a better reason.
If you download the Bullseye Range Commands, you can "do a 3-target match" as often as you wish, and post them in the ongoing thread in the general forum. I like the way you wrote about it - the only person I need to compete with, is myself "last time". But it's enjoyable posting in that thread, and I often get useful feedback from others in these forums.
Do you take it apart every so often, and look for signs of "wear" or whatever the proper term would be?
Last question - when you wrote you added a couple of tenths more powder to rack the slide, was that because of the weight of the sight, the recoil spring, or the tightness of the slide?
Oh, and one final suggestion - look at the front of the slide on my Springfield - you could put your name on your slide! :-)
You can ask Dave Salyer how he does it. It would be SO appropriate for your gun!
.....so it will need a bit of exercise to get it settled in....
Something I don't understand, the people I know who are the most talented seem to prefer the 1" Ultradot. I've got two MatchDot II sights in a box, but got the one inch model on their recommendation. They didn't tell me specific reasons, but they seemed to feel the additional weight on top of the slide was bad. Someone with more experience than me could give a better reason.
If you download the Bullseye Range Commands, you can "do a 3-target match" as often as you wish, and post them in the ongoing thread in the general forum. I like the way you wrote about it - the only person I need to compete with, is myself "last time". But it's enjoyable posting in that thread, and I often get useful feedback from others in these forums.
Do you take it apart every so often, and look for signs of "wear" or whatever the proper term would be?
Last question - when you wrote you added a couple of tenths more powder to rack the slide, was that because of the weight of the sight, the recoil spring, or the tightness of the slide?
Oh, and one final suggestion - look at the front of the slide on my Springfield - you could put your name on your slide! :-)
You can ask Dave Salyer how he does it. It would be SO appropriate for your gun!
mikemyers- Posts : 4236
Join date : 2016-07-26
Age : 80
Location : South Florida, and India
Re: 1911 Project Under Way
by DA/SA 10/27/2020, 8:39 pm
mikemyers wrote:
Something I don't understand, the people I know who are the most talented seem to prefer the 1" Ultradot. I've got two MatchDot II sights in a box, but got the one inch model on their recommendation. They didn't tell me specific reasons, but they seemed to feel the additional weight on top of the slide was bad. Someone with more experience than me could give a better reason.
I had a 1" Ultradot on it at first and do like them. I wanted to get going on 50 yard shooting so I opted for the Matchdot II for simplicity when switching between 50 and 25 yard shooting. I also like the different dot sizes with it, as I find on different days and lighting the ability to change the dot size as well as the intensity makes a difference with my eyes. I look at the the additional weight of the Matchdot II as somewhat of a training aid to keep my shoulder tuned up.
If you download the Bullseye Range Commands, you can "do a 3-target match" as often as you wish, and post them in the ongoing thread in the general forum. I like the way you wrote about it - the only person I need to compete with, is myself "last time". But it's enjoyable posting in that thread, and I often get useful feedback from others in these forums.
I don't have anything to download them onto, as I don't have a smart phone!
Do you take it apart every so often, and look for signs of "wear" or whatever the proper term would be?
Yes, I have been keeping an eye on it and all is well.
Last question - when you wrote you added a couple of tenths more powder to rack the slide, was that because of the weight of the sight, the recoil spring, or the tightness of the slide?
Yes! The barrel lock up is pretty tight right now so I am using a slightly heavier recoil spring to push it fully into battery when the slide returns. The extra spring tension required a couple more tenths of powder to cycle the slide back fully for proper ejection.
Oh, and one final suggestion - look at the front of the slide on my Springfield - you could put your name on your slide! :-)
You can ask Dave Salyer how he does it. It would be SO appropriate for your gun!
Nope. Not my style.
DA/SA- Posts : 1483
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Location : Southeast Florida
Re: 1911 Project Under Way
by mikemyers 10/27/2020, 10:38 pm
I think all we're supposed to do is type in our general information, and the three scores.DA/SA wrote:I don't have anything to download them onto, as I don't have a smart phone!
I like seeing photos of the targets, but that's just me.
I would love to be able to machine steel the way you do. Thanks for the posting! I enjoyed following along, as best I could.
mikemyers- Posts : 4236
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Re: 1911 Project Under Way
by DA/SA 10/30/2021, 4:22 pm
The slide I had used was a new Caspian slide that had been lapped by Caspian to a different frame. Although it seemed pretty good as far as the fit, I never really liked the idea of not having a properly fit slide.
I ordered a new slide from Caspian and finally received it after a bit of wait time. Fortunately, my barrel will need a bit of fitting as it is a bit too tight in the new slide. This made me happy, as my fear was that it would drop in and rattle around and I’d be welding up my barrel.
Right out of the box it went onto my slide maybe about ¼” and then got tight. That also made me happy so that proper fitting could be accomplished.
I threw it up on a surface plate and checked the rails. They are parallel to each other and to the outside of the slide within tenths. Nothing too scientific, just a gauge pin and a .0001” test indicator.
I then gauged the width between the rails and found the slide rails to be just under a thousandth narrower than my frame rails. I lubed it up and found that I could slide it onto the frame without excessive force. I also discovered that Caspian had missed the ejector cut depth by .050” so I had to remove the ejector to get full travel on the frame. At that point, I got out some JB’s Bore Shine and lapped the slide to the frame which might have taken fifteen to twenty minutes. It now has nice contact between the slide and frame rails.
Off to the milling machine to add the Marvel cut and fix the ejector groove.
Now the slide fits over the ejector.
I ordered a new slide from Caspian and finally received it after a bit of wait time. Fortunately, my barrel will need a bit of fitting as it is a bit too tight in the new slide. This made me happy, as my fear was that it would drop in and rattle around and I’d be welding up my barrel.
Right out of the box it went onto my slide maybe about ¼” and then got tight. That also made me happy so that proper fitting could be accomplished.
I threw it up on a surface plate and checked the rails. They are parallel to each other and to the outside of the slide within tenths. Nothing too scientific, just a gauge pin and a .0001” test indicator.
I then gauged the width between the rails and found the slide rails to be just under a thousandth narrower than my frame rails. I lubed it up and found that I could slide it onto the frame without excessive force. I also discovered that Caspian had missed the ejector cut depth by .050” so I had to remove the ejector to get full travel on the frame. At that point, I got out some JB’s Bore Shine and lapped the slide to the frame which might have taken fifteen to twenty minutes. It now has nice contact between the slide and frame rails.
Off to the milling machine to add the Marvel cut and fix the ejector groove.
Now the slide fits over the ejector.
DA/SA- Posts : 1483
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Location : Southeast Florida
dieselguy624 and SingleActionAndrew like this post
Re: 1911 Project Under Way
by DA/SA 11/19/2021, 6:03 pm
I've got sears working the way I want, so now it's time to get hammers sorted out.
A little hammer hook grinding.
A little hammer hook grinding.
Last edited by DA/SA on 11/20/2021, 8:02 am; edited 1 time in total
DA/SA- Posts : 1483
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Re: 1911 Project Under Way
by DA/SA 3/19/2022, 2:21 pm
I picked up a Primary Arms scope to play with, and made some shades with integral apertures for it since I have pretty much standardized aperture sizes for front and rear.
DA/SA- Posts : 1483
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Re: 1911 Project Under Way
by DA/SA 1/7/2023, 4:31 pm
I just finished a second 1911, so it's back to pistol #1. It has about 3K rounds through it now and is awesome, so it's time to have it finished with black IonBond now that I can shoot pistol #2 to get some rounds through it.
Stripped everything down and bead blasted the rounded areas on the frame and then set it up on the surface grinder and ground the flat sides with the magazine catch in place so it blends nicely with the side of the frame.
The slide will get the same treatment and then it's off to be processed and just hope that they don't scratch or mar it handling it...
It looks a bit hazy due to the coolant film/mist on it but it's actually quite nice. I am purposely not wiping it off in fear of marking it. It will be sprayed with preservative and wrapped in VCI paper without being touched.
Stripped everything down and bead blasted the rounded areas on the frame and then set it up on the surface grinder and ground the flat sides with the magazine catch in place so it blends nicely with the side of the frame.
The slide will get the same treatment and then it's off to be processed and just hope that they don't scratch or mar it handling it...
It looks a bit hazy due to the coolant film/mist on it but it's actually quite nice. I am purposely not wiping it off in fear of marking it. It will be sprayed with preservative and wrapped in VCI paper without being touched.
DA/SA- Posts : 1483
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kc.crawford.7 and Jon Eulette like this post
Re: 1911 Project Under Way
by LCWELL 1/9/2023, 6:53 pm
This project is so good I followed it on two forums.
https://www.chaski.org/homemachinist/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=108728
https://www.chaski.org/homemachinist/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=108728
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Re: 1911 Project Under Way
by ermakevin 1/10/2023, 7:17 am
very nice clean shop you have there mister. you are a lucky guy.
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Re: 1911 Project Under Way
by DA/SA 1/12/2023, 7:17 pm
Ground the slide tonight and now ready to ship...
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Re: 1911 Project Under Way
by troystaten 1/12/2023, 7:48 pm
Neat, it looks like there is a lot of extra steel in the frame around the grip is that on purpose (the frame cutout looks smaller than usual.
Thanks
Thanks
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Re: 1911 Project Under Way
by SingleActionAndrew 1/13/2023, 2:49 pm
troystaten wrote:Neat, it looks like there is a lot of extra steel in the frame around the grip is that on purpose (the frame cutout looks smaller than usual.
Thanks
I was curious about that too. My first thought was case ruptures. In my experience, wooden 1911 grips did an acceptable job of absorbing/releasing hot pressurized gas from case failures (along with spitting mag guts on the table). Would that same force be more focused at the slabs, maybe more perilous for the hand, in the case of kaboom since the openings are much smaller?
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Re: 1911 Project Under Way
by chiz1180 1/13/2023, 3:02 pm
Different frame OEMs have different cuts in the grip area.SingleActionAndrew wrote:troystaten wrote:Neat, it looks like there is a lot of extra steel in the frame around the grip is that on purpose (the frame cutout looks smaller than usual.
Thanks
I was curious about that too. My first thought was case ruptures. In my experience, wooden 1911 grips did an acceptable job of absorbing/releasing hot pressurized gas from case failures (along with spitting mag guts on the table). Would that same force be more focused at the slabs, maybe more perilous for the hand, in the case of kaboom since the openings are much smaller?
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Re: 1911 Project Under Way
by jglenn21 1/13/2023, 3:49 pm
caspian has two base 1911 frames.. the one shown is a A1 frame. their other base frame that has the more traditional frame cut is a 1911 design. no advantage to either other than a small bit weight. $4 difference in price.
they also have railed frames and flared magwell versions
they also have railed frames and flared magwell versions
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Re: 1911 Project Under Way
by DA/SA 2/10/2023, 5:46 pm
It is back from Ionbond finishing and I just finished reassembling it.
This stuff is nice!
It has a bit of lubricity and is very hard.
This stuff is nice!
It has a bit of lubricity and is very hard.
DA/SA- Posts : 1483
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Re: 1911 Project Under Way
by DA/SA 8/26/2023, 8:58 am
Pistol #2 is slowly progressing.
Making and fitting the scope mount is pretty much the last thing. I've been shooting it with a grip mount just to get some rounds through it.
1:13 twist barrel.
Making and fitting the scope mount is pretty much the last thing. I've been shooting it with a grip mount just to get some rounds through it.
1:13 twist barrel.
DA/SA- Posts : 1483
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Re: 1911 Project Under Way
by DA/SA 8/26/2023, 1:49 pm
Now it's flat, and all pointed in the same direction after a trip to the surface grinder.
DA/SA- Posts : 1483
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Re: 1911 Project Under Way
by Steve B 8/26/2023, 3:53 pm
Attaching only to the left side of the frame like David Sams does?
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Re: 1911 Project Under Way
by Amanda4461 8/26/2023, 6:21 pm
Thanks for the detailed post!
You mentioned your new gunsmith fit barrel chamber being a very tight fit. I just received one with the same fitting issue. What method would you recommend for reducing the interference, preferably with hand tools? The factory matte chamber looks great, so I don’t know how to minimize damage to the matte finish.
Thanks for the great post.
You mentioned your new gunsmith fit barrel chamber being a very tight fit. I just received one with the same fitting issue. What method would you recommend for reducing the interference, preferably with hand tools? The factory matte chamber looks great, so I don’t know how to minimize damage to the matte finish.
Thanks for the great post.
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Re: 1911 Project Under Way
by DA/SA 8/26/2023, 6:46 pm
Yes, just one side.Steve B wrote:Attaching only to the left side of the frame like David Sams does?
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Re: 1911 Project Under Way
by DA/SA 8/26/2023, 6:54 pm
The Kart barrels need to be finish reamed with a chamber reamer.Amanda4461 wrote:Thanks for the detailed post!
You mentioned your new gunsmith fit barrel chamber being a very tight fit. I just received one with the same fitting issue. What method would you recommend for reducing the interference, preferably with hand tools?
Unfortunately, they make them really close to finished size. It would be a lot easier if they left then smaller so the chamber reamer would have 100% cleanup. As it us now, the reamer will inly touch in certain areas. My second barrel is a KKM and they leave plenty to be finish reamed for 100% cleanup. KKM will also finish ream their barrels for you after you fit it if you send it back to them.
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