As I alluded to in the Welcome thread, I have this 1911 project I've been working on for many years that some of the old-timers from Way Back in the early days of internet gun forums might remember. It's seen a lot of changes to specs over the years as selected parts have gone in and out of production, but it's finally in the "hardware" stage. Right now the pieces live in anti-moisture bags due to the humid Northwet air.
The original concept was a reinforced-to-Kuhnhausen-principles matched pair of 7" Longslides in .450 SMC, uniquely optimized based on my own findings as a left-handed shooter. I had found that as a southpaw I can work the slide and mag releases with my trigger finger, further enforcing "off trigger when not firing," so the first draft had a Smith & Alexander ambi mag catch to avoid the Randall Portsider problems, and moved to a dual-plunger-tube design with slide release and safety on opposite sides, plus moving the ejection system to the "outboard" side. (Imagine a Portsider slide/barrel/ejector on a standard 1911 frame.)
First problem, insurmountable: Nobody offers a frame or slide beefed up to the "Optimal Performance Spec" Kuhnhausen proposed in his 1911 shop manuals. Okay, standard it is.
Second problem, 7" slides died with AMT. Okay, down to 6".
Next problem: No left-hander parts suppliers anymore. Now we're getting problematic... I can go to full ambi controls but that "left hand left eject/right hand right eject" is kinda important--my visual acuity is better in the lateral near-peripheral than dead ahead, call it 10-15 degrees either side, so getting the brass up and out of my line of sight quick matters.
Okay, so now we're down to a pair of 6" full-ambis. Next problem: Smith & Alexander folds with no alternate for ambi mag catches, and I can't find a source for ambi slide releases either. At this point the projet gets set aside and back-burnered beyond monitoring state of the industry for parts availability should any of the unavailable "keystones" reenter play.
A few years ago Fusion relaunches 7" slides. AND when I contact them they're willing to work with me on the custom radius cut I've specced for this project. BONUS! (I call it a "Short Cut," it's cut to the same depth from muzzle as a 5" - a traditional Longslide is stretched before the radius, this has the extra inches after for more muzzle-end weight.)
Last year: Washington State announces that stripped frames join pistols and semiauto rifles requiring registration and waiting period starting Jan 1 2024. Downsized to a single pistol, it's Go Time, NOW! Also, last year saw a finishing change... my girlfriend is adamant that if she's going to fight with the nuisance of inheriting the thing (assuming Canada ever gets their head out of their collective butt and repeals Turd's handgun ban) it has to be not jut functional but beautiful too. Goodbye Parkerizing and Bakelite grips*, hello two-tone stainless/hard-chrome and dark metallic teal with faux-pearl grips - she's a "retro" person, so the inspiration was the classic pop-culture portrayal of a '57 Bel Air. (This scheme was designed because a writer friend asked me to spec a pistol for one of her characters, with marching orders that "it needs to be classic and powerful, but elegant... a pistol befitting the kind of woman who an evening with her could with equal ease lead to the best night of your life or the last... or both.")**
*My overriding philosophy on this was to craft a pistol my late Uncle Frank would have easily recognized as an improved versions of ones from WWII, and that if he had to go back to 1944 and kill Nazis for Patton again and I sent this 1911 back with him it would see his old boss asking "who built this for you, and how fast can he make enough for all of Third Army?"
**Don't look at me, I didn't create the circus of weird that seems to have assembled itself around me, I just try to keep the clowns from turning themselves into lion snacks or elephant toejam.
So, where we are now. The frame assembly is almost complete except...
- Trigger - looking for a GI-type, but in polished stainless or hardchrome.
- Ignition Group - Harrison HD-130-TR (woulda preferred a longer spur hammer, but heav-duty is more important
- Ejector - Too much conflicting info; per Fernando Coelho Super and SMC need a longer ejector but didn't specify how much, some other experts recommend stick with Gov't
Top-end assembly is going to have to be done in phases due to tight budget. (YOU try the weak cashflows of freelance research and live-in care sometime!) By the time all is said and done, the 7" slide will cost more than a complete Colt LE6920 on police trade-in, so I'm thinking start out with just having the slide hardchromed and suppressor-height iron sights, then add the cut for the optic and the fancy finish later.
A rough-cut rendering showing the planned two-tone finish and custom radius on a 6" Longslide:
Test-fit with most frame components:
With my old duty sidearm, showin just how much of a monster a 7" 1911 really is even incomplete:
So much crap to do before I can even THINK about next batch of parts...