The Down Range Forum
Member Section => Handguns => Topic started by: Diamondback on April 16, 2024, 10:02:46 PM
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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:
(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/655632728812683276/1104868438679240856/7in_alt_finish.png?ex=662eb26b&is=661c3d6b&hm=c3d23d07faa146e5eee121ff63bd75931e367153977a2c2d63857df8f2d6d168&=&format=webp&quality=lossless&width=1327&height=683)
Test-fit with most frame components:
(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/655632728812683276/1190109508119314432/image.png?ex=662b0859&is=66189359&hm=d730682fbdd92260017780e7765c1b95ea086117fd2d1bd277e4ce0a728a54b8&)
With my old duty sidearm, showin just how much of a monster a 7" 1911 really is even incomplete:
(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/655632728812683276/1222706156980535326/20240327_171925.jpg?ex=6629a5d8&is=661730d8&hm=1f7aee4c7be3b1c4f5fa991de870bf463259a50077f8df23c72fe61cf13feff2&)
So much crap to do before I can even THINK about next batch of parts...
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Just, Wow.
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Details...
Frame: Caspian Classic with Clark/Para ramp cut - Caspian was one of the first of many companies who lent technical advice, and the broad range of suppliers is my way of trying to say "thank you" to each of them.
Pins and springs: Wilson Combat, with 23# mainspring
Ambi safety: Wilson Combat
Grips: Pachmayr
Mainspring Housing: EGW
Slide Release: EGW or Wilson, need to check which
Grip safety: Colt stainless, in process of hand-polishing from factory matte
Ignition System: will be Harrison Design HD-130-TR
Barrel: Fusion 7" with Clark/Para ramp and fully supported chamber
Recoil System: will be Fusion 7" with 20lb recoil spring
Slide: will be Fusion 7", with special radius cut as noted
FP Stop: EGW heavy-duty
Optic Cut for Phase 2: uncertain
Optic for Phase 2: Aimpoint ACRO P-2 or similar - need a weatherproof system with WA rain that soaks even triple-layer clothing
Finishing: After whatever hard-chrome needs doing is done, my first choice is to steer this part of the job to Dana Morgan at Black Hammer Arms - I have no idea how the heck I'm gonna get to his shop, but he's always been first at-bat testifying against the latest Good Idea Fairy-fueled gun-grabbing idiocy in Olympia and I think it's important to support businesses that actually SHOW UP to fight for us rather than just pay lip service in "buy our stuff" emails.
Testing: Once I've proven the thing safe with my own function-check fires, a friend of a friend who rated Expert on the 1911 in his Marine days has expressed interest in doing benchmark shoots to see what it can really do. I fully expect that *I'm* going to be the weak link in the performance chain, and I expect he won't be as subject to "system held back by limits of operator" as I am. We're going to be doing this in two stages, the first with "plain vanilla" .45ACP then escalating to SMC for the second phase. (Overall usage, the plan is the SMC for "In Case of Emergency" war-loads, with the steady diet being regular ACP +P.) Yes, .450 SMC is "a lot of gun" for that use, but even ACP +P is "a lot of round" and by beefing it up for the magnum boomers it should be able to eat +P with a comfortable safety margin as long as the springs are replaced at proper intervals.
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The longslide image with the custom slide looks great, not like the odd look of most longslides. The "pimp grips" are okay as long as you don't carry them in combat. ;) General Patton wouldn't approve.
I haven't used any Harrison Designs parts but have looked at their parts and tools in the past. https://www.harrisoncustom.com/
I can't remember what I have by EGW but I like them. https://egwguns.com/
I don't know anything about Fusion but will be checking them out. All the others are old familiar companies, except Black Hammer Arms.
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Frank, Black Hammer is a local Puget Sound-area gunsmith and refinisher. Not exactly a national player. :) I really wanted a longer-spur trigger, but the Harrison was the only spur-type in stainless or other silvertone metallic I could find. I had *wanted* a Caspian slide too, but they don't offer 7" and wouldn't do my custom cut.
Pearl grips are part of the concession to the girlfriend. :) Were we necro'ing Uncle Frank and sending him back to be the tip of Patton's spear three days ahead of the front line again, the one I' send back with him would be rocking Bakelite or walnut for sure, and a "war gun" I'd want to have a lower visibility finish--this thing is meant to make sure that EVERYBODY clearly knows it's there and can clearly see whether it's on-safe or ready to fire (hence the stainless controls on dark frame), in the finest Texas "BBQ Gun" tradition.
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There's nothing wrong with a good BBQ gun. And I like it more than I wanted to admit. ;D
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There's nothing wrong with a good BBQ gun. And I like it more than I wanted to admit. ;D
Yeah, me too. I'm a professional historian usually "All WWII All The Time"--even looking for recipes to replicate issue C- and K-rations!*--but for a finish originally conceived for a "lady's gun," it's grown on several people.
*Big fan of hands-on learning, and one of my lesson plan ideas if I get into academia is to announce to the class that I'm buying them all lunch: a series of tasting courses from Civil War hardtack, repro C-rations, MCI's and modern MRE's, and then afterward their assignment is to write a compare-and-contrast paper about feeding the troops across the ages.
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Thankfully, I've never had to eat anything pre-MCI, but I would try hardtack. After I get my current dental mess fixed. I lost 2 teeth this month and have to wait until next month to get the roots removed. I don't think they're infected but I was sick today.
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All I can say is to echo Alf and say "WOW". That is quite a project and thanks for sharing.
I really like, in addition to just the overall project description, your detail on from where the parts have originated.
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UPDATE: Recoil system in hand, slide waiting for funding. Should be ordered before Christmas.
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it's good to get an update on this project.
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Merry Christmas DB.
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Thanks, guys... I have the feeling finding compound and lapping frame and slide to fit each other is gonna be a cakewalk next to finding somebody who'll do a polished Hard Chrome job, or figuring out a Cerakote mix comparable to GM Dark Dragonfly Teal metallic.
And since I haven't seen my buddy who was gonna do testing in a while and our mutual friend did a stealth-bomber retirement... dude flew out the door under the radar, only his bosses knew that he gave his two weeks to pension off when they stuck him with an especially disliked-by-him route package that round of scheduling.
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I looked online at that dark teal color and it's a lot darker than any teal car I recall seeing. I had one of my .45s hard chromed and it has an aluminum frame. They told me they had to nickel plate the frame before they hard chromed it. Years later the frame is a completely different color, like gray instead of silver. I think they nickel plated it and that was all. Years of using Hoppe's No. 9 on it is probably what caused it to change. I think it was Accurate Plating and Weaponry, but would have to do some digging to find a receipt from way back then, if I still have it. I definitely won't be recommending them to anyone after that.
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Frank, DDT was only used on Saturn models for two specific model years, IIRC 2001 and 2002.
A few others I'm looking at for "targets to match"...
Ford RD Teal - https://repaintsupply.com/ford-rd-teal-metallic/
Suzuki Bright Teal - https://repaintsupply.com/suzuki-z06-bright-teal-metallic/
GM Dark Tropic Teal - https://repaintsupply.com/gm-wa765j-dark-tropic-teal-metallic/
GM Medium Dark Teal - https://repaintsupply.com/gm-wa9828-medium-dark-teal-metallic/
And then this one looks like it can be mixed right into Cerakote or powdercoating...
https://www.paintwithpearl.com/shop/custom-paint-colors/greens/teal-candy-paint-pearl/
Black Friday Weekend update:
--Slide: Ordered from Fusion, pending confirmation of special radius cut and shop schedule
--Barrel bushing: Briley .581 spherical ordered
--Trigger: Harison Custom short smooth ordered from Brownells
--Ejector: EGW Heavy Duty ordered from Brownells
--Barrel Link: EGW 5-link kit ordered from Brownells
Components remaining to source: Harrison Design ignition kit (I wish John would make a long-spur hammer), fiber-optic sights from Fusion
Tools to source: Whatever's not already in hand or on the way for frame/slide fitting
Finishing: Need a hard-chromer or similar to deliver a bright mirror-polish on the slide flats; need to select finish and find local Puget Sound applicator (Dana at Black Hammer has closed the workshop and gone transfer-only for a bit with new kids around).
Future: Optic and cut/mount - in the interim I have a triggerguard-mount Streamlight TLR-1 with laser
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If I had another 1911 I'd be interested in trying the Drop-In Trigger System from Nighthawk Custom. It's 300 bucks which is more than I want to pay. You can get good components for half that price, but may need to fit them, so I don't know which would be the best way to go. I was looking at some Harrison Design parts last year and was impressed by how good they look.
https://www.nighthawkcustom.com/drop-in-trigger-system
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jxt6Mj4W2o
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Frank, I looked at that but at the time all they had was bobbed Commander-style hammers, and the entire aesthetic point of this build was retro form married to modern function, "with a twist and a bit of a spin." (With apologies to Taylor Dayne for stealing her lyric...)
Bonus challenge, I'm stuck working with hand tools--which kind of adds to the "retro building" experience getting a taste of how the original 1911s were made over a century ago when machine hours were expensive and man hours were cheap.
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That hammer is for sure not period correct for a retro gun. That explains the choice of H.D. retro parts. I just looked at a lot of wide hammers, and almost all of them were old, vintage parts, or they had a line down the middle where they were molded. Tisas USA has one that looks good from what I saw, and Apex Tactical makes a spur hammer that looks good, but not a wide one.
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To be honest, I wanted a late-war-style long narrow spur, but Harrison's "True Radius" cut on hammer and sear was more important.
The Brownells batch of parts just arrived yesterday, already filing and polishing trigger and frame; Briley bushing due next week. Between 10% off gift-cards and a 25%-off one order promo code Fusion gave me as a thank you for my business, hoping they get the sight-set Tyler recommended back in before it expires on New Years.
I'm not sure how I should take it when my gal tells me I "powershop like a girl"... what can I say, when you spend your college years surrounded by friends with HUGE appetites and the lunchtime match wager is "worst score buys for everybody," you get real good at squeezing those pennies til Abe craps dimes REAL fast. Seriously, even the more petite ladies in this "LEO's-plus-me-and-sometimes-The Ex" group were Double Meat, Triple Cheese, Extra EVERYTHING on their burritos, and these were the "light eaters"...
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I'm waiting on a package from Briley too and have no idea when it's going to be here. They haven't shipped it yet AFAIK. It's a Remington TAC-14 and 870 One Shot Extension (12 Gauge Only), that also fits the Remington Model 1100. I ordered one and put it on my Sportsman 12 Auto, but I need one with a sling swivel and got one with no swivel.
https://www.briley.com/p-62048-remington-tac-14-and-870-one-shot-extension-12-gauge-only.aspx
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All of this reminds me of the guns used in the movie "The Shadow". I never liked Baldwin but I did like those guns.
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All of this reminds me of the guns used in the movie "The Shadow". I never liked Baldwin but I did like those guns.
yeah, me too... completely forgot about those. Subconscious inspiration for the "short cut on long slide" concept?
Bonus, it's easier to get spare parts and ammo for a .450SMC 1911 than a .45 Win Mag LAR Grizzly... and a Grizzly is too big to wrap my 5'6"-proportioned mitts around, I can't even get a proper grip on a doublestack Glock.
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I got a stainless steel recoil plug from Tisas USA. I ordered it with my MAC MK II knife. I think my old recoil plug is Commander-length. I bought a Wilson Combat Multi-Comp Bushing Compensator that requires a two-piece guide rod or stock recoil spring plug shortened to 1.2", or a Commander length plug. Since I don't normally keep the bushing comp on it, there's no reason not to have the right plug in it the rest of the time. The stainless steel matches the hard chrome of the gun quite well. I'll have to take the brass spike plug out to see how it fits.
https://wilsoncombat.com/bushing-compensator-multi-comp-1911-barrel-full-size-stainless.html
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I'm sure I'm not hearing you right, Frank. Are you trying to tell me to add even MORE size and weight to this monster?
LOL
In all seriousness, it's already too big for on-body carry as anything but a BBQ or Backwoods gun...
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I'm just saying I should have the right recoil spring plug in my 5" gun, that's all. I don't know why I needed a short one to use the bushing compensator in the first place, but I'm putting a whole new part in to replace the cut-down plug.
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Current parts layout, with Old Ugly (5" Essex frame/slide-kit mixmaster) for size comparison... I tried to align the two pistols with muzzles even, and hand-set the longslide's barrel into link-up position.
(https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/palmettostatearmory/optimized/3X/4/b/4b68ca9c001c82417ee38dfbbfdbaaf188e20e59_2_666x500.jpeg)
(https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/palmettostatearmory/optimized/3X/6/a/6acd212136bcca28de5466ad29f2a65c7d95fd63_2_666x500.jpeg)
Pins and springs stay in their case til ready for install. Caspian frame, Fusion barrel and recoil system (20# recoil spring), Wilson pin and spring kits (23# mainspring), EGW heavy-duty firing-pin stop and ejector, Harrison trigger.
Trying to hand polish all contact surfaces to glass-smooth; intent is a 5.5# trigger pull. Even though this is being built as a match/range gun, I want it up to "Serious Work" gun standards just in case. The only "toy" gun I'll tolerate in my locker is the "Bond Briefcase Charger," everything else has to be fit for war.
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I don't see a picture, just a blank square.
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Try now... links off Discord chat servers have a life in days.
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Now I can see it, and it looks good so far.
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Shop Super at Fusion just called about an hour ago to let me know they were about to start my slide and check some details. RIGHT as my lunch order came up... barely had time to finish my lunch before having to run for my bus with the manager (R.'s a gun guy too) nerding out over it.
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Slide has arrived... now the nasty part begins, lapping and filing to fit.
(https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/palmettostatearmory/original/3X/c/2/c2682d41fbeec7079b96e0a8fb4a2f0772bfea8d.jpeg)
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I never had to fit anything, including so-called gunsmith fit parts like barrel bushings that dropped right in. It sounds like a PITA to fit everything, but the payoff is worth it. I'm looking forward to seeing it completed.
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I would suspect frame/slide fitting is easier when the same shop makes both. As it it, I'm going to have to have the firing pin port hogged out when I start the Magnums.. Fusion bores for 9mm pins.
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As long as you don't go too big. .45 ACP is a lot more forgiving in that area because of the low pressures compared to most other calibers. 3,000 PSI lower than .22 LR, as a matter of fact.
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True, but remember this is a .450 SMC, not a .45ACP - though I will be using a 9mm pin, lighter recoil spring and ACP ammo for Phase One function testing. I have no idea how I'll know when it's time to step up to Plus-P for Phase Two, or up to SMC though - otoh true SMC brass is supposed to be beefy enough containing the powder detonation that any Plus-P rated gun can eat a steady diet of it too.
Also worth noting that I ordered most of my parts as Heavy Duty, Bulletproof or similar "high-side-of-tolerances extra material" with full intent of having to file them until they fit and function. This is how our ancestors did it under Browning's watchful eye, after all...
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I was thinking about possible primer flow under the higher than .45 Super pressure, and thought the firing pin hole better not be too big. That's something I never had to worry about because I didn't have anything like .450 SMC.
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Frank, IIRC primer flow was one of the problems with Super, and SMC addressed it by switching to Small Rifle primer instead of Large Pistol. IF I can ever get a hold of Fernando Coelho at Panteao, that'd be a question for him.
Hey, does Fearless Leader Mike B. ever post here anymore?
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<snip>
Hey, does Fearless Leader Mike B. ever post here anymore?
Rarely. Unfortunately. He's a wealth of knowledge to access.
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Rarely. Unfortunately. He's a wealth of knowledge to access.
Pity. MB was there back in the old days of AmBack when this thing was conceived, and thought he might appreciate some of the Old Guard's input finally being made hardware.
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Send him a private message. He may check them. I know Marshall checks his. It would be good to have Michael drop in every so often
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Frank, IIRC primer flow was one of the problems with Super, and SMC addressed it by switching to Small Rifle primer instead of Large Pistol. IF I can ever get a hold of Fernando Coelho at Panteao, that'd be a question for him.
Hey, does Fearless Leader Mike B. ever post here anymore?
I wasn't sure, but I thought that's what happened. It's been a long time since I read up on the .450 SMC design and couldn't remember.
Here it is in black and white.
Coelho was fed up with the inherent issues of the .45 ACP/.45 Super cartridge case and the damage being done to the potential growth of the .45 Super. One of the case problems was primer flow; you could experiment with different brands of primers and powder, but most of the time primers would flow back around the tip of the firing pin. The solution: switch to a small-primer pocket and utilize a small-rifle primer. Coelho reached out to Starline again, asking the company to make .45 Super brass with a small-primer pocket. That solved the primer-flow problem and Triton Cartridge soon began offering factory-loaded .450 SMC ammunition.
https://www.shootingillustrated.com/content/the-450-smc-a-potent-practical-defensive-cartridge/
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Update: The slide is now about an inch from battery position! Not as loose in movement as I'd like and still three more inches of travel needed to get full range of movement, but slowly getting there...
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Inside half an inch to battery, but every sixteenth is putting up more fight than the last one. In the "free movement zone," though, this thing is tighter and less rattly than some FACTORY 1911s I've handled new.
That said, when it's time to build the 5" "Carry" slide, I'm having that fitted by a pro with instructions that all alterations are to be made on the slide side as far as possible to ensure satisfactory fit on a 2-slides-1-frame set.
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I've been putting it off for years but eventually I want to get Acc-U-Rails installed on my full-size Para with an aluminum frame. Instead of rattling like a pair of maracas it with be tight and smooth. Maybe next year.
http://www.acc-u-rail.com/railpics.htm
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Interesting.
Funny, my first response when you say "Accurail" is to think of a model railroad manufacturer I used to buy a lot of 1950s boxcars from in high school...
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Interesting.
Funny, my first response when you say "Accurail" is to think of a model railroad manufacturer I used to buy a lot of 1950s boxcars from in high school...
A lot of links for that come up if you search for Acc-U-Rail. One gunsmith used to do these, then passed on the business to another gunsmith. It's another one of the many gun related businesses nearby in SE Michigan. The area is also home to Brass Aluminum Forging Enterprises who make tons of AR uppers and lowers, UTG (Under The Gun), Cammenga military compasses and Night Fision tritium sites, Glow Rhino, Mag-Na-Port, Detroit Ammo Co. and too many others to recall offhand.
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Can't forget Ned Christiansen and his M-Guns portfolio of gunsmithing tools, either.
Depending on test-fit we're now at either just over or just under 1/4" from Battery, depending on whether or not I'm willing to shove the slide on so hard it takes a mallet to get it back off. We've reached the point where my "Easy Cleanup Dykem" Sharpie is no longer giving me useful information on where I need to file from scratches in the ink.
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One time at work I was painting someone's big black toolbox on wheels. Someone else said to me, you think that's paint don't you? Of course I did, because I'm not too bright sometimes. It was a metal can of blue Dykem with a brush attached to the inside of the screw cap. :-[ The tool and die guys used it all the time in the press room and I was a press operator at the time, so it was always around. I was just too stupid to know what it was at the time, and how to use it.
If a die broke and they welded it together, or whenever there was a problem with how it all fit together, the T&D guys would be inside a huge press with a die grinder and can of Dykem. The next thing you know we were stamping out doors or fenders or whatever. I wouldn't want to work inside a huge press like that. The aluminum safety block, with 2 small wooden wedges to tighten it up, were suppose to keep the press from cycling, but it didn't always work. One time a press cycled with the safety block in it. The block shot out and hit a guy in the leg, shattering his shin into a hundred pieces. They put him back together like Humty Dumpty and he was eventually able to walk, but had one leg that bowed forward. I never saw a bent leg like that before, but s**t happens when you work in a factory. At least he wasn't one of several amputees.
That was some serious thread drift. But it seems to be one of the things I'm really good at. ;D
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Dykem was responsible for no small amount of trouble from the Subcaliber Rounds that were my high school administrators... they couldn't understand that the stuff is a pain in the ass to get out of the skin and wasn't washing off even overnighht and in the shower so I was showing up with blue hands from ending the previous day in Machine Shop.
And they WONDERED why everyone in the Industrial Arts building exiled out to the far corner of campus held them and their prissy, p*ssy, effete limpwristed Liberal Arts cronies in such contempt...
Got to 1/8" on one trial, haven't been able to return. Which seems really odd since that was still an "arm-strength reef" pull apart without the mallet...
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(https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/palmettostatearmory/original/3X/c/f/cf4b855df12c41b5f6da676134cba04d7b1e4b98.jpeg)
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Now you're getting somewhere.
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And having achieved full slide travel even if it took hammers to do it, now the nightmare begins.
Any advice on working the barrel lugs when all you have is hand files?
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Do you have files with a cutting edge and a safe edge so you remove metal from one surface only? I bought one a long time ago for filling rear sights. I can open up the width of the notch without messing up the depth.
My only advice is to be careful and take it slow. It's a lot easier to remove more metal than it is to put it back on. And when the lugs fit, you can get a variety of different length barrel links to get a tight, consistent lockup. But I bought a Dwyer Group Gripper instead. I saw a hand tool for scraping away metal between the lugs in a slide a long time ago. A carbide blade maybe, but it was way too long ago to remember. That's all beyond my area of expertise.
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Yup, I have the Brownells one that has a safe edge, a cutting edge, and the flats are split in half safe/cutting to oppose the adjacent edge.
Also working with an EGW set of five different-size links. I'll worry about them when the barrel freely moves in and out of lockup in the dismounted slide. :)
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Sounds good, DB.
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It's not the friction-free "glass smooth" I want, but with a section of dowel rod as a temporary link-pin I have the right link dialed in and the barrel cycles between full linkup and linkdown.
Gonna try to clean it up and polish internals a little more, and see if I can figure out what's binding at maximum rearward travel occasionally Then get the ignition system ordered after I pay down some bills...
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Paying bills sucks. I've been buying gun parts a little at a time in between bills, for 3-4 years I guess. I've been working on several things at a time this week, but when I'm done with everything my 20" AR will be complete, and my paintball marker will be fixed again.
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Yeah... it gets even worse when you have to balance billable hours with live-in care for a parent who has the attitude of "I brought you into this world, I paid your way through college, until I'm in the dirt I OWN YOUR ASS." (How do I balance it? I have a huge L-shaped desk that's both my computer workstation and hand-tools workbench wrapped around the sofa so while I'm stuck waiting for the Ill Tempered Mutant Landcrab's beck and call I'm working with either digital files or physical ones. I wouldn't say she's as morbidly-obese immobile as "Pearl" in the first Blade movie but it's not for lack of trying... under these conditions I consider getting myself back under 210 even with the extra-calories winter diet an accomplishment.)
Next stage, I'm thinking install mag catch and see if I can get feed. So far my Wilson ETM's aren't playing well even downloaded from 10 to 8... hoping I didn't take too much off decking the top of the frame.
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Next update: Different barrel link helped alleviate the stiffness on the slide (I started at #0 in the EGW link set, now up to #3), on reco of my old FFL - if any of you guys are ever around Coeur d'Alene swing by Armory Outpost and give the Nielsens a shout; they were kinda "Gun Mom & Dad" to me as my FFL when they were over here.
Snapcaps now feeding even from the Wilsons, but this cranky b**ch still HATES Gold Dots. Not sure if it's the ramp throat or the absence of ejector and extractor, or something else.
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They should work once you get the extractor in. The 1911 is a controlled round feed like an old bolt-action rifle. I have some .44 Mag. 270 grain Gold Dots for hunting and they're soft points instead of hollowpoints. They're the only Gold Dots I know of that don't have a gold dot in the bottom of a hole. I think Speer quit making them, but Steinel Ammo loads them now, and they're not referred to as Gold Dots.
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Tyler at Fusion confirmed that they cut feedramps for FMJ Only by default and I'll need to have it throated for hollowpoints. We were discussing a second carry top-end at 5", and the plan there is to have his people prefit the barrel/slide lugs and throat the ramp before it ships so all I need to do is file the slide rails and ejector slot and figure out the link.
Nelson Leather and I are already in talks about a Last Man Standing-style dually refit of their 58-H holster to accommodate the 5" slide and Old Ugly (with a capacity to swap the second holster for a carrier with two of my long Wilson ETM's), with a custom finish to complement the piece riding in it. (This is going to be more like a collaboration, they build the leather but leave it unfinished and I apply the finish coat.)
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I guess I'm just used to ramped barrels feeding almost any type of bullet. :-[ It's been a LONG time since I had a 1911 without a ramped barrel.
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Ejector done enough to allow full slide movement though a little polish wouldn't hurt. Firing-pin stop filed down to fit into slide... now the problem is making the FP stop and extractor fit together.
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Flat-bottom firing pin stop, or regular profile?
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Flat-bottom, EGW heavy-duty. My options are either take metal off the right-side tab on FP stop or take metal off the right face of the extractor's slot for it. Already have it filed on the left to BARELY clear the ejector, though it could use a polishing pass.
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I thought you'd go with a flat-bottom. I would too on a heavy hitter like that. From what I read before, they're supposed to slow down the initial slide movement as it cocks the hammer. I would fit it to the slide, then fit the extractor to the stop. I don't know if that's the right way too do it, but it seems logical to me.
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Granted, SMC is supposed to be compatible with any +P-rated .45ACP weapon... I'm trying to build this thing like a full-house .45 Super or .460 Rowland just for the extra safety margin.
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Today's update: 5/32" drillbit and pair of channel-locks got the link pin in. Extraction reliable, ejection fails every time as nose of snapcap gets caught between barrel hood and ejection port edge. Thinking I need to cut down ejector by about 1/8", the amount of barrel hood projecting into the port at start of ejection stage.
That'll be another time; I'm gonna take the win the guys at Lowe's helped me get and call it a day before my gal drops an email with another make-my-brain-bleed cosplay idea. (She's been talking about wanting to get medieval with plate-mail... I don't think she understands that a loaded modern plate carrier like my Corps-surplus MARCIRAS weighs as much as a small child and Old School even more so... so I've suggested start with faux-leather costume armor, hit it with Plastidip or something similar to stiffen it then good ol' Krylon Chrome. Don't look at me, fellas, I didn't build the Big Top in the Circus of Crazy around me, I just try to keep the clowns from turning themselves into elephant toejam or getting cross-threaded with the knife thrower...)
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With 1/8" nose-job on the ejector we had first Hand Cycle this weekend! Ignition system will have to wait til after tax time, but getting closer, and I'm already exchanging emails with Gary at A.E. Nelson Leather trying to come up with some "his & hers" period holster ideas.
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Final update for a while until after tax time: Slide mechanically cycles, heavy but smooth. No further fitting possible until arrival of ignitions system, so now its cosmetic filing to smooth out the areas where frame, slide and ejector meet around the hammer.