jbecker Posted August 15, 2016 Share Posted August 15, 2016 Hello All Over the weekend I started my first 2011 project. I thought it might be interesting to others on here if I posted about the project and the progress I was making to give an idea about the work involved and the cost of the parts. I'm no gun smith; I have built a 1911 in a week long class so I learned some of the basics. This will be my first attempt to build a 2011, and I will be doing it with hand tools and basic power tools like a dremel. It’s a project I wanted to do myself, I could buy a built one from a Pro that would be better, or buy a used one that may be cheaper, but I wanted to build one myself. It may come out good; I may ruin some expensive parts, only time will tell. Over the weekend I fit the slide to the frame, it took about 5 hours with files, stones and sand paper with a final lapping with lapping compound. I’m sure more experienced people could do it quicker, but I went slow and measured and test fit a lot because I didn’t want to ruin the $600 plus in parts. I used a CK Arms long dust cover frame, and a Caspian slide I bought from Brazos where then do the machining for sights and put the Brazos signature slide cuts on it. The CK Arms frame was $240, and the Brazos slide was $399 for a total of $639. The CK Arms frame needed about 8 thousands taken off the rails, so I removed 4 thousands from each side, and then I had to take a few thousands of the bottom of the slide to get it to fit on the frame. It was easier to fit the 2011 CK Arms frame to the slide than it was to fit the 1911 frame, the 1911 was way oversized, plus it was my first one and it took me all day. I feel the final fit came out pretty good and the slide moves on the frame very smoothly. Attached is a picture of the slide and frame. If folks have any questions, just let me know Next up is fitting the barrel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schultztec Posted August 16, 2016 Share Posted August 16, 2016 I am interested in giving this a try myself, if I may ask, what do you estimate total parts cost being? thx chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schultztec Posted August 16, 2016 Share Posted August 16, 2016 Actually, if you don't mind I would also like to know what gun specific tools you will be using. thanks for your time chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dthomas1003 Posted August 16, 2016 Share Posted August 16, 2016 I'm looking to do this in the future so please, do keep the play by play going. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrPostman Posted August 16, 2016 Share Posted August 16, 2016 Looks good, should be fit tight with those measurements. First hurdle is cleared, now on to barrel fit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzt Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 In another life I was a Tool & die Maker taught by Germans. If you could not hand file anything down to not more than 0.0005" variance, you were not worth spit. The dollars you will need to spend to buy the tools and stones to enable you to get to a "perfect" fit is not worth it IMO if you are only going to do one gun. Whatever you decide, I wish you the very best of luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbecker Posted August 18, 2016 Author Share Posted August 18, 2016 (edited) To answer the eariler question about costs, I'm estimating it will be around $1600 to $1800 for parts, this doesn't include magazines. For tools, I can't list thm all off the top of my head but here is a list A few good files, I seem to use the a swiss cut pillar file the use A set of needle files Stones of various grips Sand paper Barrel alignment tool Barrel lug cutter Sear jig dremel tool dykem lay out fuild A surface plate for flat sanding Dial calipers Micrometer Some you need, some are nice to have, and I'm sure there are a bunch of others items that people use Matrix Precision frame rail stoning tool Punch Set non-marring hammer allen wrench sets screwdrivers Edited August 18, 2016 by jbecker correction Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbecker Posted August 18, 2016 Author Share Posted August 18, 2016 Hello All I got the barrel fit to the slide and frame, attached are pictures. It took me all day to fit it and get the lock up working good. The first step is to sand and polish the inside of the slide, polish breach face, and remove sharp corners. Fitting the barrel hood and upper lugs wasn't too bad, needed to remove about 25 thousands for the hood sides, and about 13 thousand on the front og the hood that touches the breach face, did this with a file and going slow. The trouble I had was doing the bottum lugs and fitting the link, I finally got the bottum logs fit, but with the link in I kept getting a little binding as the slide pulled back after unlocking. I just keep dykeming the barrel and checking for wear marks and polishing them, but finally had to go down a link to get everything to work smoothly. I ended up using a #1 link and the firing pin hole lined up nicely to the primer pocket of a de-primed shorten 40 case. One tool I need is a 40 S&W chamber reamer to set the headspace, with a gunsmith fit barrel, that needs to be cut, I ordered the reamer. The barrel fitting was frustrating, and made me question taking on the project, but in the end, I think it came out ok. The slide to frame fit and barrel fitting I think are the hardest parts, so I'm glad they are done. Here are the parts used and costs up to this point in the project 2011 Project Costs Part NameCost CK Arms 2011 LDC Frame 240.00 Brazos Caspian Slide 399.00 Bro-Sto 40 S&W Bull Barrel 215.00 Extreme Shooters DVC Grip 179.00 Wilson Barrel Link Set 26.95 CK Arms Grip Busing Set 19.99 Dawson Tool Guide Rod w/reverse plug 69.99 Wilson 14lb Recoil Spring 6.95 CK Arms Pin Set 16.99 EGW Slide Stop 49.99 Total costs to date 1,223.86 John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ltdmstr Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 (edited) It's definitely a lot of time and effort with manual tools. But if you go slow and know what you're doing, you can get excellent results. So good luck and keep it up. Regarding your barrel fit, I would have someone competent check it out, because I've built a lot of 1911s over the past 20+ years and have never used a #1 link. In fact, I don't think I've ever used a #2. About 90 percent use a #4, the rest are almost all #3 with an occasional #5. Chances are you should be getting a lot higher lockup than what you have now. Also, a slightly offset primer strike is common. It's not a problem unless it's way off near the edge of the primer. Edited August 18, 2016 by ltdmstr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrPostman Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 Did you use a lug file on the female upper barrel lugs to get the depth of engagement correct? Just asking because I didn't see you mention that, and you are using a #1 link which like Ltdmstr said is very unusual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbecker Posted August 18, 2016 Author Share Posted August 18, 2016 Thanks for the advice, I will have someone check it out. For lock up I'm getting 52 thousands with the #1 link. I tried the other links, a 2 works but binds a little after it unlocks, the top of the barrel rubs on the slide as the slide moves back to the full recoiled position, the binding gets worse the higher number of link I use. I'm using a EGW slide stop pin which is 200 thousands, other pins can be 198 thousands. could this be a reason for the need for the #1 link? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbecker Posted August 18, 2016 Author Share Posted August 18, 2016 Yes, I used a lug file to get the correct engagement, without any link just pushing the barrel up to full lock up, i was getting like 90 thousands from full lock up to unlock, but it seems if I use a higher link than 1 it doesn't pull the barrel down far enough and the top of the barrel rubs on the slide as it moves back Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torchroadster Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 Very interesting, keep the updates coming. One question: Is there a source for a forged 2011 frame or are they all machined? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzt Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 torch, I am not aware of anyone who casts 2011 frames. So whether they start life as a billet, plate, bar stock or a forging, they are all machined. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmz Posted September 7, 2016 Share Posted September 7, 2016 When this is complete you should post a YouTube video of the gun in action, looking good ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunsngeeks Posted September 21, 2016 Share Posted September 21, 2016 Getting ready to do my first 2011 build too. I'm going really crazy and doing a shorty open gun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theWacoKid Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 Did you verify the cuts in the frame for your barrel? This could be stopping rearward travel of the barrel too early requiring the short link. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muddawg900 Posted August 15, 2019 Share Posted August 15, 2019 On 8/18/2016 at 7:37 AM, ltdmstr said: It's definitely a lot of time and effort with manual tools. But if you go slow and know what you're doing, you can get excellent results. So good luck and keep it up. Regarding your barrel fit, I would have someone competent check it out, because I've built a lot of 1911s over the past 20+ years and have never used a #1 link. In fact, I don't think I've ever used a #2. About 90 percent use a #4, the rest are almost all #3 with an occasional #5. Chances are you should be getting a lot higher lockup than what you have now. Also, a slightly offset primer strike is common. It's not a problem unless it's way off near the edge of the primer. Reviving this post a little bit, as I'm doing research for my first build as well. Ltdmstr, Could you explain how you're measuring lockup height? MrPostman, feel free to chime in as well. Much appreciated. Thanks. -Muddawg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe4d Posted August 15, 2019 Share Posted August 15, 2019 On 2/1/2017 at 12:13 PM, theWacoKid said: Did you verify the cuts in the frame for your barrel? This could be stopping rearward travel of the barrel too early requiring the short link. This Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
assaulter Posted August 16, 2019 Share Posted August 16, 2019 Sounds like you have timing issues. I suspect that you don't have enough clearance between the barrel and slide, barrel and frame, horizontal impact surface, or perhaps all three. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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