Aiden

Why not lighten a 6" slide so it has the same weight as the 5" slide? Like the fat free Benny Hills? Then you get sight radius, you can fit the barrel to the slide without getting weird, and you can always swap back to your 5" top end with no issues.

I have a couple pinned safeties and it's just simple with the CK plug. Really like it. If I ever want to swap it back to functional, I just do. Don't need to worry if I go to a steel MSH or different MSH that needs a new pin.

I prefer the feel of a grip safety without the memory groove. I also prefer pinned, but I shoot USPSA only and don't have any reason for a functioning grip safety. My favorite grip safety at the moment is the CK beavertail grip plug. Minimal blending to most of my frames, rock solid fit, and doesn't even pretend to be a safety. If I were to go for an Ed Brown I'd go for the machined version at an equivalent price. I've finally started to appreciate good quality machining.

It's definitely a better approach than mine. I've been scribbling numbers onto painters tape stuck to cardboard boxes on my bench. So either I'm a legit gunsmith or I'm the living proof a man with a dremel should never attempt to build anything.

Note to self... "before fitting slide and frame" ... Handy chart for sure, thanks!

I'm a huge fan of the BOSS hanger for SS or Production. Pricey but the holster just feels so solid and keeps that holster exactly where you put it. I only dabbled in SS, (and I suck), so my opinion is worth very little when it comes to orientation of pouches and whatnot. But 100% recommend grabbing the hanger if it's available.

I was thinking about doing this just the other day. Almost got the red loctite out on impulse. May as well be one piece since I've gotta punch out the barrel anyway.

The DSPerman grips are my favorite since they'll replicate the front strap of the 2011. Along with just about every other dimension. I recently got ahold of the Hogue thick G10 grips. I did a little reshaping of the panel and it felt pretty good, and I liked how squared it made the sides and back feel. They're also very affordable. But they don't wrap around the front strap and it still feels narrower in front than the 2011 grip or the DSP grips as a result.

My only issue was when I ran the DAA Racer, if the screws weren't tightened down a little bit they would drag on the sides of the holster. I run blue loctite, and go very carefully... Much cheaper to buy new screws than the little sleeve, so I can slot it to get it back out if needed.

I like the messing around with the triggers trying out different combinations and trigger feels. And I've liked most of the triggers I've settled on. I eventually found that I shot a rolling break better than trying to replicate the 1911 wall. But when shooting heavier triggers I like a nice distinct wall. I've spent far more than I would've if I just went Johnny Glock in the first place. If you know what you want... Sounds like he's the guy to go with.

The CK frame I have was listed as widebody but measuring in at standard ish 0.8 something. Don't know how I keep forgetting about JEM, I should check them out. Thanks all!

Hi all, My Google fu is weak and you guys would probably know. I'm looking for a 2011 frame for a build that's the same width as the slides (0.920"ish). Any options short of ordering the full STI build kit or cutting down a long dust cover? Preferably not anything I'll need to take a hacksaw to... But I'm considering it... Maybe the new Cheely frames? As far as I know anything available through my friendly neighborhood online store is standard frame (0.83?) or the full build kit. Thanks!

My preferred sight setups are 0.70 to 0.75 front sights with 0.125 to 0.130 rear, deep notch. I run 0.70 with 0.125 on my 6" gun, pictured first in the attachments. They give a similar sight picture to the Sevigny with 0.150 rear notch, pictured second in the attachments, but not as tall. Third and fourth are .70 front with 0.125 rear on a 5" after I opened it up a little for a quasi U notch. Of course these are Bomar so your sight picture will vary a little.

I still haven't decided if I like the V1 more than the V2. Currently have it on a factory grip with no undercuts done. Kind of feels right with my small/medium hands. But V2 is still my vote as far as the "one to get" until I figure out some magic geometry that edges out V1.

I ran a 4.5lb striker spring for a long time when I shot Freedom and factory 9mm, in both my G17 and G34s. I still had the occasional light strike with the factory striker. Once I went to a lightened/extended striker I had zero issues after that. 4.5lb was my "always reliable" striker weight and I never went under it.

Good luck. I just received another one yesterday and I am pretty excited to fit it to my newest project. Enjoy the process and the end result is icing on the cake.

Should be fine. I run a comp-tac holster for 1911 and everything without a rail (SA and STI) fits into it with no problems.

^ lot of good advice in this post, especially the tip about clamping the trigger itself. Go slow. Test often. As with all things, you can keep removing but you can't easily add back on. I fit a blank for the first time and learned some things about what I like in a trigger along the way. Experimented with curves, radius, etc because I would remove it all anyway to get to the length I wanted.

If it fits your hand without any "hot spots" then I'd say it's an acceptable fit. But if you want them to be even, that can be done too. Arguably the best job is one that is symmetrical and fits your hand well. I intentionally shape my polymer grips a little differently on either side to fit my hand as it wraps around the grip. Even my undercuts usually have a little bias towards matching the angle of my fingers as they wrap around. Looks a little weird, but feels perfect for me.

You'll basically need to re-fit the barrel, converting to W/N by machining off the back end would require ensuring the timing/lockup/etc is correct. If you provide the measurements to a machinist, they could probably get you within a few thousandths, which would leave you with just a few remaining to fit the rear of the lug to impact your W/N frame.

I play music through my earmuffs. I adjust the volume if I want to drown out the usual chatter and focus on visualizing. Most times it's just some background noise and helps me focus by filtering out distractions. It could be playing white noise, whale songs, Gregorian chants, or I could wear passive plugs underneath and achieve the same isolation. Sometimes if I need to mentally reset, I'll "tune in and listen" to the music and take my mind off the 14 rounds I dumped at a popper on the previous stage. Which is the only advantage a custom playlist has over white noise.

From all the looking into it I was doing based on my last project (the dremeled C/P frame conversion), it might be more worthwhile to sell the C/P barrel to someone who intends to keep it as is, unless you have someone who will do the ramp conversion cut while fitting the barrel. If you've got a gunsmith in mind, maybe worth asking them if they'd do it.

Standard Dawson, which came in at just under 2oz on my scale.

Just got my Limcat stainless steel magwell as described above. Weighs in at just about 2oz more than my Dawson ICE and my Brazos magwell. If you like the Dawson ICE, I think you'll really like this grip. The profile is similar and the way they fit with your hands is very close. The contour (it's convex!) of the insert is fantastic. My grip is undercut specifically to fit my hand to my Brazos magwell though, so I'm sticking with that for now. But I might hack away at a new grip just to see if I can get it to match the Limcat/ICE profile as well as the current grip fits Brazos.

I've just now gotten into reloading. I have a jug of CFE, 1.) I was stealing my buddy's load data, and 2.) according to him it was almost always available locally during the scarce times. But N320 is definitely on my list since I keep seeing jugs of it at the gun store!