ltdmstr

Would not recommend APW. Had them do a full DLC refinish an SV that I put a new top end on and: 1) finishing work was subpar, with horizontal brush marks visible in the receiver when should have been polished or blasted, 2) price was outrageous to start, and then they billed me for more than I was quoted, even though I specifically requested that the contact me prior to finishing if there was going to be any additional costs (their excuse was that the vendor raised their prices), 3) they lost some of my small parts and then tried to say I never sent them, although they eventually found them and sent them to me, and 4) they took about 3x longer than originally quoted (which they also blamed on their vendor). So, overall, not a good experience.

Conventional primers don't degrade over time if stored properly. And, about the only thing that will harm them is moisture. So, there's really no need to worry about expiration dates. Lead-free primers are a different story.

It's not unsafe if the gun is pointed down range and the round goes into the ground vs. a wall, over the berm or something else. That's why the rules specifically provide that it's not a DQable offense. Whether you like it or not, the rules set the standard of care for competitors. And, under the rules, an AD into the ground >10 feet specifically is not a DQable offense (absent some other factor that warrants the DQ). That means, per se, no negligence. So, you can call it whatever you want, depending on how you feel about it, but it's not negligence.

Jus Not looking to start a long discussion here as it's off topic, and mods seem to get upset whenever this comes up. But the actual definition of negligence is a bit more complicated than that. It is a breach of a standard of care expected of an ordinary and prudent person under the circumstances. Or, for our purposes, we can use an experienced shooter. And in the shooting sports, or ours at least, unintentional discharges of firearms are not that uncommon. But, many (most ?) do not involve negligence. Examples of some that do, would be an unintentional discharge during movement due to the shooter's finger being on the trigger. Or having a finger on the trigger resulting in a discharge when reloading. These are specific violations of the rules and clearly breach the expected standard of care. That's why you get the DQ badge. But, how about when a shooter's 1911/2011 doubles or goes full auto due to a fatigued sear spring? Clearly that's an AD, or multiple ADs, but there's no negligence on the part of the shooter. And, assuming safe gun handling, etc., there's no DQ. Same thing when a shooter puts a round in the dirt by firing before the gun is on target. Clearly an AD, but no negligence, and no DQ unless it's within 10 feet of the shooter. As per the rules, that's not a breach of the expected standard of care. So, while comments like "there's no such thing as an AD, only ND," might sound cool on youtube and Instagram, they just aren't accurate.

Really? You might want to look up the definition of negligence, because what you posted absolutely isn't it. And I can give you a bunch of examples of ADs that absolutely don't involve negligence. Some of which don't even warrant a DQ in USPSA competition.

Negligent discharge. Seems like a lot of people (mainly youtube and tacticool crowd) want to use it instead of AD.

Thanks, appreciate that. I'm not opposed to going shorter than 5" barrel. But, I built a 5" 2011 in 9mm with a bushing barrel probably 10 years ago and it shoots and runs fantastic. In fact, it's the best shooting 2011 I've ever had, including my own builds and several by SV. I don't think the added barrel length or weight really helps or hurts. But the gun does balance and handle well. And shoots like a .22 with 135pf loads. I think if you built one on an XWF frame or something big and heavy like that, all the extra weight would really be a detriment. Even a bull barrel 5" might be a bit much. But, there are lots of ways to get a good result. And I bet we'll see a lot of variations in slide/barrel configurations once this takes off.

+1 on the Power Custom fixture. It's been around forever and is still the best tool for the job. As for stones, hard Arkansas (white) has always been the standard for final polish.

Well, just to be clear, most so-called "one-piece" rods are not actually made from a single piece of steel. They're made from two pieces; a head and the rod part. But, they are supposed to stay together as one piece permanently. They're not supposed to come apart. A two-piece rod has threads in the center of it's length as well as a hex cutout in the forward end so it can be disassembled when the gun is taken down. I never said the two-piece design was better. Just that I've never had one fail, whereas I've seen one-piece rods break or come apart. And, that includes actual solid single-piece rods, like the oversized tungsten rod that Wilson used to sell. Had one of those crack in half.

This. Most tungsten rods have steel heads that thread into the tungsten portion. I've had and seen them snap at the threads, and also unscrew. Same for the plain steel rods.

Two piece guide rod works fine. Been using them for 30 years and never had one break, come apart, or fail in any way. Can't say the same for 1-piece rods. As for recoil springs, I thought 10# was stock for the 4.25" guns. Also, a Commander spring is way longer than the stock Springfield spring in OAL. But I didn't measure the wire diameter or number of coils, so I'm not sure what the stack height is vs. the stock spring.

I'll do a drawing with all the critical measurements when I get around to this. Just don't know when that's going to be because I'm committed to shooting Limited for the summer at least, so LO gun is not a priority at the moment.

For my work bench, I welded up a frame from 2" square 11g tubing with leveling feet and 2"x24"x72" maple butcher block top from McMaster-Carr. Reloading bench is wood framed bolted to the wall with a 24"x12' top made from a double layer of 3/4" birch plywood.

Gonna check this out at NRA show in a couple of weeks. If anyone has something specific they want me to check or ask, let me know.

If that's your MO, I'd say your target audience is more likely to be on grindr.

Thanks. Grip is bare titanium (old style Phoenix Trinity) and the rest is black nitride by H&M. With the short barrel and light grip, the gun is really light. It handles great, and with minor pf, recoil is a non-issue.

Good practice with 1911/2011 is to keep your thumb on the underside of the safety when your holstering. That way, there's no way the safety is off until the gun is in the holder and you take your hand away.

See 2 below: red herring noun 1 : a herring cured by salting and slow smoking to a dark brown color 2 [from the practice of drawing a red herring across a trail to confuse hunting dogs] : something that distracts attention from the real issue

Here's the first line of the abstract from the source you quoted: "Electron beam (EB) welding can efficiently join large-scale components using one single autogenous pass, but it still faces challenges associated with weld-induced distortion and stress." Like I said, not sure how this approach is an improvement over traditional methods. Just because it's new or different doesn't mean it's better.

@Cam73 thanks for the info, very helpful. Also for the 74 degree cutter source. I did see your build and looks very nice. I have a Prodigy and will do a drawing off of that eventually. Just need to find the time. @aandabooks Good idea on the rotary table. The thought did cross my mind, but I don't have one, and don't have access to one. Also, I can't remember ever using one, so it would probably be more trouble than it's worth. If that radius was critical, I'd look into it. But, since it's not, I'll just do it by hand.

It's not clear from the photos and description that they are doing full penetration welds. I assumed not, but could be wrong. If they are doing full penetration welds, does a 1/4" or more deep laser weld not generate enough heat to cause distortion?

Built this as a range toy before LO was announced. Still haven't decided if I'm going to shoot LO this year, or stick with Limited. If I go to LO, I'll probably build something similar with a 5" barrel and SRO.

Yeah, it's really just that outside radius on the center ridge. And like you both stated, it probably doesn't really matter anyway. Think I'll just machine it square, or do a series of cuts around the perimeter, then finish it by hand with a file. Re: the angle cut at the rear, I have 60 and 65 degree dovetail cutters. Hoping it's one of those. Anyway, I appreciate the input.

Anyone have suggestions on how to do this cut on a manual mill? Specifically, the ridge in the center? Also, anyone know where to find a drawing with the dimensions?

The downside is that it's still two pieces, and there are mating surfaces that aren't fused together via welding. That makes for a significantly weaker part. Also, there's zero issues with machining when it comes to conventional/one piece receivers. So, despite their claims, in no way is this comparable, let alone superior.