jmbaccolyte Posted March 15, 2014 Share Posted March 15, 2014 A really good 1911 smith advised me that it would be cheaper to just buy a 1911 in .40 than buy a new top end and get it fitted (barrel to the slide & bushing and slide to frame). I don't think that's true. I'm building a 40 slide for my 1911 and I priced it out at $600 without sights or springs (since I have spares). That's for a Caspian stainless slide with sight cuts already and a pre-fit Nowlin barrel. I will have to do any slide/frame and bushing/slide fitting myself but I could also send the parts to a gunsmiths for $200. Add the cost of sights and you're looking at $900 for a slide that uses your existing frame with any and all goodies/work you've put into it. Compare that to a Dawson CRP Trojan at $1235 and add the price of a trigger job, plus FFL fees. Seems like the slide is $400-$500 cheaper. Granted, you then have two guns instead of one, but personally I can only shoot one gun at a time. Jon- that's interesting. I guess I should have asked more questions when he said that. Too late now I guess, because I went Tanfoglio for .40 S&W. I'm loading to 10mm OALs and using 10mm mags. With only a recoil spring change, I can switch from minor power factor, to major pf and even stiff 10mm loads and with cheap brass. I bought both a steel framed Match for paper and a polymer framed "full size" for carry for a couple of hundred dollars less than a Dawson CRP Trojan. I still love the 1911 platform in .45 ACP (I haven't decided on a 9mm yet). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonSnow Posted March 15, 2014 Share Posted March 15, 2014 A really good 1911 smith advised me that it would be cheaper to just buy a 1911 in .40 than buy a new top end and get it fitted (barrel to the slide & bushing and slide to frame). I don't think that's true. I'm building a 40 slide for my 1911 and I priced it out at $600 without sights or springs (since I have spares). That's for a Caspian stainless slide with sight cuts already and a pre-fit Nowlin barrel. I will have to do any slide/frame and bushing/slide fitting myself but I could also send the parts to a gunsmiths for $200. Add the cost of sights and you're looking at $900 for a slide that uses your existing frame with any and all goodies/work you've put into it. Compare that to a Dawson CRP Trojan at $1235 and add the price of a trigger job, plus FFL fees. Seems like the slide is $400-$500 cheaper. Granted, you then have two guns instead of one, but personally I can only shoot one gun at a time. Jon- that's interesting. I guess I should have asked more questions when he said that. Too late now I guess, because I went Tanfoglio for .40 S&W. I'm loading to 10mm OALs and using 10mm mags. With only a recoil spring change, I can switch from minor power factor, to major pf and even stiff 10mm loads and with cheap brass. I bought both a steel framed Match for paper and a polymer framed "full size" for carry for a couple of hundred dollars less than a Dawson CRP Trojan. I still love the 1911 platform in .45 ACP (I haven't decided on a 9mm yet). Heresy! You speak blasphemy against your own forum name! In all seriousness, sounds like a good choice. My analysis above assumes you're trying to stay SSTK legal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChuckB Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 All I load is small pistol primer .45. I've ordered brass from BrassMan Brass a couple of times. They don't show it on their website but if you call and ask they have it. http://store.brassmanbrass.com/servlet/StoreFront Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmbaccolyte Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 (edited) A really good 1911 smith advised me that it would be cheaper to just buy a 1911 in .40 than buy a new top end and get it fitted (barrel to the slide & bushing and slide to frame). I don't think that's true. I'm building a 40 slide for my 1911 and I priced it out at $600 without sights or springs (since I have spares). That's for a Caspian stainless slide with sight cuts already and a pre-fit Nowlin barrel. I will have to do any slide/frame and bushing/slide fitting myself but I could also send the parts to a gunsmiths for $200. Add the cost of sights and you're looking at $900 for a slide that uses your existing frame with any and all goodies/work you've put into it. Compare that to a Dawson CRP Trojan at $1235 and add the price of a trigger job, plus FFL fees. Seems like the slide is $400-$500 cheaper. Granted, you then have two guns instead of one, but personally I can only shoot one gun at a time. Jon- that's interesting. I guess I should have asked more questions when he said that. Too late now I guess, because I went Tanfoglio for .40 S&W. I'm loading to 10mm OALs and using 10mm mags. With only a recoil spring change, I can switch from minor power factor, to major pf and even stiff 10mm loads and with cheap brass. I bought both a steel framed Match for paper and a polymer framed "full size" for carry for a couple of hundred dollars less than a Dawson CRP Trojan. I still love the 1911 platform in .45 ACP (I haven't decided on a 9mm yet). Heresy! You speak blasphemy against your own forum name! In all seriousness, sounds like a good choice. My analysis above assumes you're trying to stay SSTK legal. Is it heresy? John Moses started the Browning Hi-Power design before he died. And the CZ-75s and the Tanfoglios appear to be derivations of that JMB design. But, I don't claim to be an expert, at least not on this forum. Edited March 18, 2014 by jmbaccolyte Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
troupe Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 Dillion 550 for the 450 range, Rock Island 10mm in the 595 range. Here is a scenario. The 40 cal is shot and you are a hair off and score a clean C hit, but with the 45 you just touched the line and scored the A hit. Round count in the mags are the same and you are shooting a 180 in the 40 and a 185 in the 45. Physics at play, same bullet weight ? 45 is normally more accurate round ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmbaccolyte Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 troupe- You and the others have some very good points and might be perfect for the Original Poster. For me, I love the .45 ACP round, but usually shoot .40 because I spent a few minutes every three months for several years picking up truly once fired .40 brass, so I'm kind of locked into the .40. Free brass lets me spend more on bullets and in this economy, every little bit helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redbird1976 Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 I've done the conversion a couple of times. You'll need a complete. 40 upper which will run $700-800 depending on what parts and extra tools you'll have to buy. You'll need to thin the .45 ejector to be able it run the .40 slide on the .45 frame. You can also replace the ejector. If you like to tinker it's a fun project, but as others have said you'd likely be happier selling the .45 and buying the new 40. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcc7x7 Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 buy a bunch of sm primer 45 brass, a whole lot cheaper than a new top end. Not near as much fun though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jakobi Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 I'm going to be doing this with a Norinco I just bought. In the long run it would probably be cheaper just to buy a new gun but I like to tinker and will do pretty much all of my own gunsmithing. -Jake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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