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Looking for a good gunsmith to rebuild a 1911


LegionShooter

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Looking for a recommendation for a good smith to rebuild a 1911 from the ground up essentially. I have a Kimber TLE II that I originally bought in early 2005. It has been used pretty heavily, though only about 5k round count. Several years ago it was used as a test gun for our armorers to practice on and they replaced springs, did a trigger job, some polishing, and a Duracoat (I think) refinish. I decided a few months ago that I wanted it stripped to the bare metal and completely rebuilt so I got it as far as completely stripped of parts, except the sights, and that's where it sits today. Need a good gunsmith that can strip the finish off, tighten slide to frame fit, and rebuild it with good forged internals, new sights, and a new finish job. I have a couple local ones that I'm still waiting on email replies from but I don't mind sending the frame and slide out either. Thanks.

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The two I usually use for stuff like that is Ortiz Custom in Savannah, GA and Lone Star Innovations in TX. Both are very fast on things like that and very reasonable prices. Both can do a variety of finishes in-house (Cerakote, Hydrographics, etc.) and all the work has been awesome from both of them. If you decide to send it out, I would contact one of them.

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I see you are in Clarksville. Have you thought about Steve at Rose Action Sports? Steve has done some great work on shotguns for me, and I have heard his pistol work is just as good if not better. I mention him because he is somewhat local (Pembroke area). On a case-by-case basis he is also comfortable with you stopping by to talk about what you want done with the gun.

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I see you are in Clarksville. Have you thought about Steve at Rose Action Sports? Steve has done some great work on shotguns for me, and I have heard his pistol work is just as good if not better. I mention him because he is somewhat local (Pembroke area). On a case-by-case basis he is also comfortable with you stopping by to talk about what you want done with the gun.

I hadn't heard of him, I guess I'll have to take a look. Thanks for the heads up.

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I second Cheely and I don't even own one of his pistols. Not only is his quality there but he has excellent customer service. And in my opinion, its the customer service that separates gunsmiths.

I haven't contacted him yet to find out the lead time but I will. I have one of his pistols as my Limited gun. Waited almost 13 months for it and it was worth the wait. And you're right about good service, that guy is all over it.

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Nice to see another Clarksville shooter. Check out Calhoun Custom as well. He shoots with us down in Dickson and does some excellent work. Don't know if he does refinishing but hey as been very responsive for me and I've seen his work in person. It just works.

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I see you are in Clarksville. Have you thought about Steve at Rose Action Sports? Steve has done some great work on shotguns for me, and I have heard his pistol work is just as good if not better. I mention him because he is somewhat local (Pembroke area). On a case-by-case basis he is also comfortable with you stopping by to talk about what you want done with the gun.

Steve is a great guy and does great work. He did some shotgun work for me a while back and I was very pleased. If you local to him, you should check him out.

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I would recommend talking to Rob Schauland at Alchemy Custom Weaponry. He has done some work for me on my SA 1911 and I am not only pleased with the work he did but also with the customer service. If you call him, he will spend time on the phone to discuss what you have, what you want, and give you options to achieve your goals. He also does not oversell parts or work. Highly recommended.

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Nice to see another Clarksville shooter. Check out Calhoun Custom as well. He shoots with us down in Dickson and does some excellent work. Don't know if he does refinishing but hey as been very responsive for me and I've seen his work in person. It just works.

I've shot with Tim, in fact he gave me my first ever DQ down there about a year ago...haha. Pete, the guy that runs the matches at Dickson runs one of his customs. I originally talked to him about milling the slide for a different rear site, but haven't talked to him yet about a full rebuild. I've heard all good things.

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Yep, so does Aaron. Check out his single stack next time you're down there. He had Tim mill the slide so his initials are in the rear cocking serrations.

I plan on having Tim ream my barrel for 10mm here soon. A good group of guys down there. From what I've heard Tim has been busy lately, but can catch up pretty quickly on small jobs.

Good luck on the rebuild. Hope to see you down in Dickson soon. Classifier match next weekend.

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