Nemo Posted April 5, 2005 Share Posted April 5, 2005 After a year or so of been singlestackless, I'm putting together an older Springfield loaded 45. The S&A mag guide is installed and would like to know how much can I open the magwell's mouth in the blending/contouring process. Pics would be most useful. Thanx guys & gals! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XRe Posted April 5, 2005 Share Posted April 5, 2005 Check out BlindHogg: http://blindhogg.com/gunsmith/magwell.html I did mine quite carefully with a Dremel to grind down the bulk, followed by careful filing w/ mill, triangle, and round files of various sizes and cuts, and then finished up with Cratex bits in the dremel. I refinished w/ Birchwood Casey Super Blue, which seems to have matched the finish on my Trojan pretty closely. With that said - I have some tool marks left over (nothing heinous, but they're there), and I'm sure that a proper effort with a mill could get it wider. But, it's a lot better than it was Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirtypool40 Posted April 5, 2005 Share Posted April 5, 2005 I've seen some REALLY opened up, and I would like to do that next time I get one. Hell, I don't mind blending into the frame, the damn thing is never going to be used without the S&A so grind away!!!! BTW, you guys need to hassle "HARDBALL" about putting together the next Florida Single Stack, so we all have a place to shoot these things. I am willing to help as I can from down here, and plan my vacation home to shoot it. How about it Chris???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nemo Posted April 5, 2005 Author Share Posted April 5, 2005 Thanx a lot Dave! Did you blend it like the work on that Blind hog page or did you go extreme and really ate away from the frame? Like Eric said, I belive it could be done bigger. Blind Hog's work is very clean but somewhat conservative. At last year's A6, I saw a 1911 that was opened up BIG TIME (belonged to a shooter named Chuck and the guy was awesome with that skinnygun!). Anyway, let's see how brave I get with this or if I chicken out and decide to pay for a pro to do it. Any takers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XRe Posted April 5, 2005 Share Posted April 5, 2005 I did mine a little deeper into the frame than that - but I wanted to leave some room for it to be cleaned up and enlarged further by someone with the proper experience and tooling - before I have the frame hardchromed eventually I don't know if my hole is the same or bigger, or??? It looks like neither of us (BlindHogg or me) changed the bottom dimensions of the magwell much.... It can defnitely be done bigger than what appears on the BlindHogg site - but that's a good example of how one might do it. I just emulated, but with hand tools.... Something tells me I should be catching a lot of crap for going after my gun w/ a Dremel, but..... I cleaned up and contoured the safety, and dehored the back of my slide (it bit the side of my right thumb) while I was at it. I used the Dremel grinder, then sandpaper and cratex on the safety, and emery cloth strips on the slide..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexmoney Posted April 5, 2005 Share Posted April 5, 2005 Benos has his single stack opened up pretty good...as seen in the book http://brianenos.com/pages/reviews.html#be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XRe Posted April 5, 2005 Share Posted April 5, 2005 Page 41. His is opened up a little more than mine - especially in the back... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duane Thomas Posted April 6, 2005 Share Posted April 6, 2005 Anyway, let's see how brave I get with this or if I chicken out and decide to pay for a pro to do it. The S&A is my favorite singlestack mag funnel, primarily because it's a big oval as opposed to the flat sided mag funnels, like the Wilson for instance, which don't give you nearly as large a (potential) hole to hit. You can open the S&A all the way out to the contours of the funnel all the way around. However I STRONGLY suggest you have a professional do the work. Unless you're an extremely skilled metalworker it's just way too easy to trash the frame's mag well opening. And I say that as a guy whose Wilson gun is currently in California having Bruce Gray repair my own egregious hack job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XRe Posted April 6, 2005 Share Posted April 6, 2005 Thanks, Duane That's exactly why I went "half way" :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duane Thomas Posted April 6, 2005 Share Posted April 6, 2005 Never half way! Always go all the way - or rather, let your trained professional do it for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XRe Posted April 6, 2005 Share Posted April 6, 2005 yeah, eventually Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rising Sight Posted April 6, 2005 Share Posted April 6, 2005 XRe, can you post a picture of the job you did? I am a machinist and feel very comfortable with making the cuts that need to be made. I would just like to see what the blueing looks like when its done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XRe Posted April 6, 2005 Share Posted April 6, 2005 XRe, can you post a picture of the job you did? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Heh - I've been "reloading" to it a bit. Its already getting a little chewed. Skills are, well, rusty But, yeah, I'll get something up for you tomorrow - kinda tired right now, and heading to bed.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nemo Posted April 6, 2005 Author Share Posted April 6, 2005 Since the gun is at a friends in MO, I've decided to get it to a pro (Rich Dettelhouser) to do the work. One of these days I'll get another 1911 just to play with. Thank you all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XRe Posted April 6, 2005 Share Posted April 6, 2005 Here are some pics... note, anything that's silver is me f'ing up reloads (why I was doing it w/ an empty mag, I don't know.... round at the top makes those single stack mags a lot easier to get in).... But, you can get an idea of the color. Its pretty close, for being cold blue and all. [attachme t=456:attachment] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Burwell Posted April 6, 2005 Share Posted April 6, 2005 I prefer to start it like shown on blind hog then open the S&A out to its edges, like this.... Magwell Pic Sorry for the lousy detail compressed it too much and don't have the time to fix it right now. Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheldon Posted May 22, 2005 Share Posted May 22, 2005 After a year or so of been singlestackless, I'm putting together an older Springfield loaded 45.The S&A mag guide is installed and would like to know how much can I open the magwell's mouth in the blending/contouring process. Pics would be most useful. Thanx guys & gals! <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I used a cheapo set of needle files. The disadvantage in them is they remove metal really slow, but that is also the advantage as well......do it depends on how steady a hand you are. I tried to max out the filing with mine and liked the results though it is tough to keep a straight line on the back where it's rounded on one side and flat on the other. I did the 20 lpi checkering as well as squaring up the frontstrap too. I would like to bead blast it all to make it match the finish of the rest of the frame, but have no access to a blast cabinet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rising Sight Posted May 22, 2005 Share Posted May 22, 2005 Sheldon, That has got to be the most open singlestack magwell that I have ever seen. I had mine done by Tripp Research when they hardchromed my gun. I told them to open mine up as much as possible,wish I had a picture of yours to send them so they could have tried to duplicate that. Nice work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexmoney Posted May 22, 2005 Share Posted May 22, 2005 Who would have thought that you could open up the magwell on a single-stack? Limited-10 will never be the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFD Posted May 22, 2005 Share Posted May 22, 2005 I've opened up mine almost like Sheldon (great job), but I didn't angle back quite as much as him at the back of the magwell. Time to fire up the Dremel again Brian's written description of opening up the magwell in "the book" is great, but the pic he provides is worth 1000 words. It really helped me get my Kimber up to speed for L-10. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duane Thomas Posted May 24, 2005 Share Posted May 24, 2005 Sheldon, Man, I should have asked you to do the mag well on my Wilson gun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheldon Posted May 24, 2005 Share Posted May 24, 2005 Sheldon,Man, I should have asked you to do the mag well on my Wilson gun! <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I don't see why they can't just be made that way by S&A. It was fun doing it myself...and thanks for all the compliments!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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