Several 1911 Questions

[mikeyjones]

Have a few questions for the 1911 gurus out there.

I have a SA Loaded chambered in 45. I'd like to get a 40 SW slide built for it to play in Single Stack. Currently looking at some of the Caspian offerings.

Here are my questions:

1) If I have the 40 slide built and fitted to my frame, can I swap them back and forth or is the ejector different?

2) Does anything else in the frame have to be modified to fit the 40 barrel/slide?

3) Who are some of the better 1911 pistol smiths in the area? I'm fairly certain I don't want to just take it to a LGS.

4) If I have to ship, can it be returned to my house or must it go through FFL? Never had to send a gun back for repair.

Side note, from my research it would seem that I would have to load the 40 rather long to get reliable feeding, which isn't an issue. Just want to understand why that is.

Thanks in advance.

[GrumpyOne]

I can answer #4...No, you can ship it to and from a gunsmith without going through an FFL.

[ltdmstr]

1. Ejector, extractor, firing pin stop are different.

2. No.

3. Not sure on that.

4. If you send it to an FFL they can send it back. Does not have to go through an FFL.

Edited May 15, 2016 by ltdmstr

[mikeyjones]

1. Ejector, extractor, firing pin stop are different.

2. No.

3. Not sure on that.

4. If you send it to an FFL they can send it back. Does not have to go through an FFL.

For #1, since the ejector is different I take it I can't just swap them back and forth.

Also since shipping isn't an issue, who are some of the better 1911 smiths in general? Doesn't have to be in the area.

[ltdmstr]

On the ejector, it's really not that hard to do once the new one is fit. You just drive out a roll pin, swap the part, then put the roll pin back. Should be a 5 minute process.

[zzt]

1. yes, but. Typically the ejector for 9mm/38S/40 have a different profile than the one for 45. However, I'm almost certain you can shape one to work with 40 and 45. I've never tried it. Start with an oversized 45 ejector and reprofile from there.

2. no

3. I'm only familiar with some of the smiths around the Phila. area.

4. You are permitted to send your pistol directly to anyone who is performing "repair" services, without using an FFL. They can send it directly back to you.

The 1911 platform was designed around cartridges loaded to 1.250" OAL. That would be 45 ACP and 38 Super. The SAAMI length for 40sw is 1.135" Many on these forums say their 1911 will feed ammo down to 1.126" without any problem. Others say they have problems with anything shorter than 1.150". Most load to 1.180", because that is what custom Major ammo is loaded to for 2011 Limited pistols, and it works.

[mikeyjones]

3. I'm only familiar with some of the smiths around the Phila. area.

Thanks for your input. Who would you recommend? Like I said since shipping isn't an issue, I'm open to smiths anywhere. Plus Philly is only ~1hr away from me.

[magpulled]

Springfield could probably do it just as well as most custom shops and their probably cheaper with a fast turn around time. I had SA do some cuts on an RO last year and it was inexpensive and only took 2 weeks to get it back.

[mikeyjones]

Springfield could probably do it just as well as most custom shops and their probably cheaper with a fast turn around time. I had SA do some cuts on an RO last year and it was inexpensive and only took 2 weeks to get it back.

I'm sure SA does good work, but I'd honestly prefer something a little higher caliber. As much as I love my SA's they don't have that "gun on rails" feeling that some of the custom jobs I've handled do.

[DagoRed]

My bet is you're going to find it's better to either sell that one and get a 40 or buy a second 1911 in 40. Because when I went through the idea myself before it seems swapping tops on them may not be that easy a prospect and for what I'd have in a custom top wouldn't make it better than just buying one of the 40's on the market.

I have two SA 45's. I asked SA about a 40 upper (I didn't get pricing from anyone else) I can't remember the number but it was more than I paid for the gun. What caught my attention was she said they use a ramped barrel for their 40's. I did some more research and it seems like I'd either have to get a 40 top made without a ramped barrel, in which case to get it to feed the ramp on the frame might need massaging potentially affecting the 45 feeding, or also get the 45 barrel replaced w a ramped one after the frame was milled. Diminished the appeal of it for me enough I said screw it.

If I wasn't in California I'd sell the TRP and get a 40. For now I just shoot 45.

Red

[mikeyjones]

My bet is you're going to find it's better to either sell that one and get a 40 or buy a second 1911 in 40. Because when I went through the idea myself before it seems swapping tops on them may not be that easy a prospect and for what I'd have in a custom top wouldn't make it better than just buying one of the 40's on the market.

I have two SA 45's. I asked SA about a 40 upper (I didn't get pricing from anyone else) I can't remember the number but it was more than I paid for the gun. What caught my attention was she said they use a ramped barrel for their 40's. I did some more research and it seems like I'd either have to get a 40 top made without a ramped barrel, in which case to get it to feed the ramp on the frame might need massaging potentially affecting the 45 feeding, or also get the 45 barrel replaced w a ramped one after the frame was milled. Diminished the appeal of it for me enough I said screw it.

If I wasn't in California I'd sell the TRP and get a 40. For now I just shoot 45.

Red

Living in NJ, I have to have a permit for each pistol and can only buy 1 gun a month. Plus I'd like to be able to swap calibers if possible.

Have to talk to some smiths and see what the costs are.

[warpspeed]

What's wrong with shooting SS with 45 ACP ?

[mikeyjones]

What's wrong with shooting SS with 45 ACP ?

Nothing but I prefer 40.

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[zzt]

Mikey.., check out Gans Guns. http://www.gansguns.com/ You buy all the parts you like and send them to him for fitting/machining. Personally, I use George Scavello for all the machining and custom threading I can't do myself. First class work. Unfortunately, he is in the middle of a run of custom 1000 yard Match rifles that he designed and manufactures in house (every part). So I don't think he can be persuaded to take on any work right now.

Gans has a good reputation and his turn around time is quick. You might also talk to Dr. Nick at Mountain Competition Pistols. http://www.mountaincompetitionpistols.com/ He manufactures his own slides and frames to incredible tolerances. He uses precision ground tooling to make exactly 50 frames and 50 slides. Then he sells the cutters to other manufacturers rather than having them resharpened. That way he can be certain the 50th slide is dimensionaly identical to the 1st. If you can persuade him to put one of his slides on your gun, you will be ahead of the game, assuming he makes 40sw slides.

Some additional thoughts. Be careful of your expectations. You already have a pistol that is fitted and you don't want to wreck that. So the smith you chose will only be able to work on the slide. Without also "smoothing" the frame rails, I don't know if they'll get the buttery smooth feels you are looking for.

There are other considerations. If you use Dr. Nick's slide, you'll pay more for the slide than you did for your pistol. You may have trouble convincing any smith to do the work, because of the potential liability issue. You can certainly run 40sw in a not fully supported chamber, but you might "glock" your brass. That will require additional steps when reloading.

I did exactly what you are planning, but I did two top ends in 45. I set one up for bullseye and the other for action. Switching back and forth caused accelerated wear, so I sold the bullseye slide. I have two top ends for my Limited gun. One for Limited; the other for Open. I thought it a way to get into Open on the cheap. I should have learned, from the first time. I just bought a used Open gun, so I'll be selling the Open top end from the Limited gun.

You may have other reasons for not doing so, but my recommendation is to just buy another pistol. SA makes nice guns. If you want a big step up, look at the Dan Wesson guns. Or, possibly a Les Baer. Assuming I wasn't building my own 1911s, if I already owned a SA Loaded, I'd just buy another in 40 so everything would feel the same.

[warpspeed]

What's wrong with shooting SS with 45 ACP ?

Nothing but I prefer 40.

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I ask because I kinda went through the same exercise and couldn't find a good reason to choose 40 over 45.

But I get the preference thing.

[DagoRed]

I think the big advantage, other than a bit of $ per round, is guys that shoot 40 already in other divisions. No changing calibers on the press. So on.

I wanted to do it to save a bit of money. But I have the 45s and for as little as I shoot it won't be a difference I'd notice. I'd still love to have a trophy match in 40, I think they made them.

OP after you talk to smiths will you update us? I'm curious about it

Red