Single Stack Division/cdp 1911 Build

[Carlos]

In honor of the new provisional USPSA Single Stack division, I decided to complete a 1911 frame I had laying around for a few years. My goal was not to build the ultimate 1911, but rather to make use of what parts I had laying around or could beg/borrow/steal for little money & still come out with a working 1911 for the new division & CDP.

The frame: it is an old Safari Arms casting; the exterior shows many casting flaws and it looks like the illustrations in bullet casting manuals as to what happens when the mold is too hot; there are vein patterns on the sections of frame that have not been machined. It has the letter "D" stamped in the recoil guide rod well; I suspect it was a frame that was rejected as "defective" due to the cosmetic flaws. This is going to take a bunch of elbow grease to get into shape!

The slide: a good friend & amatuer gunsmith (who wishes to remain anonymous) volunteered an old Brazilian military slide purchased from Sarco some time back. The slide was suspposed to have faint military roll marks but this one had been stripped of rust (there were occasional pits) and possibly belt-sanded, then re-parkerized; there are NO marks anywhere on this thing. Also, the bore is well tapped out & will require an oversized bushing.

Also, the military front sight will need to go, and the front & rear will both have to be dove tailed for appropriate sights. I have a take-off Novak sight I found at a gunshow for $5; I might re-finish & use it for the rear; I also have an LPA / Mec-Gar Italian adjustable rear (bo mar copy) that would work. A sight blank thinned to .090 should for for the front. Also, the ejection port will have to be lowered & beveled. Now that I write it all down, this seems like a lot of work. Am I crazy not to just buy a Springfield? No, this will be more of a challenge (if it works). Stay tuned,

D.

[rack&roll]

Go for it! Looks like fun. You will really enjoy it if you build it yourself. Makes me want to find a slide to mate with an Essex frame I have laying around. God knows I have enough spare parts to build 3 1911's! I even have an older Jarvis drop-in, threaded bull barrel, with trick bushing to install. No fitting required! Keep us informed of your SS project. Thanks.

Larry

[G+16]

Go for it!  Looks like fun.  You will really enjoy it if you build it yourself.  Makes me want to find a slide to mate with an Essex frame I have laying around.  God knows I have enough spare parts to build 3 1911's!  I even have an older Jarvis drop-in, threaded bull barrel, with trick bushing to install.  No fitting required!  Keep us informed of your SS project.  Thanks.

Larry

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Go with the parts they do seem to grow sitting in a box, have fun with it

mike

[Chuck D]

Just a suggestion...

Way back when (mid '80's) I purchased 3 Safari Arms frames for various projects. When the first one was being worked on...the 'smith discovered the slide stop pin hole to be machined in the wrong spot. Ditto with the hammer pin hole. After MUCH arguing with the factory. They were all returned for a refund. I would suggest that you check the pin locations especially with the "D" stamping on the frame...it may stand for a bit more than defects in the finish.

Your frame may be o.k. but I would check it before you start.

[Carlos]

Thanks Larry & Mike!

Chuck- thanks for the heads up; once my sear arrives, I will put it & my hammer on some transfer punches & see how far off the holes are; this thread might just generate a spin off: "Carlos teaches himself to weld" (i'd rather shoot than weld. How much are completed frames again? ).

I made some progress this morning on the stainless mainspring housings (MSH) you can buy from CDNN for 17 bucks. They arrive in this condition:

The checkering is either molded in or rolled on; either way, its crap & needed to be pointed up with a checkering file:

The number of lines per inch (LPI) on this thing did not quite match any of the layout checkering files so I used a finishing checkering file from Brownells. The stainless cut easily & I think it turned out OK, certainly better than it was.

The other really big job for today was fitting the slide. 1911 slides & frames are oversize and must be either machined, filed, or lapped to fit each other (sometimes all 3). In every case, lapping with some sort of grinding compound(s) is required. I used 2 grades of valve grinding compound; in the past I have used Clover brand compound or Flitz/JB and oil. It can be a laborious process & this frame was a lot of work for fit. The slide is incredibly hard steel; the frame less so. Most of the steel came off the frame. The fit came out very tight laterally & torsionally; there is more vertical play than I would like as a result of my machining the rails in the frame to maximum vertical dimension. Slide runs back & forth very smooth.

Until next week, C.

[Carlos]

Lets try that again:

[.40AET]

It's starting to come together nicely. Hopefully the pins work out well. I have a friend who ownes a welding shop and one of the guys shoots. If you need anything done, let me know.

[Carlos]

Thanks AET! I added the trigger & it was a donated part from a friend. Well, you mostly get what you pay for & this trigger needed help! The shoe was very loose on the bow. To tighten up the trigger, much peening was needed. Not pretty, but effective and the part that was peened will not be visible once the trigger is installed.

Once tight, I tried it in the gun and it would not fit into the casting; there was excess metal that I had to remove with a fine Nicholson file. Next, I decided to lower the ejection port. For this, I used my bench-top mini milling machine. These mills are capable of completing nearly every machining chore on a 1911. They will cut sight dovetails, flat top slides, trim rails, cut bridges for ramped barrels, etc. and yes- they also lower ejection ports. I knew that the steel from which the slide was made was very very hard so I opted for a carbide cutter rather than risking a regular high speed steel mill.

Please excuse the fact that the photo is rotated 90 degrees to the left; if you just cock you head to the left side or place your monitor on its right side, you will get a more realistic view.

After milling away at the port, I could either bevel the port with a dovetail cutter or do the bevel by hand with a different carbide cutter; I opted for the latter. This saved time & did not risk my expensive dovetail cutter on this hard steel.

D.C. Johnson

[Bear1142]

Doug,

Had I seen this thread early enough, I would have advised you against it. You know the saying about making "chicken salad out of chickensh*t, but it looks like you're well along your way. I've got some spare 1911 parts laying around. Send me a list of things you need and I'll see if I've got anything for you.

Erik

[BrianH]

I bought a Safari Arms frame off a gunsmith years ago that was a second. The prob. with THAT one was the plunger tube holes were slightly mislocated....it still worked, though. I rounded off the trigger hook and thinned down the finger groove. That turned into this one....

Carry Comp

[Carlos]

Erik - thanks very much; PM inbound. Actually I had not heard the saying about making "chicken salad out of chickensh*t, " - but I did have in the back of my mind "silk purse? Sows ear?" - I am going for "silk purse" (like Brian's) but not expecting a miracle; just a shooter & piece with a personal touch.

Brian - excellent work as always; your gun's trigger gaurd looks a little like STI built it . Thanks for the heads up on the casting's plunger tube (will add that to the list of possible defects).

I guess I have become spoiled by working with STI and SV frames; in contrast to this casting, the CNC'd frames from S_I are so close to dimensionally perfect that parts are nearly drop in with minimal fitting required. In contrast, the old Brazilian slide & this casting took MUCH more work to lap together than any S_I ever has. Have not yet begun the work on fitting the bushing but I am hoping to find an oversize+ bushing in order to make this thing shoot the way I expect.

I liked the way the MSH turned out so much that I have decided to use it. However, what is a custom competition 1911 without a mag well? The best single stack magwell I have used is the Smith & Alexander but that is integral to the MSH; I will have to resort to a Wilson (sourced one used, on the internet, for $10). Fitting it tight & keeping it tight will be a challenge. Can't do any furhter work until Sat. due to the monthly Shooters Paradise club match & the Sunday GSSF; Team Shooters Paradise GSSF lives on.

Regards,

D.C. Johnson

[pisgahrifle]

Don't fear the little Wilson chute. I've used one for a while with a S&A arched housing with no problems insofar as fit is concerned. I think the key may be inletting the stocks just as little as possible so they hold the ears tight. Of course I use wood stocks, so this makes the process a bit easier. YMMV.

[Carlos]

Few more steps taken: I started fitting the grip safety. I believe that this is a Brown memory grove left unused from a previous build; it was not even close as far as a match to the frame which I attribute to the casting, not the safety. A lot of blending has been required to get this thing to fit as it should:

Also fitted & blended are the ambi thumb safeties. I will not be able to cut the internal lug until I have the sear to install. The sear and brand new barrel are on order but I will have to wait until after a friend returns from the Worlds to pick them up. (really hoping the holes are in the right place on this thing).

Of course the odd brownish tinge to whatever finish is on this thing will be removed & replaced - most likely with manganese phosphate parkerizing (see my other thread on black park) along with the non stainless parts of the gun.

The stainless Wilson mag well showed up in nearly 100% condition (thanks Todd) and it should fit well (pun intended) though I will have to do significant blending to make the transition 100% seamless. The fit is not perfect; there is a slight gap b/t the frame & chute that will be tough to correct (oversize bushings maybe??) but will address that later.

More work to follow.

Regards,

D.C. Johnson

[Merlin Orr]

"For this, I used my bench-top mini milling machine. These mills are capable of completing nearly every machining chore on a 1911. They will cut sight dovetails, flat top slides, trim rails, cut bridges for ramped barrels, etc. and yes- they also lower ejection ports."

Carlos

What type, model and brand is your mini mill? Sounds like a great piece of equipment to have.

[Flexmoney]

I started a new thread for the mill talk. I've been wanting to have a thread on the topic anyway, and Carlos' posts are a good place to start.

http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=26965

[iweiny]

"For this, I used my bench-top mini milling machine. These mills are capable of completing nearly every machining chore on a 1911. They will cut sight dovetails, flat top slides, trim rails, cut bridges for ramped barrels, etc. and yes- they also lower ejection ports."

Carlos

What type, model and brand is your mini mill?  Sounds like a great piece of equipment to have.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Better yet; web page?

Ira

[Carlos]

Even though my project was on hold for the World Shoot & the remaining parts are still on order, I managed to do some more work on this project.

I was so pleased with the results of pointing up the MSH checkering, I decided to checker the front strap to match the MSH. Checkering files from Brownells come in 2 general types: 1) layout files that cut several parallel lines at once and 2) finishing or pointing up files like the one pictured above that works just one line at a time.

The layout files make lines based on a fixed distance between lines & result in common checkering patterns such as the common 20 lines per inch or LPI. They can be used for making either serrations or checkering.

I did not use a jig but rather a vice with aluminum jaws. The vice jaw face serves as a vertical guide for the 1st line or lines that can just barely be seen taking a little depth in this photo:

After laying down the initial guide line, the work is raised up in the vice & each subsequent line is based on the initial line. Here you can see the back of the double sided layout file & my fingers putting even, straight, steady pressure on the file:

Yes, that is duct tape wrapped around my fingers. Checkering files cut steel & will do a real number on your skin; hence, the tape treatment.

Here is another photo showing how far I got before my hands, wrists, elbows & back made me call it a day; this stuff is hard work! The top of the work needs clean-up but effectively, the front strap is now serrated:

[Carlos]

Parts still not in, though I did borrow a .699 Brown barrel bushing & was loose as all get out. The indise of this slide is looking like approx. .7045" & will certainly need an oversize bushing; this slide is right on the edge of being unserviceable (part of the fun is getting this collection parts to not only work, but hopefully work well).

Without more parts to fit, I kept machining the parts I have; I had planned to flat top this slide from the start. Flat topping takes a little bit of weight out of the slide & is alloed in the new single stack rules. It also provides a flat sighting plane (even though you do not see it looking over sights) that will be non-reflective on this gun. Due to the finish I am planning, there is no need to serrate the surface.

First step is to level the slide perfectly to the head of the mill; to do this I use a dial test indicator which is a precision measuring device w/ about 40 thousandths of travel & a stylus that travels on jewels like a watch. The slide is moved back & forth under the indicator & adjusted until there is no movement on the dial:

The GI front sight is still there in the photo & was easier to just mill it out of the way. The tool I used is one of my favorites; it is a facing end mill with replaceable inserts; these happen to be carbide inserts that cost between $5 to $10 each. Fortunately, they have 4 usuable sides. However, since I borrod this from an friend & the cutting surface was free of nicks or chips, I decided not to switch to a fresh cutting surface. That was a mistake as it left a far more rough surface than usual; the inserts were dull. Here is the tool actually spinning though it looks still:

With a tool this large, the mill speed must be set very slow. To give you an idea of how slow, when it is cutting, its about the speed of the slow cyclic rate of the Browning .50 cal machine guns our brave troops are using in the fighting in Afganistan and Iraq; imagine the sounds from TV: chunk-chunk-chunk (etc).

I took .005" per pass with this tool once I reached the top of the slide. I usually take off about .040" (8 passes) but for this project I only took .030 as I am not out for a super competitive "trick" gun in a class that is supposed to be a level playing field. Truth is, it was more for aesthetic reasons.

Because it came out more rough than anticipated, it required quite a bit of smoothing out using fine sand paper attached to a glass plate (perfectly flat - or close enough to flat).

Here is a picture of the gun to date with a few parts hung on it as it takes shape:

Also slightly visible is the $10 Mag well thanks to the 1911forum.com and the $14 gunshow hammer that will be a project in itself to make work.

More work to follow.

Regards,

D.C. Johnson

[Kingman]

Looking like a project. Though I have some going on.

[Harmon]

neat, what kind of barrel do you plan to use, KKM 45 barrels are nice and cheap..

[Carlos]

Update:

I ordered a Clark custom bushing barrel and (having never used a Clark before) was surprised when it showed up as a 6" barrel. Did I put down the wrong number out of the Brownells catalog?

No. Turns out Clark makes all its barrels in 6". Simply trim to fit if its for use in a 5" & re-crown.

Ordinarily, I could use the lathe at Phil Strader's former business, Shooters Paradise. However, about 4 months back, the ceiling of the gunsmith shop collapsed. The shop was a room located behind the bullet trap. When the bullet trap was upgraded for indoor rifle use, the backstop material (shredded rubber) began accumulating and eventually . . . No lights, no cieling and a thick coating of lead dust over everything including the lathe. Tonight I showed up & the lathe was gone, sold off to the highest bidder by the new owners. I will not be doing any barrel shortening on this project.

So, I agreed to buy a Briliey. Payment has been sent & it should be here in a couple of weeks.

The STI barrel bushing I have is oversize enough to fit (.704) and most all parts have arrived. More to follow after the sectional this weekend.

Regards,

D.C. Johnson

[rack&roll]

Please hurry, this is getting real interesting! Nothing gets my blood pumping like a good single stack build.

Larry

[Flexmoney]

Carlos,

I brought my barrel chopping thread up to date for you: http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=7340

Don't wait. Get to cutting!

[Carlos]

Thanks Flex! Just got back from 1st day of the very very soggy sectional; this will be an interesting weekend of RO'ing, mud sliding, etc.

As for cutting that Clark to fit, believe it or not, I considered cutting the barrel close to length (saws all, metal cutting band saw, whatever is handy & cuts close to square) & then fixing it in a set of precision V blocks, milling the end of the barrel square to the outside of the barrel. If the outside of the barrel is perfectly parallel to the bore and the set up is sufficiently rigid, then this will theoretically work nearly as well as trimming on the lathe.Even if not "crowned", such a barrel may well shoot from what I understand. However, were I to go this route, I would then cut a new crown using a tradition piloted crown cutter instead of cutting the crown on a lathe Call me particular for crowning. Actually, it would make the guy I'd borrow the crowning tool from feel better about spending his $$$.

However, the Briley is on the way & should be a lot less work. Besides, with the calls to "get this project going", the Briley should get me back on track as soon as next weekend.

Thanks for the link. Regards,

D.C. Johnson

Edited October 8, 2005 by Carlos

[Carlos]

Some progress as well as a few setbacks; here is the Briley before fitting the hood (th 1st step in fitting the barrel to the gun):

1911 barrels come with oversized hoods because the fit of the hood into the slide is slightly different between every gun. Just the lapping ot the slide can introduce slight variations into how the slide and fram fit together and thus, where the barrel will be centered. The tight centering of the barrel in the slide means that the barrel will be centered and thus, more accurate.

Many sources recommend a centering block that is the exact inside width of the slide and will hold the barrel in place to measure how much each side of the hood must be trimmed.

I was taught & prefer a different method. With the slide on the gun, I slide the barrel in until it is centered by the frame and also by the slide; then I gauge how much to remove from each side of the hood.

At this point, I was set to fit the bushing when I made two disappointing discoveries. First, the Briley barrel differs from other 1911 barrels in that it is a uniform diameter over its length. Usually, a bushing barrel is thickest at the front but very slighty relieved thereafter for proper functioning with a traditional bushing. This Briley was apparently made witht he spherical Briley bushing in mind (what a surprise). Why couldn't I have checked that last week when the barrel arrived & I had time to get the right bushing?

The second discovery was something I knew was present before I ever heard about this barrel: ask any locksmith and they will tell you that no machined surface is perfect. This fact is what makes their business possible (opening locks without a key). Barrels are no exception; every barrel has some slight variation and no two are alike. This barrel's (though brand new) slight imperfection is a visible indentation ring just ahead of the chamber. At first I thought it might have been a slightly oversized pilot on the factory short chamber reamer, but the ring is present accross both the lands & grooves. More likely culprit was the rifling button. It is extemely slight, though it can be seen.

As slight as it is, will it affect accuracy? Dunno. Only one way to tell & that is to build the gun & test fire it. I do not know this barrel's history but if it was prize table booty, it would not be the 1st 1911 part I have seen that had some slight variation to it.

Since there would be no fitting of a bushing, I turned to the slide & rear sight. I found a take-off Heinie rear sight at a gun show for $5. At the time I thought "clever me!" Well, I was not feeling so clever last night when I discovered that its probably a Heinie made for a Smith and Wesson. It will not look as erfect as I had hoped from an asthetic standpoint, but when viewed from behind the gun (where I most often look at my sights), it will look just fine (more on that later). Oh well, it will still fit if I measure & cut the dovetail for it properly.

First step was to mill off the rear of the of the slide to provide a space for the rear portion of the sight. Here is the slide in the mill & leveled:

Notice the tape? In the next photo, you will notice the finished cut seems ever so slightly un-even front to back (actually side-to side if you were pointing the gun straight ahead):

I was perplexed since I had checked with a dial test indicator (pictured in a previous thread) and found less than a thou run-out over 4" of travel lengthwise (when viewed from the side), but I did not check front to back because I assumed the vice was properly trammed. So how did the slide end up catawampus to the cutter? Remember the tape? Removing the tape and checking the tram with a 1-2-3 block (basically a near-perfect steel rectangle) proved that the vice was indeed trammed and that the tape had caused the problem.

Fortunately, I discovered the tape problem & removed it before the next step: cutting the dove-tail which must be cut as true as possible. I re-leveled the slide and checked it in both directions of travel this time.

The dove-tail cutter is brittle carbide and will easily break if not spun at the right speed; here, the mini-mill could be a little more precise. Just like the degree settings on your kitchen stove are approximates, so it it with the mini-mill's speed estimations. Fortunately, I approximated the correct speed (roughly 700 ro 800 RPM) and the cutter survived. I also used an extemely slow feed rate and plenty of cutting oil. Here is a photo of the dovetail cut about 1/2 complete (notice vice is sans-tape):

Finally, the sight needed some time consuming modifications to fit properly, but it ended up as a near perfect fit and with the base very close to the flat top I previously cut into the slide. Here is the gun with its new rear sight and a few more parts fitted to date; completion & test fire day is getting closer.

Also pictured is a Blade Tech Kydex holster I bought for this gun. Still need magazines and I will most likely go with some Wilson 47Ds (thanks for everyone's input on magazines). This week I am off to Las Vegas for some much needed R&R & will have to put the project on hold for a few.

Regards,

D.C. Johnson

Edited October 24, 2005 by Carlos