Recent 1911 Kits

[RGC]

I know this was a topic 5 or so years ago, but am wondering if there are recent offerings.

Really just looking for quality barrel/slide/frame fitment.  I am fairly adept at building from that point as I no longer have larger fitment tools, but have a plethora of SV/EGWEtc parts ready for a build out.

Any current providers experiences?

[zzt]

I wouldn't bother with a 'kit'.  Instead I would contact JEM guns and talk to Ed.  His 1911 receivers, 2011 frames and slides are the best I've ever worked with.  If you buy a slide and frame/receiver from him he will machine fit the slide to an interference fit for $30.  The slide will go on and you can move it back and forth but it will not function.  You have to burnish it in.  Slather it with motor oil and run the slide back and forth 200 times and you are done.  For another #30 he will do that for you.  It will be smooth as silk with no play anywhere.

 

I sent him a barrel blank for my last build.  It was a Trubore blank with custom comp cuts.  I didn't want to fit a gunsmith barrel by hand, so he did it for me, including linking and timing.  He charges $75/hr for that work.  He also angled the front of the slide so the comp would clear.  When he sent the short block back I was really impressed.  I didn't have to refinish a thing.  The total work I had to do to the frame was to ream the TS safety holes to remove small burrs and let the sleeve for the EGW ambi safety to slip fit in.  All the other EGW internals dropped right in and needed no tweaking.  I had to fit the X-Line trigger to the Cheely e2 grip and blend the Cheely GS to the grip and frame.  No surprise I had to fit the TS, because EGW leaves a lot of material on.

 

The slide was easier.  I deburred everything, broke the edges and dropped everything in.  The EGW HD extractor came pretuned ( a first for me ) and the Cheely FPS slipped right in.  Honestly the slide was finished in less than 5 minutes.

 

If you are building a 1911, make sure to buy the JEM GS and MSH.  You can blend them, if needed, with a strip of emery cloth.

[RGC]

Thanks zzt!

Great info and gave me more to ponder!

[Norther]

Probably not what you’re looking for, but I took a Stealth Arms 80% kit, complete with their Phantom jig, in a trade deal I couldn’t pass up. I had my doubts going into it, but it went together really well. Better fitment than a lot of factory guns. Other than the frame work, everything dropped in and ran. 

[JDJ2810]

On 12/31/2018 at 2:16 PM, zzt said:

I wouldn't bother with a 'kit'.  Instead I would contact JEM guns and talk to Ed.  His 1911 receivers, 2011 frames and slides are the best I've ever worked with.  If you buy a slide and frame/receiver from him he will machine fit the slide to an interference fit for $30.  The slide will go on and you can move it back and forth but it will not function.  You have to burnish it in.  Slather it with motor oil and run the slide back and forth 200 times and you are done.  For another #30 he will do that for you.  It will be smooth as silk with no play anywhere.

 

I sent him a barrel blank for my last build.  It was a Trubore blank with custom comp cuts.  I didn't want to fit a gunsmith barrel by hand, so he did it for me, including linking and timing.  He charges $75/hr for that work.  He also angled the front of the slide so the comp would clear.  When he sent the short block back I was really impressed.  I didn't have to refinish a thing.  The total work I had to do to the frame was to ream the TS safety holes to remove small burrs and let the sleeve for the EGW ambi safety to slip fit in.  All the other EGW internals dropped right in and needed no tweaking.  I had to fit the X-Line trigger to the Cheely e2 grip and blend the Cheely GS to the grip and frame.  No surprise I had to fit the TS, because EGW leaves a lot of material on.

 

The slide was easier.  I deburred everything, broke the edges and dropped everything in.  The EGW HD extractor came pretuned ( a first for me ) and the Cheely FPS slipped right in.  Honestly the slide was finished in less than 5 minutes.

 

If you are building a 1911, make sure to buy the JEM GS and MSH.  You can blend them, if needed, with a strip of emery cloth.

 

I will definatley be looking into them.