My First 1911 Build

[Matt Cheely]

It all depends on how good of parts you get, and how close you can cut them before you start lapping. I've had them take 45 minutes all the way to probably 3 hours.

[want2race]

3 hours with new frame and slide (Caspian/STI) is typical for most I do.

[CSEMARTIN]

I fit the bushing to the slide last night. It's an EGW oversized bushing. The O.D. of the barrel is .580, and the I.D. of the bushing is .565. (I'll double check to make sure those numbers are accurate).

I'm concerned about the 15 thousandths difference. How should I fit this? I'm concerned that this is too much meat to tackle with a reamer.

[HSMITH]

Slide to frame fits take me 3-5 hours, and I don't care. It takes as long as it takes to get it right, and nothing else will suffice. I could machine fit them like a lot of people do and crank out the same quality in 15-20 minutes like they do, but I have no desire to do that....

Put that bushing in the box marked 'experience' and order the angle bore bushing you need from EGW. I buy each bushing custom made, .002 under and over respectively, then fit them exactly. For a competition gun the fit in the slide will be 'no way in hell is it coming out without a wrench and slide hammering it out of the slide'. It is a rock solid fit, no movement at all in ANYTHING. The nice thing about the angle bore is that you don't need any 'clearance' like you do with a conventional bushing, it locks more or less like a bull barrel. I sacrifice absolutely zero accuracy using a bushing barrel.

[colbyjack]

still looking good, any updates or new pics yet? -chris

[CSEMARTIN]

Hi Chris,

I am still fighting the bushing. I have been going back and forth in my head whether to take HSMITH's advice and get the custom EGW bushing, or go with a Briley bushing. I saw Mike Cusanelli's custom gun this weekend at the Missouri IDPA Championship (great match by the way!!) that he built for ESP/Limited. He put the briley bushing in the gun and loves it.

I will begin fitting the barrel soon. It looks like the Cylinder and Slide class isn't going to work out. Luckily, I have a local gunsmith here that is going to help me with this part of the build. I'm anticipating doing that two weekends from now.

I'm on trigger number three. The gold cup trigger is going back to brownells. I ordered an EGW flat-faced trigger for the government model. Last week, I called brownells to find out why it was taking so long. I was told delivery was expected in September!!! I ordered a Wilson Combat flat-faced lightweight trigger that just came out. It's in the new 1911 catalog (p.68--I think). It's just what I was looking for, and it has the overtravel screw already in placed. Also the trigger face is serrated which is what I watned.

I have an extreme engineering disconnector, sear and hammer ready to go. I'm still deciding whether to put in a titanium strut or go with steel. I have some fine touches to finish up on the checkering, the bever tail, polishing, etc.

I contacted Larry Davidson about the grips. I'm probably going to go with his new XS Warthogs.

I found a jeweler locally that is going to do some very minor engraving.

My digital camera is broken. I'm going to get a new one soon. So I'll keep posting pictures as I have them.

Edited June 22, 2008 by CSEMARTIN

[colbyjack]

Hi Chris,

I am still fighting the bushing. I have been going back and forth in my head whether to take HSMITH's advice and get the custom EGW bushing, or go with a Briley bushing. I saw Mike Cusanelli's custom gun this weekend at the Missouri IDPA Championship (great match by the way!!) that he built for ESP/Limited. He put the briley bushing in the gun and loves it.

I will begin fitting the barrel soon. It looks like the Cylinder and Slide class isn't going to work out. Luckily, I have a local gunsmith here that is going to help me with this part of the build. I'm anticipating doing that two weekends from now.

I'm on trigger number three. The gold cup trigger is going back to brownells. I ordered an EGW flat-faced trigger for the government model. Last week, I called brownells to find out why it was taking so long. I was told delivery was expected in September!!! I ordered a Wilson Combat flat-faced lightweight trigger that just came out. It's in the new 1911 catalog (p.68--I think). It's just what I was looking for, and it has the overtravel screw already in placed. Also the trigger face is serrated which is what I watned.

I have an extreme engineering disconnector, sear and hammer ready to go. I'm still deciding whether to put in a titanium strut or go with steel. I have some fine touches to finish up on the checkering, the bever tail, polishing, etc.

I contacted Larry Davidson about the grips. I'm probably going to go with his new XS Warthogs.

I found a jeweler locally that is going to do some very minor engraving.

My digital camera is broken. I'm going to get a new one soon. So I'll keep posting pictures as I have them.

sounds good, let me know some weekend youll be around id like to see it. i just got my caspain frame saturday. im always looking for ideas and always ready to shoot the chit.

im going with the G-10 from him diagonal cut tactical for my race ready recon frame, for grips. see if you get a discount if you order 2 and ill place a order with ya.

im debating to go with caspain for a slide or get a blem again and fix it from foster.... dunno keep us posted. im in rock island let me know some time and we can go burn some lead. -chris

[CSEMARTIN]

I haven't done much work on this build recently because I've been studying for my surgery boards.

I decided to checker the front of my new Wilson Combat trigger at 30 lines per inch. It turned out to be an easier job to do the checkering than to get a picture of it.

It feels nice!! Very nice!

[CSEMARTIN]

Well.....two months later and I'm still d*^cking around with the bushing. I decided to order a custom-fit EGW bushing. It arrived today. Now that I have a Bridgeport, I'm going to use it to fit the barrel. I still have some things to get.....

The EGW bushing fits the OD of my barrel perfectly. I will need to take a little off to fit the bore. It should fit nice and tight.

I also picked up a set of firing pin stop gauges and trigger fitting gauges from EGW.

Originally, I was going to use the Wilson Combat bullet proof slide stop. I have since changed my mind, and I'm going to use an EGW. I also picked up an EGW spring plug for a thick flange bushing ( http://egw-guns.com/store/index.php?main_p...products_id=135 ). It will need to be drilled out because I'm going to use a guide rod.

I don't know when this gun build will end, but it won't be anytime soon!

Edited August 27, 2008 by CSEMARTIN

[PappaJ]

Chris,

That new camera takes some pretty awesome pics!!

We can chuck up that bushing in the lathe and spin it down for a perfect fit anytime you want. Be a good excuse to go throw some lead at some steel, spin the bushing and enjoy an ice cold *beverage*. Followed up by a little Red Man Gold. Perfect day in the making....

Later man,

Joe

[colbyjack]

red man gold i still got the runs........ -chris

[gino_aki]

I can't tell from the pics, but does the bushing have enough clearance to allow the barrel to tilt up and down as the gun cycles? You may have to ream a bit over-size or angle bore on your mill.

[CSEMARTIN]

I can't tell from the pics, but does the bushing have enough clearance to allow the barrel to tilt up and down as the gun cycles? You may have to ream a bit over-size or angle bore on your mill.

EGW was supposed to do that for me. It should be fine.

[PappaJ]

I can't tell from the pics, but does the bushing have enough clearance to allow the barrel to tilt up and down as the gun cycles? You may have to ream a bit over-size or angle bore on your mill.

EGW was supposed to do that for me. It should be fine.

Chris -- the EGW bushing have the lock-up angle cut already. Just ID and OD tuning is all (unless to much ID then you lose the angle). We'll get her set whenever you wanna get some shop time in.

Joe

[rbert0005]

Looking good.

For a bushing that is that much oversize I set it up in a surface grinder and have at it.

I guess you could call that cheating, I am a toolmaker and have full access to the machines.

Keep up the good work,

Bob

[CSEMARTIN]

I fit the trigger tonight. I used the EGW trigger gauge and I like it. The trigger measured .920 inches. The inside of the frame measured .905 inches. Having the gauge made me feel confident to take 10 thousandths off immediately. It went pretty quick.

I have a Krebs grip safety cutting jig coming from Midway so I'll fit the grip safety with the mill.

I'm also going to be fitting the barrel with the mill. It's all coming together.

[CSEMARTIN]

My mill will be up and running soon.

In the meantime, I did some polishing. I noticed the barrel throat isn't even on the Kart barrel I bought. I'm not sure what I'm going to do about that. The feed ramp on my caspian frame was pretty nasty. It took me quite some time to get all the tooling marks out.

[norbs007]

Nice! I like the last picture, you can see the bling sparkle What do you use to polish metal like that and will you be drilling holes on that trigger? Thanks

Edited October 9, 2008 by norbs007

[CSEMARTIN]

Nice! I like the last picture, you can see the bling sparkle What do you use to polish metal like that and will you be drilling holes on that trigger? Thanks

I used 320 aluminum oxide with a small drop of oil to get 95% of the tooling marks out. Then I used jeweler's rouge (on sale at Home Depot for two bucks!!) followed by simichrome.

[CSEMARTIN]

I just about have the barrel fit, and I'm not too impressed with the Brownells barrel alignment block. For me anyway, it seemed like it didn't do a very good job at centering the barrel. I think I'll just make my own next time.

I'm also about done with the trigger, and I did some finishing touches on the slide/frame fit.

I'll post some pics soon.

[want2race]

I use the same block, but I had to open it up for the KKM barrels. When I opened it up I was able to center the barrel. Maybe the Kart is thinner in the lug area.

[CSEMARTIN]

but I had to open it up

That's what I ended up doing.

Well, it's starting to look like a gun---finally!! I have to fit the bottom lugs, and I've got a tight spot somewhere up top that I am having trouble finding. The bushing fits really nice (Thanks Joe).

Hopefully, I'll get the bottom lugs fit tomorrow.

[CSEMARTIN]

I have my first casualty.....the Kart barrel is toast.

Luckily, I won a Nowlin barrel at a match last summer so I'm not out any money.

I fit the hood tonight. It locks up tight, and I'm wondering if it's too tight?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJje87lnE4w

[want2race]

You don't know how far you can go until you've gone too far. Been there.

[HSMITH]

What happened that resulted in the death of the Kart?

Yes, it is too tight. It should all but lock and unlock completely by gravity alone when everything is right, but there shouldn't be anything about it loose. Hood length keeps the barrel from getting a running start at the upper lugs when the bullet yanks the barrel forward while the case is shoving backward against the breechface. Limiting this movement will help with accuracy and longevity of the barrel and slide. You need a thou or two clearance, it should not be an interference fit, but BE SURE what is causing it to be tight before you move metal. You can work toward a zero clearance fit, but technically you will have to have at least a half thou clearance if you want the gun to run. Make SURE it isn't the width of the hood, or the width of the slide at the upper locking lugs. Study it until you KNOW, then come back a little later and do it again so you are SURE what is hanging it up.