SS 1911 Custom Build

[blue68f100]

Here are a few more photos of me cutting the lower barrel lugs.





This cutter actually cuts very easily. Just turn the crank and push lightly on the back of the slide till the thumb safety is able to rotate up. Then your within ~0.004" of your target. The cutter come in 2 sizes, 0.186" and 0.195". And the pilot of the cutter gives you a little more cushion since they are 0.198" OD.

The thumb safety shows the weld to build it up for a larger pad.

Starting to look like a gun.



Still a lot of work to do. Schuemann barrel fit test is on the top of my list right now.

Have almost 50 hrs in the build right now.

[blue68f100]

Took it out for a test run this morning. Only shot 20 rounds. No malfunctions of any kind. Wanted to do a detail inspection before putting a lot of rounds through it. I held a 2" group at 10 yrds with no sights. This is one soft shooter. Even my practice partner could not believe how soft it shot. 16# RS, 19# MS with small radius (~1/32"R) FP stop. Loads where Berry's 185gr HBRN behind 4.8gr WST, 1.250" OAL.

The grips on this gun are the ones I made out of some rosewood Micarta (photo does it no justice) that I use to make knife handles out of in the early 80's.



Now to finish getting the ejector tuned so it will throw the brass back more. I left the ejector long on purpose and it's throwing the brass forward. It's too long to eject a live long round (SAAMI Max OAL), handles my reloads just fine. Not sure I have every seen any production ammo at max oal. Angle of exit was very good, 2:00. No brass marks on the ejection port. Lockup loosened up a little as expected. Only requires the slide to be back about 1/2" for it to drive the slide forward into battery now.

Now to start the long process of doing the finish work.

[greener]

Quite a project, David. Looks great!

[blue68f100]

Yes, It's been fun....

The test fire went GREAT. On Inspection I found No indications of lugs being damaged. All internals looked good. Did some polish work on the barrel track in the slide to smooth out some deep scratches on top the hood.

I did the disco mod to the slide this morning. This was done by Marvel back in the 60's-70's on race guns to prevent disco bump. It sure makes the slide go forward easy. Took some length off the ejector to get it throwing in the 4:00 range. It is now going into battery with only a 1/2 retract on the slide. So I decided to install the 14# RS for the next test.





Now I need to do some ramp work so this gun will feed any thing. Flattop Serrations and sights are getting higher on the list. Ordered the tooling to do this yesterday. Then the long process of doing the finish work which I'm saving for this summer, when I'm house sitting for my dad. It will give me something to do while I'm out there for 4 months.

[blue68f100]

Did some cleanup on the feed ramp this morning. It was very rough to start with and brass was hanging on the edge of the barrel before I moved the barrel ramp back just a tad before the first firing.

Here is a picture of what I had to start with. I had done some work with 400-600 grit to see how bad it was. Some of the machine marks where very deep.



I'm getting it close to where I want it. Currently it's at a worn out 1200 grip finish. Still have some faint marks that need to be removed on both frame and barrel ramps.



Started fitting the EGW Monogram bushing set this afternoon.

Needing to order some good Swiss cut files to work on SS. The best file I have is a Swiss cut #2 from Grobrt & Vallorbe. Also thinking about serrating the backend of the slide at 50 or 75lpi, and checker the front strap (30 lpi). Also ordered the SS Blackener from Caswell. I'm going to see what this looks like on bead blasted surface. I'm thinking this is what LB does to darken their SS guns.

Now I need to find the sight to barrel correlation. I setup a laser level on top the slide and used a bore sighter to see what ratio I need to order sights.



Once you make the distance over the base correction, the bore is 1.9" below the top of the slide at 18'.



I'm going with an adjustable rear sight and want to set it up for 6:00 hold at 25 yrds. At this setting covering the target with the front sight should put me on at 50 yrds. But want the adj if I want to go back to a std combat sight setup.

Note: The FP on this slide is 0.018" high, 0.302" for full lockup. So a std GI 1911 sight ratio will not fit this application.

The fun continues...

[blue68f100]

Test fired the gun again, put 85 rounds through it this time. All looks good. I had covered all critical areas with layout fluid to check contacts and wear. The VIS is well defined. All of the scraping/scratches on the hood where non-existent since I did some polish work on the barrel track in the slide.

I'm satisfied that I have a very good smooth working gun. So now on to start the finish work and slide flattop/serrations. I'm going to let my gunsmith cut the dovetails for the sights once I finish up with the custom work. He is also going to put my custom monogram on the slide.

The finish work will be the slowest part of this build.

I have a thing against sharp edges that can scrap leather holster. In fact the slide serrations where so sharp they where cutting my thumb and fingers up if I slid them across the serrations. I had to break the edges. Just goes to show a square edge can be just as sharp as razor.

The grip bushing gets the attention first, needs to be beveled and polished. This is mainly detail file work. Once the bevel is there I used sandpaper to polish out the bushing. I have some new Grobet & Vallorbe VALTITAN needle files #2 & #4 cuts on the way. These have a Hardness of Rc 75 which is hard enough to cut carbide. Should have no problem cutting SS. I did order a checkering file (#0, 30lpi) to do the front strap, if I get my nerve up, after a lots of practice. The files I have are of poor quality and struggle cutting most things. I did find 1 in the set that was able to cut the bushing. So I used it to start on the grip bushing. May cut it back some more to match the EGW bevel on the monogram set.



I did start on cleaning up the frame, which has a lot of machining marks with some deep. The light bead blast hid most of them. I setup up my granite block with 400 grip paper and started in. Some are too deep to remove this way so I worked them out locally and blended them in. They where not real deep, maybe 0.001"-0.002" at most but to take the whole side down is a lot a work. Besides I can't take the integral plunger tube off, one disadvantage. So I had to work around it. One of the worst spots was at the slide lock window next too (below) the integral tube. Most of the bad spots where on the grip section, under the grips. Looks like multiple pass with a cutter where the center did not end up at the same height. All of these may have been hidden with a heavy bead blast. But with a even back ground the bead blast will look better.

[blue68f100]

Did a little more work on blending the GS to the frame. I had not done the sides yet and got around to doing it since I got my new files in. I got the left side blended in real good and need to work on the right side a little more. The right side show where WC rolled the edge with the buffer.





I also got some cutters in for cutting the serrations on the slide. My test cut showed I ordered the wrong cutters. The ones I order do not go to a V leaving a flat bottom, even though there 60 deg. I found out I needed to add a -1 to the PN to get the V cutter with a 0.005" tip. At $13 a piece they were not very expensive for cobalt. Will reorder.

Using my cheap cad program I determined that I need to shave 0.028" off the top and spacing needs to be 0.030". This will allow me to get in 11 serrations in at a depth of 0.010"-0.013".

I also got the SS Blackening solution in from Caswell. Need to play with it some to find the optimum time for the dilution to control the color. At full strength it blackens very quickly.

[greener]

Looking good, David.

[blue68f100]

Blended the back end of the slide to the frame today. This has to be the hardest thing to do since there is NO flat surfaces. Every thing is a compound french curves from 2 planes. Any way after a lot of file work I got it done. Had to remove about 1/32" off the slide to meet the frame. Once this was done I did the final blending of the GS to the frame. Since there is no way not to disturb the frame during the slide/frame blending process. I knew this, the reason I never did the final frame blending with the GS. Anyway the process involves heavy file work to reduce the slide. Used a small square to make sure I keeping the sides even. I started with a #2 then went to a #4. Did the final blending using needle files then sand paper on rods. What you see is a 400 grit sand paper finish. This back end will be bead blasted then blackened. I only went to the finer finish to see the lines better.



This view shows how tight my slide to frame fit is. I have not cleaned it up from the blending work. So the fine dust from sanding gives it a dark line.



Looking at this last photo I may need to thin the extractor back to match the hammer cut. Another job for a safe edge file.

My engraving bits are suppose to be here today. If these come in I will do another test run to make sure everything is good. Then I get to flat top the slide and cut the serrations.

Getting there.

[Georgezilla]

David, you are doing an awesome job.

It's really coming together well. I have a Les Baer Hardball 1911 and I think the quality of your work is much better than the work on my LB 1911.

[blue68f100]

Thanks George,

It's been a fun project for me

The finish work reminds me of my Knife making days. But I used power tools for them, till it got to polishing. If I wanted a high polish I always did it by hand. Buffers have a bad tendency to roll edges and make the surface wavy.

I have a problem with the engraving bits that just came in yesterday. It appears the points are damaged and will not cut a V at the tip. Will call the mfg Monday and talk to them about it. If I had access to the sharpener where I use to work at, I would just re-sharpen them and go forward. For now I may go ahead and flat top so I can get the sights ordered and mounted. Then I can do the serrations at a later date, but was trying to avoid doing a setup twice in my end mill.

My friends LB was fitted worst than a $600 rattle gun. Even though the LB did not rattle, it would blow out the edge of SPP, the FP was so off center. It would throw brass in your face. Would not go into full battery unless your did a sling shot release,which it could not do since he did not cut the RS seat back. Too tight in any book. Then the short cuts he took so he could use 1 frame for Gov and officer. I would not recommend LB to anyone based on what I have seen on his and a few others. For a $2k gun the problem's he had is just not acceptable. Accuracy was never a problem. I've been more impressed with the STI , WC, EB and Kimber. But all of these are actually production guns not hand built custom like I'm doing.

I'm at 60 hrs in to this build. And not that far off from the finish line if I can get the serrations worked out

ps. I did go back and remove the 0.003" from the extractor that was sticking into the hammer slot. Got to love the safe edge files. Now I got a perfectly straight line on both sides. I probably should round that edge some. I've cut my fingers several time from lowering hammers with sharp edges on them.

My specialty tools keep growing. I'm afraid to add the cost up on them, for it may exceed the cost of the parts to build out the frame/slide.

[bgreenea3]

You are getting closer David, nice work on the rear end of the slide.

[Georgezilla]

Just use the cost of your tools to justify other builds after this one

I wouldn't not recommend LB, but I also am definitely not a LB fanboi. Really depends on what you want out of the pistol.

My LB is a NM Hardball I got for CMP and it shoots 10 shot sub 3" groups at 50 yards with ball, I have not ever seen a stock STI or Kimber come close to that at all. STI guns are generally not for the same application as LB though, STI generally being used for IPSC and USPSA, LB generally being used for bullseye/CMP or a show gun (that being said, STI are still often much more expensive than LB). I don't think Kimber and LB are even comparable in most senses; a Kimber is basically like a Springfield armory gun with more bells and whistles.

Ed Brown and Wilson combat are a little bit of a different story. I have seen some EBs and WCs come close to the accuracy of my LB. EBs and WCs are generally more expensive than LBs too.


Even knowing that my LB is significantly better for what I purchased it for than the above guns, I am somewhat extremely dissatisfied with it. The bushing bore in the slide of my LB was drilled at slight lateral angle, so the barrel bushing does not fit flush, it is canted. The bushing can be pushed flushed, but after the action is cycled it goes back to the canted position. I made a post on GTO years ago regarding the issue and Bullseye spent a lot of time setting my concerns at ease, and I also contacted LB and they said it would not negatively influence the gun. And even though it has maintained its accuracy, I just do not have confidence in it. At this posting it is irrelevant though because there is no where to compete in bullseye shooting anywhere near where I live. When competing in anything, confidence in self and equipment is critical, just based on that I would need a new pistol if I were ever in a position to seriously compete.

Your build just generally looks better quality than my LB. Your polishing work, grip safety fit, and slide to frame fit look much better.

[blue68f100]

I was not referring to BE guns of the ones I listed. Just the std fit and finish.

There was a review by some gun magazine (don't remember which one) that tested my Kimber UCII in the ransom rest for accuracy. It surprised them that it was shooting 1.5" groups @25yrds with a 3" barrel with the right ammo. They were commenting that most 5" guns don't shoot that good. I don't believe it necessary for a gun to be supper tight. Consistent lockup without play is all that is needed. If it's too tight you may have it not going into battery every time like it was on this one. After 30 rounds it would not lockup right.

I don't mind buying tools for I see me building another down the road. I all ready have one in mind I just got to get through this one. 9mm ramped barrel 1911 maybe bull barrel.

I don't think you have seen any of my real polish work yet. What you have seen here is only 1200 grit. I use to do metal prep for metalagraph work, looking at steel grain structures under a microscopes.

Here is a photo of a Knife I made and polished out in 1980? I think this was done at 1 micro diamond polish. I had 3 different pastes, 6, 1, and 1/4 micron. I'm not going to this level on this gun way too much work plus I want to shoot it not look at it.

[greener]

Great work, David. I don't have the genes to do stuff like that.

The accuracy comparisons are really apples-oranges comparisons. Locking the pistol down and looking at precision is great, but that's not the way it is meant to be fired. It does give the shooter an idea what he might achieve.