The DIY 1911 thread... I think I'll call her Becky

[DER E30]

Some slides don't use a 45 cal firing pin and are designed for a 9mm pin. I don't know why exactly.

[AndrewBird]

One thing to keep in mind, any kind of coating is going to add material. Make sure you don't make it such a tight fit un-coated that the coating binds things up. Even nickle plating will add a few thousandths.

[jalopi]

sorry for the lack of updates bros - i just bought a new car so i've been super busy with trying to get it track ready before the track day this sunday.

doesn't look like that's happening though, so i figured i'd start messing with the 1911 again. while peeking through the parts to see how things fit i noticed something bad... looks like brownells sent me the wrong goddamn slide :curse:

what tipped me off is that the firing pin doesn't fit into the slide. like, the pin is too big to poke through the breechface and too long to fully go into the slide... guess they sent me a slide for a 9mm or something, hopefully the new slide fits the frame i fitted to the old one :curse:

[TeXJ]

I was just saying that ingest, the knowledge you are receiving is pretty cool. Plus, you'll know how to do a ton of a lot more on that platform than I would.

I got a SR1911 for ~$650, thinking of having a trigger job done and then that would be it.

[jalopi]

Well, I'll hold my final judgment until I have a working product in hand... but yeah, pretty much

[DER E30]

so you're telling me I should just buy a nice 1911 and then mod it from there :D

Basically yes PC SW1911 is calling my name. Or 460Mag

[TeXJ]

so you're telling me I should just buy a nice 1911 and then mod it from there :D

[jalopi]

Ugh... whelp I just bent over and took it again, only this time it was from Midway. I'm really hoping this is the last batch of parts I have to buy, this shit is getting REAL expensive real fast

So far, without sights (and I think this is everything I need to buy) and excluding the cost of the "jig" I'm sitting at a total cost of $1260. Hopefully the anodizing/coating process costs me less than $100 so I can keep the total cost under $1400

[jalopi]

This is gonna sound real derpy.... but no, I haven't gone there yet. Somehow, the thought didn't even cross my mind. Guess I've got some reading to do

[DER E30]

You've probably already seen this, but the 1911 forum has a great gun smithing section, with some amazing smiths if you get stuck or whatever. http://http://forums.1911forum.com/f...splay.php?f=18

[jalopi]

Oh yeah, it's definitely gonna get coated, I'm just not sure how yet :D

For a while I was seriously considering getting a titanium nitride coating, but after doing some research it doesn't seem like it's feasible - looks like you have to heat the parts to a point where the aluminum frame might warp a bit, which is no bueno for me.

So yeah, it's either anodizing or electroless nickel, not sure which route I wanna go yet, I've got a ways to go before I have to make a decision though

[myinfernalbmw]

Awesome work chief. One bit of advice I've heard echoed repeatedly, TAKE YOUR TIME. You will make mistakes, and you will pay for them. You can minimize them by going slow and learing along the way. Looks like great progress so far. Just stay focused and take your time.

The other thing I forgot to ask about was anodizing. From what I recall, aluminum 1911 frames in particular have to be hard coat ano'd to prevent premature wear and tear on the slide rails. I don't know if it's addressed with the Stealth Arms kits or not. I wouldn't want to spend that much time and effort building a gun that wears it's rails out in an abnormally short period of time. I also wouldn't want to pay for something unneccessary. Just didn't know if you were planning on anodizing the frame before final finishing.

Keep up the good work, and keep the updates coming.

[Vedubin01]

great job so far man, its been fun to watch!

[DER E30]

Yeah. Realistically you have to budget about $1200 for this build. No money saved over buying a top notch Springfield or something, but at least you don't have to buy new "performance" parts for it afterwards (as long as you do a good job)

Buying a Performance center SmithWesson1911 would be that kind of coin, and I'd love one, but not nearly as cool as saying, "yup I built that!"

[jalopi]

Yeah. Realistically you have to budget about $1200 for this build. No money saved over buying a top notch Springfield or something, but at least you don't have to buy new "performance" parts for it afterwards (as long as you do a good job)