1911Builder's officer frame - New Updates pg 2

[pklin1297]

Hello all,

I have one of 1911builders' new officer frames and am in the process of prepping the frame to build on.

The only thing different from their frames is that the mainspring housing pin hole is not drilled on the frame. I have emailed them about how they went about accurately locating and drilling that hole but no reply. They've already built a test pistol so I know they've done it.

Anyway, I was thinking if the same jig used to locate that same hole for the bobtail mod can be used here. Anyone else have other ideas? Thanks.

[ar15barrels]

I would just slide the mainspring housing into place and then cross-drill both the frame and the mainspring housing at the same time.
The trick is aligning the drill bit so that it's centered in the hole of the mainspring housing.

[ptoguy2002]

Interesting, I see that from the pics on their webpage.
Don't know.
I hope they are planning on a bobtail officers frame...

[pklin1297]

Thanks Randall, I know where I can get a mainspring housing without a hole.

ptoguy2002, as I understand it, the bobtail mainspring housing that is used on government/commander frames is already at the "Officer" length, with the new mainspring housing pin location where it needs to be for an Officer mainspring housing, so you cannot bobtail an Officer frame anymore unless you come up with a new mainspring cap, mainspring, and shorter mainspring housing with new hole location. The resulting shorter mainspring wouldn't have enough oomph to ignite much... At least this is how I understand it from what I've read. Now a "round butt" mod can be done however...

[ptoguy2002]

Interesting, didn't know that, always learning something new since fiddling with these.
I like the "rounded butt" or the square cut like on the kimbers, but doing that is beyond my capability with the stuff I've got, at least to do it cleanly.

[pklin1297]

Interesting, didn't know that, always learning something new since fiddling with these.
I like the "rounded butt" or the square cut like on the kimbers, but doing that is beyond my capability with the stuff I've got, at least to do it cleanly.

File and sandpaper. The material gets removed very slowly so you have time to "catch" any stray filing/sanding and quickly massage it back on course. I would use a fine sharpie and either eye-ball it or use a cardboard cut out to mark the sides of the frame to ensure both sides get equal amounts removed, then go at it. As long as you don't get too close to the mainspring housing pin hole, I don't see much to worry about. The majority of the material will be cut from the mainspring housing and it is pretty meaty back there, that is, unless you get a cast housing and it comes equipped with casting voids...

I'm planning to do this on a future build, maybe even this Officer build just to make it even more carry friendly, but I plan to use my bench sander to rough it out first.

[pklin1297]

Got a hold of 1911Builders, and their response is they don't have instructions/pointers on how to accurately locate and drill out the hole just yet, but they are working on a jig to make this happen. No ETA on the jig though.

[liber]

Got a hold of 1911Builders, and their response is they don't have instructions/pointers on how to accurately locate and drill out the hole just yet, but they are working on a jig to make this happen. No ETA on the jig though.

They really provide some lousy customer service, IMO. They previously had the wrong radius on their site for the beaver tails, and when told said they didn't care.

[ptoguy2002]

Got a hold of 1911Builders, and their response is they don't have instructions/pointers on how to accurately locate and drill out the hole just yet, but they are working on a jig to make this happen. No ETA on the jig though.

They must be German.

[pklin1297]

Yes I've told them about the wrong radius info also but they didn't seem too eager to correct it. Oh well... .250 it is...

I may just scrounge up the Officer blueprint and verify that against their frame, and if it all checks out, I'll try my best to locate the hole according to print and drill, or I'll do what Randall suggested and drill both the frame and housing together, but even then I still have to make sure my hole is in the general vicinity... haha... I've considered installing a magwell to the Officer and one always prefer to be able to re-drill the hole so the magwell is as snug to the frame as possible, so this situation is probably ideal anyway.

[ThatFishGuy]

That might be a good idea, that way you don't have to weld or adjust fit later.

[ar15barrels]

I figured out how to do it...

Take a small enough Starrett parallel clamp that will fit into the space in the frame where the mainspring housing slides.
CLAMP the mainspring housing from the top and bottom.
Mount the clamp and mainspring housing in the mill vise so that it's sideways, allowing you to slide the frame on and off of it.
Now center up the drill chuck over the hole in the mainspring housing, slide the frame on and center drill and then drill through with the correct size drill bit.

[MosinVirus]

So, the bobtail hole would not be in the same location as the officer's msh hole?

[pklin1297]

Thanks Randall, I'll have to read that a couple more times to visualize it, and also search for a pic of those parallel clamps you're talking about. I'll come back if I get confused...

[pklin1297]

So, the bobtail hole would not be in the same location as the officer's msh hole?

The bobtailed mainspring pin hole hole should be in the same place as the officer mainspring housing hole, that's why I am also thinking about getting the bobtail jig to try.