Government 1911 build.

[mick_niller]

Hello calguns people! Here is a little photographic journey of my first attempt at a 1911 build. The whole process was very rewarding and i am pretty happy with how it turned out. Feel free to post up any questions or criticisms. - Nick

cutting frame rails on the knee mill. It was a fun exercise getting the frame all dialed in on the angle plate.



after a little hand fitting and lapping the slide fit on the frame!!


I decided to do some mods on the slide. I decided to do ball cuts and put a chamfer on the bottom of the slide. The slide was a remington R1 take off (cheap)

[mick_niller]

the cutter i used to make the chamfer.... 45 degree i believe.

[mick_niller]

next on the list was to do ball cuts... i dont remember what size ball end mill i used.. it was pretty straight forward to do, took some belnding after but cleaned up nicely. i tried really hard to make the end of the ball cuts line up with the dust cover. I orginally want to do hi-power cut to get rid of the forward cocking serrations (not a fan of them) but there wasn't enough material left due to the bushing lug channel....

[mick_niller]

The frame is from "vytamenc tactical". the frame was super quality, fit and finish superb. no complaints about it.... other than the silly name balsted on the side of my soon to be "heirloom" pistola. so i decided to erase it with a end mill!!!

before



during the "erasing"


and after...

[mick_niller]

i used a surface grinder to remove a tiny bit of material from the EGW oversize FPS. really helped to keep things accurate. (nice-n-tight)

[mick_niller]

now for the "beaver tail grip safety". I used a Hrrison designs grip safety. once again harrison parts are the ****!! pricey, but the quality is off the charts. I went for it and decided to cut the tangs using a rotary table on the milling machine. why not use it if ya got it eh.. worked pretty slick after getting everything dialed in.



co axle indicating the rotary table


starting to blend it all in

[mick_niller]

After i worked on the bottom of the grip safety i focused my attention to the top of the beaver tail and the back of the slide. after a little file and paper work it started to come together.

[mick_niller]

I also did a counter sunk slide stop. i started by indicating the center of the slide stop so i could chamfer it in the mill. then i made a collet to hold the slide stop in the lathe to shorten and bevel the end... used a harrison slide stop.



slide stop in lathe. (put a 4 jaw in the 3 jaw chuck.. figured it was such a low stress operation... didnt want to change chucks lol)


frame after i but a chamfer on it


and the other side....

[mick_niller]

thumb safety.. once again a harrison part. pretty uneventful, a little fitting and it was in and crackin!







And some live action!!! nice and positive feel to it.

[mick_niller]

i know you can buy a plunger staking tool pretty cheap but i wanted to take a wack at making one. a chunk of scrap metal, a bolt and set screw and i was in business. it was loosely based on some plans i found on the internet.. seemed to work really well. i only crushed one plunger tube!!! and i couldn't help myself, i always feel the need to stamp silly names into the tools i make!

[mick_niller]

I electro chemical etched my name and serial numbers in the frame. it was a really fun process and worked great! mixed up some salt and water for the electrolyte. used a DC power supply and some cotton makeup remover pads with a piece of brass inside and BLAMO!

www.dogfightink.com custom cut stencials for me. super cool guy and very reasonably priced!

[mick_niller]

and some finishing / finished pictures. All the carbon steel was parkerized and the stainless was bead blasted.

frame cookin away... i didnt take many photos of the parking as i was a one man show.


and some glamour shots... all wrapped up. its not my most favorite looking 1911 (funny how that works... iam sure it will grow on me) but its mine!! enjoy.

[dchan521]

Wow nice! Can you make me one? Lol jk

[mick_niller]

here is a list of parts as best as i can remember them..

- vytamenc tactical frame
- remington R1 slide
- novak sights
- egw FPS
- egw pin set
- fusion firing pin
- stormlake barrel
- harrison extractor
- harrison true radius stainless ingntion kit
- harrison grip safety
- harrison slide stop
- harrison thumb safety
- harrison hammer strut
- harrison medium trigger
- fusion GI guide rod
- fusion spring plug (thick)
- fusion ejector
- fusion main spring housing
- fusion grip screws
- challis grip screw bushings
- VZ grips
........ what else?

[mick_niller]

Wow nice! Can you make me one? Lol jk

yeah!! how many would you like? hehe. jk. I have faith that with some research and patience you could put one together!