Frame from Hell

[mtenenhaus]

Ok, here's a work in progress with the frame from hell. so many things wrong with the frame from assymetric recoil spring tunnel to off center hammer/sear slot, casting defects, short beavertail tangs, assymetric trigger track cut with spurs etc. The list goes on and on. I wanted to throw it in the garbage so many times but i figured i'd learn how to checker and use a file etc.

Anyway here goes...still more work to do. Just did a quick cold bluing to keep it from rusting.

Lesson learned, always check tolerances on the parts before committing to them. Also, if you calculated a nice slide to frame fit and it still won't fit...don't keep working on the rails...take a look at the frame recoil spring tunnel..it was rubbing hard on my slide.

Got a chance to round the square trigger guard, then i checkered the whole trigger guard...big mistake, killed my hand so i re-rounded out the bottom angle...much better. Getting better with my checkering all in all.

Raised the front grip to afford a higher grip without the often found cut out/cavity. I think i prefer it, at least in my hands.

Got rid of all the sharp edges.

Still playing with ideas. Used mostly parts i had accumulated over the years, some better than others but the only new premium parts are the hammer/sear/disconnector.

Anyway learning a lot

[ducky_0811]

Sorry to hear you got such a bad frame from TM. in the bright side your next build is likely to be killer after all the lessons learned on this one.

[pklin1297]

My second one gave me more fits than my first actuall...

I agree with ducky in that your second will be a stroll in the park (as long as you get quality parts to begin with) compared to this one with everything you've learned...

Looks good though. Close to test-fire, or have you fired it already?

[Lonestargrizzly]

That looks really good.

[ar15barrels]

Just did a quick cold bluing to keep it from rusting.

Bluing does not prevent rust at all.
Bluing will actually promote rust if you don't do anything to keep it from rusting.

OIL prevents rust.

[mtenenhaus]

thanks, didn't know that about bluing.....

got to read more about this, learn more about why do we blue...i really thought it was to afford some level of protection in this regard

appreciate the advice, i've got it slathered in RIG right now.

hope to try it out this weekend if my back settles down, not expecting too much with that barrel. I've got a gunsmith fit barrel in my stash, I wanted to make sure it runs fine before throwing any more money at this horror.

It is true, i did learn a lot and my next build should benefit from the experience.

i do like checkering, but it chews up your hands pretty well

lonestargrizzly...thank you for the kind words. i tried.

[pklin1297]

Duct tape on fingers... It helps...

[mtenenhaus]

pklin, once again you make me laugh. my better half is wondering about the bandaids on my fingers. well that and the fact that one can purchase a solid working 1911 for a lot less money than what i've spent.

next time i'll take your advice.

Read a little more about bluing and as always AR15 you're correct, cold bluing doesn't afford much protection from rust. Thanks for teaching me. I just didn't have that knowledge before

[ar15barrels]

got to read more about this, learn more about why do we blue...

Cosmetics.

[ducky_0811]

Yup, learned the cold blue lesson the hard way. Some tears back as I was just getting into tinkering with guns I completed one of those Hawkins rifle kits from cabelas. Decided I would cold blue all the metal. Even though I followed all the post treatment instructions I wiped it down pretty good after a few days and she was a blue/orange mess the next time o opened up the safe. Lesson learned.

[pklin1297]

I always kept my cold-blued parts well lubricated, and usually use Boeshield when I know long term storage is needed. A light application of Boeshield is sufficient for all of my C&R firearms sitting in the safe.

mtenenhaus, my better half just recently realized the true cost of my 80% builds. She was slightly disturbed until I told her one of them is for her; now she is happy.

Also, I go as far as putting a thin piece of foam under the duct tape also when checkering (like using a band-aid). I do this when playing with metal checkering and wood checkering. When doing the front strap, it is easier on the fingers to just use the layout checkering file from start to finish, but I need to spend some time truing the teeth to the sides.

[MosinVirus]

I bought some cheap work gloves. My hands are very happy since then. And my hands are 100% covered, not just 5-10% with bandaids or tape.

OP, I am really digging the worn look of that pistol. I know it is temporary, but for some reason I like how it looks now.

And now I see the two sights... awesome. Have you ordered the filler yet?

[DueceMcGurk]

Mosin, odd that you would say that. I liked that "worn" look too. Haus, there are many hobbies that are more expensive that 80% building. And when you finish all you have is a greens fee receipt, plastic trophy, etc. -- not a finished keepsake pistol with hard earned expertise and skills (not to mention lots of admiring buddies). Keep up the good work!

[mtenenhaus]

Thank you so much, really appreciate the advice, education and the kind words.
Pklin, the only checkering tool i have is from Brownells, 30lpi, not sure what a layout checkering file is.

Will definitely invest in some gloves and BoeShield. Fingers feel better today, going to try her out in a few hours.

I tried to give my better 1/2 a pistol that i made as a birthday gift...she wasn't all that enamored. not that she doesn't like shooting (she tolerates it) but she has an old HK P7 and its all she enjoys shooting. She has no interest in any other format.

I'll try to post that build sometime.

Going to try to save up some more....would like to try this one more time, i fell like i'm learning a lot.

[mtenenhaus]

hitting steel routinely at 50 yards..which was fun, getting pretty good at barrel fitting. i was surprised because it was such a crappy barrel. probably won't last but i wanted to try it.

The takeup, break and reset are really nice. so getting better at that as well. Some problems with the trigger not always resetting, like it's getting caught up on the beavertail grip safety notch a bit....got to look into this. that trigger track was so horribly off it could also be the back of the trigger getting caught up on the back ledge.

If i get this solved then i might install that BarSto barrel, if not i'm going to scrap the frame.

Kind of sad because the checkering sure looks nice.