Billet 80% 2011 Frames

[croc4]

I am thinking of building one of these, but would like to do one in .40cal, but I'm new to the 1911 type platform, does anyone know who makes an appropriate slide an barrel to fit these?

croc4

[jfifer]

Did you google "1911 slide and parts" at the least?

[jfifer]

Yes! Cerakote it fde with black small parts!!

[jfifer]

Or lighter tan the small parts. Win!!

[croc4]

Yep, Did a google, and found a ton off things, that is part of the problem I guess, too many options with the 1911 pop'd up, mostly in .45 and 9mm, Did find one barrel in .40, but that required final reaming of the camber, Not something I would like to tackle at this point.
I guess being a noob to the 1911, there is more info than I had expected, so more reading is in order I guess.

croc4

[Limited-Ten]

Caspian, STI, and SVI make excellent slides in all major calibers.

A majority of barrels will need to be finish reamed, which many smiths do for about $25 including shipping.

STI, kart, scheumann, kkm are examples of manufacturers that provide .40 barrels.

[jfifer]

Croc. I am sending you a message in a few moments.

[jfifer]

I typed this up for another member. You should really save it.

[jfifer]

This 2011 frame uses basic 1911 parts. The only 2011 specific parts are
Trigger, MS pin, mag catch, ejector pin, grip, and grip screws.


The rest are basic 1911 parts.

Various manufacturers and vendors:
Brownells (really awesome)- everything amd every body's 1911/2011 parts
Fusion firearms- everything
Caspian arms- great slides, sights
Wilson combat- everything, as long as its 45 acp, except 2011 parts
Les baer- mostly small 1911 parts
Ed brown- mostly small parts
Sarco- cheap parts, ain't pretty, get the job done.
Calguns marketplace is great for deals
Gunbroker, fleabay, gunshows.


There are three basic 1911 platforms. This 2011 is a full size/5"/government, with an extended dustcover. Means it will extend the length of the slide. Thats why a monoslide/slab side slide looks best.
Officer/3.5"- cut the rails and dustcover .100" back
Commander/4.5" - cut dusctcover back .100"

Because this is aluminum, a barrel with a ramp is advised. Limited ten did us a favor by prepping that part. To have a different caliber just buy the caliber specific parts, typically the slide, barrel, ejector, exctractor, and mags.


Thats pretty much it in a nutshell.


Jfifer

[jfifer]

I was reallu curious, and I love rails. So I emailed novak, and they do not recommend adding rails to an aluminum frame. Anybody else disagree or agree?

[Reaper]

STI offers their Tactical model in 4.0 and 3.0 with an aluminum frame. The idea is to save even more weight on a concealed carry gun. They sell thousands of these guns.

While TIG welding an Al rail on the frame might not be pretty, it would be functional. If done correctly, it would even add rigidity.

An aluminum frame will ALWAYS be less durable than the equivalent steel frame. Aluminum is not as hard (anodized, yes but this is a very thin surface hardness), is more ductile, and has finite fatigue life. A steel slide striking an aluminum frame will be fine for at least a few thousand impacts. However, it will never hold up to as many impacts as steel. For a carry gun this is acceptable. For a heavily used competition gun, this is not ideal.

I don't see how adding a rail to the frame would make much difference. The weight of the rail is negligible. The weight of a light in addition is significant, but the U shape of the dust cover is very strong against bending stress. If you are super freaked out, just buy two. They are a steal at $219 (however they are not a steel by any means).

[jfifer]

Ahahahaha funny pun.

The inforce APL is the light I hope to add. It weighs 2.83 ounces!! Incredible
the Novak aluminum rail is minimal too. Less then an ounce. Running aluminun railed ar's for years I know the aluminum will be fine too!
Thank you! Guess what? I am going for it.

[javaduke]

Finally I was able to find some time to work on my build. I milled out rails using my Harbor Freight mill, overall it turned out very good. The only issue with the jig is that the 3mm end mills are too short and cannot be used to machine the rail to the full depth. I measured my slide and figured out that rail grooves in the frame should be 0.058" deep. I decided to make three passes, 0.02" for the first and second ones, and after that I removed the frame from the jig and made the third pass on each side. I wish the jig had only one opening for the entire rail length instead of two separate ones and a bit closer to the frame so that the end mill would go all the way in.
Anyway, as a result, I got very tight slide to frame fit (in fact, it is still a bit too tight and could use some more lapping), I then fitted the grip, trigger, sear and hammer and thumb safety, and checked for function. Now I'm waiting for a 7" barrel so that I can assemble it as a single shot, then I'm planning to fit a 5" barrel, duracote the lower and mirror polish the slide flats.
Overall I give Andy A+ for the customer service and A for goods (that is, A+ for the frame and A- for the jig ) and will definitely buy more frames in the future!

[Limited-Ten]

Good to hear!

We are actually working on an updated design of the fixture, and are not too sure when it will come out. With a few changes it should work well with 1911s also. Points taken, excellent feedback.

[Limited-Ten]

The issue with a rail is the wide dustcover exceeds the rail width specs. A milling machine with a fly cutter could be used to thin out the dustcover to standard width, and from there due to the dustcover radius on the sides I am not sure how stable any mounted accessories would be (i.e. clocking).