My 1911 CCW rebuild from the ground up.

[DasFriek]

I think this is ok to post here, But i thought id share in my joy of the finish and return of my main ccw gun.
Here is the thread that chronicled a lot of the build and be warned the gun got very ugly before it got to look this good.
http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/index.php?topic=41365.0

The refinisher: http://www.shootiniron.com/index.html
This is a small shop one man refnishing business and my gun ran behind time wise, But even tho im impatient i knew it would take time to make it look its best.

After 2 months at the refinisher who did a complete media blast and then parkerized the gun and then put a coat of KG GunKote in satin black on it. I took my PT1911 that was a stock blued gun with 2k rounds threw it.
I stripped it to the frame/slide and barrel and replaced everything from the pins and springs up with all high end machined parts that i hand fit myself. I even switched over to a GI style guide rod and plug as i didn't like the plug at the end with a hole in it as it couldn't be beveled. Then as i just mentioned i beveled and melted the gun to my liking and sanded the billboards off the sides.
The serial number is still legible on the slide. I spent many hours and i believe over 1 week sanding and filing by hand to get the billboards off and the lines smoothed and just right.
The trigger is amazing at about 4-5lbs as i do carry the gun but its very crisp with very little take up and no overtravel.
The gun was very tight after the rebuild and even tighter after the new finish as it does add some thickness to parts so alot of the gun has been fine tuned again for the second time by me.

BTW this is my main carry gun and i couldn't wait to get it back, I even bought an RIA CS Officers 3.5" in .45acp to carry while this one was getting refinished. But it will be back in the holster once again. The RIA will be moved to summer duty for IWB carry.

Over all it was a very fun project and expensive as heck, But well worth it in the end.

The pics:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v447/deathstar13/DSC00404.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v447/deathstar13/DSC00406.jpg

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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v447/deathstar13/DSC00410.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v447/deathstar13/DSC00411.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v447/deathstar13/DSC00412.jpg

[DasFriek]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v447/deathstar13/DSC00413.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v447/deathstar13/DSC00414.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v447/deathstar13/DSC00415.jpg

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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v447/deathstar13/DSC00423.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v447/deathstar13/DSC00424.jpg

[DasFriek]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v447/deathstar13/DSC00425.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v447/deathstar13/DSC00428.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v447/deathstar13/DSC00429.jpg

[jocko]

lots of work but the rewards certainly offset all of that to. Really nice, really really nice.

And wow what a big hole on the end to. I was going to make a comment about big holes but I better not!~!!!!

[DasFriek]

You shouldn't speak of Bawana like that, He seems like a nice guy to me. :)
I couldn't be happier with the gun, Plus i know it inside and out so if i have an issue i can almost diagnose it without even taking the gun apart.
The beauty isnt just skin deep, There is alot of really nice high end stuff inside you cant see. No MIM anywhere and everything is Wilson/Baer/Brown/EGW and all hand fit so its a tight gun.
In a way its internals remind me alot of my Kahr and how tightly the parts fit and their finish even tho they cant be seen.
One great thing is all the internals were parkerized and then had the KG gunKote baked on them, That stuff has molybdenum disulfide or some such self lubricating components in it that will not only protect them but require less lube and wear on the part should be non existent unless its a very high friction spot.
I did go in and polish it off the sear and hammer as the trigger was finely tuned before sending to the refinisher and the small extra space the coating takes started to allow the hammer to follow the slide. Once that was cleaned off those 2 small areas its ready for the range.

And yeh, I love my .45's! Its all i will carry as a main ccw, Thus is why my MK9 is my back pocket bug. I never feel under armed thats for sure.

[PaiN]

I love an all black gun.....and this has to be one of the sharpest and meanest lookers I've come across.

Nice work Das, you must be very proud.

[recoilguy]

Nicely Played that is a real beauty!!!!!!

You should be proud.

RCG

[DasFriek]

Thanks, I did kick around the idea of having the barrel finished also. But im so used to seeing even the hardest of coatings wear off those i thought it would be best to just keep a high polish on it.
Im gonna make some calls and see what ranges are open today since its the day after Christmas, So im rather anxious to shoot it.

[kramm]

Your pistol is really nice. With all those hand fit parts I'll bet it shoots really nice too.http://kahrtalk.com/images/icons/icon14.gif

[Ol'coot]

Awesome Gun, Beautiful Job, Congrats!

[scumhunter]

Oh my.........

[DasFriek]

I took it out today for a trial run and had some minor issues with failures to feed, But its an easy fix. The extractor is a Wilson HD part and i ran it pretty tight tension wise.
But since the refinish it pushed it over the edge tolerance wise. The finish is thin but adds up and every single part inside and out has been coated.
That made the extractor too tight and i had issues with the shells rims not wanting to slide under the extractor.

But not all was lost i still shot some very good groups for me at 25' free handed.
The gun handled great with a solid recoil but the nose stays down and follow ups happen fast.

[mr. bggs]

i can certainly relate to putting a ridiculous amount of time unto a gun. when i went to gunsmithing school in roxboro NC, we did everything the old school way. we had drill presses and lathe's for the big stuff, but i formed callouses on all of my fingers and both palms from sanding so much. we were required to build 2 98 Mauser's keeping only the action(which we refinished also. but forming a stock from a block of wood is so much work that when i finished, and the teacher told me i could sell my rifle for 2-3 grand, i didn't feel that it was worth it for the amount of time i had put into it. very tough stuff. your gun looks great! congrats on making a cheap and reliable 1911 into a one-of-a-kind piece of art that is as beautiful as it is functional. nice work.

[DasFriek]

I can understand that, I look at some 1911 gunsmiths who do full builds from the ground up and put so many hours into the gun labor wise and then see them sell it for $2k its like ripping them off if you really knew how much time and effort they put into a gun like that.

Im not sure if i mentioned it here, But my aging parents bought the fire group for the gun a few months back as a birthday present. So i knew i could never get rid of the gun once i did that. Then once i looked at it as my first 1911 and i bought it to teach me how to work on 1911's i thought it was only fair i gave the gun the best parts i could afford and hand fit each one so even tho its not a true custom it means just as much to me.
I keep seeing people calling the gun "Art" which kinda amazes me as i never saw it that way nor intended for it to end up looking like that. I just got a picture in my head of what i wanted and went for it. But i guess once your around so many 1911's online and many being Museum worthy you may tend to get a little of that to rub off on you when you build your own.

I did shoot it yesterday, I figure 100-125 rounds as i had 2 other guns im still breaking in.
I had issues with the extractor being too tight and not enough room for the shells to slide in under it. Ive always ran the Wilson HD extractor with a bit more tension than needed but combine that with the little extra thickness of the new coating made for tolerances too tight to work 100%.
A little file and polishing and removing some tension and the gun should prove to be 100% reliable again.
Its my favorite ccw primary gun so i really want it back in use asap.

[earle8888]

Nice!