1911 Slide

[gchapman1965]

A few months ago I purchased a trunk load of assorted stuff from the son of a deceased gunsmith. Among the many treasures was a 1911 slide, a couple of barrels and assorted other parts. It looks like he was going to make a custom 1911 from it by sanding off the maker's name from the side of the slide. In doing so, he messed up the cocking serrations on one side. Maybe he had a plan of some kind to repair/replace them, but it was never finished. My question is, how could I go about repairing this so it wouldn't so unsightly. I don't want to remove any more material as I think it would be to thin. Would silver solder work to fill in these serrations, smooth it out and have them re-cut? I've worked with silver solder in the past making musical instrument parts and my plans are to DuraCoat the 1911 when it's finished, so I think it would be a virtually invisible repair. Would this be a viable and durable repair?

Thanks,

Greg

[nascarkent]

I think you are throwing good money after bad.
You can buy a off brand slide for $125.00

[gchapman1965]

My question wasn't, "Is this financially viable?". My question was, "How can I do this?". I worked for many years as an instrument repairman (not a parts changer) making and repairing broken and/or obsolete parts when needed. This is a hobby for me and I want to learn to "repair" guns, not just swap out parts if it might be "to much work" to fix it. I'm not concerned about how long it will take to do it as long as it is a durable repair.

[45nut]

I am not a welder,, but I'd think TIG or MIG welding to build up metal would be the path.

[Rick459]

as 45 Nut suggested build up the area where the metal was removed using either Tig welder or even a Mig welder. use a mill to remove excess weld and recut the serriations using a mill.
Rick

[nicholst55]

I'd be concerned about the heat treating of the slide, doing all that welding in the breech area. I don't know if I could ever fully trust that slide afterwards.

[KCSO]

Tig weld them up and recut them. That will not heat the slide any more than silver solder and will look better if you decide to blue or parkerize in the future.

[scb]

At one time a customer had me cut serrations in the front of a slide. This is how I did it as far as mill set-up goes. I used a 60 deg. .375 dovetail cutter.



I too would be concerned about the heat required to do this repair.

[waksupi]

Yep, TIG. There are no crucial pressures there.