RIA 1911 "sleeper"

[jmsj]

Hey Guys,
There have been some threads lately regarding RIA 1911's. I thought I post about one I'm working on for a friend of mine. It started out as a frame, slide and barrel kit. He bought all the internals and I fitted all the parts. He wanted just a plain jane shooter nothing extravagant. He did want to go with a wide spur type hammer but wondered if I could to something to eliminate the possibility of hammer bite. I put a .250" radius on the tangs, built the wide and extended "duckbill" safety then blended it to the radius and tangs.
These are some of the first groups shot out of this pistol. They were shot at 25 yds. off a rest. I have posted that seeing iron sights has been getting tougher for me and these were shot using the standard G.I. sights. I think my inability to focus the sights is what is causing the stringing. I can't wait to see how it shoots for him. Now we just need to adjust POI.

http://i961.photobucket.com/albums/ae97/jmsj515/RIA1911Shooter001_zps8d8fa48b.jpg

[44man]

Nice work. The 1911 is the best platform ever and will never be beaten.
I have built up several for friends and one does 1/2" at 30 yards. Then a friend brought out his Dan Wesson, straight factory and I shot a 1/2" group at 50 yards with it from Creedmore. I told him to never change the load or boolit but he drives me nuts. Every time he comes out he changes something, he will not even shoot his SRH with the loads I worked out when I owned it.
He gets so screwed up he will call me three times a day about loading and when I tell him to never change, he says "I know, I know." Now it is his .270 rifle. I shot 1/2" groups but he is changing everything again, I am at a loss!
Anyway, the loads that shoot have gone into the woodwork.
You did great work and it makes me want a 1911 more, I have wanted one all my life but I just can't sell anything more to buy one or build one.
Can I pat you on the back?

[jmsj]

44man,
Thanks for the kind words. Some friends and I got together and did kind of a group buy and purchased 5 of these kits. I have finished 3 of these builds so far.Each on has been a little different.
This one was built for a friend that is a competitive Bullseye shooter. He wanted to see how accurate a RIA could be built using the factory barrel. His Bullseye buddies told him he was wasting his time on this project. I swaged and lapped the rails for a tight fit, worked the barrel for the tightest lock up possible, polish and fit every part and did a trigger job to his personal liking. Plus a lot of other little things.
I am thinking of getting one of those grip mounted optic rails just for accuracy testing. I really don't like the way they look and hear they are hard to keep tight but I would just use it to "proof" the gun. With this kind of "no drill" mount, I could remove it when done and not leave any marks or screw holes on the gun. I am thinking this would take my "middle aged eyes out of the equation.
jmsj

[khmer6]

Where oh where did you find these builder kits?

[jmsj]

khmer,
We got them from Sarco a while back.
jmsj

[khmer6]

Sweet thanks. I didn't know builder kits were ever on the market for them. I have a nickel 38 super from ria and it shoots the tightest group