My First 1911 Build

[kc2gvs]

Hail, Wizened and Knowledgeable Ones!

As the title says, I'm building a 1911. Building meaning, at this moment, I am buying parts, collecting knowledge, and going slowly.

At this point, I have many of the parts. I went to Fusion Firearms for the adjustable trigger, pin kit, firing pin, grip screws and bushings, recoil guide rod and cap, plunger tube, and ejector. I got 2 full spring kits and a 18.5 lb recoil spring from Wolff. I bought Pachmayr grips and a pair of Custom Wide Links. The Gubbermet surplused out 2 mainspring housings, one flat, one arched, and the barrel.

Now to the meat and potatoes of my thread clogging your servers.

Has anyone had experience with the Pachmayr Custom Wide Links? Any tips, tricks, reviews, or comments?
The barrel will be crowned and fitted with a bushing once I get the slide chosen. Any pointers on how I should break in the barrel? It's NOS, in wrapper.
Anyone have any experience with 80% 1911 frames? I want to build up from an 80% frame, for the experience and the resultant intimate knowledge of the workings and quality, for better or worse.
Finally, any tips on where to smooth and polish for best possible action? All my pistolsmithing experience comes from a Czech CZ-70, and only goes as far as cleaning and polishing the feed ramp. I do have some riflesmithing experience from my Enfields and my Martini Cadet, but I fear a comparison of apples to oranges...

Thanks, guys. You've never failed me yet, and I know I'll learn a heck of a lot more then I asked for...

[matrixcs]

You have picked a project which will provide a great opportunity to learn the intricacy’s of hand fitting parts. I have built several from 100% frames. All the work can be done by hand even with an 80% frame but the rails would be easier with a milling machine. The best advise I can give is to study all the material you can find and especially the Jerry Kuhnhausen shop manuals. It is a great project for long cold winter nights......

[EMC45]

Kunhausen and Brownell's will be your close friends.....

[Mk42gunner]

I have never used a wide link, I don't really see the need for one.

I have also never built a 1911 from an 80% receiver. I did watch a few youtube videos of the process though. There are frame jigs so you can do the job without having a mill; but after pricing them, I think I would put just a little more money in the pot and buy a small table top mill.

Buy good magazines to start with.

When you do the first test firing, start with one round fed from the magazine. If that works and locks the slide back, go to two rounds in the mag. You do not want a 7-8 round burst of .45's if your disconnector fails.

Robert

[Der Gebirgsjager]

I've never done one of the 80% frames--which certainly raises the bar on the challenge, nor have I used a custom wide link. I have built several from scratch, and to quote David Kaiser of Brownells when I had a discussion with him once about a difficulty I was having, "Now you know what it's like to try and travel to the moon in a rocket made of millions of parts all supplied by the low bidder." (Or something like that.) The subject under discussion was the slight-to-greater incompatibility of parts by different makers, and there are many of them. On your first build it would be better to use parts from just one or two manufacturers, or you're likely to get a self-taught lesson in parts fitting. Of course, we all have to learn and have to start somewhere........but sometimes, like a cold body of water, it's better to ease into it! But anyway, you'll probably get more out of us by asking about specific problems when you encounter them, since you may or may not encounter this or that problem. All good advice from earlier posts--get Kuhnhausen's books, pour over the Brownells catalogue. And...good luck with your project. I'm sure your first won't be your last.

[seagiant]

Hi,
Get BOTH of Kuhnhausens Books! (Vol. I & II)

Look to Ed Brown in the Brownell's Catalog for good affordable parts!

Wilson Combat has a VERY good how to vid (4 DVD"s) on the 1911!!!

[floydboy]

I agree with everything said above. The Kuhnhausen manuals are a must. I do mean a must. Brownells has a great tutorial about doing a trigger job. Some sort of jig will be needed for that. I to have never done one from a 80% frame. Always thought I wanted to but after building 5 from parts I really don't want to any more. I try and get a matched barrel and slide used off ebay or somewhere to keep from having fitting problems there. As a word of caution with 100% finished parts there are still ways to screw up royally. With less than finished parts the odds go up exponentially. Go very slow and do tons of research. I can be done. Good Luck.

Floyd

[mtgrs737]

If it were me I would not go with an 80% frame but spend the money on a quality frame from one of the better manufacturers. The frame, slide, and barrel are important for a first quality build. I love Ed Brown parts! They have been the best quality and always fit with the least hand work. Clark sells a barrel bushing that you can fit with hand tools so you can get a match quality fit, Brownell's will be your source for quality parts. The bottom line is that you will spend more to "Do it yourself" than to buy a good quality factory built 1911, but what is the price for knowledge? :) Good luck and have fun.

[kc2gvs]

UPDATE!

I've dropped the 80% idea to the back burner, as suggested. I went online and bid on and won an A.R. Sales Lightweight Full Sized frame, in the 5XXX serial range, ejector and plunger tube attached, circa 1960's/70's. From what the seller told me and from what I could see on the pictures he sent, the frame looks to be virgin, no wear marks, some storage marks (light patina on the plunger tube).

For a slide, I went to Sarco and got a Mil-Spec slide, with sights.

I also ordered 2 extra barrels from FleaBay, both confirmed as shot out (I scrubbed the holy everything out of it and can barely see any lines of rifling and there is heavy frosting) or fair (after cleaning, the rifling is okay, not strong, but not absent, with mild frosting) to practice fitting the Wide Link. The first barrel I ordered was also a FleaBay, but her rifling is strong, her parkerization almost perfect, and her bore as shiny as the day it was cut. To top it off, the milsurp bushing I got in a lot of Vietnam-era parts (slide stop, magazine release, release lock, barrel bushing) snugs up to the barrel like a Match Bushing, which is nice, it's finger snug to fit over the muzzle for about 0.02 inches, but after that it glides down and back freely along a 15 degree cant.

All in all, I believe I have a good start. I will be getting MEU(SOC) internals (Ed Brown hammer strut, Cylinder & Slide sear and disconnector) and a commander style hammer, to finish it off once my bankroll allows, and coating it with C-262 Stone Grey Cerakote, for that better-than-parkerized-but-looks-it finish.

Yep, my first build is turning into a Franken-pistol, but if all goes the way I think it will, it will be reliable, smooth and a nice little one-of-a-kind.

[wv109323]

It sounds like you are well on the way to make a shootable example of a 1911. I doubt the slide frame and barrel will be tight enough to fit as they are originally. The old school way to tighten these parts is to peen the rails down on a steel frame and squeeze the slide in a vise. The barrel would be welded up around the hood and bottom lugs and then fit.
i would scrap the wide link as there is no advantage if everything else is right. Good luck and enjoy.

[StuBach]

Kunhausen and Brownell's will be your close friends.....

Second this one. Kunhausen's books are invaluable. Once upon a time I found them digitally via a Google search. Good luck.

[John 242]

The best advice I could give you would be to find someone in your local area you can go to in case you run into a problem. The internet is a great resource, but it's hard to diagnose certain problems without putting hands on. If need be, there are some very knowledge 1911 builders at 1911forum.com. You can also try getting a hold of Mike Watkins at Brownells tech department. Mike's a good guy and a member of the Pistolsmith's guild.

Despite rumors to contrary, 1911s aren't exactly slap together guns that do well with a mish mash of parts. I would highly recommend buying your hammer and sear from the same company, such as Wilson, Cylinder & Slide, etc, and preferably from the same product line (bullet proof, value line, etc.)

It's not hard to assemble a 1911, but there's a lot that goes into building a 1911 that is put together correctly. Something as simple a link-down timing is critical to the "proper" functioning of a 1911.
Speaking of links, why do you want to install a wide one?

[kc2gvs]

I got a couple of them in a parts grab bag I found at the transfer site hunting for tires so I could recycle the wheel weights into boolits.

I got the pistol put together, trigger travel is 1.745 mm... Im impressed with it!

[floydboy]

Let us know when you shoot it.