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1911 repair
- Thread starter jonw
- Start date
Good luck with that, given this requirement. All the smiths that don't suck are well east of here.
For most of my semiautomatic pistol stuff I bring them to Lou @ Business End Customs. Greg Derr is good also but he's a lot further out from where I live than Peabody.
-Mike
Greg Derr is my choice based on [STRIKE=location]location[/STRIKE] previous work, price and wait time.
Closer to you and recommended here and elsewhere is Dave Santurri.
Not sure about the Parkerizing.
Search for him here on NES for local reference.
Good luck.
Santurri, Ltd.
ETA: I realized this looked like it was just location based.
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shotgunwilly870
NES Member
+1 to Greg derr
This, I live in a black hole of reputable 1911 smiths. I've traveled to Greg Derr and was extremely pleased with the result. And with the rep Lou has gotten on here I would not hesitate to go to him either. It sucks, but it's just extra time in the car.
Sweeney
NES Member
LaRocca in Worcester
Brookfield Precision Tool (out of Tombstone Trading in Brookfield)
Remsport
Neither of your tasks are very difficult. I built my own 1911 from parts and parkerized it myself on my stove.
1943 Ithaca slide and small bits on a Remsport frame.
Brookfield Precision Tool (out of Tombstone Trading in Brookfield)
Remsport
Neither of your tasks are very difficult. I built my own 1911 from parts and parkerized it myself on my stove.
1943 Ithaca slide and small bits on a Remsport frame.
45collector
NES Member
^ That's a very nice 1911A1 clone Sweeney! Likey.
Another vote for Derr if you were close enough.
Another vote for Derr if you were close enough.
Golddiggie
NES Member
Why do you need a smith to do the thumb safety?? I can understand for redoing the finish on the entire gun, but a thumb safety change/replace is easy.
I've not worked with any smiths, in MA, this century. Last ones I worked with were in FL back before 1997. I did get some work done back in 1997, but wasn't in central or western MA. I think Greg Derr would be a solid choice, from what I've seen of his work.
I've not worked with any smiths, in MA, this century. Last ones I worked with were in FL back before 1997. I did get some work done back in 1997, but wasn't in central or western MA. I think Greg Derr would be a solid choice, from what I've seen of his work.
Sweeney
NES Member
Thank you, Sir. Fun project... it was a 1911 frame. I had to cut the reliefs behind the trigger guard to make it an 'A1'. I found the geometry of the cut on original blueprints, ground an endmill and prayed I wasn't about to ruin a brand new frame
![[grin]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/041.gif "Grin [grin]")
.The toughest part was finding a correct thumb safety as the 1943 Ithaca's is serrated...not checkered.
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I took the ride out to see Dave Santurri. FRICKIN AWESOME guy! Made a small adjustment to the safety on his wheel, came home and it dropped right in!
I also picked up an Ed Brown "needs fitting" for my SR1911.
My Sons gun is back up and running.
Thanks for the recommendation!![[thumbsup]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/044.gif "Thumbs Up [thumbsup]")
I also picked up an Ed Brown "needs fitting" for my SR1911.
My Sons gun is back up and running.
Thanks for the recommendation!
LaRocca in Worcester
Brookfield Precision Tool (out of Tombstone Trading in Brookfield)
Remsport
Neither of your tasks are very difficult. I built my own 1911 from parts and parkerized it myself on my stove.
1943 Ithaca slide and small bits on a Remsport frame.
Man that came out NICE!!
I spoke to John this morning @ Remsport and he said
"I am out of 1911 thumb safety's, I have to order some"......................
![[hmmm]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/009.gif "Hmm [hmmm]")
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dcmdon
NES Member
Or JoJo's in Southington, CT is about an hr south of you. They do great work but are very busy.
Don
p.s. CT law has an explicit carve out for people who don't posses a CT pistol permit and are bringing their handgun to a gunsmith for repair.
dcmdon
NES Member
Absolutely correct. Take gun apart. Insert new safety. Or try anyway. Adjust it to have a good force profile against the plunger. Test to see if it releases. Remove. File 2 strokes. Reinstall, test, disassemble, file, reinstall, test, disassemble, file, Repeat 20 times.
Sure if you are a pro, you can take a lot off at a time, because you can feel how far you have to go. But unless you want to ruin a $40 to $80 part, you go slow. Its a royal pain in the ass. Also for me, its a stressful process that I don't enjoy. I'd gladly pay someone $50 to fit one. Provided logistics worked. I wouldn't pay $120 in round trip shipping to have it done, which is why I've done some myself.
But then again, I never had somone like Business End Customs right down the road.
Golddiggie
NES Member
Guess I just got lucky when doing mine. It was almost two decades ago (~1994-5), though. IF I recall, I went over to my parent's place and had help from dad on it. There was very little he had a smith do. Only when it required tooling he didn't have, like putting a mount for a dot onto the slide, did he go to a smith.
BTW, I went for an ambi, extended, thumb safety when I made the change. If you're going to change it, do it for something worthy.
Yeah, and to top it off sometimes when our WECSOG jobs are done you're sitting there snapping it on and off and you start thinking "This works but it still doesn't feel right."
1911 work is something I'd rather have someone else do, unless it involves like replacing grip panels or a simple broken part replacement (like replacing a sear spring or something)
-Mike
dcmdon
NES Member
I have a Colt lightweight officers ACP that is exactly as you described. Its just not quite right. I used all the right parts, ed brown ambi safety, I took my time. The safety works flawlessly. It just doesn't sit as flush on the RHS as it should. I've since been told that sometimes you need to adjust the dovetail between the right and left sides of the ambi safety to get it to go together properly.
When I got my Dan Wesson PM9 a couple of years ago, an Ed Brown safety would have cost me about $60 shipped. The CZ Custom shop did it for $110 with return shipping. Money well spent in my mind. Especially since it maintains the warranty. The gun came with a fiber optic sight and a Greider slide stop (or an Ed Brown Hard Core, which is dimensionally identical) right from the factory, two things I add to all my 1911s. So the ambi safety and a set of used Les Baer sharp checkered magwell style wood grips were all I needed to make it "mine".
Don
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![[rofl]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/013.gif "ROFL [rofl]")
they are sexy though.
Sweeney
NES Member
![[wink]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/002.gif "Wink [wink]")
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