Assembling a 1911 - it's ON!

I read this thread with a bit of amusement. As Supermoto mentioned, building a 1911 takes some mechanical skill and proper tools. They are not the firearm erector sets that AR's are.
 
TheRoland said:
I think I need a dermal tool in order to properly fit the grip safety, as filing is getting me nowhere.
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When I put my Remsport 1911 together I did not use a Dremel tool. Instead, I used fine grit sand paper, small files and filing stones.

Be careful with it as it is a lot easier taking metal off than putting it back on.
 
Big_Red said:
When I put my Remsport 1911 together I did not use a Dremel tool. Instead, I used fine grit sand paper, small files and filing stones.

Be careful with it as it is a lot easier taking metal off than putting it back on.
Click to expand...

I'm not going to touch the frame, so worst case, I break a $20 part. The issue seems to be that the safety pin that holds the grip safety on just doesn't line up with the hole in the grip-safety, and several hours of filing only succeed in making the blending slightly worse. I suspect it'll take 2 seconds with a dremel, but sandpaper might work, too.
As Supermoto mentioned, building a 1911 takes some mechanical skill and proper tools. They are not the firearm erector sets that AR's are.
Click to expand...

With the slide and barrel fit, it's still a good amount of work, but so far not as bad as I was expecting. We'll see when I get it running if there are major issues.
 
I have spent all day blending my bevertail and it is SLOOOOWWW going but it has been a good project for this rainy day. I have also spent quite a while getting this saftey to fit in still not quite there. I also had no issue with the mainspring assembly.
 
I have found a couple of areas that have needed fitting:

The firing pin stop needed a good bit of filing on the sides and the step area before it fit into the slide;

I still have work to do on the sear/hammer alignment, but I'll wait on that until I get (or borrow) a jig;

I lightly polished the sides of both the hammer and sear as they were binding ever-so-slightly in the frame;

I'm also having some difficulty fitting the thumb safety, but I'll wait on that until I get the sear and hammer properly fit;

I did quite a bit of filing on the magazine well end of the frame to avoid having a step where the magazine well attached;

The side of the trigger was dragging slightly on the frame, and I cleaned the trigger track slightly to clean it up;

The disconnecter is too long. I'm going to have to file it down...



I'm also realizing that all this filing is taking the bluing off of the parts... and I think that I want to "melt" the edges of the slide a bit... So I guess that I'm going to have some parts re-blued...
 
Fitting the thumb safety is proving to be quite a challenge. I have put this away till another time for now. This project sucked up most of my weekend.
 
ARowley said:
Fitting the thumb safety is proving to be quite a challenge. I have put this away till another time for now. This project sucked up most of my weekend.
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The thumb safety is maybe a 10 minute job, maybe you mean the grip safety?

You guys should rent the AGI Gunsmithing vids from Smartflix or find someone that has done this stuff and pick their brains.
 
I think the thumb safety would be about 10 minutes now that I've done it once. But it was more than 10 minutes the first time, because I used this method:

  1. File a tiny bit off.
  2. Test Fit.
  3. Curse.
  4. File some other part a tiny bit, in case it's not just the sear in the way.
  5. Test Fit.
  6. Curse.
  7. Repeat 100 times.
 
Back in town, and worked on this today. Continued to fit the grip safety. Adding the dremel tool fixed my "file not doing anything" problem; grip safety now fits [grin] and after more filing, works![smile].

Next two problems: I can't get my grip bushings threaded into the frame (they just won't start) and my mainspring housing retaining hole doesn't quite line up. Will update with step-by-step when my hands don't hurt so much.
 
I need a new grip safety.... [frown]

I could NOT get it through the frame with the sear, disconnecter, and hammer installed. Without those parts installed, it fit, although very tightly.

I got too aggressive with the filing, but it finally fit through the frame with the parts in place.... at first I thought I was doing good, but I think that I took too much off in the engagement area... it's sloppy in there... Once I get it all together, I'll do extensive testing with snap caps to see if it'll fire with the safety engaged.

I also cannot install both the grip safety and the thumb safety at the same time. The grip safety works properly without the thumb safety installed, but it doesn't move when the thumb safety is installed.

How come I can't see through steel? Those diagrams in the book are great... but I can't see in there!

Other than that, things are going great! I got my grips, and it finally feels like a handgun!

I keep looking for sights, but I scroll through pages of them, and say "I wonder if these ones will fit?" I want 3-dot night sites with the serrations on the rear blade, a wide notch, and a big dot front sight. If available, I'd like to find adjustable rear sights that meet the criteria listed above... but if not, I can live without that feature...

When it's all done, I'll know that it's mine! [smile]
 
RichM said:
I also cannot install both the grip safety and the thumb safety at the same time. The grip safety works properly without the thumb safety installed, but it doesn't move when the thumb safety is installed.

How come I can't see through steel? Those diagram
Click to expand...


This probably means bad fit. I had too much metal next to the trigger bow, and for some reason, it caused this symptom.

Day 3? 4?: Clock running down!
I'm going to try to get alot more work done in the next couple of days, but it's looking like crunch time at work might blow my "build a 1911" plans out of the water for several weeks. In which case, I'm going to have to decide if I want to continue the build myself. Downside is that I'm going to have tons of weeks with no building, and when I come back, no gun. Alternately, I'm considering using what I have as the basis for a smith (maybe RemSport, since it's their stuff!) to build it up with more features. Downside to this is obviously $$$$.

But, for now, I want to prove that this build can be done by an idiot. So, this week will be 1911 crunch time: I'm deciding have 5 days to finish, and we'll see where we go from there.
 
Day 5: Slip and slide

Assembled the slide just now. (bypassed my grip bushings problem, and mostly solved the mainspring housing, I think) and it occurred to me: I'm almost done!

I have these parts left to do:

  1. Screw grip bushings on (no fitting required)
  2. Fit mainspring housing on (fitting!)
  3. Fit slide stop on frame/slide.
  4. Buy and install sights.

That's it (maybe add "Get extractor running properly", but hope springs eternal). My trigger pull is OK, my thumb safety works, my grip safety mostly works, my sear and hammer are in, my trigger and mag release are fitted. I'm almost at the point where I need to file the State's paperwork, because I'm almost at the point where I can achieve ignition.

Five more days of work, spending about an hour a day? I might just make it!
 
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wacky_doug said:
Hey Roland, I haven't ever filled out an fa-10 for an assembly. Do you know who we're supposed to put for the Seller?
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I've seen it discussed; previous threads say just to leave it blank as it's not a Personal Transfer. Pretty sure that's correct.

Also about to order some sights (probably novak plain black rear and red fiber front). PM'ed John to see if he had any suggestions on style/height, but there's really no way to know without test firing, I don't think.

Also ordering some magazines. Going to start with 1 Wilson 47D, and see if it works. My main undone things are the mainspring (needed to fire) and grips (needed to not suck), which means I should be able to test feeding.
 
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scooterguy said:
Just wanted to say this is an awesome thread. I can't wait to see what your finished project looks like (hopefully similar to your sketch in post #6!).
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Glad you're enjoying it; I'm enjoying doing it. It's looking like due to work schedule, my "deadline" is going to be Monday. I'll post a good (borrowed camera) picture of it then. I'm so close, and expect to make the deadline without rushing.

After that, I'm going away for work again, and will probably drop it off at RemSport to turn it from the 1911 I've hacked together into a full up gunsmith custom job while I'm away. I'll post that picture, too.


EDIT:
Things, step by step, I’ve already done, but not talked about in detail:

Fitting the Thumb Safety

This, actually, was pretty easy. I hear (or would hear, if I read internet postings out-loud, which I don’t) that this is impossible to do without a gunsmith, or it’ll be really unsafe, etc, etc. While we’ll see if this needs to be replaced down the line, for now, I’m of the opinion this is bogus, and fitting the thumb safety is actually pretty straitforward. What I did was this:

First, make sure it’ll go into the frame. To do this, take everything you’ve done off and out of the pistol, and file things (on the thumb safety, not on the frame!) until the thumb safety appears to go through its full motion range.

Second, curse loudly when you can’t get everything you’ve done (sear, hammer, etc, etc) back into the gun correctly. Go back and fix your magazine release to be smooth and lighter. Why? Because you might as well so long as it’s out of the frame.

Third, with everything in the gun, install the thumb safety. No, just kidding, it’s not going to fit. Look into the frame and figure out what it’s catching on. HINT: The hammer isn’t back. Cock the hammer and check again. Now, it’s on the sear, which is where it should be.

Fourth, make really good notes on which part of the “doohickey” is contacting the sear. Then, file this down real good…. But not too good; if you go to far now, you’ll look like an idiot when you post about it on NES.

Then go through these steps:
1. File the “whateveryoucallit”
2. See if it’ll fit in the “Fire position”.
3. See step 1.

When it does fit, repeat for the “Safe” position. Check the plunger tube (they should be close, but not touching). If you like, file corners off the outside thumb safety at random to make it look “custom”. I did not do this, as anything I’d file would look retarded, but people on the internet seem to think it’s a good idea. I passed.

That’s it. Thumb safety now fits.

Fitting the Grip Safety

Seems to me that there are four major problems here:

1. Blending with the frame.
2. Rotating without binding on the frame.
3. Properly engaging the trigger bow when safety is on.
4. Properly not catching the trigger bow when the safety is off.

Step 1 is just not my thing. I’m not into removing large amounts of metal from my frame or my parts, soooo, while functional, my grip safety is just not really blended. I think this will become a John thing next week.
Step 2 is a matter of filing the frame and grip’s tangs. Use marker to determine where they’re touching, then file/dremel that part. Done. It’s not hard, but with really fine files it takes forever. Even with a dermal and fine grit, I spent hours and hours on this. If you’re brave enough to use bigger grit, it would probably be easier.

Step 3 is a matter of don’t do step 4 too bad.
Step 4 is a matter of slowly filing off the trigger bow engagement prong (on the grip safety, not the trigger bow, obviously) until it allows the trigger to be pulled, then a little more to make sure the safety will reset.

Slide
Pin goes in the hole, pin comes out of the hole, the other pin goes in the hole (38 super pins are lighter, and I’m happy my .45 takes one, like many custom 1911s) pin comes out of the hole, spring goes in the hole, pin goes in the hole properly this time, extractor goes in, pin stop goes in. Done.
 
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Does the thumb safety go all the way up when the slide is on? Some times I have to file it a little to fit the triangular notch in the slide.

Does the slide stop come with a detent in it for the plunger pin to sit in? That keeps it from moving on its own. You can also contour the detent and area below it on the thumb safety. That way you can make the clicking on and off of the safety as smooth or as stiff as you like.
 
GTOShootr said:
Does the thumb safety go all the way up when the slide is on? Some times I have to file it a little to fit the triangular notch in the slide.
Click to expand...
Good question. I think mine fits, but I'll have to double check that tonight.

Does the slide stop come with a detent in it for the plunger pin to sit in? That keeps it from moving on its own.
Click to expand...
Sure does. I filed mine a tiny bit with the tip of a needle file to make it deeper, but it was good to go already. EDIT: Actually, I'm not so sure about this. Still have to fit the slide stop.

You can also contour the detent and area below it on the thumb safety. That way you can make the clicking on and off of the safety as smooth or as stiff as you like.
Click to expand...
I thought I'd have to do this to get it to fit at all, but didn't end up touching it. It's stiff but crisp, and makes a satisfying "SNIP!" when safe-ed and an even better "SNIP-CLACK!" when moved to fire. Way better than the commercial 1911s I've tried. If there were a way to make it even stiffer and louder (not really louder, but... .more like a glass rod breaking, a la, the trigger), I'd do it, but it's nice enough now that I'm afraid to mess with it.
 
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I've got 2 Wilson 47Ds on the way from Midway. Didn't order sights (RemSport is getting some, and is going to install them).

Also ordered a Wilson Combat Mainspring housing which accepts a removable magwell. I'm hoping this mainspring housing works better than the one I've got (which doesn't line up right) and a removable magwell sounds like something to have on a futuristic gun.

EDIT: Quick update. Did some more work last night, fit the slide release (it was pretty much drop-in, just is a little rough, needs some polishing). I still don't have a mainspring housing that fits (waiting for a Wilson one I ordered) but I put the slide on, and had a problem where my full-length guide rod doesn't actually fit under the barrel bushing. This strikes me as a weird problem, which might have to do with my guide rod, bushing, barrel locking lugs, or slide. It's really really close, so nothing is wildly out of spec or anything like that, but I think this might go into the "Let John sort it out next week" category.

The gun now looks like a gun. Great sense of accomplishment. Filing an FA-10, even though I'm not quite at the point were it will fire.
 
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Quick update: Pictures in the works; I'll finally post some good ones this weekend. I've not had enough time to really work on this, but I've tested some stuff.

I got my mags and a new mainspring housing/magwell. While I couldn't jam the retaining pin in during the 5 minutes I had to work on it, it fits (so, without the mainspring in there making it hard to put on, the pin passes through). This means my other mainspring housing (an Ed Brown, I think) was likely out of spec. This one works, and looks pretty nice.

The magazines seat and drop free, although the mag-release spring is way too heavy, so I have to depress the magazines release to insert a mag, too. Not sure if this is due to fit or the spring itself, but should be easy to solve.

Still unable to get my guide rod to fit in the gun, which is odd, I think. I'm thinking of switching to a GI-style guide rod, but will try to find the cause first, to make sure it's not a big deal. EDIT: I think GTOShootr figured this out!

Conclusion
Will be back at RemSport Monday (more updates this weekend); looks like everything but the guide rod issue will be done, but, really, not done that well. A gunsmith could make it alot better, which is really what I intend to pay RemSport to do next week.

It's been a fun project, hasn't taken as long as I expected, and wasn't as hard as I expected....
So can an idiot build a 1911? Yes. Sure can. But not that well.
 
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TheRoland said:
Still unable to get my guide rod to fit in the gun, which is odd, I think. I'm thinking of switching to a GI-style guide rod, but will try to find the cause first, to make sure it's not a big deal.
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Full length? With the slide off, see if the back end of the guide rod sits in the frame, not just up against it. Sometimes the end is too big to fit right. I turn them in my lathe, you coud dot it with a file.

I mean the part of the rod to the far left in this photo.
http://www.dlsports.com/1911_full_length_guide_rods.html
 
GTOShootr said:
Full length? With the slide off, see if the back end of the guide rod sits in the frame, not just up against it. Sometimes the end is too big to fit right. I turn them in my lathe, you coud dot it with a file.

I mean the part of the rod to the far left in this photo.
http://www.dlsports.com/1911_full_length_guide_rods.html
Click to expand...

Bingo, I think you got it. I haven't looked, but I'm almost sure that's it, as the flat gizmo is really big, and was really tight in the frame.
 
Let me know when you test this thing at the range... I'll make sure to use appropriate cover!
 
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Pics!

Day ?: The Final Countdown!

I took a dremel to my guide rod, as it flat dohicky is too big, but after a couple of minutes of work, it's still too big. I may not have time to fit it before Monday. It also appears like the disconnector notch needs to be expanded, which I'll probably make a gunsmith job, along with installing the grip bushings.

So, without the grips screwed on, with the mainspring housing still not pinned (but fit!) and with the guide rod out, here's a real picture of the 1911:

Notice the similarities with the design sketch.



Mia.jpg


OH NO CAT THREAD!!!!

Ok, ok, after making sure the cat didn't eat any pins or springs, here we go. One picture of one RemSport 5" 1911, all stainless.
build1911-1.jpg


And the obligatory stylish picture:

build1911-2.jpg
 

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