Finished 1911

We got the slide back from the good folks at Coal Creek Armory, with their Isonite finish. A little final fitting, and adding the sights later...

Here is the finished gun.

Shooting with Mr. Murphy

Since we couldn't make it to Jay's get together again LadyElf and I decided to go try our luck at the local bowling pin match.

To say it went poorly would be an understatement, between the two of us we had more ammo or gun related problems in the course of 150 rounds then I have had in the previous 18 months and 10K rounds.

Things that worked:
The truck, and the pizza place we stopped at on the way home.

Things that mostly worked:
The Kimber digested all but the most horribly malformed reloads.
My experimental 'U' notch sights were only 4" off at 7 yards, but the basic principal seems to work.

Things that did not work:
The STI Escort, it will get a detail strip and full check over, but I suspect crappy reloads had some influence here.
My TFO tritium/fiber sights, the fiber fell out of the front blade. I've had them on for about 6 months, trying to decide if they were rugged enough to survive life near me, and the answer is No.

Aside from finding Mr. Murphy then putting two rounds in his chest, then one more in his head just to be sure; I'll be detail stripping and cleaning everything. Some of the problems were clearly ammo, I've been cycling out my cache ammo of reloads, and it looks like I have a bad batch in there. Given that I've changed several things on my setup and not had trouble with any recently loaded ammo I'm not too worried.

On the sights I'll be ordering a set of 10-8 'U' notch sights, and sending them off to have tijicon inserts installed. Much as the TFO is a nice combination of Triji and fiber, its not very robust, and the green on green does not draw attention to the front sight. Triji green front and yellow rear, with a white outline on the front is not as bright, but it works well in all light, and doesn't fall apart.

Stay Safe,
AE

AR-45 Update

The barrel arrived from Green Mountain Rifle Barrels, they are not kidding when they say its a blank. It looks like a piece of round stock with a rifled hole drilled in the center.

Starting to put things together and determine overall length. Here is the bolt in the upper:

The bolt face is about half an inch into the receiver, when the bolt is locked, so I need a 17" barrel beyond the end of the upper to be legal.

If that looks long its because it is. Here is the same setup with my AR15 for scale, and to show how much the stock will add.

Crappy picture, but its clearly a long rifle, the AR15 has a 16" barrel, and is 32" OAL. Because the AR45 is based on an AR-10 receiver its two inches longer.

This leads to the obvious conclusion that this rifle will have to be a SBR, otherwise it will be too damned big to be at all 'handy'. That still leaves the question of suppressing it, but having a suppressor, and an SBR may not add much, other then a bigger check to the BATFE.

Finally here is the receiver with a mag installed. That's a converted AR-10 mag that will feed .45ACP.

The next step is a lower parts kit, a stock and a charging handle.

AE

Not Very Good at This Blogging Thing

Worcester MA area meet up: Thursday, 14 July 2011. At the Horse Shoe Pub, Hudson MA. The reservation is for Mr. Johnson.

Last weekend Lady Elf threw her sister a bridal shower and bachelorete party, the former lasting almost as long as the latter. Given the state of all involved when they were over I am unclear which was a wilder party. Neither got the coroner called, so they was less then a 3 on the 'Lady Elf throws a wild party scale'.

While all that was going on my Father in Law (FiL) and I went to the NRA and met with Old NFO. A good time was had by all, and a few C Stories swapped. Along the way I botched by Fairfax land navigation, but made up for it with a perfect 20 on Boston Driving :) Next time I'm using a damned map.

My FiL succeeded again in producing a marksman ship challenge everyone: shoot the numbered area on a dart board at 7 yards.

Old NFO produced a couple very nice 1911s for us to try, and my fingers have mostly recovered from the stippling on his Clark Custom. For a pistol that is not broken in its an amazing gun, and once again we are reminded why master craftsmen charge the prices they do.

Now its off to Boston again, we'll see if the TSA boy with the kind eyes is working Logan again.

AE

Worcester MA Meet Up

I'll be in Worcester on July 14th and 15th, any one interested in a meet up at the Horse Shoe Pub in Hudson? Or some where in Worcester?

AE

Kimbers

Dragon, over here, discusses his first, last, and only Kimber 1911. It makes me very glad I passed on the SIS when it first came out, albeit for philosophical reasons.

This brings me to the point of my Kimber: a Custom Classic series 1 (colt series 70 copy with out the foolish series 80 firing pin block. I got the gun used, already equipped with an Ed Brown barrel and bushing, everything else was MIM, so I presume original. The gun had been run hard, the finish on the front strap was worn noticeably where the shooters fingers hold the pistol. And it has continued to run very well while I run it hard.



As the holster wear might suggest I carry and shoot this gun a lot. Some where between 6 and 12 thousand rounds a year, and on my belt any time I'm not in a prohibited.

I've replaced all of the small parts, either for practical reasons (grips and trigger to make it fit me better, and and ambidextrous thumb safety for off hand) or for shits and giggles (everything else). Only the guide rod, barrel and slide/frame are original. And this has made absolutely no difference in reliability.

I'm not sure how common or uncommon my Kimber experience is, but given that I have just demonstrated the ability to build a custom 1911 for the price of a new Kimber, I don't think I'll be buying another one. On the other hand this one is not for sale at any price.

AE

1911 Build

The gun is basically done. The slide needs to be sent to CCA for coating, and the stocks need to be changed out for Crimson Trace lasers. Over 400 rounds though the gun, and function seems reliable. Thats a mixture of my hand-loads and factory ammo.

Here is the Mag-Well after bead blasting:


Here is the slide/frame/grip safety after bead blasting:


And here is proof I'm not going to be competing with Mr. Volk any time, every, as a gun photographer.


The next three show the barrel linking surfaces.

Top Lugs:

Bottom Lugs:

Back of the bottom lugs:


Stay safe,
AE

Vacation Pictures

We didn't see the gators, but did get a yard full of deer.

These are the ones who stuck around after I walked outside to get pictures. There were at least 7 in the herd.



This one shows one of the two biggest, who will have very nice racks come fall.



Of course I'll be there again in November, but I suspect the neighbors will object to rifle fire.

AE

Dog blogging

Because I'm uploading pictures from my phone: the latest round of dog pictures.

1911 Pictures

Here are some more pictures of the 1911 build. First up are the slide/frame fitting, with all parts blended, the next step is to bead blast to remove all tool marks.





Here is the magwell, blended to match the frame. This will also get bead blasted to match. I'm unimpressed with this style magwell, the joint between the magwell and the mainspring housing is not very tight, so the position when assembled is not as precises.



Stay Safe,
AE