TexasCHLforum.com

This is my custom built 1911 9mm Commander Series 80. About 3 weeks ago all this was a just a bag of parts. The frame and slide is Caspian, it has a Nowlin barrel, Wolff springs and all the internals are a combination of Wilson Combat or Ed Brown. The grips are custom laser etched alumagrips from gungrips.net .

The cat is a hobo sign - chosen because we have a colony of feral cats we take care of and we always joked they put a hobo sign on our door to tell the other cats it is a nice place to come and live.

Every thing is hand filed and fitted. It took about 2 weeks working on it every evening and weekends; then a couple of trips to the range to get the kinks worked out of it; and now it shoots like a dream!!

I've put 200 flawless rounds through it the last couple of weeks.



I was so excited! It was really fun to make!!

Hello and thank you for letting us see your pistol, especially since it is one you worked on yourself!

I hope that it serves you well for decades and decades to come.

Best.

I know this is the "ladies " section and I generally avoid posting here , but I just have to commend you on a beautiful job
on that gun. It is a REAL BEAUTY !!

Very, very nice!

Thanks for the nice words!

This was a new experience all together. Before this project, I had never done more than fieldstrip one. I sweat a lot over it and lost most of my fingernails and I'd do it again - it could be addictive!

Oh well done and so beautiful! My favorite 1911 is one SRVA hand fitted from a bag of parts when he was younger with a tight bank account. I sincerely hope yours will give you as much pleasure and great shooting as the one I stole from SRVA has for me.

You will have to put a lot of thought into a holster for it because it'll be hard to find any that will do justice to your 1911.

This is absolutely gorgeous!!! It makes me want to make one. I love the cat on the grip. I'm a big fan of little graphics that make items very personal.

Would you share some of your expertise? What is the best way to get started?

T.

Beautiful pistol.

TLynnHughes wrote:This is absolutely gorgeous!!! It makes me want to make one. I love the cat on the grip. I'm a big fan of little graphics that make items very personal.

Would you share some of your expertise? What is the best way to get started?

T.

My husband has been gunsmithing some on his own, so he had already collected the tools I needed. He built one last year, so he gave me some advice and supervision.

Looking at the schematic on the brownell's site helped identify and list the parts needed and where to put them.

I didn't have a vice, which would have helped when filing the larger parts - like the frame rail and fitting the grip safety. There are a couple of specialty tools you need for one time use like a plunger tool staker. A large magnet is a handy tool to have, I lost the thumb safety plunger and spring a couple of times while trying to install it -- that little spring can fly.

The frame and slide came from Caspian, and for an extra fee, they can fit and install some of the parts for you (which might be worth it if you don't have those kinds of tools).

They can also factory fit the frame to slide -- but my husband wanted the satisfaction of doing it all himself -- so bought the frame & slide with nothing extra or special except the series 80 and novak site cuts.

I decided if he could do it, I could do it; so I took parts he ordered and started plugging away at it. The rest was A LOT of filing and testing for fit -- until it fit.

That is the way SRVA did his - I mean mine! It has a Remington Rand slide and a Vega frame. He hand fitted them using lapping compound until they would slide together perfectly. I can shoot a 8" metal target at 200 yards with that gun.

CompVest wrote:That is the way SRVA did his - I mean mine! It has a Remington Rand slide and a Vega frame. He hand fitted them using lapping compound until they would slide together perfectly. I can shoot a 8" metal target at 200 yards with that gun.

I don't think I can even SEE an 8" metal target at 200 yards much less hit it with anything.

Maybe we'll try building a gun in baby steps or MAYBE I should just focus on shooting one first.

T.

USA1 wrote:I know this is the "ladies " section and I generally avoid posting here , but I just have to commend you on a beautiful job
on that gun. It is a REAL BEAUTY !!

That is one beautiful piece of equipment! GREAT JOB!!!

TLynnHughes wrote:

CompVest wrote:That is the way SRVA did his - I mean mine! It has a Remington Rand slide and a Vega frame. He hand fitted them using lapping compound until they would slide together perfectly. I can shoot a 8" metal target at 200 yards with that gun.

I don't think I can even SEE an 8" metal target at 200 yards much less hit it with anything.

Maybe we'll try building a gun in baby steps or MAYBE I should just focus on shooting one first.

T.

Yep! Me too!

It would be doubtful if I could hit anywhere on the broad side of a barn at that distance!

That is a beautiful piece. Congrats, and here's to a lifetime of enjoyment for you.