IMG_0853 by Dandy Randy, on Flickr



I been hidin out in the bunker since the great zombie epidemic of 2020 started so I been doin new projects here and there. Just finished a "Make a Philippine 1911 into somethin better" project. It worked out pretty good however I feel as though I went as far as I could with it without breakin into hundreds of dollars and I didnt want to spend that kind of money on a cheapo gun. So I was lookin at my 1911 surplus and I have a brand new Colt Series 70s frame. The gun needs a slide assembly so I had a cheap Turkish Tisas slide I slapped on the gun and it fit perfect! The slide and frame fit was EXCELLENT better than many high end guns I come across. The back of the slide was perfectly flush with the frame and the Colt match grade barrel fit perfectly in the Turkish slide. So I got my wheels turnin in my head thinking of a new 1911 project. I think it would be a shooter. If I do it I would start dehorning the stainless frame. Nothing crazy no melt job but just a lite dehorning of sharp edges. What do you guys think???? Thanks!

Looks good.

My first thought was that it could make for a nice GI-style gun, with the sights, hammer, trigger, thumb safety, and grip safety you've got there. Could also help keep costs down.

Dehorning the tang and grip safety would be good to do. Maybe dehorn or bob the hammer spur slightly.

I'm also a fan of the traditional two-toned 1911s, blued/black slide with chrome or stainless frame.

Just my opinion. It's up to you to decide how you want to proceed, of course.

Keep us posted with pictures as your project proceeds, please.

I bought an older Essex 1911 at a Dallas gun show because it had a Colt slide I needed for another gun. I bought a new GI style slide for $150 from Jack the dog for another gun but it was a loose fit. I slid the frame on the Essex and a nice fit. I had about 12 barrels laying around and fitted the closest one and a NM oversize bushing and It made a good 1911 military style shooter.

Attached Images

	garys guns Essex 45 2.jpg (71.1 KB, 60 views)
	garys guns Essex 45.jpg (72.8 KB, 55 views)

It’s all good! Should be a good shooter.

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Hue 68 noli me tangere

What are the things to look for to make sure its a good slide to barrel fit? The Colt barrel and bushing seems to fit well in the Tisas slide. Ive seen this with Philippine 1911 too where they fit well on Colt products. I suspect this is because they use old Colt tools??? I also tried the Tisas slide on a brand new Springfield Armory Mil Spec frame but it didnt fit well at all. Lots of binding on the Springfield barrel in the Tisas slide.

It don't need to rattle. When you fit slide to frame that is all you do to check for how loose. If tight I have a set of Brownell spreaders to loosen up the slide. I am not a gunsmith but one of my friends helped me when I needed it. I have a lot of 1911 parts and if they won't fit one gun they will fit another. I was putting a drop in trigger and hammer kit in my Philippine 9mm and it wouldn't fit. I had to break out the jig and smooth the original hammer. With the gun together push down on the back of the barrel. If it moves it may need a longer link. I bought a shop manual by Jerry Kuhnhausen and really a big help.

I second the Kuhnhausen manual,saved me on many occasions.

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Hue 68 noli me tangere

'The 1911 Complete Assembly Guide' by Walt Kuleck is a very good resource I'd recommend.

A tight slide-frame fit is nice on a bullseye pistol, but may induce failures on a "combat" pistol. Mechanical accuracy comes from a quality barrel that has consistent 3-point lockup, that means muzzle and bushing, barrel feet and slide stop pin, and barrel locking lugs and slide. Shooter enhancements to accuracy are a consistent trigger break and good sights.

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VCDL, GOA, NRA

Slide-frame fit contributes to mechanical accuracy, but nowhere near as much as the points stansdds mentioned. And most of us mere mortals likely wouldn't be able to shoot well enough to notice the difference. I'd rather have a slide-frame fit that was too loose than too tight.

Just my opinion.

Very cool long live the 1911!

This dates back to the late 80's, A Springfield Armory what they called a GI model at that time. Plain Jane basic 1911. Tightened frame to slide fit, polished rails, Bomar sights, Match barrel, beveled and lowered ejection port, Long match trigger, Ambidextrous safeties, Titanium hammer and sear, beavertail grip safety, stippled the front strap and main spring housing, had the slide blued, and sent the frame out for a Metaloy hard chrome finish, beveled the mag well and added a extended mag well. It still works well, probably has 40,000 to 50,000 rounds through it now. Did take it out about a month ago, and will still hold the A Zone easily.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

In the early 1980's I ended up building about 40 1911's I kept one for myself (That is my shooter and woods gun) I have it set up as military gun for "Wild Bunch" shoots in Cowboy Action.

I never cared how well a slide and frame fit when I bought parts, I always lapped them until there has .005 to .007 of play over the entire length of travel! If it was too loose to start with, The slide was shrunk to the frame with a 4" jaw vise Then all the rails on both pieces were heavily slathered with valve LAPPING compound. (NOT valve GRINDING compound!) If the slide didn't go on with some resistance, you probably don't have enough compound on the rails. IF YOU can't move the slide more than an inch that is OK. Use a block of wood as a pad and a 2 pound hammer and force it. you may have to drive id back and forth a number of times. then by hand push it back and forth until there is slight resistance, Clean off the compound and try it dry. You will be very close to where you want to be. If not lap it some more. There are 5 rail surfaces on each side, so there could be a lot of resistance to start with.

The rails and the feed ramp are the gun parts that cause FTF and stove piping (springs and magazines are different and easy to change) but at the beginning is when to deal with the rails!

I put a phosphate finish on all the 1911's I built. Sometimes after Parkerizing, the fit is too tight because the finish is so thick. Wait a couple of days for the finish curing (leave it heavily oiled!) then lightly lap it again.

On 1911's this is also the time to be sure the magazines will drop out when the button is pushed! The two most common problems are : 1) the stock screw bushings are proud on the inside. I used a fine file to dress them down. By far the more common problem. 2) is the mag well is pinched. I had 3 of these, two were returned and the first one was dressed until things fit, that took about 3 hours, which is why the other two were returned.

Ivan