Hello friends from Arkansas! I was looking for some friends that know somethings about building a 1911 style auto pistol. My brother left me a lot of 1911 parts when he passed away.. I would like to get some help on building the parts he gave me into a complete gun

Can't help nn yur state

Good 1911 smiths are not hard to find

Good smiths have a lengthy waiting list.

A year is'nt unreasonabe.

Hope you find some help. Meanwhile, I gave you your first like.

Stick around, this is a great forum.

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Oh well, what the hell.

Thanks a lot and so far so good

Gunsmiths are non existent in my neck of the woods. I do have a full slide and most of the other parts. I am looking for a full lower assembly.

Dandy,

If you can get your hands on either an old copy of the NRA reprint on the M1911 or the Jerry Kuhnhausen book on the 1911, you will be headed in the right direction. About the only fitting you will have to engage in will deal with fitting the barrel bushing or involving the trigger job.

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Judge control not gun control!

What kind of 1911 do you want to build? A G.I. style? Competition? Are we talking a full size 1911 or a Commander size? And what kind of parts did your brother leave you? Colt parts? S&W? It helps if all the parts are from the same manufacturer.

You can find frames (stay far far away from ESSEX frames!) from various sources...just search the net. Expect to pay anywhere from $400 on up for a really nice old Colt frame. You can also find old WWII G.I. frames for a somewhat reasonable price.

A standard full size 1911 isn't all that hard to put together...a gunsmith here has built several G.I. style 1911s...but then again, he's incredibly skilled.

Good luck.

EDIT: I'll add something to what I said about the parts should be from the same manufacturer. That's not quite true. A nice G.I. style 1911 may be put together using slides, barrels, frames, etc. from Colt, Remington Rand, or Ithaca...because those old 1911A1s built for WWII required that the parts be more or less interchangeable without fitting. Ditto for earlier Colts.

We've all seen 1911s with early Colt frames (especially 1918 frames) with later slides and stuff added. They make wonderful shooters.

Oh I see well I looked through the parts that I have and I have a RIA slide assembly and some wilson combat parts. Thats all that I have. I thought I had more but so far thats all. Since most of it is Rock Island stuff I thought about finding a RI lower assembly but Im not sure if just any slide is compatible with there lowers.

Dandy: Be careful of what you start; it is a slippery slope to hell. Built one and that will lead to another and another, etc. you get the idea. In addition to Jerry K's book look for anything by Bob Dunlap, Ken Hallock, Bob Chow, (the) Clarks and Bill Wilson. I started building custom 1911s about 1970. I just finished one on a Fusion frame. Which reminds me, Fusion still sells frames only. IMHO it is a very good frame in metallurgy, tolerances and finish EXCEPT the exterior finish was allowed to slop over into the interior and that makes for a lot of man hours removing that finish where needed. ..............

It would save you a lot of time and purchase of tools that you would only use one time if you took your parts and went to one of the Gunsmithing Schools summer course in assembly of and custom building of a M 1911. I would recommend Lassen Community College or Trinidad Community College for starts. .. Oh, just remembered that Cylinder & Slide in Nebraska also have such a class every once in a while. .....

Okay I just looked through all the parts that I have and looks like its mostly Rock Island stuff. Its a full RI slide assembly and some misc. wilson combat parts bushings and a barrel. It looks to be a full size 1911 slide. So I would like to do just a basic GI style nothing fancy but maybe put in some nice features. Since most of the parts are RI I would like to find a full RI lower assembly. I did do a search and saw that Iver Johnson makes full lower assemblies for about $350. I didnt even know Iver Johnson was still around! Thats cool but I dont know anything about Iver Johnson 1911s also I dont know how much fitting work will be needed to match it up to the slide.

Can you attach a picture of the parts?

Interesting and yes my brother was obsessed with the 1911. I found a Remington Rand he had and also some Taurus 1911s too. Do you know anything about Rock Islands? The slide I have is a full size GI Rock Island and I would like to know if this would be compatible with any 1911 lower?

I will.. Looks to be just a Rock Island GI slide and wilson combat barrel and bushing so far. Some other misc pieces but I am thinking the cheapest route would be to just find another lower assembly.

I found these but not sure how much fitting would be required for a Rock Island slide.

The Rock Island line of handguns are forged in the Philippine Islands by Armscor and finished/assembled in Pahrump, NV. They are of top class metallurgy and dimensions. Your slide should be 'fittable' to most all WW II GI frames, the Rock Island frame, the other Armscor frames, the Springfield frame and many more. I would avoid off brands coming out of So. America. That Wilson barrel bushing could be a real problem for an inexperienced person to fit...and then it might drop right in. That barrel bushing is meant to be fitted in a very accurate gun and is usually not used in a self-defense handgun that doesn't have to be fitted that tight.

Usually when building a custom m 1911 one starts with a donor handgun of good repute and discards everything that comes off, thereby starting with the frame. You are going about it the hard way because individual used frame onlys are rare and hard to find. There used to be a whole industry selling frames made of aluminum alloy. Some were good, many were a big waste of time. I don't care for that combination, but thousands have been built by all the factories, so what do I know. ..

Fitting a slide to a frame can be a real job also. A tight slide can be 'adjusted' as well as reducing the dimensions of the frame rails. And, a loose slide can be shrunk; BUT, you have to know what to do and where to do it. I have had many slides and frames go right together with an acceptable fit, but I have had some real buggers too.

BTW, I just had a thought......you might look up Armscor's web sight and use that to contact them in Pahrump. They are very nice people and just might sell you (thru a FFL holder) a frame only. It is worth a phone call........

I would recommend buying the Jerry Kunhausen book "first" before you go any further, and make sure you feel compliment to tackle the full job. If you are handy with tools and have reasonable mechanical ability you probably can.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

Randy, you're in luck. The 1911 is a fairly easy gun to work on and an ideal subject for your first build. Most work can be done with simple hand tools. I also highly recommend Jerry Kuhnhausen's book.

A lot depends on what type of pistol you want to build. I standard G.I. type gun has rather generous tolerances and and are designed to run rather "loose" for reliability. So its not really necessary for everything to fit perfectly tight in order to have a good, reliable shooter. Most anybody can assemble one of these basic pistols.
However, target or competition guns is where you get into fitting everything just right and that's where you need to know the finer points of these great pistols.

Good luck with your project and be sure to post pictures when its done.

Even if 1911 parts are the same , they may not be interchangeable.
Meaning Sig 1911 will not fit Springfield 1911.
Are they labeled? Parts Number and make?

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NRA Life VVA Life USN Seawolfs

The problem with a 1911 is that often the parts are not quite interchangeable requiring real gunsmithing skills to assemble the pistol so that it works and so that it is safe.

Fitting the thumb safety is especially critical, and while it is not that complicated, it requires knowledge.

Wilson used to have a DVD on assembling a 1911 that showed how to fit everything, and in what order. There is an order to fitting, as changing the tolerance on one part will affect other parts.

That said, the Wilson DVD together with the right tools from Brownells could make the job fun, but it could also get more costly that simply paying a good 1911 gunsmith to assemble it for you.

You can order a frame from Foster/Caspian for your build, additional parts, sear disconnect, trigger, hammer, mainspring housing, plunger spring and ends, plunger tube, slide release, mag release, and all of the springs and pins from almost anywhere and depending on your budget you can accomplish a complete lower build for about $300.00 +/-.

What about a Rock Island slide to another Rock Island lower??

Sounds good and I saw the Iver Johnson complete lowers for about $350. So far my only concern is the slide to frame fitting. Gunsmithing such a thing might get expensive to have someone do it.

Thanks for the info.. Its mostly Rock Island stuff so I am not really wanting to do a high end build thats for sure. Just something that shoots decent more or less..