Giles 45 Shop Colt 1911 Old School Custom

bullseyeman · #51 11-09-2021, 01:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 6string

Very wise of you to ask!!
You better look at that "38 Super" very carefully!
Every single Giles "38 Super" I have seen was a conversion to 38 Special, wadcutter target loads only!.
If so, the answer to your question is "NO!".
38 Super ammo could damage or possibly destroy the gun, and may cause a serious injury!
While Jim Clark used a ramped barrel fairly early on in his 38 conversions, Giles did not (that I am aware of). He converted the existing 38 Super barrel, which leaves part of the case at the bottom rear of the chamber unsupported.
Giles did not re-stamp the barrels or slides on these conversions.
If a 38 Special case fits the chamber, it has been converted.

Check out attached photos.

Put 3 rds of full wadcutter in magazine. Racked, loaded, and extracted without any problem. Did not fire. Just wanted to check clambering and extraction. I was under the assumption previously that the magazine had to be swapped out.. So I'm assuming this is in fact, a conversion.
Thanks for your help.
Sure looks like 38 wadcutter!

6string · #52 11-09-2021, 03:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bullseyeman

Haven't had a chance to try to chamber a 38 special, but colt mag is marked "38 super".

I forgot to mention that Giles converted the 38 Super magazines as well. He made two deep semi-circular cuts, one each on the left and right sides. These accomodate the 38 Spl case rim while loading the mags. He also shaped the rear of the mag lips to match the radius of the case rim. More critically, he cut a couple vertical slots forward of this so as to create "fingers" that grasp the case and control it's angle as it's being fed into the chamber. It is the shaping of these fingers that so much of the reliability of the pistol is dependent upon.
He did a couple other little things, like tweaking to follower, and adding a spot weld to the front of the mag body that, when file fitted to shape, gave a tight fit of the mag to the gun for which it was intended.
Giles did this meticulously and thus his converted mags are probably even better than Colt branded 38 Spl mags.

(Addendum: If you refer back to my initial post, that is #2 in this thread, you'll see in the attached brochure that the cost for these magazines was $12.75 and that they were individually fitted and tested to a specific gun.)

Golddollar · #53 11-09-2021, 09:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bullseyeman

Just purchased this week Giles 3 gun set: 1911 45, 1911 38 super, and High Standard Supermatic Trophy.

You have just purchased a complete battery of guns for bullseye that you can take straight to the firing line right this minute and compete. I was fortunate back in the 1990s to purchase a 4-gun battery of Giles guns, a hardball 1911, a wadcutter 1911, a Colt .38 Super converted to .38 Special wadcutter, and a High Standard .22 complete with rib and a new barrel which may have been made from a Shilen barrel blank. A gentleman from NJ had 2 complete batteries like this made by John Giles in the 1970s and was selling both batteries. It took me 2 years to scrape together the money to buy the complete battery but the seller was patient and worked with me to let me buy each gun one at a time as I got the money. Treasure those wonderful examples of old school craftsmanship.