Stephen A. Camp
Staff In Memoriam
Hello. Some weeks ago, a close friend and myself began another build of 5" 1911 forty-fives using Caspian slides and frames. Kart's EZ-Fit barrel & bushing were used. Though the guns were quite similar, there were also some differences due strictly to divergences in personal tastes.
Both slides were ordered with the serrated flat-top option and I went with Caspian's Bomar-like rear adjustable sight and had MMC make a front sight to the height I think will be right and to make it w/o the roll pin & hole. I used Caspian's "Trix Trigger", a flat-faced thing that looks sort of goofy but does offer pretty good trigger control. I cannot say that it is better than the more traditional triggers as I've not shot the pistol for group yet. It has been function-tested with 300 rnds of .45 ACP in varying bullet profiles. Works fine.
I opted for the Ed Brown grip safety even though it is a bit harder to mate to the frame and will only be "perfect" when either depressed or released, depending upon its position when fitted. In the final stages it was "lapped" as was the slide to the barrel.
The Wilson stainless narrow extended thumb safety was used and the bottom edge blended to the contour of the frame. The hammer and sear are from Ed Brown. The slide near the Caspian logo is not rough, but bright polished blue. I neglected to get oil and dust off of that portion of the pistol when taking the picture.
Many areas of the frame and slide were stoned and smoothed using up to 2000 grit wet to dry sandpaper. This is very slow but can be nicely done with patience.
It won't help it shoot a darned bit but I polished and left bright blued the area inside and around the trigger guard. There is nothing "practical" about it and simply was done for visual likes.
The Kart bbl and bushing were blue. I polished the bushing. The metal was polished back to the white on the crown. This bushing is fitted a little tight. I can remove it by hand, but it is a little tough w/o a bushing bench. This will ease a bit with use so that it can be removed w/o tools. I opted for the standard spring cap and GI type recoil spring guide.
Stainless steel pins, slide stop lever, safety, and hammer were used on this pistol for contrast and simply to "look good" but there's certainly no practical reason for doing it.
This pistol will see mainly use at the range.
...and from the right side. The stocks are about 25 years old and I'll probably replace them in the near future. As soon as I can, perhaps Sunday, I'll shoot the thing some more and set the sights. If necessary, a different height front sight will be used such that the gun is zeroed with the rear sight in the middle adjustment range so that there's plenty of elevation.
There are many on this board and others who could certainly match or exceed what I was able to cobble together but I am happy with it. Surprisingly, this one took longer to do than the first one!
The gun is safe and both safeties are positive. The disconnector does its job perfectly and I'd estimate the trigger pull right now at 5 lbs but crisp. It will lighten some with use but is a bit heavier than the clean 4 1/2 lbs on the gun's 6" predecessor.
Should you opt to do a similar project, I can only suggest that you go slow, slow, slow and avoid power tools. The VAST majority of this was done with fine stones, sticks wrapped with fine sandpaper, and small files. Be sure you understand what you are doing at the moment and when you tired or too frustrated, QUIT...for right then.
I say I won't do another as this one took a bit longer than the 70 to 80 hours invested in the long slide I did a while back, but when I do, it will be something a bit different than either of these.
Best.
Both slides were ordered with the serrated flat-top option and I went with Caspian's Bomar-like rear adjustable sight and had MMC make a front sight to the height I think will be right and to make it w/o the roll pin & hole. I used Caspian's "Trix Trigger", a flat-faced thing that looks sort of goofy but does offer pretty good trigger control. I cannot say that it is better than the more traditional triggers as I've not shot the pistol for group yet. It has been function-tested with 300 rnds of .45 ACP in varying bullet profiles. Works fine.
I opted for the Ed Brown grip safety even though it is a bit harder to mate to the frame and will only be "perfect" when either depressed or released, depending upon its position when fitted. In the final stages it was "lapped" as was the slide to the barrel.
The Wilson stainless narrow extended thumb safety was used and the bottom edge blended to the contour of the frame. The hammer and sear are from Ed Brown. The slide near the Caspian logo is not rough, but bright polished blue. I neglected to get oil and dust off of that portion of the pistol when taking the picture.
Many areas of the frame and slide were stoned and smoothed using up to 2000 grit wet to dry sandpaper. This is very slow but can be nicely done with patience.
It won't help it shoot a darned bit but I polished and left bright blued the area inside and around the trigger guard. There is nothing "practical" about it and simply was done for visual likes.
The Kart bbl and bushing were blue. I polished the bushing. The metal was polished back to the white on the crown. This bushing is fitted a little tight. I can remove it by hand, but it is a little tough w/o a bushing bench. This will ease a bit with use so that it can be removed w/o tools. I opted for the standard spring cap and GI type recoil spring guide.
Stainless steel pins, slide stop lever, safety, and hammer were used on this pistol for contrast and simply to "look good" but there's certainly no practical reason for doing it.
This pistol will see mainly use at the range.
...and from the right side. The stocks are about 25 years old and I'll probably replace them in the near future. As soon as I can, perhaps Sunday, I'll shoot the thing some more and set the sights. If necessary, a different height front sight will be used such that the gun is zeroed with the rear sight in the middle adjustment range so that there's plenty of elevation.
There are many on this board and others who could certainly match or exceed what I was able to cobble together but I am happy with it. Surprisingly, this one took longer to do than the first one!
The gun is safe and both safeties are positive. The disconnector does its job perfectly and I'd estimate the trigger pull right now at 5 lbs but crisp. It will lighten some with use but is a bit heavier than the clean 4 1/2 lbs on the gun's 6" predecessor.
Should you opt to do a similar project, I can only suggest that you go slow, slow, slow and avoid power tools. The VAST majority of this was done with fine stones, sticks wrapped with fine sandpaper, and small files. Be sure you understand what you are doing at the moment and when you tired or too frustrated, QUIT...for right then.
I say I won't do another as this one took a bit longer than the 70 to 80 hours invested in the long slide I did a while back, but when I do, it will be something a bit different than either of these.
Best.
