Contemplating some work on my 1911

R

Rob228

New member
I've got a 1911SC (Now I think they call it the PD) by Smith and Wesson (Its their lightweight commander model). I've had it for about five years, and it is simply amazing, but I'm getting the itch to have some work done. The "local" guy that does 1911 work doesn't seem to have the best reputation. I'm contemplating sending it in to Cylinder and Slide and was wondering if anyone had experience with them. There is currently an 8-10 month backlog, which works out for me as that is about when I was planning on getting the work done (Still finishing a 700 project).

I am looking to get a bobtail cut, an Ed Brown grip safety and contemplating getting the original barrel crowned, then have them do either an NP3 or Teflon finish.
 
If you go to my file repository, here, you'll find a way to crown the barrel yourself. However, unless you have a visible ding, getting the barrel fit to lock up solidly in the slide is what will make the biggest single accuracy difference in a 1911. The reason barrel lock up matters most is that it forces the slide, which has the sights, to have the same position with respect to the barrel at each lock up into battery. Without that, the barrel can come to a stop a little cocked one way or the other, which is the same thing as shifting the sights slightly.

Because of the scandium aluminum alloy frame, you don't want anyone trying to lower the rails, but a new Kart EZ fit barrel can be put in without frame rail lowering and improve your accuracy without altering the sight and bore line relationship too much. Old timers who know how to do David Chow's locking lug recess filler spring trick might be able to get the original barrel to tighten up that way. You will also likely want them to hand fit a match bushing at the same time.

With self-defense weapons, accuracy is not normally as big an issue as reliability, and most smith's offer a reliability package. Often that improves accuracy some just my tending to cause the mechanism to move the same way each cycle.

For other gunsmith suggestions, you might call Marianne Carniak. Her father coached me through learning to do 1911 builds and I expect her shop will do well by you. Russ, always stood by his work, so its a family tradition.
 
The Cylinder and Slide people advertise a special treatment on the rails that they said is "mandatory" for any titanium framed auto. I haven't had any issues with my current barrel, shoots really well, but the "crown" as it came from the factory isn't the prettiest thing I've ever seen.
 
it ain't Ti

Since you are interested in a NP3 'finish' (most highly recommend; mine, a 14-yr-old carbon Caspian, is utterly superior), recommend the work you desire being done by Robar.
(Genius-level pistolsmithing.)

www.robarguns.com
 
C&S has worked on two of my Colt revolvers and I've been pleased with the results in both cases. They also have good customer service - e.g. helpful, polite, good communication etc..

They do have a long wait, but the turn-around time is pretty good once they have the gun.
 
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