rebuilding a 1911 9mm?

Before you go down the rabbit hole, verify what kind of rabbit it is.

Case in point, I saw a norinco 1911-a1 (45 acp) at the evil pawn shop, and while it could stand some finish work, it wasn't in bad condition. I asked if I could field strip it. Since I have been dealing with mr evil for some time, he said sure. What I found was the barrel lugs had peening on them, but the frame and slide were fine. It didn't give me warm feelings about the barrel, and I showed mr evil my concerns.
To which he replied how about if I toss in a good colt national match barrel. (45) So it followed me home, and to the gunsmith's shop.

I had wanted to use it as a base for a semi custom job anyway.(45)
So after the cost of the pistol in parts, and the cost of the pistol in gunsmith work it the way I wanted. Its one of my favorites.

But I knew or had a real good idea of it before I went down the rabbit hole and the approximate depth of the hole.
 
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For $200 I would get it as long as it was not a Lama, Star or one of the Spanish copy's. When you go to recheck it out bring a flashlight to really put some light on it and perform a few function checks on it. Get it take it home and take some before pictures and tear it down and clean the heck out of it and see what you have to work with. A complete working lower alone brings more that $200 around here. I have a Springfield 1911 9mm and it is a sweatheart to shoot and is one of my favorte shooters.

That price on a new Rock Island from Sarco for $399 is tempting though.
 
I don't recall who (other than Colt) is making a 9mm 1911 type, but a rebuilder should be aware that not all parts from a .45 gun will interchange. The slide is different, so is the bushing, ejector, extractor, and firing pin.

Jim
 
James K said:
I don't recall who (other than Colt) is making a 9mm 1911 type,
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Rock Island, notably -- which also just happens to be a two-name name. Para-Ordnance used to offer a couple of 9mm models. Also a two-name name.
 
To those who brought up the various Star model Bs: The OP mentioned a grip safety; Stars do not have grips safeties.
 
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Two names hmm :rolleyes:, here's a "Hunter Customs" but I doubt the gentleman that owns this one hocked it.:D

Best Regards
Bob Hunter
 
He said it had a grip safety which rules out Star my guess would be A Llama and I'd pass they're not quite interchangable.
 
We can play guessing games until the female bovines re-enter the barn, but the OP asked the question. Until he is able, or cares enough, to provide pictures or at least more information, I think further speculation is pointless.

Jim
 
Wow, this thread got a little popular while I was away.

Okay, yes it definitely had a grip safety, and while I'll never claim to be an expert, in my humble opinion it was definitely a 1911. The shop was in a part of town I don't frequent often, so it might be six months before I get back in that area, but now I'm getting curious, so I might drive all the way down there next week just to get the name off the thing.

And I should've taken a pic of it, but honestly at the time all I thought about the thing was it was a piece of junk and that it was sad to see a 1911 in that kind of shape.

It wasn't until much later that I realized it might be fixable by an amateur tinker like me.

All that said, from many of your responses it occurs to me that trying to resurrect a 9mm 1911 might be much more difficult than a similar gun in .45 ACP.

Is my assumption accurate? Would it be easier to restore a .45 variant than a 9mm?

P.S. And I wish it had been a Hunter Custom like your pic. I'd have thrown the two bills at the guy behind the counter!
 
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Rangerrich99 said:
All that said, from many of your responses it occurs to me that trying to resurrect a 9mm 1911 might be much more difficult than a similar gun in .45 ACP.

Is my assumption accurate? Would it be easier to restore a .45 variant than a 9mm?
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Mechanically they all work the same. IMHO it shouldn't be any more difficult or more expensive to tune up a 9mm beater than a .45 beater.
 
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