Stainless 1911 Slide Recommendations

S

Shooter2675

New member
Hello,

I am looking to do a 1911 build. I've decided on a Kart Xact Barrel (similar to their EZ fit barrel, the bottom lugs are fitted and the hood and top lugs need fitted) and a Caspian stainless non ramped frame.

For the slide, I definitely want stainless. I like the brand "The Buffalo" stainless slide, made in the USA and it looks like good quality. However, Numrich has a Remington R1911 stainless slide for $90 less. Do you think the Buffalo is worth the extra price?

Also, does anyone have any slide recommendations besides the two I mentioned? I am hoping to spend no more than $250 on the slide, and the Buffalo seems similar to the Caspian except for the price.

Also, on a side note, where can I find parts kits for the small parts? I'm going to hand pick some of the small parts but things like the safety lever, springs, and slide stop seem like I could find a kit that includes them?

Thanks,

John
 
A few observations:
* The Buffalo slide is a Series 70 slide, so it will not have a firing pin block hole. If you plan on building a Series 70 pistol, that's a good thing. If you are planning on a Series 80 pistol, it's not.

* The Remington slide comes with GI style sight cuts, so you would have to modify the slide later to accept whatever sights you plan on using. The Bufflao slide is already cut for Novak sights

* The Remington slide is a very porous stainless steel casting. The Buffalo looks like an investment casting. You could consider a billet slide if that is important.

* Generally speaking, when building a 1911 from scratch (at least the first few times), buy the frame and slide from the same source so you don't wind up with a lot of fitting work to do to get the pistol to function.
 
I am assuming the porous casting is a negative, but investment casting is a good process, right? So what you are saying is that the Buffalo is probably
a good slide because it's an investment casting?

As to the amount of fitting, is the more fitting the better for a more accurate gun? I don't want to choose drop in slides and frames - I want to have to remove some metal from the parts to get a perfect fit.
 
Removing metal to get parts to fit does not always give you a perfect fit, sometimes it just makes it sloppy. For example, if the rails in the slide are too low in the slide or the frame rails are too low. Just gets messy. Which is why I say buy the frame and slide from the same maker, that way if there is an issue you're not playing the blame game (it's not my part that's bad, it's theirs!).

Investment casting has less porosity than a cast slide because of the mass of the metal in the casting sprues above the molded pieces. Less porosity is stronger, and looks better.

For a custom build, Caspian makes pretty good stuff. Not perfect, but pretty good. But there are other makers, too.

And a lot of people labor under the misconception that tighter is better. I have seen a lot of high-end 1911s I would never want to own because of how tightly the frame and rails fit. The accuracy is in how tightly the slide and barrel lock up, not in how tightly the rails fit the frame. Too tight equals unreliable when dirty (which often catches people in the middle of a match).
 
If you go to the Caspian site,you can look at Caspian slides.They offer options as far as custom touches.
They have another line called "Foster". This is the blem line of what is otherwise a Caspian.These,too,offer machining options.
I have seen Foster components where I saw no blem.I have a slide that appears to have had chips pack up around the cutter when the .70 bore in the slide was cut.Its a surface finish issue.On a bushing type build,it means nothing but interior cosmetics.For a bull or cone comp...its "less good".

IMO,if you spring for a Caspian slide,you are getting known very good quality and compatability.
The headaches of mixing brands CAN quickly outpace and outspend a modest difference in initial cost.
A list price first quality Caspian is priced competitively with mid grade components.
When your gun is finished,A Caspian logo slide on a Caspian logo frame with a Kart bbl...Heck yeah!!! Introduce a Buffalo slide...(Iknow nothing about Buffalo) and it becomes a mongrel.Maybe a very good mongrel!!.But all Caspian will bring more resale.
 
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