Essex Slide and Receiver and a Swenson Barrel

[Amd5007]

I recently bought a Springfield GI 1911, to which I upgraded with parts from Wilson and Ed Brown. Now I have a box full of the original factory Springfield factory parts and I have been thinking about building my first parts gun using a slide and receiver from Essex Arms and a drop-in barrel from Swenson that you can get from MidwayUSA. I'm not looking for a match grade pistol or to have something totally tricked out, I just want a standard GI pistol that I can experiment on. Does anyone have any suggestions or thoughts on Essex Arms or about the Swenson barrel?

[Tigerseye]

I've had excellent with Essex frames. I'm not familiar with Swensen bbls.

[Jim Watson]

The current crop of "Swenson" parts has no connection with Armand Swenson. The ones I have seen looked kind of rough, but I have not seen the barrel.

Why not get your Springfield a nice Kart EZ-fit and put the SA takeoff in the Essex?

[Amd5007]

That was something I considered, but with the springfield I tried to make it look like the original 1911 as opposed to the A1 but with updated internal parts so doing so necessitates a black barrel, so I figured I'd just leave that alone and find a reasonable barrel for a reasonable price for this next pistol. But that is something I have thought about, but I don't like the look of a black slide and silver barrel.

[rcmodel]

Essex frames & slides can be turned into very nice guns.
Sometimes they take a little more fitting then a high-end parts set, but the end result is pretty much the same if done properly.

The "Swenson" barrel is just Midways add-copy name for a no-name cheap barrel they are selling.
It is a rip-off of the Armand Swinson name, just like thier (Eugene) Stoner AR-15 magazines.

They have no shame when it comes to stealing un-copyrighted famous names for thier products!

I'd recommend a better barrel.
Look at Storm Lake or Kart easy-fit barrel kits for the best accuracy results.
Or Wilson or Ed Brown drop-in's for no, or very little fitting required, with still pretty good accuracy.

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/rcmodel/KTOG/1224.gif
rcmodel

[coelacanth]

works fine - no problems at all and the finish has held up well. No experience with the Swenson barrels you mentioned but as long as it is well fitted to the frame and slide you've got nothing to lose by trying it. Who knows? - You may come up with a pretty decent old shooter for less than a trainload of $$.

[JoeHatley]

thoughts on Essex Arms

This Frankenpistol is build on an Essex frame.

http://www.iowatelecom.net/~hatley/frankenpistol_l.jpg

Great value. It's held up for 20k rounds plus, and is still going strong.

Joe