Building a 1911: help!

Yes, the barrel in the photo does have the Para/Clark ramp.

Test your might!

Get a frame casting for $25 and start from scratch.

Have fun with whatever you do.

Start here:
https://www.caspianarms.com/products

Caspian makes good parts. I've purchased at least two, maybe three slides over the years and all were well machined.

I have not used any of their frames but I'm sure they are as well made. I got frames from other sources before looking at Caspian at the time.

Cfullgraf speaks the truth. Caspian parts are high quality, fit well and properly. They are used by many of the top pistol builders of the US.
My two builds are excellent. Bar-Sto barrels are also excellent.

cfullgraf said:

Caspian makes good parts

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Caspian was the gold standard for DIY 1911 kits for the longest time. So that reputation is well earned.

Much depends on how and what your building. Hand fitting or assembling standard size parts. Have access to a machine shop?
I went Caspian and a Easy Fit Kart barrel. I used STI which had a good reputation for hammers and sears. This was several years ago.
The cost of stainless steel is offset by not having to pay for a blueing job. Electroless nickle is a good option that can be done locally if your area has a vender.

Yes, it’s a ramped barrel. If you like it, go with it. The parts really don’t matter. Any US made parts are all high quality. Fitment is not an issue, as everything pretty much needs hand fit, more or less. The great thing about building, is you get exactly what you want. And remember it’s what’s inside that counts.

Here is the last 1911 I built. Built for 450SMC/45Super. Every part on the inside, save for the barrel is Nighthawk. And it’s a joy shoot!

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Here is one of my 1911's with a Caspian slide. Notice, the slide does not have cut for sights as the gun has a mount for an optical sight.

David Hoback said:

Yes, it’s a ramped barrel. If you like it, go with it. The parts really don’t matter. Any US made parts are all high quality. Fitment is not an issue, as everything pretty much needs hand fit, more or less. The great thing about building, is you get exactly what you want. And remember it’s what’s inside that counts.

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I would disagree. If all of the parts are made to the USArmy's 19204 CAGE drawings, everything should fit right together without fitting, except the slide to the frame.

And, even a bag of Rock Island parts from SARCO and a Rock Island frame I assembled for a friend went together without fitting.

Of course, if you want a thoroughbred, match or race gun, yeah, hand fitting is required.

JC, something you might consider. Caspian offers a service to fit the slide to the frame (or at least they did when I built mine) a worthy investment due to the down side if you make a mistake doing it yourself.
Also, Bar-Sto can and will fit your barrel of choice to your frame for a moderate fee. Also considering the downside, quite a worthy investment IMHO.
Bar Sto barrels in my 1911 from the 70's still tight, still shoot litte tiny groups when I do my job.
Just an opinion, but slide to frame fit and barrel / bushing fit are the two most important parts of assembling a 1911. All the other parts can be replaced or re-installed or upgraded etc, but the slide and barrel fit are essentially forever.

Go to Gunbroker and search for “gunbusters 1911” and find one to bid on. The parts kits will likely be literally every part that you need. 1911s are notorious for not being drop-in-part friendly, but that could very realistically get you into a nice 1911 for around 400 bucks... assuming you do your part in making it work.

1911 builds are NOT for those looking to save money. Ends up costing significantly more to buy in parts. Which is why I see no point in putting together a “cheap” 1911. Just buy a CHEAP 1911 and leave the proper way of building them (fitting every part), to those with the skill & drive enough to see it through. 1911’s are NOT Glocks!

I got a 2011 frame off a prize table once and built it into a shorty open pistol, using and STI slide.



Then I decided I wanted to try a commander length slide in ESP, I used a much cheaper Essex slide that required more work, not to mention fitting another slide to an existing frame, untouched to not mess up the initial configuration, using a Schuemann classic barrel.



Both shoot fantastic, for a pistol that has more time/money in it than it could be sold for (however much less expensive that it would have cost to have it built) and I got the frame for free. Of course that wasn’t the point of the exercise.

I built all of mine (6) with Caspian frames and slides…the internals are a mix of everybody else. For all of them I had Caspian fit the grip safety to the frame, but everything else I fit myself…all by file, stones or sandpaper…no Dremel's, lathes or milling machines, takes a ton of time but for me to sit at the bench on a cool fall afternoon with my pup sleeping under me, it just doesn’t get any better. Measure slide and frame and start filing…half dozen strokes give or take and measure again…repeat until you get the “fit” you want. Recently ordered three frames and two slides and starting to order the internals…once I have everything I’ll start those, might have them finished by next year, we’ll see.

JeeperCreeper said:

Never once did I say I thought I was spending less money than buying. I clearly posted that I want to build as it matches the progression of previous builds. Nor did i infer anything about "cheap" as in building inferior, only about a sale price.

I said I wanted good value for money. As in, I don't want to buy expensive crap when another brand offers a superior product.

Thanks for the positive encouragement. Great Steward of Firearms Gatekeeping, you are. I guess I'll just "leave it to the experts" and stay in my lane by playing with Nerf guns.

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I wasn’t responding to your post. It’s odd you thought I was.

I’m a huge proponent for DIY’ers. But I encourage it for “love of game”. Nothing I do in firearms building/Gunsmithing is for profit.

JeeperCreeper said:

Maybe cuz it's on a thread that I started asking advice for my first build where I'm looking for value parts and comparing my logic vs previous easy builds with Glocks.

Literally every sentence you posted could be a response to something that I posted previously, again as it's "my thread".

Well either way, glad you're not being a jerk to me and sorry that I got spicy in return. I've been dealing with alot of firearm jerks lately, so I got a little amped.

I do appreciate the advice, I just saw the "leave it to people with skill and drive" and was ready to roll thinking you were referring to me.

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No problem JeepersCreepers. Yeah, print is difficult at times. Can’t hear the inflection in the commenter’s voice. The tone is left to our imagination.

But know that my only motive for posting on public forums is to help other enthusiast/DIY’ers. I’m honest, and I tell things straight. I should have been a little more clear. (It’s always like that in hindsight). When I said leave it to those with “skill & drive”, I mean those like you. I’m not the one calling skill & drive...EACH must ask & answer that for themselves...ya know? HELL! Recently, another forum member here called me out because I say I’m a “Gunsmith“! LOL! Which is fine....they can disagree. Maybe because I don’t use Gunsmithing as a money maker??

Anyway, I understand what your thinking was. Sorry it came across wrong. The truth is, I take people at their word...until they give me reason not to. If a person says they HAVE the ability, I have no reason to doubt it. And again, I LOVE seeing people building. I constantly speak out for & am a big fan of build culture. Trust me! I’m not the old “Smiff” in his shop, thinking that only those with 40 years of experience can do this! That is NOT me. I started learned 20 years ago, on my own. And I’ve never taken a dime for anything.

JeeperCreeper

Picked up an Essex frame many years ago for next to nothing. That was probably my first mistake as there wasn't a single hole in that frame that lined up properly from side to side. But I was on a limited budget at the time so I got myself a good set of Swiss files and spent my evenings making everything true on the frame. Second mistake was buying one of those "all the parts you need to complete a 1911 frame except for the frame" kits. Well just about all the parts in that package save the mainspring housing and the grip safety were defective and worthless. Ended up spending more money (though in the long run money well spent), on buying quality parts from Colt, Springfield Armory, and others.

Once I got all that accomplished it was a fairly straightforward effort getting everything working right. It also helped that I had a Springfield Armory M1911A1 that I could "consult" with every time I came across a problem or something wouldn't fit right. Seeing how parts were supposed to go together and work was a huge help in getting this gun up and running.

So I got the frame all together and didn't really have the money to get a slide and barrel for it. Eventually I found a Springfield Armory slide and picked up a .38 Super barrel for it but I wasn't thrilled with the groups I was getting so I gave the slide to an old friend of mine to let him play with it.

I let the frame sit for awhile until I finally got the great idea to put a .22 conversion assembly on it. Only problem was I couldn't get the conversion kit that I wanted. Was looking at a Marvel Precision Unit 2 but it always was Out of Stock; same thing with Advantage Arms. Pretty much gave up until I came across Tactical Solutions 2211 conversion kit in Midway's online catalog. Liked what I saw, the price was comparable to the other two makes, and believe it or not it was In Stock so I got it!

Very impressed with the overall build quality and the tight fit of the whole slide assembly on the frame. Functioning was fine and the accuracy potential is definitely there, given I do my part as well! Bottom line to this whole post is that if I can make a working 1911 anyone can and you should consider giving it a try if you think you want to build one.