ImperatorGray
Member
- Joined
- Jun 17, 2011
- Messages
- 177
My best friend served in the 82nd in the Cold War days of 1911s. He's wanted one of his own ever since he left the service, but he's never gotten one.
Well, when an inexpensive pistol I evaluated early last year passed muster (the minor barrel-fit issue worked itself out after a couple hundred rounds), I decided to turn it into a gift piece. Having given it to him for Christmas, I can now post photos without risk of ruining the surprise.
I chose Lok "classic" grips, in ivory G10 for some contrast, and found lapel pins on eBay to use for the division-insignia medallions. I'd hoped to find round pins of appropriate quality and size so that I could punch out the spaces for them on the drill press, but these were the only ones I actually liked. I ground out the spaces for them with a Dremel, bent the pins down on the backs, and attached them with Loctite marine epoxy. I mixed a toothpick-tip worth of yellow tile pigment into the epoxy to match the grip color, and when the epoxy had set I used a triangle file to cut the checkering back in around the medallion edges.
I designed the presentation box and made it from cheap plywood, painting the interior something close to airborne maroon. I wasn't sure I could pull off the build well enough to actually include it in the gift. Now that it worked, I'd do it in "real" wood next time.
The final pic below shows my buddy's new .45 with my 45-year-old Colt.
Well, when an inexpensive pistol I evaluated early last year passed muster (the minor barrel-fit issue worked itself out after a couple hundred rounds), I decided to turn it into a gift piece. Having given it to him for Christmas, I can now post photos without risk of ruining the surprise.
I chose Lok "classic" grips, in ivory G10 for some contrast, and found lapel pins on eBay to use for the division-insignia medallions. I'd hoped to find round pins of appropriate quality and size so that I could punch out the spaces for them on the drill press, but these were the only ones I actually liked. I ground out the spaces for them with a Dremel, bent the pins down on the backs, and attached them with Loctite marine epoxy. I mixed a toothpick-tip worth of yellow tile pigment into the epoxy to match the grip color, and when the epoxy had set I used a triangle file to cut the checkering back in around the medallion edges.
I designed the presentation box and made it from cheap plywood, painting the interior something close to airborne maroon. I wasn't sure I could pull off the build well enough to actually include it in the gift. Now that it worked, I'd do it in "real" wood next time.
The final pic below shows my buddy's new .45 with my 45-year-old Colt.
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