JRH6856
Member
When this gun came to me some 30+ years ago, it was partially painted with Alumna-Hyde which someone had then apparently tried to remove with a file. The Aluma-Hyde was over chrome that was so heavy i think it was done in at Bubba's Bumper Shop back in the '50s. Before plating, the frame and slide had been crudely polished/buffed and almost all corners rounded--almost like an intentional "melt". The frame is pitted under the grips (originally some pearl monstrosities), and upon disassembly, the lower grip screw bushings were found to be rusted to the grip screws. The fact that the gun had been plated with the bushings in place kept them from rusting to the frame.
The mainspring housing was also full of rust and the mainspring was rusted to the plunger caps. Almost like the gun had been sitting in an inch or so of water. The barrel was pitted but still showed good rifling, and everything else appeared functional, but I really wasn't sure what to do with it so it went in a box and sat in my garage until 2 years ago when I found the box, along with a lot of other parts. while cleaning out the garage. After a few months, I decided to do something with it. After soaking the mainspring housing in Hoppes for a day, I gave up and replaced the mainspring housing and spring and headed to the range.
The gun shot better than I expected, producing 1.5" groups at 15 yards. OK, I had a shooter, but these were low power reloads and I had several FTEs. With full power loads, the FTEs went away but the groups opened up to 3-4 inches. The old 1911 slide was certainly not heat treated and I did not know how much it had been shot. Due to the pitting, I wanted to put a new barrel in it any way so I decided to replace the slide as well if I could do it without spending a lot of money. I settled on a serrated slide assembly from Sarco with a roto-forged barrel ($185).
While waiting for the slide, I went to work on the frame. I removed the Aluma-Hyde with solvents, and tried to buff out as much of the file work as I could without going through the chrome. I went to the parts box and found a new sear spring, a new sear and disconnector, a stainless wide spur hammer, a electroless nickel wide tang grip safety, matte stainless ambi thumb safety and slide release, a long aluminum trigger with stop, and a Metalloyed mainspring housing that I had reshaped and stippled for a previous 1911 I once owned. After fitting the sear, hammer and safety, I have a nice 4# trigger with a clean break. Added some Hogue rubber grips, and when the slide arrived, I was good to go.
I am very pleased with the Sarco slide. Lugs are tightly fitted to the barrel, and the slide went right onto the frame with no additional fitting required. The rails are tight but free with almost no shake horizontal or vertical.
Back to the range. Two boxes of AE hardball, and I'm now holding 1" groups at 15 yards with no failures. All in all, it could look a bit better, but as shooter for very little investment, I was very happy. After over a year of shooting it, I still am.
The mainspring housing was also full of rust and the mainspring was rusted to the plunger caps. Almost like the gun had been sitting in an inch or so of water. The barrel was pitted but still showed good rifling, and everything else appeared functional, but I really wasn't sure what to do with it so it went in a box and sat in my garage until 2 years ago when I found the box, along with a lot of other parts. while cleaning out the garage. After a few months, I decided to do something with it. After soaking the mainspring housing in Hoppes for a day, I gave up and replaced the mainspring housing and spring and headed to the range.
The gun shot better than I expected, producing 1.5" groups at 15 yards. OK, I had a shooter, but these were low power reloads and I had several FTEs. With full power loads, the FTEs went away but the groups opened up to 3-4 inches. The old 1911 slide was certainly not heat treated and I did not know how much it had been shot. Due to the pitting, I wanted to put a new barrel in it any way so I decided to replace the slide as well if I could do it without spending a lot of money. I settled on a serrated slide assembly from Sarco with a roto-forged barrel ($185).
While waiting for the slide, I went to work on the frame. I removed the Aluma-Hyde with solvents, and tried to buff out as much of the file work as I could without going through the chrome. I went to the parts box and found a new sear spring, a new sear and disconnector, a stainless wide spur hammer, a electroless nickel wide tang grip safety, matte stainless ambi thumb safety and slide release, a long aluminum trigger with stop, and a Metalloyed mainspring housing that I had reshaped and stippled for a previous 1911 I once owned. After fitting the sear, hammer and safety, I have a nice 4# trigger with a clean break. Added some Hogue rubber grips, and when the slide arrived, I was good to go.
I am very pleased with the Sarco slide. Lugs are tightly fitted to the barrel, and the slide went right onto the frame with no additional fitting required. The rails are tight but free with almost no shake horizontal or vertical.
Back to the range. Two boxes of AE hardball, and I'm now holding 1" groups at 15 yards with no failures. All in all, it could look a bit better, but as shooter for very little investment, I was very happy. After over a year of shooting it, I still am.
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