DoubleAction
Member.
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- Jun 22, 2004
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- 233
Look what the 1911 did for Kimber and Dan Wesson, not to mention Springfield. And how many manufacturers of the 1911 actually do their own castings and forgings?
Ruger 1911
- Thread starter DoubleAction
- Start date
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1911Tuner
Moderator Emeritus
Finished
Delmar asked:
Tuner-how much machining would it take for a cast slide/frame combo, and could you be competitive in your pricing?
Howdy Delmar,
The investment cast slide and frame sets that you can get from Essex and Caspian are already finish machined and ready for the final lapping. Essex
requires very little, and for an extra 50 bucks, Caspian will ship the set
finish-fitted and ready to go. I don't think Caspian offers cast slides, but
their cast frames have been excellent.
Essex sets are pretty good...Much better than just a few years ago, but there are a few issues that I don't care for. The frame's radius at the top of
the tang is wrong, and requires blending and reshaping to mate with the bottom of the slide. They still don't know how to stake a front sight...on the slides that have staked sights. Their installed ejectors are junk, and held in place by an out-of-spec roll pin instead of a steel pin of the correct diameter. Not major stuff...but things to consider. Of course, the Essex sets are about half the price of Caspians...and if you go with a steel frame
from Caspian, the gap is even wider.
If you're on a tight budget, you can build a pretty nice pistol with the Essex set. If you want the best, Caspian has it...hands down.
Luck!
Tuner
Delmar asked:
Tuner-how much machining would it take for a cast slide/frame combo, and could you be competitive in your pricing?
Howdy Delmar,
The investment cast slide and frame sets that you can get from Essex and Caspian are already finish machined and ready for the final lapping. Essex
requires very little, and for an extra 50 bucks, Caspian will ship the set
finish-fitted and ready to go. I don't think Caspian offers cast slides, but
their cast frames have been excellent.
Essex sets are pretty good...Much better than just a few years ago, but there are a few issues that I don't care for. The frame's radius at the top of
the tang is wrong, and requires blending and reshaping to mate with the bottom of the slide. They still don't know how to stake a front sight...on the slides that have staked sights. Their installed ejectors are junk, and held in place by an out-of-spec roll pin instead of a steel pin of the correct diameter. Not major stuff...but things to consider. Of course, the Essex sets are about half the price of Caspians...and if you go with a steel frame
from Caspian, the gap is even wider.
If you're on a tight budget, you can build a pretty nice pistol with the Essex set. If you want the best, Caspian has it...hands down.
Luck!
Tuner
GrandmasterB
Member
Who cares when Ruger will make a 1911. The real question is: "When will Glock start making one?" 
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