1911 Bare Frame Build and Parts Availability

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pringles

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I was looking at a 1911 build on a USA site where the pistol was built from parts assembled onto a completely bare 1911 frame. I was wondering if something like this is possible in Canada given the possible lack of availability of parts here in Canada. I know our market is much smaller than the US obviously, and we can't buy gun part from the US, so I thought some stuff might be difficult to get.

Can you buy the frames and every single part that would be required to build one from the frame up? Where are some of the best places to shop for these parts? I saw that Marstar seems to carry a lot of stuff but I would need to get a parts list of every 1911 part and go through one by one to see what they have to see if everything is available to put one together from a bare frame.

Thanks for your input.
 
Dlask Arms for the frame and or slide. The rest of the parts are widely available in Canada. Most Marstar stuff is Norinco. Many of the sponsors here will have 1911 components. I have built quite a few 1911's from scratch, it's fun and satisfying building something to your own taste.
 
You can also import all the parts you need from the US, as long as export permits are in place. Some manufacturers don't have them, but if you can be satisfied with say Wilson combat, you're good to go. Order the free brownells 1911 catalog. There are a couple other distributors as well, I just use them.
 
Yes, you can get everything you need in Canada. Freedom Ventures carries multiple frame designs from STI

how much of the work do you want to do?
you can buy a prefit slide/frame, a prefit slide/barrel/frame, or you can fit all those yourself. STI offers a kits which includes all the pins or everything needed to finish a frame.
 
Thanks for the help everyone.

I didn't think Dlask sold frames anymore. I looked on their site and didn't see any.

What about stepping back a bit and starting with a 60% or 80% frame. I have been reading in the USA that their government does not consider them to be firearms so they can be imported into Canada. I have also read that our laws also don't consider them to be firearms. I also read that Dlask stopped selling 80% frames because the RCMP was clamping down on this. I think I read this here, is this correct. Does anyone know how all this incomplete frame stuff works and the legality of it all with respect to importing or buying from a Canadian supplier.

I would like to get a CNC mill and build my own from scratch but I think that would be a bit of a big step to start with. I have the 1911 Solidworks CAD/CAM files from cncguns but I don't know much about them. There is a very steep learning curve.

Thanks.
 
a lot more to cnc'n a frame then a cad file. machines are not cheap, then you need to tool it up. CAM software/post processor isnt cheap either.
 
I have been interested in building my own 1911 also but need more information on how to fit the slide to the frame and barrel to the slide/bushing, any help on where to find this information would be great! I already grabbed jerry Kuhnhausen's 1911 book.
 
That's a serious project, but cool if you have the ability.

Personally I would buy a Norinco, strip it, and build on that frame. In fact I have a build on a Norinco frame that is never going to be finished at this rate, partly because I'm never finished with the frame itself. It's assembled at the moment, but needs a higher cut under the trigger guard, and front strap checkering, and I can't bring myself to spend $75-100 on checkering files and a jig for one gun.


Anyway, Norinco frames are solid frames, and the holes are drilled in the right spots on all the ones I've had. Feed ramp geometry is typically reasonable (better than some Kimbers I have seen, for example) and the steel is very hard. Frame to slide fit is not bad, although obviously if you're doing a ground-up build on a frame you'll want to change that a fair bit.

Let us know how it goes. As I mentioned somewhere else recently, I like 1911s and I'm comfortable doing the small stuff on them, but tightening frame to slide fit, or fitting barrels, say...that is a little heavy for me. I can get it to work, but I don't end up with a gun I really trust. If you can do it, awesome!
 
I would say that I am in the same boat as you misanthropist, I can do the small stuff, but would like to learn how to do those big jobs. 1911's are awesome!! Simple, work good, and there are a million things you can do to them if you know how to do it.

Sorry to hijack but since we are talking about 1911 parts, where can I find a medium/long solid steel trigger? Wilson doesn't have one on their web site, or Springfield and I have been through the Brownells catalogue. Any other sources?
 
+1 on a Norinco as a donor gun. I doubt you will find a less expensive slide/frame combination from anywhere else.
 
KT Ordnance will ship 60% (everything there but the slide and barrel opening is not complete as well as some holes that need drilling) frames to the UPS store at the NY/Canada border. I haven't been able to find anything saying it would be illegal to go across and bring it back into Canada but I am nervous that a border guard will think it's complete and give me hassles or worse. Has anyone done this or know if it's okay. I suppose I should phone Canada Customs and ask.
 
brownells offers some wicked tools and fixtures for all your 1911 fitting needs. i would highly recommend paying the extra few bucks to have the proper tools. for do it yourself backyard gunsmiths, i would also highly recommend AGI videos. i found them very informative. they go through step by step fitting of everything.
 
From the reading I've done there's a lot of small fitting work to truly make it into the custom gun with the light "glass break" trigger that you would want to expect from such a gun. If you lack the knowledge, jigs and tools to do all this then you're far and away better off to just buy something off the shelf.

For example some time back I got to shoot a couple of mags from a bone stock STI Range Master. Of the dozen or so 1911's I'd handled this had by far the nicest trigger of the lot. It came stock with a match grade bull barrel finely fitted to the slide. It shot as good a group as anything I'd done before with any gun on the first magazine. The second mag's group was even smaller. I was totaly gob struck at how nice a gun it was to shoot.

All that comes "stock" right from the case for a measely $1560. I'd suggest that unless you REALLY know your 1911's that you would not be able to achieve half of what this gun does and still keep the final price under $2000 for the full custom parts gun.
 
BCRider said:
From the reading I've done there's a lot of small fitting work to truly make it into the custom gun with the light "glass break" trigger that you would want to expect from such a gun. If you lack the knowledge, jigs and tools to do all this then you're far and away better off to just buy something off the shelf.

For example some time back I got to shoot a couple of mags from a bone stock STI Range Master. Of the dozen or so 1911's I'd handled this had by far the nicest trigger of the lot. It came stock with a match grade bull barrel finely fitted to the slide. It shot as good a group as anything I'd done before with any gun on the first magazine. The second mag's group was even smaller. I was totaly gob struck at how nice a gun it was to shoot.

All that comes "stock" right from the case for a measely $1560. I'd suggest that unless you REALLY know your 1911's that you would not be able to achieve half of what this gun does and still keep the final price under $2000 for the full custom parts gun.
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I agree - one of the things you pay a custom gunsmith for is his knowledge not just of how to fit part A into part B, but what part works best in each location. If you talk to gunsmiths, you'll hear "I don't like BrandX's firing pins, but the make the best sears in the business, whereas Brand Y can't make an extractor to save their lives, buit their firing pins will go 100,000 rounds". It's the voice of experience, and it truly is priceless.
 
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