1911 Modifications Thread:

Anybody know where I can find aftermarket rails to put on my 1911's, ive seen the grip/rail combo thingy... not impressed. So if anyone has any info it would be greatly appreciated, and soon i can post some pics of my 1911's here. * also anyone know if you can get threaded barrels in 9mm
 
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Before - Started Life as a SA National Match Xmas gift from Dad when I was 16-17.

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Changes It Made
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Pretty much last time It was shot.
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After - Over 14 Years, 2 Slides ( Caspian and Colt )
Both Gunnar Built. I like the Colt Better.

SA NM Frame
ALL STI Internals, Trigger, Beavertail, Safety
ALL Fitted
Tuned to 2#
Ed Brown Magwell.

Colt Series 70 2 Piece Slide,
Bomar Sights
Barsto Barrel
FLGR with Reverse Plug
Built By Gunnar.

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judoman said:
hi guys i have two 1911a1's from norinco, one in 9mm and one in 45acp, but i want a .22LR conversion that will fit one of them.

CAN ANYONE POINT ME IN THE DIRECTION OF WHAT I AM LOOKING FOR?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Only the .45 models can be converted. Lots of companies make conversions, gsg 200$, sig, Kimber, colt... In order of expense to name a few.
 
Very nice, well done. What you have done is minimized your break-in time for your pistol. This is exactly what I do with every 1911 I get my hands on. I use jewellers rouge with my dremel on low speed. Two other points that you should think about, polishing the feed ramp on the frame and the top of the disconnecter. Brownell's has a trigger bow, track stone, look at picking up one of those, cleans / smooths / removes any burrs that my have been missed. For the frame / slide fit, with the whole firearm stripped run the slide fully to the rear, tip forward, if there are no hangups as the slide moves forward you have clean contact between the two. If you do have any hangups use some flitz on the slide and frame rail and work the action 25 - 50 times clean and test for contact again.
 
Mister Donut said:
I just can't leave well enough alone, haha! I've been watching this guy Jay Williams build a 1911 from the ground up and it's a pretty informative series. Before watching it, I barely knew how to detail strip my 1911, let alone mod it. Now I'm comfortable with the detail strip, and tinkering here and there, and even understanding some of the mechanisms. Some of the stuff that's still way beyond me is the contact points between the hammer and sear, and some other fitment issues like fitting a slide, fitting a barrel and bushing. I'll probably watch this series some more and use it as my 1911 bible. Here's the first vid in a series of 11 videos.


I didn't quite go that far, but I decided to at least start with baby steps and polish a few parts of my 1911, try to make it a bit smoother. I stripped it all apart and started and started polishing the trigger bow, but eventually I polished the trigger itself. All I had laying around was 320 grit sandpaper, Scotchbrite and Flitz:

http://3.bp.########.com/-_7m3GcMm9Wk/UfTYyEXHguI/AAAAAAAARv8/_bY-X7fytYU/s320/P7251614.JPG

http://1.bp.########.com/-IbxNCg7WY2s/UfTY3beqDUI/AAAAAAAARwE/Rb14NQqZMGY/s320/P7251615.JPG

http://2.bp.########.com/-CIajtpBt50o/UfTYv_3ZGzI/AAAAAAAARv0/k_ZuXOb8aVY/s320/P7251616.JPG

Compare it to the original:

http://4.bp.########.com/-Oo9yGXkl77I/Ue4eIuAg5jI/AAAAAAAARqs/JpV0vOYk28M/s320/P7211538.JPG

A lot of people polish the trigger bow track as well, but I didn't have the file or the smarts to do that so I just left it at this.

http://4.bp.########.com/-DHq5008Vats/UfTY_6Pq_VI/AAAAAAAARwM/wKB4veUs_70/s320/P7251617.JPG

Next, i did the sear and disconnector. I didn't have the courage to polish too much because I didn't want to start taking material off, just wanted to smooth out the surfaces a bit.

http://4.bp.########.com/-jmqBv9V0c3Y/UfTZHil4BzI/AAAAAAAARwU/oJKq6xCX6KU/s320/P7251618.JPG

Here's the other side of the sear before polishing.

http://3.bp.########.com/-d8Y29XfrhXE/UfTZP_vGY2I/AAAAAAAARwc/Hd36SN-kfsg/s320/P7251619.JPG

More shots of the disconnector.

http://4.bp.########.com/-Fsx8L9VLzmk/UfTZYMonefI/AAAAAAAARwk/Jr4TjISzx0w/s320/P7251620.JPG

I took some sandpaper to the track inside the grip safety for the hammer strut.

http://3.bp.########.com/-H9ZyibgSH6w/UfTZgy_L4FI/AAAAAAAARws/BUozdMKIBcA/s320/P7251621.JPG

http://1.bp.########.com/-L_jaAQ_fMqA/UfTZpiQlduI/AAAAAAAARw0/M8s15sfyXeQ/s320/P7251622.JPG

Again, I wasn't sure if my sanding would take off material so on the hammer strut, I sanded it for a bit, then quit when it felt a bit smooth enough. I may revisit it later to get it smoother.

http://1.bp.########.com/-ca_Zdbn9e0M/UfTZyg2AJ8I/AAAAAAAARw8/wqTgwCYmk3U/s320/P7251623.JPG

http://1.bp.########.com/-Q9vP01XfuxA/UfTZ63ywYXI/AAAAAAAARxE/VgjTM7UkGSs/s320/P7251624.JPG

Sanded down the side of the contact points of the hammer as well, but I didn't go anywhere near the contacts between the hammer and sear. No tools, no jig, no experience. Better leave that to a pro.

http://2.bp.########.com/-JjWJQY_483w/UfTaEe8EYoI/AAAAAAAARxM/EOAaPEjF2uM/s320/P7251625.JPG

http://1.bp.########.com/-iwkdwnbb_-U/UfTaNTHYixI/AAAAAAAARxU/yA6svNSGbCY/s320/P7251626.JPG

http://1.bp.########.com/-NWzvEGcTZNA/UfTaW_ScdtI/AAAAAAAARxc/eV9EItDlglk/s320/P7251627.JPG

I tried polishing a bit of the barrel, but that was a lost cause. Frig that steel is hard, so all I was able to do was polish a bit of the chamber feed lip.

Anyway, I slapped it all together and the trigger did feel smoother, but was still a heavy pull to break. I swapped out my curved Norc MSH and dropped in a flat Springfield Armory one. Is it possible that the SA MSH has a smaller cavity than the Norc one, thus adding more tension to the main spring? The SA MSH naked, with no spring inside, slid into the frame no problem, but under tension (with the main spring and mainspring cap retaining pin installed), it took a lot more effort. I checked the shape and length of the Smith & Wesson hammer strut and it looks to be the same size an shape of the factory Norc one, so my guess was the internal dimensions of the Norinco MSH are slightly different than the Norc one. I've read some people cut a coil or two from the main spring to reducing trigger pull, but I'm wondering if the same procedure will help the fitting of the SA MSH with all the hardware installed?
Click to expand...

Very nice, well done. What you have done is minimized your break-in time for your pistol. This is exactly what I do with every 1911 I get my hands on. I use jewellers rouge with my dremel on low speed. Two other points that you should think about, polishing the feed ramp on the frame and the top of the disconnecter. Brownell's has a trigger bow, track stone, look at picking up one of those, cleans / smooths / removes any burrs that my have been missed. For the frame / slide fit, with the whole firearm stripped run the slide fully to the rear, tip forward, if there are no hangups as the slide moves forward you have clean contact between the two. If you do have any hangups use some flitz on the slide and frame rail and work the action 25 - 50 times clean and test for contact again.
 
Who has done the series 80 to 70 conversion? Did you notice a change? Also, where did you get your parts? It looks like brownells won't ship that shim over the border
 
fchan said:
Who has done the series 80 to 70 conversion? Did you notice a change? Also, where did you get your parts? It looks like brownells won't ship that shim over the border
Click to expand...

As Brownells shows regarding the shim, "Available in the standard .057” width, as well as .030”, .060” and .065”. You can easily make the shim or use a small washer or two. I believe on average the .057" is the most common used. Just measure the thickness of your trigger lever on the right side of the frame for the required thickness.
 
I noticed that when he (Jay) is filing he shaves a lot of material off of the frame, wouldn't you make the part like a trigger fit the frame not the other way around? The frame is around 200 bucks compared to what, 50ish for the trigger?
 
Did some work to the old Kimber tonight, now Iam in love again, This was the very first handgun I bought back in 07
before


After added a new arched mainspring housing, Magwell, oversized mag release, new grips, and extended slide release. Only Issue I've found is my ACT mags done work with the magwell

 
Looks good, Craig0ry. Do the mags not work well because the mag well extends down too long? If so, Kim Pro Tac (not the standard Kimber!) mags might be a good option for you as they come with 2 plastic bumper bads and one of them extends quite a bit, should be well below the magwell. They are good mags as well, can't yet say as bulletproof as Wilson or CMC but so far so good for me.
 
Done with my Lawman:


1. VZ Gatorbacks Grips


2. Smith&Alexander Magwell


3. STI Ambi Safety


4. STI Squared Hammer


5. EdBrown Extended Mag Release


6. EdBrown Recoil Spring Plug
 
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Guys, looking for advice, what retailers sell flat mainspring housings? I want to replace mine, the EE didn't show any on my search and a few of the sponsor websites didn't give me any hits either. Any advice?
 
rc_p120 said:
Guys, looking for advice, what retailers sell flat mainspring housings? I want to replace mine, the EE didn't show any on my search and a few of the sponsor websites didn't give me any hits either. Any advice?
Click to expand...

Freedom Ventures should have them
 
Franken10

Para-Ordnance Expert 45 Frame & high grip beavertail
Dan Wesson 40 S&W Slide
STI 10mm Ramped Barrel
Bomar Rear Adjustable sight
STI Internals (Sear, Disconnect)
STI Commander Hammer
Clark 4 finger sear spring
Ed Brown Extended mag release
Ed Brown Solid match bushing
Wilson Ambi Safety
Wilson 3 hole trigger
Wilson Flat MSH
Wilson 2 piece guide rod
Wolf 22 # variable coil recoil spring
Pachmayr wrap around grips (to absorb some recoil)
Kimber 9rnd Stainless mags



25yards grouping test firing

 
I would like to get a set of sights for my Norinco 1911 gov model, does any one know what size the front sight tenon is? Has anyone changed out the sights on this pistol before?
Thanks
 
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