Customizing a 1911?

LeeEnfieldNo.4_mk1

LeeEnfieldNo.4_mk1

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Alberta
My first pistol is on the way, its a Norinco 1911A1 i got used off the EE. Its pretty stock, some after market plastic grips and it has been tuned by a smith (not Gunnar). Now I would like to put a little contrast in with an silver color (aluminum? Stainless?) trigger and a hammer. How much fitting is required for these? Will replacing the trigger effect the tuned pull? I also want to replace grips, I am assuming its pretty basic (unscrew, replace, screw?) or do they require fitting too?

Thanks.
 
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The only problem with Brownells is that you cant import a majority of the parts that they have in their catalogue into Canada,its sure fun to browse it though!

Would suggest Freedom ventures if you are looking for 1911 parts at a good price
 
The grips you can change out yourself. Be sure not to overtighten the screws, though.

If you are a noob then the suggestion to use a competent smith for other work like fitting a trigger or other parts that have to do with function is a good one.... ;)

2007-10-27_091302_1aCoffee.gif

NAA.
 
OK, well it will be a while anyways. Who is a good smith around BC or even Alberta? I know Gunner at Armco is a good one, but isn't he usually 3 months booked?

What other parts would be reasonable to replace? I would like to keep it relatively stock looking with exception of the trigger, grips and hammer.
 
have a look at my thread for what I changed.

http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=401357

I suggest you get a decent smith to do all the work. Many of the parts will require fitting, this includes some grips- especially if you add an ambi safety as theres a recessed cut that may need to be fitted to the gun.

I would also suggest you get the slide fitted, as some of the Norcs have awhole lot of slop in them. You will probably want new sites as well- the stock norc sites are minute of large barn.
 
I suggest learning and do-it-yourself'ing 1911 as much as possible. Google Kuhnhausen manuals for 1911 tune up. I did trigger and slide fitting and my 1911 was holding its own against dedicated target guns. Until I sold it. I'd recomment slide fitting also, it improves accuacy by the whole lot. Very doable procedure, all you need is a vice, some aluminum lips and lapping compound. And keen-ness. Also replace barrel bushing with the one that needs to be custom fit, or you may even install compensator, many of them provide tighter tolerances than factory barrel bush. One last piece is custom-fit barrel link, also doable by keen ones at home. Those three pieces - slide fitting, bushing and link will make target gun capable of hitting math box at 20 yard.

Some easily done add-ons are magazine well (another do-it-yourselver), sights and grips. Every one little add-on will be making your 1911 progressively more pleasant shooter.
 
I'm working at doing my own 1911 as well. One thing at a time and taking my time to learn to do it right.

My trigger is next on the list. The bow that connects to the sear is a hellishly sloppy fit in the frame track. I want one that's oversize and then I'll fit it for a smooth but slop free fit. This will make the release a lot more consistent feeling I'm sure.

The hammer has the hook that the sear catches. For the best results this requires fitting. However for a few bucks more you can buy a match grade sear and hammer set that will deliver that lovely light trigger pull out of the package. At this point I'm not sure what, if any, sort of fitting for such a set would be needed.

That Kuhnhausen book has been highly recomended to me as well by a few other folks. It's on my Christmas list to get. In the meantime I'm workng from a smaller book by Hallock that was leant to me.

I would not want to do much of this stuff if I didn't already have a lot of shop time and skills under my belt. But if you're comfy working with most metal working hand tools and for measuring stuff you'd be amazed at what you can do to tune up a 1911 if you have the guidance of a good book. However if stripping it down and reassembling causes concern and there's a hearty sigh of relief when it works afterwards then you may want to send it to a smith.
 
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