new Gun: 1943 colt 1911 project

[NAA]

Circa 1990, Lever Arms in Vancouver had several crates of "surplus" GI 1911/1911A1's in condition varying from the above to some real nice clean examples.

The "beater" ones could be had for princely sum of $99. Here's one I scored:

Before:

After:

Turned out to be a pretty good shooter.

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NAA.

 

[tiriaq]

I bought a box full of those. One respectable 1911A1, and lots of project pieces.

 

[gravel]

Circa 1990, Lever Arms in Vancouver had several crates of "surplus" GI 1911/1911A1's in condition varying from the above to some real nice clean examples.

The "beater" ones could be had for princely sum of $99. Here's one I scored:

Before:

After:

Turned out to be a pretty good shooter.

--------------
NAA.

Excellent!

 

[#1bcshooter]

Circa 1990, Lever Arms in Vancouver had several crates of "surplus" GI 1911/1911A1's in condition varying from the above to some real nice clean examples.

The "beater" ones could be had for princely sum of $99. Here's one I scored:

Before:

Had to pay $150 for mine back then

 

[Scorpian]

so jealous, I wish I was into handguns that long ago, although I would probably run out of room to store them!

@NAA how did you get the pitting out and what did you end up doing to get that finish?
excellent work.

 

[NAA]

so jealous, I wish I was into handguns that long ago, although I would probably run out of room to store them!

@NAA how did you get the pitting out and what did you end up doing to get that finish?
excellent work.

On my $99 special the script was all gone off the slide anyway. Local gun smith draw filed the flats. The rest of it was 'bead blast' and then dipped in the blue tank. Finish came out a dark matte like parkerized. BTW, I don't have that pistol anymore, we parted ways quite awhile ago. It shot very well, though.

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NAA.

 

[enefgee]

OP - the slide on that gun looks like mother nature threw a carry bevel job on it, I'd have Vulcan look at it, for the heat treat if nothing else.

 

[Scorpian]

update:

so i worked on it tonight a bit with the file and the one side is really coming along. pretty excited and happy with the progress.
heres how it looks:
BEFORE

AFTER

 

[Smitsauce]

If you want to get this back looking anywhere near descent, I would stop what you are doing right now and get that gun to Nick at Vulcan. You just permanently toasted a bunch of the rear serrations on the rear of the slide!!!!! With pitting that deep, you can't just file them away without seriously weakening the metal. It would need to be filled to get rid of the deep ones and then pollished to get the light ones.

Ian

update:

so i worked on it tonight a bit with the file and the one side is really coming along. pretty excited and happy with the progress.
heres how it looks:
BEFORE

AFTER

 

[Scorpian]

the serrations will be fine, I have a triangle file that I will go over them with and when im done it will look as good as new
the serrations need some serious work anyways, they had actual pitting in them and need to be cleaned up, so im not too concerned about them getting mucked up a bit.

the picture made it look far worse than it actually was. im going to hit the other side and see how it goes, the stamping has pitting in it though so im reluctant to hit that with the file, but if I don't its going to look like ####.

This thing has already been messed with and as discussed earlier in the post is not original with aftermarket parts, and mistmatched frame and slide, so im not worried about the value of it.

 

[tokguy]

By all means be careful but clean it up. I'm not advocating the dreaded Bubba work over but this pistol needed a freshen up.
Keep us posted.

 

[Scorpian]

alright more work on it tonight, cleaned up the second flat and cleaned up the seration a wee bit, still need to do a lot of work on the small spots. the flats look good and straight and its shaping up nice.
it still needs work on the front bottom of the barrel the rounded areas are harder to hit,
most of the colt markings and stamps on the slide are gone, but it is what it is, and the frame isnt an actual colt, and it was pitted bad enough that you could barely see the markings.

 

[NAA]

It's coming along very nicely!

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NAA.

 

[Scorpian]

alright guys, more work on the 1911 tonight, cut the serrations on the slide and really cleaned them up, and filed the flats a wee bit more and worked on the top. the front bottom is still not touched much, im dreading doing it...

 

[mwjones]

To do this properly they need to be lapped. Not precision lapped, but the sides need to be one flat plane. use a full sheet of 220 grit wet dry paper. Lay it on a flat surface (surface plate, granite counter, piece of glass, even your kitchen table) and rub the slide on the paper. You don't have to press hard because you want the sides to remain parallel. You can do the same thing to the frame.

 

[Scorpian]

@MWjones thats what i plan on doing to get the roughness out of it, then progress to 400 ETC... if i used 220 grit the whole way through i would never be done. i used a file and draw filed the flats to make sure they are nice and straight. the pics makes it look bad, because some of the spots are a little rougher and it makes it look like dips in the slide. its actually quited straight.

 

[Scorpian]

completely stripped to work on the frame. getting there, someone else clearly tried to restore this gun, every single sharp edge on it was worked over, which is not good. still needs more work but heres some more progress:

 

[Cocked&Locked]

i may take parts off and use them on my norinco...i hadnt realized the frame was not an original colt.
i did only pay 150$ for it though
it does shoot very nice though....

you must've got a stinker for a norc, mine all shoot from average to very good....but i wouldn't shoot that colt/rand .....i might have the frame refinished by vulcan, but that slide is a write off....and if the inside of the rails look like the outside, it's eating the frame every shot......it would make an interesting paper weight.....

 

[Cocked&Locked]

If you want to get this back looking anywhere near descent, I would stop what you are doing right now and get that gun to Nick at Vulcan. You just permanently toasted a bunch of the rear serrations on the rear of the slide!!!!! With pitting that deep, you can't just file them away without seriously weakening the metal. It would need to be filled to get rid of the deep ones and then pollished to get the light ones.

Ian

the issue isn't that you can put them back again, it's that when you do your cutting another 20-40 thou into the slide, and weakening an already compromised stressed component. You really need to talk to Vulcan, they do awesome work, and you know it won't blow up after.

 

[Scorpian]

already shot 100 rounds through it without a snag...

the barrel on it is in mint shape, not a spot of rust or pitting on it and the inside of the frame rails are fine too. ill post up more pics when i get a chance. inside of the slide is fine too and the frame actually was in reasonable shape. before i do a complete finishing on it, I'm cleaning and taking to the range to make sure it holds up.
the slides on these older models are pretty overbuilt, and taking a couple thous off should not affect, unless there is something im missing here, then please fill me in or direct me to somewhere that has more info, , I love learning everything i can about the hobby.

Ive watched the vulcan videos of him refinishing 1911's about 20 times... hes does excellent work. but this one is my project.