Springfield 1911 Project (pics)

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dallasm

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A couple of months ago I was fortunate enough to pick up a Springfield 1911 GI on the EE. I've heard these were fantastic platforms for a project with a forged slide and frame so I picked it up and have slowly been enhancing it.

Anyway, I finished the project yesterday and this is now a fantastic gun to shoot with tight groups and flawless feeding.

In addition to the original frame and slide, I retained the original barrel and polished the throat, breech hood and also the feed ramp. Other than that every part has been upgraded with hand-fit Wilson Combat, Ed Brown and Wolff components.

I'm real happy with how it came out and thought it would be fun to share some photos. Thanks for looking!

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Great choice, I've found my Springfields to be excellent pistols. Although, I wouldn't have done that to the GI model with their scarcity in these parts!

I'm just jealous because I can't find one these days:redface:
 
deadman said:
Great choice, I've found my Springfields to be excellent pistols. Although, I wouldn't have done that to the GI model with their scarcity in these parts!

I'm just jealous because I can't find one these days:redface:
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Thanks. Great point and I definately kept that in mind while working on it as I did not do anything permanent to the frame, slide or barrel (other than the feed polish, etc) and kept all stock parts. I can restore it to its factory-GI state in about 20 minutes if I choose to.
 
Yes, I noticed that all your mods looked reversible. I'm not a fan of a beavertail grip safety, but I realize I'm probably in the minority on that. Not being critical, it looks like you did some good work.
 
Waynetheman said:
is that a drop in beavertail?
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Yes it is a Wilson Drop-In for a Commander (fits the SA frame better due to the smaller tang radius). It required some fitting along the sides and had to tweak the safety slightly. I chose a drop-in as I did not want to modify the frame so that I can return it to its milspec state.
 
I see, good job.

I asked because the gap seemed too big to be hand fit as you said, but it seemed much smaller than the other dropins I've seen.
 
Thanks - I figured the little gaps due to the beavertail are a trade-off I could live with to have the option to return it to a milspec if needed. Some research told me that to minimize the gap on a springfield to use a commander beavertail not a full size / governement and it worked fine.

Most of the 'hand-fitting' occured on the barrel bushing, firing pin stop, thumb safety, sear, hammer, extractor, ejector and trigger. The beavertail only needed a bit of minor adjusment to fit.
 
Nice gun. I have a SA 38 super that's much the same. The only thing I'd recommend is a mag-well adaptor. Makes mag. changes so much easier.:)
 
That looks fantastic! I have a Colt Government Series 70 that I got from the EE that I plan to leave stock. I was thinking to do up a custom build and the Springfield GI seems like a nice platform, I already love the looks.

Is there any advantage to buying a Springfield GI over say,a Norinco GI? (It's a hard mental block for me to overcome to purchase a Chinese made gun, but I'm working on it :p )
Is that the original parkerized finish or did you have that redone?
 
While I can't comment much on Norinco, Springfield Milspec GI pistols have forged steel frame and slide which has substantial appeal, however they are difficult to come by. As somebody mentioned, that may be a reason to not use one as a project platform.

My rationale was that I wanted it to be a piece that I was excited to take out to shoot and to show folks and would also hold its value. 1911 projects are never economic, but a great way to spend a few hundred and make a huge difference in the performance of an entry level gun.

Mine started innocently enough - a desire to improve a sloppy trigger and correct intermittent feeding problems. Put a foot on that slippery slope . . .

The finish is the original parkerized finish. I used cold blue to finish the parts that were fit as required. It blends very well with the parkerizing.
 
GI models have vertical cocking serrations (not angled forward) and stock grips are marked 'U.S.'. The ejection port is not lowered or flared, the barrel hood is parkerized. Stock sights are small iron GI sights. The serial number of a GI starts with WW.... some are manufactured in Brazil.


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A 'Milspec' has a lowered and flared ejection port, angled cocking serrations, polished barrel hood, crossed canon cocobolo grips, higher combat sights, etc.:

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