The Twenty-Year Pistol... .450 SMC 1911 Longslide

[Rastus]

it's good to get an update on this project. 

[Big Frank]

Merry Christmas DB.

[Diamondback]

Thanks, guys... I have the feeling finding compound and lapping frame and slide to fit each other is gonna be a cakewalk next to finding somebody who'll do a polished Hard Chrome job, or figuring out a Cerakote mix comparable to GM Dark Dragonfly Teal metallic.

And since I haven't seen my buddy who was gonna do testing in a while and our mutual friend did a stealth-bomber retirement... dude flew out the door under the radar, only his bosses knew that he gave his two weeks to pension off when they stuck him with an especially disliked-by-him route package that round of scheduling.

[Big Frank]

I looked online at that dark teal color and it's a lot darker than any teal car I recall seeing. I had one of my .45s hard chromed and it has an aluminum frame. They told me they had to nickel plate the frame before they hard chromed it. Years later the frame is a completely different color, like gray instead of silver. I think they nickel plated it and that was all. Years of using Hoppe's No. 9 on it is probably what caused it to change. I think it was Accurate Plating and Weaponry, but would have to do some digging to find a receipt from way back then, if I still have it. I definitely won't be recommending them to anyone after that.

[Diamondback]

Frank, DDT was only used on Saturn models for two specific model years, IIRC 2001 and 2002.

A few others I'm looking at for "targets to match"...

Ford RD Teal - https://repaintsupply.com/ford-rd-teal-metallic/

Suzuki Bright Teal - https://repaintsupply.com/suzuki-z06-bright-teal-metallic/

GM Dark Tropic Teal - https://repaintsupply.com/gm-wa765j-dark-tropic-teal-metallic/

GM Medium Dark Teal - https://repaintsupply.com/gm-wa9828-medium-dark-teal-metallic/

And then this one looks like it can be mixed right into Cerakote or powdercoating...
https://www.paintwithpearl.com/shop/custom-paint-colors/greens/teal-candy-paint-pearl/

Black Friday Weekend update:
--Slide: Ordered from Fusion, pending confirmation of special radius cut and shop schedule
--Barrel bushing: Briley .581 spherical ordered
--Trigger: Harison Custom short smooth ordered from Brownells
--Ejector: EGW Heavy Duty ordered from Brownells
--Barrel Link: EGW 5-link kit ordered from Brownells

Components remaining to source: Harrison Design ignition kit (I wish John would make a long-spur hammer), fiber-optic sights from Fusion
Tools to source: Whatever's not already in hand or on the way for frame/slide fitting
Finishing: Need a hard-chromer or similar to deliver a bright mirror-polish on the slide flats; need to select finish and find local Puget Sound applicator (Dana at Black Hammer has closed the workshop and gone transfer-only for a bit with new kids around).

Future: Optic and cut/mount - in the interim I have a triggerguard-mount Streamlight TLR-1 with laser

[Sponsor]

[Big Frank]

If I had another 1911 I'd be interested in trying the Drop-In Trigger System from Nighthawk Custom. It's 300 bucks which is more than I want to pay. You can get good components for half that price, but may need to fit them, so I don't know which would be the best way to go. I was looking at some Harrison Design parts last year and was impressed by how good they look.

https://www.nighthawkcustom.com/drop-in-trigger-system



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jxt6Mj4W2o

[Diamondback]

Frank, I looked at that but at the time all they had was bobbed Commander-style hammers, and the entire aesthetic point of this build was retro form married to modern function, "with a twist and a bit of a spin." (With apologies to Taylor Dayne for stealing her lyric...)

Bonus challenge, I'm stuck working with hand tools--which kind of adds to the "retro building" experience getting a taste of how the original 1911s were made over a century ago when machine hours were expensive and man hours were cheap.

[Big Frank]

That hammer is for sure not period correct for a retro gun. That explains the choice of H.D. retro parts. I just looked at a lot of wide hammers, and almost all of them were old, vintage parts, or they had a line down the middle where they were molded. Tisas USA has one that looks good from what I saw, and Apex Tactical makes a spur hammer that looks good, but not a wide one.

[Diamondback]

To be honest, I wanted a late-war-style long narrow spur, but Harrison's "True Radius" cut on hammer and sear was more important.

The Brownells batch of parts just arrived yesterday, already filing and polishing trigger and frame; Briley bushing due next week. Between 10% off gift-cards and a 25%-off one order promo code Fusion gave me as a thank you for my business, hoping they get the sight-set Tyler recommended back in before it expires on New Years.

I'm not sure how I should take it when my gal tells me I "powershop like a girl"... what can I say, when you spend your college years surrounded by friends with HUGE appetites and the lunchtime match wager is "worst score buys for everybody," you get real good at squeezing those pennies til Abe craps dimes REAL fast. Seriously, even the more petite ladies in this "LEO's-plus-me-and-sometimes-The Ex" group were Double Meat, Triple Cheese, Extra EVERYTHING on their burritos, and these were the "light eaters"...

[Big Frank]

I'm waiting on a package from Briley too and have no idea when it's going to be here. They haven't shipped it yet AFAIK. It's a Remington TAC-14 and 870 One Shot Extension (12 Gauge Only), that also fits the Remington Model 1100. I ordered one and put it on my Sportsman 12 Auto, but I need one with a sling swivel and got one with no swivel.

https://www.briley.com/p-62048-remington-tac-14-and-870-one-shot-extension-12-gauge-only.aspx