Let me lead off by saying if anyone is serious about the 1911, as a carry gun or as an enthusiast, take Mr Vickers 1911 pistolsmith builders course. The guy is a absolute wealth of knowledge and a no bullshit dude from the interaction we had. It is probably the most rewarding course i have taken in the last year as well as Ken Elmore’s Specialized armament basic and advanced M4 armorers course.
The course gave me the opportunity to meet some really good guys, who are pretty tuned in when it comes to firearms. That added some pressure of not wanting to be “that guy”. The class offered a real break out of my comfort zone. I have been a big glock fan for a while, a lot of it revolved around the utter simplicity of the firearm, adding a set of sights and maybe a light and they where pretty much a ready to roll for me. I have always loved the 1911 from a design standpoint and the history of it, own a few but really never jumped into the inner workings of it, because of lack of knowledge. If i want to learn what makes a particular weapon run or fail , i want to learn from a true subject matter expert. Mission accomplished
This Class was just that learning from the best. The attention to detail that goes into a 1911 gives me a new appreciation and a very small glimpse for what some the worlds 1911 builders go though.Speaking back to the fact I wanted to avoid being “that guy” and slowing the class down, my pistol gave me problems from the very beginning, nicked-named “the hornets nest” by Stony which was fitting. The first was learning to get my slide to fit to the frame. I could have avoided a task that took me 4 hours that should have taken an hour, by being timid with the file. Larry finally let me know in the most eloquent way, stop being a bitch and remove some metal. It was all went rather well after that. Learning to fit barrel bushing , barrel to slide lockup to a point where it fells like a bank vault , disconnector and sear engagement and what im most proud of is the extended beaver tail fit after removing metal from the frame itself, which was what i was so careful about from the beginning, because once metal is gone, its gone! I figured leaving the course with a fully functional 1911 not bad for a guy with very little formal gunsmith training just a few armorers course. That’s the difference that separates the 1911 from other weapons platforms, that was hammered home in a major way, 1911 are not a “plug and play” weapon, parts when built correctly will need some hand fitting, and blending to work properly. Learning to properly use a file, when and where to use a dremal and or emory cloth
every part does not need to be fitted with a dremal!!! Use appropriately!!
Mr Vickers presented info in a straight forward and rather simple way that really demystified the 1911 to where I could understand its functions in its entirety and the rest of the guys where great to be around and gave some great info during the course as well, and would consider doing another course and hopefully more builds in the future. C4Igrant’s review pretty much summed up alot of the details, that i may have missed,but great class and here is a kinda pictorial from start to finish.I have a real sense of accomplishment of taking a frame and Slide that would not fit onto one another to building a truly custom and functional firearm. Reliability being paramount, and number 1 on priority list for this and every firearm.
Well here it is, first build, warts and all
The start
fitting beavertail grip safety
after getting everything to fit together
after leaving class
after blending everything, a good smith/ friend Dave at Southridge arms here in Washington did the refinishing on my build.Slim frag grips from VZ grips with Trijicon HD night sights, orange front and tritium rear, a little on tall side, but man are they fast.
my first attempt at hand checkering, checkered the slide stop and slightly countersunk the slide stop hole as well.Instead of just flush cutting the slide stop
My group at 7 yards
my group at 25 yards, I know the gun is capable of more accuracy then this. I need to shoot more, and get in Vickers or Ken Hackathorn 1911 operators course so I can learn to shoot the gun to its potential. Im not an expert shooter or photographer just a guy that has a passion for firearms, and want to give my view on a great class and first 1911 build and contribute to a great forum.
