Restarting planning on a 1911 build... advice?

General Firearms Handguns - 1911
1

Way back in college when my balls first dropped, I had particular geekouts for two sectors of the 1911 family tree: hot-loaded cartridges like .45 Super and .450 SMC, and Longslides–at the time I’d wanted to do a 7" like an AMT, but the only parts available then were the more common 6" versions as Clark pioneered the genre with. Recently my neighborhood FFL 'smith suggested I take a look at Fusion’s parts catalog, and with them having 7" slides and barrels in the catalog albeit not immediately available that suggested it was time to take a look at dusting off and modernizing the old concept while going back to the original Extra Long idea.

In the years since between the extinction of Para and my small hands I’ve dropped the original planned doublestack frame, but have added an optic and threaded barrel to the specs sheet–not for a can, but for the extra barrel length and possibility of a flash hider or linear comp.

Particular challenge: .45 Super originally called for a 22#, dual-spring recoil assembly in 5"–if memory serves Ace Custom basically lengthened the recoil system from a 3" Detonics Combatmaster–and I know that longer slides call for weaker springs, the guys at Wolff suggested I just use their 6" Longslide springs with a longer recoil plug. I’m now thinking that I’d like an optic on it, but unsure about which. I’m also thinking this might be better to do in phases–start with a 5" slide/barrel, then get a 7" barrel and pop it into the 5" slide as an interim step, then finally add the 7" slide and have it setup with the 5" top-half for CCW and the 7" for nightstand duty. Also thinking I want threaded barrels, not for cans but for the extra barrel length and maybe a flash suppressor on the 7". (Some of the thinking here is if it can handle regular .450SMC, .45ACP +P should be a cakewalk.)

Right now even with the hazards of open emitter in wet climate I’m thinking have the slide milled for an RMR, looking for the lowest-profile mount I can find with an integral BUIS. Fusion has one that’s solid, but looks a little higher than I’d like. Irv at Bar-Sto recommended I look to a Clark/Para ramped barrel for best chamber support. So far here’s the parts I’m looking at, and I’d welcome suggestions to refine them. Hammer and grip-safety I usually tend to prefer GI like Grandpa carried, particularly the rounded long-tang grip safety of a late-war gun. If I could get that tang on top with a modern “memory bump” at the bottom of the GS I’d be happy as a clam.

Slide: Fusion 7" https://fusionfirearms.com/1911-7-longslide-slide-builder - if they can do the custom machining for my preferred “muzzle heavy” radius cut
Barrel: Fusion 7" .45ACP, Clark ramp https://fusionfirearms.com/1911-7-inch-barrel-selector-ultra-match-grade
Firing Pin: ? (.45 Super required a heavy-duty pin, then cut down by .035", and a heavy duty spring)
Firing Pin Stop: ? (.45 Super requires squared-off heavy-duty)
Optic Mount: ?
Optic: ?
BUIS: ?

Frame: Fusion?
Trigger: Need suggestions–I’m looking for something short and rounded like a WWII GI, but without the knurling–something that my finger will just glide across as it pulls.
Safety: ? (Need an ambi but prefer short GI-style “stub”)
Mainspring Housing (arched w/lanyard loop): EGW 11441 https://www.egwguns.com/mainspring-housing-arched-serrated-blue-w-lanyard-loop-retro-colt-style-gi
Ejector: ? (known to need a longer ejector nose for .45 Super)
Recoil System: ? (.45 Super requires ~22#, originally built with Detonics-style dual-spring and full-length guide rod systems IIRC)

O/A Parts Kit for things not otherwise mentioned: Sarco C45096 https://www.sarcoinc.com/1911-45-cal-builders-kit-all-parts-less-frame-slide-barrel/

Finish: Given that there’s a reason we call this place “NorthWET” and make jokes about “Washington Rain Festival,” I’m torn between back to Gunkote, having an NP3 or hard-chrome job done or just going straight stainless.

Anybody else out there in M4C Land ever tried to do anything like this, or have any suggestions on filling in the blanks?

2

Can’t help you on the optic choice for your 1911. Only my M&P’s & Berettas have RDS. My only suggestion would be one of the smaller footprint Trijicon’s or Holosun. These two brands hold up well to stout recoil.
I will give a thumbs up for the 45 Super. I had Ace Hindman convert mine in 1988. Back then if you wanted ammo, you had to make your own from either 451 Detonics Magnum or 45 magnum brass. Besides the stouter recoil springs, he also shortened the firing pin by .035 & gave it a more rounded shape. During development, they found that the Super was piercing primers So they shortened it & used a stiffer spring. I still run the original pin after 33 years & it works just fine.
I’m not sure of what loads you prefer but I can run a 230g bullet at 1200 fps. Anything more & the gun gets really snappy. I have loaded 185g to 1500 fps with no pressure signs or battering of the gun.
Anyway, good luck with your build. Not many of us 45 Super fans around.

3

The two I have built were both on Caspian Frames which were strongly recommended by one instructor and the other instructor had the Caspian on his list. Both also recommended Caspian Slides.

4

A this is just personal preference based on experience.

Firing Pin Stop: I like [b]EGW[/b] or [b]Harrison[/b].

Frame: [b]JEM[/b] without hesitation.

Trigger: [b]EGW short serrated[/b]. You can always remove the serrations.

GI Ambi Safety: [b]EGW ambi[/b] but you’d have to carve the paddles into a GI profile.

Ejector: [b]EGW oversized[/b] so you can get a perfect fit to the slide or an [b]EGW extra long[/b].

Finish: cerakote over parkerized for the ultimate in rust resistance

Here’s my 6" longslide built on a JEM frame with a Caspian slide on top. Note that I had to chop the JEM frame back to fit the 6".

5

I concur with your list and most of what Steve said, above, but I don’t care for squared-off trigger guards.

Harrison has short-smooth triggers. I wouldn’t use anything SARCO. You can profile thumb safeties with extended-paddles to GI nub profile (my preferred thumb safety as well). Both Harrison and EGW are my preferred go-tos.

If you hand load you can probably also cut down .308 cases like the Auto-Mag guys had to.

It’ll add cost, but consider an Ion-Bond finish.

6

Ionbond is a very good finish and I have ½ dozen 1911s with this finish. However, it is not very rust resistant. The various painted finishes are much better in this regard but they wear quickly. That’s why using parkerizing as a base under cerakote is a great way to go for an outdoors pistol. Chrome is probably the toughest, hardest to scratch finish but it isn’t rust proof.

Stainless is pretty rust resistant but I don’t care for it in pistols because of its wear characteristics. I’ve seen stainless barrels split open like a banana from over pressure rounds. Think catastrophic failure. In contrast I’ve seen chrome moly barrels bulge instead of split from the same over pressure rounds in the same test. In addition, stainless doesn’t allow for the same level of tight fit between parts as chrome moly parts. Not a big thing unless precision fitting between moving parts is what you’re looking for.

As for the squared trigger guard, There’s enough meat on it as it comes from the manufacturer to make it into a rounded profile. I just think they’re totally cool looking so I removed steel from inside the guard to accentuate the squareness.

7

To be honest, if the brass were available I’d prefer the SMC over the Super (externally identical but SMC is thicker case and different primer), and my main reason for building a Super other than “a little headroom for emergencies” is the knowledge that if it can take a lifetime eating those loads then ACP +P becomes a more viable “regular carry” option. If you ever hung out over on the old AmBack Forum, Fernando Coelho posted the whole cookbook and the origin history of the two “magnum” .45’s over there about 15 years ago and I started working from that, then life got in the way and between that and lack of “portsider” parts availability the project got set aside.

Gary, the original specs I drew up back in '04 were a Caspian frame/slide, but back then they didn’t do a 7" and still don’t. (It’s a strange world when a six-inch 1911 is a “downsize”…) FYI, when I say “muzzle heavy,” that means radiusing an inch from the slide end rather than at the frame end–Jim Clark built the originals by cutting the front inch off a scrap slide and welding it onto the end of a good one, but I’m thinking more like if the added length was spliced in behind the radius.

Pure aesthetics, but part of the reason I tend to prefer GI Spec as a “point of departure” to tweak from is I tend to want something that my late Uncle Frank would immediately recognize as closely related to the one he used in WWII and would assess as “would have done to kill Nazis for Patton with.” He wasn’t particularly a gun person, pretty much his entire collection was bringbacks of both US and German issue, but for him as a former infantryman and machinist to say “if I had to go back to the battlefield that’d do to fight with” would be high praise.

Lots to think on here so far, guys; IIRC EGW has a GI-style parts-kit and I know Fusion does so I’ll strike Sarco and look to them.

8

Here are the parts [b]EGW[/b] has grouped into “GI”. I prefer EGW over all other parts manufacturers. Fusion quality has been hit-or-miss in my experience. I like Wilson’s rear sights but for the guts of the pistol I’ll take EGW every day and twice on Sunday.

9

I’ve used all those EGW parts in builds or overhauls, with the exception I prefer the high-shelf mag catch to fix probably 9 out of 10 Springfields, AMTs, and Colts to get the magazine to lock correctly. I also use George’s National Match bushing vice GI-spec.

10

I put the [b]EGW higher mag catch[/b] in nearly every 1911 that shows up on my bench whether they need it or not. It noticeably smooths out the feeding even for pistols that feed fine without it.

11

NightHawk “IOS” system so you’re not married to 1 particular optic.

Was thinking of doing it to my Ed Brown.

12

Also looks like just the thing for swapping optics between slides, though I woulda preferred ‘optic front iron rear’. Definitely one for the list.

13

For an ambidextrous safety, I like the Kings version, but they are not to be found these days. It uses an extended hammer pin to secure the off side thumbpiece.
Wilson Combat (Part#: 192BBP) and Kimber continue to offer ambi safeties with similar construction.
Might give them a look.

14

Any concerns about linear comps or flash suppressors potentially interfering with linkdown? I’m not up for fighting with NFA but was wondering about a linear as a “poor man’s can” for Bump In The Night stuff.

15

Minor addition with a “concept” illustration on the peculiar slide radiusing–a writer friend asked me how I’d build a pistol for one of her characters, and this is what I quickly bashed together to give her a visual in two different option on a basic two-tone “teal and stainless or chrome” theme. (Her dicta were “elegant and sophisticated with just a splash of panache, while still radiating power and lethality.”) If I were building with this finish, I’d probably ask Dana at Black Hammer Arms in Tacoma (a long ways away, but he’s always one of the industry guys who goes to Olympia trying to spearhead resistance to the latest Gun Grab of the Day and I like to give Fight The Good Fight guys some business when I can) to use the Cerakote custom “Cancer Awareness Blue” as a base teal while trying to make it more metallic, then use his best judgment on making the “silver” sections polished enough to use as a shaving mirror. Not shown: If I were building either of these (and as I plan for my own build), it would have a Streamlight TLR-6 in front of the triggerguard finished to match the frame and an RDS finished to match the slide. Probably something highly compact like an RMRcc even though I’m thinking more Aimpoint Acro P-2 for my own build.


(NOTE: This bottom isn’t white grips, it’s “color as yet undetermined”–thinking maybe simulated pearl.)

16

Project update: We’re proceeding, if I can find a way to do the two-tone finish in the second pic above. Slowly gathering parts while I wait for my frame’s slot in Caspian’s shop schedule… In hand so far: Pachmayr pearl grips, Wilson frame and pin kits, Wilson ambi safety.

Barrel: Fusion 7" standard profile, Clark/Para ramp
Bushings: Briley spherical and CDNN King’s style with integral comp
Sear and Disconnector: EGW or Harrison
Ejector: EGW or Harrison, need to figure out how much longer than “standard” the big boomers take
Firing Pin: Wilson, EGW or Harrison heavy-duty
FP Stop: EGW or Harrison
Grip Safety: undetermined long/round-tang late-WWII GI type, to have memory-bump added
Hammer: undetermined spur-type
Mag Catch: EGW Higher
Mainspring: Have Wilson 18# reduced-power in hand, replace with 20# or 22#?

Current status in one easy picture, green in hand, yellow on the way, orange on order.

1911 status.jpg
1911 status.jpg520×600 64.2 KB

17

Update, the build is officially underway after twenty years! Top-end assembly will be sometime next year due to cash flows since the slide alone will cost more than some complete low-cost pistols. Midway got a Colt stainless old-school grip safety I snagged, now I gotta figure out how to make it nice and shiny.


To finish the bottom half:
>Mainspring - Wilson 22# on order
>Hammer, sear, disconnector
>Ejector
>Trigger - thinking best option here is look for a GI-style in stainless

In-hand toward the top half:
>Firing pin - Wilson Bulletproof Titanium on order

18

Nice, I’ve wanted to do one of these for a while as well, being a 1911 armorer, I at least understand how all the little bits come apart and go together…

I really like the Wilson stuff as well.

19

I’m having to spread the business around a bit–a lot of people from a lot of companies have invested time and knowledge in helping make this thing possible, and giving them a piece of the action is the best “thank you” I can think of.

20

Old AMT Long Slide: