need some help fellas.....

[mistersquiggles]

ok, its been about 18 years or so since i last built a 1911......
my Dad wants a new pistol for home defense, and my brother knows i dabble in old surplus rifles and pistols, and he asks me to build a custom 1911 for dad. Basically, he wants the same style he carried while he was in the service stationed in Dong Tam, Vietnam..... so i'm going to put together as close to a "period" pistol that i can... with a few exceptions.... there will be some engraving and all, but otherwise i want to build it to look like his issue..... he was in from 67-72 and im wondering a couple of things......


1) is there a certain kind of slide that would fit the period?
2) grips for the frame, were they still the ole "double diamond" then or did it change?
3) while im sure any frame will work.... (standard that is) are there any variations i need to worry about to get the period "look" right? (and for the guys that really like ole slabsides, is there an especially good quality frame/reciever out there?)
4) he's left handed, and though it would mess up the whole "period" thing, is there a slide with the ejection port on the other side that looks like one from the late 60's?


one way or another, this pistol is getting built by march..... i was just hoping you fellas could point me in the right direction for quality parts..... money isnt a problem so im willing to pay for quality.......
any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated......i figured i'd ask here instead of troll the other sites listening to idiots....

[Lalvis]

Sorry I was not in back then. And I was in the Navy. But we still had the old girl, and in only the standard A-1 mod. It had no wood, just plastic double diamond, the slide was standard A-1 that had no lowered or flared ejection port. It had a arched main spring housing that had vertical serrations and a lanyard ring. All in a gray phosphate finish. No 3 dot sights. Standard spur hammer, and grip safety. This is what all the 45's looked like in SUBRON 6,8 and in the armory on the USS Emery S Land.

:America:

[mistersquiggles]

well theres a fella here in town that has what he says is slide that has "the angled grooves" and says it should look like one from the late 60s..... since im not anything even close to knowlegeable much less an expert, i guess im gonna look at it, and if it looks nice enough, that is, clean enough, and all, then ill think about buying it..... been trying to find pictures so that i can compare...



wow.... i know that some of you guys are into the 1911 builds...... kind of suprised no one has chimed in yet past Lalvis......

[joe8747p]

From my old arms room days....

1911A1:

Short trigger

small GI sights

humped mainspring housing with lanyard loop

brown plastic grips

solid barrel bushing

GI barrel the barrel hood finish matched the slide and frame. (no too sure about that but I don't recall seeing any shiny barrel hoods.....)

finish should be dark grey or black parkerizing


you could do this on a Caspian Arms frame and slide assembly and have no issues. Sarco has the internals and the grip panels.

you might find a GI surplus slide and mate that to a Caspian frame or even get the Rock Island Frames that Sarco has for sale.

You could just go the fast route and get a Rock Island GI and go from there for the slide engraving.

good luck on whaever method you select.

[mistersquiggles]

thanks for the advice!!! im using a fosters/caspian frame, and have a govt model slide on the way, the slide comes sights installed, but im sure there will be mating issues at first.... so time to break out the slide file, and lapping compound after that... i want a relatively tight fit but loose enough for reliability and no hang issues..... the frame came plunger tube already installed so most of the hard work is already done as i see it. I'm thinking about the semi drop in barrels..... dunno which company yet, but i want fit and finish to look good.... i went through SARCO and got a "1911 spare parts kit" and its pretty much everything except slide frame and barrel...... now for the crummy part.... turns out the pistol i see in his old photos wasnt his issue.... seems he had traded for it... he was issued a .38 special.... guess thats what the riverboat guys got.... anyway he really wants a 1911, so we are trying to make it look like the one he traded for some 30 plus years ago...... i will post pics when done....

[mistersquiggles]

wow.... out of all the people on this site....... some of who have extensive knolwege....... there have only beeen two people that chimed in with advice...... makes me wonder....... i know im abrasive but damn, it would have been easier if i would have had help and advice from
from all the folks here that have built their own...... guess im not cool enouh or something. oh well sh!t on it all, i still got it built and test fired and it works flawlessly...... got a set of double diamond grips, (aftermarket), and when they get back from the engraver i will post pics.... though it might be nothing more than a giant waste of time....... pics soon.... maybe a week to a week and a haf at most

[Otis61]

Good! Glad it worked out. I've never worked on a 1911 before.

So where's the pics?

[deth502]

wow.... out of all the people on this site....... some of who have extensive knolwege....... there have only beeen two people that chimed in with advice...... makes me wonder....... i know im abrasive but damn, it would have been easier if i would have had help and advice from
from all the folks here that have built their own...... guess im not cool enouh or something. oh well sh!t on it all, i still got it built and test fired and it works flawlessly...... got a set of double diamond grips, (aftermarket), and when they get back from the engraver i will post pics.... though it might be nothing more than a giant waste of time....... pics soon.... maybe a week to a week and a haf at most

ive built 2 of them. to be fair, you didnt ask for any build advice, you asked for a history lesson on what your build should look like. i suck at history!!! if you have a problem with the building or functioning of it, im sure that there are many here that could help, ill answer what i can, but dont throw any terms like "period correct" at me!! :P

[Mad Machinist]

If I was looking to duplicate a 1911A1 from back when I was active.....late 70's through the 80's....I'd just get a Rock Island Arsenal and tune it.....less than $400 bucks and look identical to what I was issued in most units. Surprisingly the 1911 I was issued out of the HHB 1/10 FA 3rd ID in Schweinfurt FRG (1982)had walnut grips and was blue....guess I got damn lucky........and since I had a 1930's vintage commercial colt I was on orders from the Bn Cdr to carry since I was the COMSEC/NRAS custodian....my Comm platoon Sgt got to carry my issue.....:icon_biggrin: huge brownie points there......

Back to the subject.....I have a real clean GI slide in my desk at work I was saving for a build, I'll try and remember to post a pic monday and if it'll work better for your purposes maybe we can work a trade.....