build a 1911

[jonboy5469]

As I am sure you all are aware that many people are building their own ARs with buying the uppers and lowers seperately and saving some big money doing so. I was just curious if you can do the same with pistols. I would love to buy a 1911, I would like one in 9mm, but i do not want to spend the money, I know there are "affordable" 1911s however I hear poor reviews on them. I am just curious if you can "build your own", I would imagine you still have to register which is fine that doesnt bother me too much. Any in sight into this or websites that deal in these areas are greatly welcomed.

[elweasel]

You can build your own 1911. Ares armor sells 1911 blanks 80%. Plus I am guessing so do other companies like Ares.

[762xIan]

1911's are not a snap together build like an AR.

There are and can be quite a few nuances along with some tooling/skills you may need to undertake such a project.

I know there are "affordable" 1911s however I hear poor reviews on them

I don't know, the Rock Islands are about as affordable as you can get and pretty darn good.

Here is a link to a site a guy made about his 1911 build and the many problems he had, some humor but a LOT of great info on a 1911's.

http://http://how-i-did-it.org/1911-project/index.html

Good luck.

[762xIan]

I would imagine you still have to register which is fine that doesnt bother me too much.

There is no registery, if you buy a complete "frame" it is the firearm and you will do the normal check like if you were buying a complete weapon.

If you go the 80% route and build one up, you don't need to "register" squat, you can build whatever you want as long as it isn't an NFA item.

[mike12_nguyen]

I bought a lot of 1911s for my collection. It started innocently enough as doing my own trigger job, to fixing my friends 1911 & customizing them, to building my own with sourced components. I spent a tremendous amount of money on all the jigs, tools, stones & parts. I'm not even 25% done fitting a fusion slide to the frame, much less the beaver tail, barrel, bushing etc and it is a massive amount of time. Literally this first one I'm building alone will cost more than a high-mid level 1911 like my kimber raptor. If you factor in my time it will cost the same as my ed brown or nighthawk. Only problem is no one will want it besides me, meaning it has less value than a RIA..... Its fun (sometimes) but not worth it.

*and honestly I might have to start over, I got impatient and took off a lot more of the frame rails than I was supposed to, its too loose now....

[762xIan]

BTW.....if you do decide to go the build route, I highly recommend Kuhnhausen's 1911 shop manuals Vol.1 and 2.

[Normlizer]

http://forum.pafoa.org/gun-pictures-...rco-parts.html

[tialloydragon]

I put together a 1911. The cheaper parts I used required more fitting. One thing that the project was not, was inexpensive. I think everything I paid for added up to close to a grand, but I have a very nice result to show off:

[jim-analog]

Greetings,

Having built many ARs, maintained and repaired all of my other guns for years, I considered building a 1911 a few years back. Being an engineer, I first picked up all the books (both volumes of Kuhnhausen and a couple others, a few videos, etc.), read up online some of the differing experiences others had doing builds, etc..

I came to the conclusion that to do it "right" (as in end up with as nice a finished product as a mid level factory pistol), it would require much more time, money and equipment than I thought reasonable. Now, if you happen to own a machine shop and have done metal work for years, it's likely a much more feasible project. If everything went exactly "to plan" it could be done with less resources, but a frame or slide dimensional problem could easily derail the outcome.

If you feel up to it, by all means enjoy and show us what you build. It's not even close to putting an AR together though in terms of complexity. Best of luck!

Regards, Jim

[gold cup abuser]

You can build your own 1911. Ares armor sells 1911 blanks 80%. Plus I am guessing so do other companies like Ares.

They haven't had the Rudis kit in stock for over one year. So that is out.

Plus after their ATF raid, I would only go to their store with cash, wearing a Groucho Marx Halloween mask.

Tatical Machining is doing an 80% frame shortly, but you will need the jigs from them to cut the slide rails, the barrel seat and the holes for the hammer and sear.

Start out with a Rock Island frame from Sarco. Will need to ship it to an FFL. You can find the internal parts from Sarco and get the 9mm slide and barrel from them or look around on the internet.