New pics of my 1911A1

[cottage cheese]

Sorry for going OT guys...

CC can you please post pics of the pieces you recently rust blued. I have got a old Diana which I want to reblue.

Thanks in advance.

-Inder

Hey Inder,

I know its really going off topic so here's one last post on this spin off. Perhaps this can be carried on in another thread... mods?

The Diana35 has already been delivered so I can't photograph it. It was severely pitted so I had to do a lot of brutal scraping and sand papering. Even so I had to allow it a lot of extra reaction time for extra etching and resulting matte finish for some consistency.

Here are the pics of the Savage99 and the Cousins... pardon my photographs- I'm not a good lens man. May I remind that they are pretty old, abused pieces so can't do much about deriving a flawless surface finish.









So as not to hijack the 1911 thread let this continue in a new thread or PM Ok?

BTW..hope you're planning to get your Diana blued where you are.... I'm in the other end of the country to be of too much help ... I'm sure there are competent folks your side.

Well Abhijeet, in the case of your 1911 I suppose there isn't much to choose from. But other than the old finish it does look nice and smart with the add ons. I assume it'll perform as good as it looks

regards,
cc

[Hunter]

Install a guide rod ,oversized slide stop and safety lever if u can, it helps a bit and u dont fumble too much!

Well, I already have an Ed Brown full length guide rod (2 piece), which I don't much care for... it may provide more accuracy but I've found it takes away a lot from the simplicity of dismantling the gun (requiring an Allen key), besides completely doing away with my favourite way of checking the chamber by racking the slide back using my fingers to depress the recoil spring plug... and of course it ruins the original "ethos" of the design! So I'm staying away from it... at least for now. May just put it up for sale (at cost)... it is after all brand new... not that I expect many takers - considering the no. of 1911 owners in India!

I do intend to get a new slide stop and thumb safety but both will be tactical designs and not of the "extended" variety. I usually hold the pistol with a double handed thumb over thumb grip (not the IPSC style straight thumbs grip) and an ordinary tactical safety is quite handy for that sort of stance/ grip. This will never be, nor is intended by me to be a competition pistol - it's mostly for my trips to my village in U.P. and it's intended use is best served by features that make it a better "fighting pistol" not a super accurate and handy match pistol - and my choice of parts is dictated entirely by that.

This of course is based entirely on my own use scenario and is not meant to detract from how anyone else wishes to enjoy/ use their own gun,

Cheers!
Abhijeet

Fair enough!!!..but I have not done anything tactical to the piece only installed a large slide stop and thumb safety!...not the extended variety!-which makes it tactical!!! I agree with you on your views about the guide rod,but in my case I only punch paper at the range.. ..as legally not allowed to carry the piece outside the city limits!.Anyways enjoy your piece its one of a kind!

Take care!

[mundaire]

Well Abhijeet, in the case of your 1911 I suppose there isn't much to choose from. But other than the old finish it does look nice and smart with the add ons. I assume it'll perform as good as it looks

She shoots great, actually she was shooting just fine earlier as well - except for a worn our sear on the hammer which was very worrysome That's taken care of now with the new parts, but the real difference now is in the improved handling/ control that these parts provide.

Fair enough!!!..but I have not done anything tactical to the piece only installed a large slide stop and thumb safety!...not the extended variety!-which makes it tactical!!! I agree with you on your views about the guide rod,but in my case I only punch paper at the range.. ..as legally not allowed to carry the piece outside the city limits!.Anyways enjoy your piece its one of a kind!

You have a Mumbai only license? You should at least get the validity extended to Maharashtra, I've never really felt the need to carry within city limits - it's only on those long drives that one feels a tad more comfortable with "something" handy for company!

BTW what magazines are you guys using? Hunter? AMK? Marksman? Any first hand report of which makes work best with your respective guns?

Cheers!
Abhijeet

[amk]

I always get a travel permit for my travel needs, I don't travel out of Mumbai much so it's not a big deal for me and I'm not too far from the CP's office so that helps too.

I have the original GI mag, a 7 rounder SS MecGar, an 8 rounder and a 10 rounder SS CMC.

So far no problems with any mags but haven't shot a lot from the CMCs. Had one FTE with the original GI mag right in the beginning but that could be attributed to a repeatedly chambered/unchambered cart too. No problems after the first incident. I've shot a lot from the MecGar and it has been flawless so far.

To summarise, my original GI mag and my MecGar mag have performed flawlessly with FMJ & JHP ammo with the MecGar getting a slightly higher ranking.

AMK

[amk]

The rear sight is installed in a dovetail and can be therefore adjusted right/ left for windage. You "drift" it using a piece of wood which is struck gently by a hammer to slowly move it either left or right. Needless to say directly striking it with a hammer would mar/ destroy the sights.

When I got the gun it had already been reblued, probably by an army armourer. Besides the rebluing (which was wearing out) the thumb safety was broken and had been soldered together - in all fairness the fauji chap had done an ugly but pretty solid job about it. I still have that thumb safety with me and it still works! Somewhere in it's history it's striking pin had been replaced with an extra long one, which did ensure positive ignition every time BUT it also meant that one of the safety features of the pistol (short intertia driven firing pin) had been compromised.

As you can see NSP firearms may be cheaper than dirt but their condition is not always satisfactory

Since so many of you seem to love the 1911 - I have a decent video on how to work on the gun. PM me for more information. Just basic gunsmithing stuff, nothing advanced or too complicated.

Cheers!
Abhijeet

Ah, so the Indian way; with a hammer

I had to pay a pretty penny to get my 1911, but it was in great condition. So you changed the firing pin too? How about the firing ping stop?

I'd love to get the video; what's the size?

AMK

[james]

Some time back in VEGAS ,I fired this great 1911 pistol by name style Strayer Voigt Inc , this was .45 acp and holds 14 round magazine , these were better than glock 9mm , really i am not enjoying my .32 after this experience , NOT luck to get .45 in my state but my job demands atlest three international visits and i really make best of my free time shooting world class stuff.. CHEERS James......

[jonahpach]

Talking about 1911 conversions and modifications... I guess we gotta learn us The Gospel according to John Browning foist!

http://www.frfrogspad.com/jmb.htm

Jonah

[Hunter]

Hi Abhijeet,

I have an original GI,2 Wilson-8rounders and one Italian make of which I am not too sure what the name is!(I have stopped using this as it jamed twice-think its the follower problem!)The other mags,I have had no issues as yet,with -ball,Jhp and silvertips.

Take care!

[marksman]

Abhijeet,
I have one mag that came with my A1, looks original. I have another given by a friend that belongs to an older 1911 (two tone type) with a lanyard loop. Supposed to be a collectors item in the U.S. and a few of Shooting Star brand in s.s. blued and black chrome steel. The Shooting Star mags have redesigned lips to accommodate Hollow points and semi wad cutter types. My pistol feeds even the empties pretty well with these mags. Anyways, when life is at stake, the ball ammo is the best bet I guess. As we all know,the mechanism of the old horse is simple and yet tricky. I must have shot more then 1000 rounds so far without a hitch except when I encountered dud primers. So, I can't really complain.
As for Blue Wonder, I got the stuff a month back and shall let you know the result as soon as I try it on. I liked the result on a pistol I saw in the U.S. though. I have earlier used Van's gun blue as well and once one manages to master the art of application, one can achieve pretty good results. This formula enters the pores of the ferrous metal unlike other cold blues that work more like a paint on the metal surface. I reconditioned a friend's 1903 Colt pocket model that needed bluing badly and she turned out pretty neat. BTW, this 1903-05 Colt Pocket Pistols with concealed hammers are one of the most accurate pistols I have ever shot in medium frame class. Both in 32 acp and 38.
Marksman