Posted: 1/5/2014 6:29:36 AM EDT
|
Thought I would share a little work in progress. My brother in law purchased a used 1911. It had some work done by a local smith who has some talent. Unfortunately, the gun didn't work well and I suspect the former owner tinkered with it. The trigger doubled and the gun often failed to feed. The extractor was a wreck, the hammer hooks were uneven, the sear spring tension was non existent, and the beavertail was horribly blended. Though the beavertail frame cut leaves too much gap, I was at least able to blend it for a better looking fit. I high gripped the front strap and checkered it 20 lines per inch.
I got in a nice block of Redwood Burl that cost me a whopping $15. The figure was quite nice, so I thought I would make him some grips for this gun. I still need to put on a few more coats of oil and some stock wax, but they are almost done. I also need to clean up the front strap by completing the tie in to the sides of the frame, getting rid of some marks in the high gripped area, and pointing up the checkering. After that I need to refinish the gun. I'm just a little torn between a nice blue job, parkerizing, or CeraKote. This should make a nice gift for him for his upcoming wedding. 
|
|
That's certainly shaping up nicely--and I must say, the work is a great gift! hope the BIL appreciates what you've done!
Are you doing all the internal work, too? Sucks that a good pistol had been bubba'd (even though I love buying those problem guns), but at least it's in good hands now. As for finish, I'd consider the use. If he's not planning to use it for EDC, I don't think there's anything prettier than nice blue. At the same time, those grips look really nice against the grey steel! Please post more pics when she's finished! |
|
OIGunner, yes, I redid the trigger job. I also did a fresh reliability tune. This will be one of his two carry guns, so I went through and inspected the gun for things that could go wrong.
Zaskar017, it's carbon steel in the white. It was coated when I got it. I think bluing will look nice. I can park and coat at home, but have to travel 30 miles to my friend's shop to blue it. I'm lazy, and I want to finish it here, but I think the grips on a coated or parked gun are sort of like fancy rims on a primered car. I guess we'll see. Thanks for the comments fellas. |