# building a 1911



## Bamafan4life (Aug 21, 2011)

I've been building ar's for a while now. Know how to do just about everything that needs to be done to them. But now I'm wanting to learn the 1911 and try building one from a frame. Any good books or videos that will show me how to do this? And anybody who has built them from the frame up would you please message me I have a few questions to ask.


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## jglenn (Aug 22, 2011)

Jerry Kuhnhausen   books #1 and #2 are great reference material. of the two books  Get #1

here's a list of good books

http://www.m1911.org/full_books.htm


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## WGSNewnan (Aug 22, 2011)

i built one from scratch  using nothing but videos from AGI. be forewarned though - it will never be finished!!!! especially as you become more competent. too many parts, too much time, never enough money. kinda reminds me of my racecar.


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## Clemson (Aug 31, 2011)

I Highly recommend that you take one of the NRA week-long summer courses at a gunsmithing school.  There was a good one on building 1911's at Montgomery Community College in Troy, NC, in August.  Two instructors were American Custom Pistolsmithing Guild members.  You can find links to the short schools on the NRA website.

Clemson


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## tim scott (Sep 15, 2011)

don't waste your money on the books or vids. go to:  m1911.org
then look in their technical section... everything you'll ever need to know there and all for free. 
some warnings your not going to save much unless you have boxes of parts laying around. it's quick and easy to build a military issue type government model... hour and a half and it's done another half hour to test fire it, clean it and out the door. but if you want a full blown target or combat piece that takes days of very precise hand fitting and the parts for these cost big bucks, special tools and jigs again$$$ thats why we charge 2 to 3 thousand a gun. of all the home built 1911's i've seen and even alot of factory clones 9 out of ten were done wrong and were unsafe to even think about loading much less firing. hundreds of ways to mess one up. get your information from pro's such as those at the m1911. alot of my friends wrote the info in the technical section most of it maybe 99% is right on... not all but most.  i wouldn't use any of the home built gun web pages... many there are nothing but ex-cons, felons that can't buy or own a gun and have no training or experience. more than one of these home built gun hero's are back in federal prison for some of the stuff they do and brag about/ show everyone on the sites.

i can't count how many i've built and even more worked on and repaired. message me and i'll see if i can answer your questions. but you should be able to get everything you need on that web site.
tim


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## Wiskey_33 (Sep 16, 2011)

pistolsmith.com

http://pistolsmith.com/m1911-pistols/

Some fine makers show off their stuff here. I'm sure most would be willing to answer any questions you've got.


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## klwehunt (Feb 29, 2012)

You can get lots of info from the 1911 forum.


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## Rocklobster (Mar 7, 2012)

Bamafan4life, you're obviously handy with firearms and tools, or you wouldn't have been able to build AR's. The 1911 pistol isn't nearly as scary or difficult as you may have been led to believe. If you have a pistol it will help - simply disassemble it, lay out the parts, and get out your handy calipers. It's a simple design, not very many components, actually. Kuhnhausen's books are a must - they have all tolerances and measurements necessary.
As has been mentioned, expense will be the primary issue. Just a frame, slide, and barrel of decent quality will cost you over $500.


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## jglenn (Mar 31, 2012)

foster frames when available run around 130


http://www.fosterind.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=47&Itemid=53

these are Capion frames made by Ruger's casting company(pine tree casting) 

and these are really pretty good slides if you like the bomar cut

http://akpartskits.com/cart/index.p...ath=25&zenid=4bfb1c9f2490d8c0bfb6914cecb1e551

of the two take the SS

good barrels run from 120 - whatever you care to pay

midway had colt barrels for that price last month.

enjoy


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