10mm 1911 build

After several years and two sales of acquired parts to build a 10mm, I got one finished and ready to test fire. After the necessary tuning I’ll do a final cosmetic finish.

This is actually the third group of parts I bought to build a 10mm. This one is a 5” gun. So I committed myself to this effort and honestly...getting excited about shooting it. This specimen is stainless on stainless.

- Frame is new stainless Foster;
- Slide, stainless, sights, firing pin, firing pin stop and extractor are lightly used Caspian. Bought this from a MDShooters member. I cleaned up the hook tune and still need to set the tension on the extractor;
- Sig ambi safety I wanted to try;
- Greider barstock slide stop;
- Nowlin barrel and bushing. I typically go Kart but couldn't pass this up at an unbelievable price a couple years back. It is a "drop in" type...nothing drops into a 1911 - LOL! Very impressive;
- Grip safety is NIW Kimber. I am not overly impressed with it. Configuration is nice. Execution leaves a bit to be desired. It was over finished for a gunsmith part and had annoying MIM sprue marks on the exterior. The sprue mark in the hammer spur cutout was really annoying.
- Ed Brown Hardcore sear and hammer, two piece mainspring housing magwell and pins;
-EGW disconnector and plunger tube;
- Wilson light weight match trigger;
- VZ grips.

I prepped the lockwork and set the trigger pull to 3.6-3.75 pounds. The pull is crisp and sweet.

The slide and frame fit meant ALOT of material needed to be removed. The right side rail way on the slide was not cut the same as the left side. The top of the way was a couple thousandth lower so caused some inconsistencies in fit. I had .0010' to .0013" fit in lateral and vertical slide/frame clearances front and rear EXCEPT the front lateral clearance. I had .0035". So I peened out the rails and got .0020" play. We'll see if it opens up after shooting it in.

That is absolutely beautiful!

That looks nicer than any store bought pistol and rivals some from the custom makers.

Congrats on a nice looking piece.

Thank you, both. Huge compliment, Huckleberry. A lot of hours in this one. About 40. I still have final finish after test firing and tuning. You can see I haven’t touched the spring tunnel on the slide. I did touch the flats to reduce some of the incidental handling and use marks.

Here's hoping it shoots as good as it looks!

Gorgeous !! On my bucket list of projects waiting for both time and treasure

Gorgeous. Did the frame come stippled like that, or did you do it? If you did it, how?

Beautiful. I wish I had talent.

Thank you for the compliments.

I did shoot it yesterday. I tested fired with factory ammo to establish a baseline. I shot one box of 50 rounds of Herter’s 180 grain truncated cone ammo.

Recoil is not bad at all, a little snappier than 45 ACP at 890 fps. Ejection was good, though chasing the cases required a slight hike in the 4:30 direction. Fortunately they were in the same area. The pic of the fired cases show a slight tail (firing pin swipe). I’ll up the mainspring to 28 pounds. The firing pin stop seems to do its part from the feel of the firing impulse. The pic of fired cases show sharp shoulders on the primers. This isn’t a pressure issue since they look that flat unfired. Also there is no smiley face on the head of the case. I have a good case head support.

Targets were shot two handed standing at 25 yards, with my usual called fliers. The black target was the second group shot. The first group was low off the target. What you see are shots from the second mag using a six o’clock hold. 7 shots from the magazine are on target. One round from the 8 round mag was fired at a piece of clay bird on the berm 33 yards away. Smoked it! The bullet strikes are circled to identify them. Yours truly will take credit for the high right and high left holes. Sometimes the sights wander a little high into the bottom of the bull.

The two white targets are the first group of 8 rounds, the second an 8 round group on top of the first. The three high impacts circle were called. I later adjusted the sights for windage and elevation.

I like the 10mm so far in a 1911. Fun gun.

That’s awesome!!


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Looking good there. should do it full time, or consult.

Like your line "It is a "drop in" type...nothing drops into a 1911"
ain't that the truth...
Got away from building 1911's for a while on to "other projects"
way to many unfinished projects.

Anyway great job.

-Rock

congrats mike on your new project. awesome work!

Thank you all for the cudos. I just shot it again today. I shot the 45 next to it. The 10 is snappier but very tolerable, fun really. Groups tightened up a bit, but that is probably more me being a little more familiar with the gun.

Glad you appreciated that line, Rock. Even if it drops in, is it right? lol

Beautiful gun Mike.

Thanks, Red

Nothing prettier than a stainless 1911 with black grips. Very nice!