[pokute]

Forgot to mention that the gun has tens of thousands of rounds through it. No looseness, no battering. Since it only sees lead the barrel is like the day it was made.

The SA barrel has an oversized chamber. I compensate for that by not crimping. One day I'll buy a hard-fit Bar-Sto barrel and cut the chamber myself. I've cut a couple chambers, it's easy with the right tools and every ounce of patience I can muster over a two day period of cutting and measuring.

 

[nolabrian83]

That is quite interesting I think you might have just inspired me however I am satisfied with my sister and I like it just the way they produced it the tolerances are all pretty much exact and pretty tight in fact I was impressed by the way that it came straight out the box however down the road I think I would like to totally build a customized piece I think I'm going to have to talk to you again in the near future and get some tips

 

[pokute]

I'd recommend starting on an RIA fullsize or whatever beat SA or Colt gun you can track down. I'm doing an RIA compact right now. At the moment it drops the mag at every shot. I've already got a "high" mag catch to be fit. Once it's shooting, I'm going to paint it. Got a helluvan idea for a paint job.

 

[nolabrian83]

ok I did a little bit of a better job tonight I actually field strip the firearm and took the grips off and soaked in oil and reheated the gun to the point that I cannot touch it now I'm giving it about 20 minutes to cool off and close the pores before I wipe the excess and then grease the rails and put it together

 

[nolabrian83]

What is an RI a?

 

[pokute]

There is a manufacturer based in the Philippines named Armscor which markets 1911's in the U.S. under the names Rock Island Arsenal (RIA), Citadel, Charles Daly, Auto Ord, and Cimmaron.

The quality of their guns is typically very high, though they take some shortcuts that make their guns poor choices for value added customization (Sight dovetail fitting is done with a hammer, and the result makes replacing the sights an unpleasant process - Other than that things are GI). They are very good guns for learning on, since they sell for around $400, and it is relatively easy to make them reliable and accurate. Many folks disparage the Armscor guns for being investment cast, ignoring the fact that there are excellent guns that are investment cast and the fact that Armscor guns are not investment cast - Slides have been cold-forged for some time and frames are likely made the same way at this time. Small parts, however, are generally not of high quality.

And I think you should switch back to using the deep fryer for making fries and onion rings. I guarantee you that what you are doing is not making the gun more rust resistant.

My RIA, er... Armscor (Citadel) Work In Progress:

 

[Straightwall]

I didn't realize that Armscor made Charles Daly or Auto Ordinance. I though Auto Ord was Canadian and then bought by Thompson (of the machine-gun fame) or Sam Moon or something like that. Hmm....

 

[pokute]

Eventually everything just becomes a licensed brand name. There is another company based in Turkey that also sells 1911's, and they may have even sold some that wound up marketed with the CD or AO name!

 

[Straightwall]

Eventually everything just becomes a licensed brand name. There is another company based in Turkey that also sells 1911's, and they may have even sold some that wound up marketed with the CD or AO name!

Turkey seems to put out some good guns, at least. With all the outsourcing and re-branding, I don't understand how Springfield was able to move away from Imbel and bring their manufacturing in-house.

 

[pokute]

What I am 90% or so certain of is that all SA 1911 slides and frames are hot forged by Imbel. A frame forging (see below) requires quite a bit of finishing to make it into a frame. These days, that finishing is done by an amazing tool called a 5-axis mill (see below).

The mills used by Imbel and SA are identical. There is no difference between the frames and slides finished by Imbel and those finished by SA. Since the mills run with very little human attention, there is not as great a cost savings associated with doing the finishing in Brazil, and because consumers have made such a ruckus over Imbel vs Geneseo, SA makes an effort to finish guns for domestic consumption in Illinois.

At this point in time, there is little or no fitting done to an SA 1911 at the time of assembly. Considerable effort is made to avoid marring finished surfaces, but I have found no evidence of file marks on the small parts in recent SA 1911's. The quality comes from a Herculean effort to have every part come out of the finishing process exactly identical in every way.

Colt's foundry is in Korea, I hear.

 

[Geezer]

Back to the Armscor guns, I've had several Rock Island 1911's in all sizes and they all worked and shot great. I had one 5 inch gun that was an exceptional shooter. I made believers out of a couple of Kimber guys with that one. Of course, I let some smooth talker trade me out of it.
Right now, I have one 5 inch Rock Island that I'm thinking about messing around with. I'd like to try my hand at melting the entire gun, you know, rounding off all edges and corners. I haven't worked up the courage yet.

 

[pokute]

I'm probably going to paint mine tomorrow. Maybe after I shoot it and scratch up the paint I'll do a melt too!

 

[Geezer]

Let's be sure to see some pictures of the new paint job.

 

[pokute]

Only problem is, the camo effects will make the gun invisible.

 

[pokute]

Well, what with the forum all kerflooey, I had time to take a few pics. Nothing particularly notable that I haven't already bragged over before, but new pics anyway:

 

[pokute]

Added a vintage Hoag beavertail, a Koenig hammer, an EGW high mag lock, and reverted to a WWII issue GI trigger. Got tired of people looking down their noses at it for not having a beavertail and commander style hammer.

 

[nolabrian83]

Fresh and clean

 

[nolaguy83]

 

[SA_Shooter]

Back from SACS with a slide cut, fully adjustable rear sight, recoated slide and VZ G10's:

 

[nolaguy83]

.


Had SACS install short trigger with their hammer and sear and adjust new trigger group to a 4lb pull