one more 1911 build up - Officer's this time

[CJB]

Just got the Caspian stainless Officer's receiver in. Gonna be a Colt upper, and parts.

The frame got scuffed in shipping - so I have to reblast it. Should be all complete tomorrow.

Maybe I'll do a group shot of all the 1911's... (pix to follow)

[CJB]

As it happens, I was short one part - hammer strut. I stole one from the .22 conversion, so the Officer's is complete.

Gonna head down to the range today - Officer's, Springfield Compact, and Kahr PM45, just to see how they shoot. The Officer's never been fired, the Springfield has a new barrel, and the Kahr PM45... might just be a ho-hum, but I'll go for some accuracy this time out.

Pix this afternnon!

[MikeyKahr]

Sounds like a fun time to be had....hope it went well!

[CJB]

It was a more or less fun build, and a fun shoot. Got to shoot for free - yay - helped the ...er... "rangemaster" reassemble his MAC-10 that he got a pieces in a box. I wont go into that, only to say its a malfunctioning closed bolt pistol, but I can make it work for him.

I did have an issue. The extractor for the Officer's won't hold the firing pin lock under recoil. Since the hole is good for the lock, and since the lock is ok, its gotta be the extractor. New extractor time. I dont think any of the other extractors I've got on series 70 pistols are actually a series 80, but I've got another series 80 gun here, so I can at least try out the extractor from that.

The "new" Officer's was an heirloom top end, that I got on eBay back when you could get such things there. The barrel was typical Colt, not a great fit. I replaced that with a Storm Lake barrel that was actually made by a 3rd party for Storm Lake (sorry, cant reveal... ). Lets just say the barrels were made by the 3rd party, and were supposed to say SIG .45, but got marked "Storm Lake" and they got stuck with 'em, so blew them out at a nice price. I've also got some marked "Sig/Storm Lake" and "Sig .45" from the same folks. They're nice barrels!

Frame is Caspian - who to me, makes outrageously nice frames. I've heard it said that Ruger does their casting, but I know that in the past at least, they used castings from a European outfit (Italy?). The small parts like the slide stop and safety and grip safety were given a nice melt, and high polish by moi. Not too thrilled with the grips, but they are comfy and easy to hold. Hogue grips in the regular size with "palm swell" are the toots. Absolutely nice - a tacky rubber, thats soft, with hard plastic frame, and not expensive. Much better than "Pachmeyer" grips.

I ended up getting a nice titanium mainspring housing from Caspian, and a Clark Officer's recoil spring plug from Clark. BTW, that Clark plug is also the toots, and solves a problem that Officer's models have of throwing plugs, shearing off the nub, etc. Its a very nice item, a bit pricey at $30, but worth it. This one sticks out a little more because the slide was "trimmed" for a full length guide rod, which I generally dont like on 1911's.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v214/bandersnatchreverb/IMG_53241.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v214/bandersnatchreverb/IMG_53211.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v214/bandersnatchreverb/IMG_53261.jpg

The group that went to the range today.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v214/bandersnatchreverb/IMG_53181.jpg

Top left - Springfield "Compact .45", their first Officer's frame gun. Uses 4" barrel, not 4-1/4 inch like a Commander, has a Wilson barrel.
Top right - Commander built with a Viking Slide on a Caspian frame - mostly Colt parts, but it has a Sig/StormLake barrel.
Bottom left - Kahr PM45, getting a lot of use to unlimber it a bit*
Bottom right - new Officer's, described above.

Everyone shot well, except for the problem noted with the firing pin lock, and a small issue with the PM45 (strange). Sorry no targets, I was shooting at one little round target all day, just to have something to aim at, while testing functioning.

*unlimber is not a word, but something we used to say to new gun buyers at the range, back in the day

[Bawanna]

Nice report. I had no idea unlimber wasn't a word. I use it all the time. Who knew.

I'm perplexed by your PM45 issue as well. Still wrapping my mind around your left hand strong, right hand weak but right eye dominant and shoot right? I gotta go read that again.

I also get the forhead bang when I get sloppy, so that was my first thought also but being it's only on specific rounds, that leads me back to magazine or slide lock spring.

I'm perplexed and shall ponder this after a reread.

[CJB]

Nice report. I had no idea unlimber wasn't a word. I use it all the time. Who knew.

I'm perplexed by your PM45 issue as well. Still wrapping my mind around your left hand strong, right hand weak but right eye dominant and shoot right? I gotta go read that again.

I also get the forhead bang when I get sloppy, so that was my first thought also but being it's only on specific rounds, that leads me back to magazine or slide lock spring.

I'm perplexed and shall ponder this after a reread.

Well.... by definition, the shooting hand is usually called the "strong side" and the non shooting hand is the "weak side". Or thats the way I usually see it put.

Both of my hands are probably real close in actual strength. I can hammer a nail, or sledge in a ground rod just as well with either, for as many whacks too. I shoot always righty and am right eye dominant. I write lefty, throw lefty, catch lefty (ugh). Yah I'm weird. Depth blindness as well (both eyes work independantly). 3D movies aint for me!

With all that, I've always been an ok shooter, used to shoot in the 265-285 range, with 12-15 "X's" when I shot bullseye "300 matches" - which are 30 shots at 25 yards, with a 1-5/8 X ring.

[Bawanna]

Thats kind of what I was getting at, you really don't have a weak side. So since you usually shoot right that would generally be considered your strong side but not so much in your case since you write left.

I have alot of cross dominant officers at work, alot of them.

I'm right handed but bat left. I throw right and catch left so guess I'm reasonably normal there or as normal as I'm qualified. If I were to play golf (perish the thought) I'd swing the stick lefty. I played that mini golf before and always go lefty.

None of this helps me solve your issue other than making me belive weak grip (always hated the term limpwristing) is not your issue.

[CJB]

Well I appreciate the added input. Right now I'm not in a position to inspect anything, but I'll do that when I clean the pistols later tonight. The Kahr gets cleaned first, as its the one I still plan on carrying. Really, I dont view this as a "gun problem" as I do maybe an ammo issue, right now at least.

Of more concern is the parts I need to get to make my series 80 Officer's work as it should. All the parts were slightly altered when I go the top end. That is, the extractor was polished beyond belief, but not in the area where that little ledge is (that holds the firing pin block). The firing pin block was also polished - an attempt to smooth things I'm sure. So, I've either got a bad extractor, or bad block, or both. Blocks be cheap - under $4, extractors in stainless, series 80 are $35-$50. Cylinder and Slide is about $35, same for Wilson. Colt - yikes $49.95.

I've got to get back to the shop, pull down my Govt series 80 and try those parts in the Officer's, take a look with my micrometer on the diameter of the block. Then again, every tool short of a CMM to measure with, and sometimes the best tool is still the ones God gave us - eyes.

[gb6491]

Nice build CJB! I'm a fan of the Officer's ACP and like the look of yours (well, minus the grips).
I had the firing pin stop fall out of my new Series 80 Government Model shortly after I purchased it. As none of my other stops would fix the problem, I ended up peening the stop to make it wider (dimpled it as well) and refitting it. It has worked so well, I'd forgotten about it until reading your posts here.
I need to order on of EGW's oversize stops.
Regards,
Greg

[CJB]

Yah, mine's not a stop problem, but a "lock" problem. The plunger in the slide - most folks ditch it - but I will keep it for CYA legal reasons should I need to actually defend myself.

Hey I been using the EGW bolt on plunger tube.... great item. Literally never come off. Wish they were stainless. I coat 'em with K-Kote. Everybody has one, except the WWI 1911 - untouched - and my Series 80 Govt. I keep a spare, should the Govt ever lose its tube. And...

There are some laminated camo stocks on the way for it - as soon as I determine what part(s) I'm gonna need to make this puppy function.

[CJB]

Had a chance to mic things.... Extractor. The one I had measures only .101 from the cut for the stop, to the far edge of the ledge that holds the pin. The one on my stainless Govt Series 89 is .116 in the same measurement. Don't sound like much, but... it makes all the difference. Tried out the alternate one from the Govt in the Officer's. Works fine. So... I made up an order from Brownells and Midway. Midway usually has better prices, Brownells more selection at times. I ended up splitting the order getting some from one, some from the other, and doing that was still less than the extra shipping because of two orders.