Family pic of the 3 newest additions.  Found a Sig 1911-22 (aka GSG) kit I forgot about while doing some organizing.  Will be building that one on a really old SARCO decorator frame.  Have to figure out how to cut the MSH slots...might be doing it by hand with a needle file
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"Finished" this on Sunday.  And yeah I know it's missing the mag release and plunger tube.  Thought I had some left over USGI mag releases but cannot for the life of me find them anywhere.  And I've misplaced my plunger tube staking tool so I left it off till I either find it, make a new one, or order a new one.

Frame is a Foster Ind that I've been carting around for the last decade.  Slide and barrel came from SARCO (actually not as awful as I expected but I'll hold my final judgement till I get some rounds through this).  All the frame internals are NOS USGI 1911A1 parts.  Grip scales were some SA GI 1911 take offs I've had for about 15 years.  I've always wanted a GI type gun, so this is somewhat scratching that itch.  The slide does bug me but this was a really cheap build.  I'm only about $300 into it.

Hoping to test fire it this coming weekend.  If it passes then I'll do some final dressing work on it, then tear it all down to refinish everything.  Some of the USGI parts have some surface rust from being forgotten about for a long long time.  Got 2 more to build like it.  One in 9mm and one in 45.

Good work.

NICE. I want to build one of these so bad, but I've been putting it off a bit while I gain a little more knowledge on the 1911 platform.
I've actually wanted a "GI type" 1911 ever since I was interested in guns (my elementary school years).
'Been eyeing the Sarco kits and I'll probably build it on a RIA (Armscor) frame, since they are pretty reasonably priced.
The "US" grips look great and that's what will be going on my build. Even though it will be built on a small budget, I still want a finished, uniform look.
Thinking of sending it off to get parkerized or maybe some other type of dull, durable finish.
Thanks for sharing your budget build. Please post back with a range report.....

That was nice work. I felt the same way, but my OCD could not tolerate anything other than a GI slide, so here was the trial run. I'm doing the clone now as I have finally collected the parts.

First one to figure out the 1911:



Trial run of the USGI 1911A1

Is it a .38 Super? I don't believe you mentioned what calibre it is. It looks great. I bet it shoots great too. I like the two tone and I hope you leave it like that.

It's a 45. I've got one more sarco 45 upper and a sarco 9mm upper to build.

speaking of SARCO they have some Brazilian military slides in stock. Might grab one or two to put up for a rainy day. Got some old sarco decorator frames that need a buildin.

Nice build. I was actually trying to figure out what number this one is. Pretty sure it's in the twenties now of 1911s I have built from a box of parts and a bare frame. I only have 3 factory built 1911s (SA loaded, RO compact, and a gsg 1911-22) all the rest I have built myself.

Worked on many many more during my time as a gunsmith.

Started #2 today. We're expecting snow tomorrow so I'll do some more work rather than drive up into the mountains to go shooting.

3hrs in. Could have gotten here in half the time. But what's the rush.  This one is tighter than all get out. Will start lapping next.

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I tip my hat to you, OP. That looks really nice.

Finished up #2. This one turned out pretty nice. Slide to frame fit is nice and tight, but not too tight. Trigger pull is around 4lbs, and that's before I do any polishing/work on it.

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EDIT:  in case anyone is wondering I've got about 7-8hrs of work into this one. The trigger on this one took a while to fit up and the frame had some burrs that needed to be relieved/removed. I usually average about 5hrs to get to this point for a no frills gun. Adding anything beyond a GI configuration is where the man hours start to add up.

This one will be getting a new hammer, sear (maybe), and beaver tail in the future. The rear sight has dimples that I may try to put some el cheapo chinese tritium tubes in. Front sight doesn't have a dimple but that's easy enough to remedy

Oh man I want one!

Awesome work!

Thanks guys. I had forgotten how fun these are to build and work on.

Starting work on #3 tonight, a 9mm. Did a quick check of the frame to slide fit before filing anything and I think I'll have this slide fit in about 2 or 3 hours of work.

Got 2 surplus slides coming in that I'll need to work over.  Those are destined for my "decorator" frames that I got a long time ago. A threaded barrel which will probably go on the last one I put together, and some mag catches to finish all 3 up.

It is impossible to have too many 1911s.

This ones a 9mm kit from SARCO on a fosters frame with USGI guts.

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Also found a Sig 1911-22 kit that I forgot about. Will be putting that on a sarco decorator frame.  Figuring out how to make the MSH slots is gonna be fun. Might be stuck free handing it with needle files.

And a family pic of the newest additions to my collection. Not bad for ~$600 if I say so myself.

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If anyone is thinking about getting a SARCO slide & barrel kit I am fairly certain they're sourcing their slides, and barrels likely as well, from RIA.  The machining around the ejection port as well as the presence of tooling marks inside the slide also lead me to believe this is the case. Should have no issues with 45 Super loads in them, but 460 Roland will be pushing it IMHO.  For the price they're decent, but nothing to rave about.  I'm happy with them for the price I paid.

@HenryKnoxFineBooks

Truth.  I just wish I had more free time so I could finish up all my other "in progress" projects.