I am interested in building a 1911 for my step son. He is a lefty. My question is do they make a true left handed slide or frame. I know I can do an ambidextrous safety, but i was curious if the made a true left handed slide. One that ejects to the left and has a left and has a slide release on the right side.
Thanks
Jim

A company named Cabot is currently making leftie 1911's.  They are basically one off customs.  I don't know if they would sell parts.

Your only other options are to find either an old Randall or Caspian leftie slide.  Anyway you go it will be very expensive.

Caspian has left handed frames on their website right now.  I don't know about where you'll find a lefty thumb safety.  An ambi slide stop should work but I honestly don't know for sure.

Shooting a right handed firearm left handed has its advantages.

I shoot long arms left handed and pistols right handed.

This guy explains it pretty good,

Guy is spot on for most points. Growing up played hockey. All my friends are right handed, so I learned right handed. Coach saw me writing something one day and was like uh your left handed? So after that, I would play left handed sometimes and righty others. Kept a righty and lefty stick, and would switch them up mid-game.

I shoot handguns 80% lefty, working on building righty up. Rifles I'm shooting mostly righty, as I'm right eye dominant. Esp precision shooting.
He'll be fine with a right handed model. I actually sold a gen 3 g26 for a gen4, to switch the mag release. Guess what? I switched it back because I was faster using it in RH configuration.
Same goes for my AR. Wasted $80 on a Norgon, never use the damn thing.

After watching that video It sounds like they need to start developing more right handed firearms.

Yep, makes just as much sense as a right handed person using a left handed handgun.  In other words, no sense at all.  If it did all right handed shooters would be shooting left handed guns.

Why do right handed folks think this is a good idea, and why do left handed shooter buy in to such stuff?

Because we can

tag

Many places have made short runs of left handed guns, including 1911s.

They can be a real PITA to find and are often marked way up since there are just not that many of them.

Even among bolt action rifles.

How hard would it be to do a left-ejection Glock?  Just machine the slide opposite, and move the ejector to the other side?  No real need w/ the Gen 5s, just thinking much less work than a 1911.

The safety I get, and the magazine release, and maybe to an extent the slide stop. But I don't see any reason that a lefty needs a handgun that "ejects to the left."
Even if you shoot isosceles stance the brass isn't going to magically hit you in the face if you're shooting left handed.

Now, I'm not everybody, but my hands are small and I have to rotate all handguns in my grip to hit an extended magazine release. Just used to it, doesn't slow me down. If i'm holding the gun left handed I'm actually at an advantage because I STILL have to turn the gun to hit the magazine release with my index finger, but I get a much more positive press on it, AND when I get the new magazine in I can release the slide with my index finger on the slide stop whereas shooting right handed there's no way I can reach the slide stop, on ANY handgun.

I'm not trying to discourage you from getting something for someone, but a left-handed 1911 is going to be a pretty niche/specific thing and not likely to hold a lot of value.  You'd be doing them a disservice by having them focus on left hand specific firearms.
I shoot all my guns with both hands on occasion and practice the manipulations with either hand. Instead of needing an ambi safety, charging handle, bolt release, slide stop, mag release etc I'm used to how they are 'commonly' on the platform, so I'm never out of my comfort zone when handling a firearm.

The video is correct. I'll add another benefit of being a lefty shooting a RH pistol: A proper modern thumbs-forward grip will never foul the slide lock.

I have worked with pistols configured with ambi controls, and have found like other serious left handed shooters that RH controls are better for me. I'm faster and have fewer control errors (inadvertent slide lock/drop, inadvertent mag drop, etc.) I consistently win class speed drills that include reloads.

There was a time, years ago when I had no training or much experience, when I wanted a left-handed 1911, but I would have no interest in one today.

LEFT-HANDED RANDALL PISTOLS

LEFT-HANDED RANDALL PISTOLS

Randall shocked the firearms industry during the week of May 17, 1984 when it introduced the first of 10 left-handed models. These pistols were entire mirror-images of their right-handed counterparts, including the reversal of twist in the rifling from the left-to-right in the right-handed guns to right-to-left in the left-handed guns.

What the Randall Company did was to make the entire breadth of its line available to southpaws in left-hand configuration. All left-handed Randall’s are considered to be extremely desirable and highly collectible, due to the fact that only 7.4% of total production was in the form of left-handed guns.

In order to make this truly left-handed handgun, it was necessary to re-tool for 17 major parts changes. This even meant that special left-handed magazines needed to be produced.
First among the lefties was the Service Model B111, which was a full-size government model with five-inch, 10-groove barrel and round-top slide with fixed sights. There were 297 pistols of this model made, with a serial number range of RF02100C to RF03092C. The first Model B111 was made on May 17, 1984, and the last one came off the line September 7th of that same year.
Next was the B121, which sported a flat top slide and fixed sights. Otherwise, it was the same as the B111, and it differed from the right-handed A121 in that Pachmayr did not make left-handed grips, so it lacked the rubber grips of the right-handed counterpart. Randall produced 110 B121 pistols with a serial number range of RF02132C to RF03078C. The B131 was essentially the same as the B121, except that it was furnished with a Millett Model 100 adjustable rear sight. There were 225 of the B131 pistols produced in a serial number range of RF02110C through RF03092C. The first B121 was made on May 17, 1984, and the last one was completed August 28, 1984. The first B131 was made on May 24, 1984, and the last one was completed August 28, 1984.

Also among the most collectible of the Randall pistols are the Models B122 and B123. These left-handers were made in 9mm and .38 Super respectively, and were otherwise counterparts to the B121. There were only two each made of these models, and those were special-order guns when they were produced.

All of the full-size, left-handed pistols represented only 6.4% of Randall’s entire production. There were also three different production variations of the left-handed LeMay profile pistol. These were the B311, B312 and B331. The B311 was a LeMay with round-top slide and fixed rear sight in .45 ACP, and there were 52 manufactured in serial number range of RF02100C through RF02207C. The first B311 and B331 were made on July 13, 1984, and the last ones went off the line slightly more than a month later on August 29, 1984.

The B312 was the left-handed LeMay in 9mm with a round-top and fixed rear sight. Only nine were manufactured. The B331 was the LeMay in .45 ACP, with a flattop and Millett Low Profile adjustable rear sight. There were 45 of these manufactured in a serial number range of RF02100C through RF02207C. All B312 pistols were made on or about August 23, 1984.
The left-handed LeMay series constituted only one percent of the Randall factory’s production.

I am left handed. I have never seen the need for a left handed pistol.