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Posted: 10/17/2011 3:01:39 PM EDT
Hey guys,
I am working on building a tribute gun for my father. It will be a 1911 that I have been working on building myself, all done from an 80% frame. I am getting to the point of completion and want to give it to him for Christmas when I had a cool idea for it. This gun is to tribute his time in the Marine Corps, he originally joined in 1979 retired after 23 years. I know this is a long shot, but I am hoping that anyone who reloads .45 ACP might be able to find some '79 Marked brass. It doesn't have to be the same headstamp (although that would be great) But I just want 7 pieces of 79 marked brass to reload and really bring this project together. Again, I know this is a huge long shot, but if anyone has anything that is seperated and could easily look through their nato brass, that would be great. Thanks all! ETA Would definentally be willing to pay. |
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I don't have any, but I would think anyone here that did would be more than willing to send it to you considering what you need it for. I wish I could help you out.
Tell your Dad I said THANKS GB |
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None of my brass is '79, but if you need an alternative you could take some brass, sand all the numbers off then very carefully stamp whatever you wanted with some small steel stamps. Not sure I would do it if you plan to shoot the 7 rounds as it may weaken the case, but as a last resort for a display item it might be worth a shot. You could even stamp them with his name and '79.
Something like this, I think 1/16 would fit but I'd measure first. It would be sorta expensive for one project, but if your a tool junkie they might be worth buying http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INSRIT?PMAKA=505-1443 |
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Quoted:
None of my brass is '79, but if you need an alternative you could take some brass, sand all the numbers off then very carefully stamp whatever you wanted with some small steel stamps. Not sure I would do it if you plan to shoot the 7 rounds as it may weaken the case, but as a last resort for a display item it might be worth a shot. You could even stamp them with his name and '79. Something like this, I think 1/16 would fit but I'd measure first. It would be sorta expensive for one project, but if your a tool junkie they might be worth buying http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INSRIT?PMAKA=505-1443 Now that is a great idea! I was planning to reload them and give him the seven round group as part of the display, and then reloading them and having him do the same, before loading them for display only. But if I can't find any of this brass, I will definentally do that! Thanks! That is an awesome idea! |
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Looking through a couple K now...
Couple hundred so far and I've only got about 10 with dates on them. 1 has '77 on it thought...so close |
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I will check the few hundred that I have - the last batch I ordered had some 70's and 80's WCC brass in there, so I will look.
ETA: Sorry, what I have left only has a few pieces of stuff from the 90's |
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Wow, that's a tough order. I'll be loading a batch this weekend, if I see any I will let you know. Good luck!
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I am in, I have some I can look though.
500 down and nothing, does he like Winchester? |
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I'll take a look through my pails o' .45 brass as well...
Thoughtful touch to a cool gift. |
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I am thinking that being after we shut down in Vietnam things were on the downside
and the military didn't buy much 45 ammo (mf'er jimmy C and all) Ding Ding Ding I got 1!!! Hey OP What was his first year in? we should have a few of those also if we can find them Please send me your mail address by e-mail so I can get this off to you Ok , I originately read it wrong,79 is the year he went in,Tough time to serve I would think (catrer years to start) |
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Hopefully we can come up with the cases all 79 but a fallback would be a selection of cases all dated in years he served?
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wish i could help out with it as i would gladly send it your way but i only have commercial .45
Edit: beat to it. maybe another idea would be finding one piece of brass for each year he served to load. 79, 80, 81, 82, etc. might have better luck that way? |
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Wow...
I can't thank all of you enough! I honestly expected this thread to be on page two with just a couple replies. I can't say how thankful I am to everyone who has contributed ideas, and especially to those who have taken their time to look through brass. I will be PMing those that have had luck with 79 brass, it looks like so far two from ARFCOM, I am also a member over at Castboolits and have had luck, with two more coming in. So only 3 more are needed! If worse comes to worse I will try to get some of the 77 and change it over to 79. I love the idea of getting a piece from every year, but he served for 23 years, so I think that would be even harder! I will give a little back story, my Father joined in 1979 fresh out of High School. He was active duty from 1979 - 1988, stationed in North Carolina, Georgia, and finally PA, before going reserve. He was actually going to be heading down to Hawaii but then choose to go reserve. He always tells me stories about the old "45s" he used when he was first in, before they quickly changed over to the M9. He said he Qualed with them, I believe twice, He would tell me that the 45s were from WW2, and when you would shoot them half the time they would hit the target next to you. He was never really interested in shooting until I started getting into the sport, he now owns several pieces, including his favorite SAA in 45 Colt. When I brought him my first 1911 he was in love with it, but quickly noted that it was very different from his old 45. I have been tinkering with the idea of building him one, but have literally no experience with 1911s. I am fairly handy and picked up an 80%er with rails finished already. I have been slowly working it with just a single file and a little dremeling. It is almost complete except for a couple small things. I plan to make it more of a show piece than a shooting a piece, although he will definentally want to shoot it. I plan to do a lot of the small pieces in gold (powder coat). I was going back and forth between how I wanted to do it, wether I wanted to really make it a wall hanger, or more something exactly like he had. After several gun shows all the guns he pointed out to me were the highly decorated ornate guns, so I decided to go with this theme. If I could engrave I would, but sadly don't have that skill. I plan to Park it, and have the gold accents. Again, I can't thank you all enough, I am hoping to give this to him for christmas, as long as the parts kit comes back into stock. Thank you thank you thank you!! ETA, I will post a picture as soon as it is finished!! ETA again: Also planning an M16A1 build for him in the future. Although that will take a lot longer. |
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Checked with the warehouse and no luck, all newer production than what you are hunting. Good Luck OP
Chris |
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Sorry, I guess I really worded my OP poorly. He joined in 1979, and retired after 23 years in 2002. Just to clarify, sorry for the confusion.
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I found 2 77's. Sorry I couldn't find ANY 79's. Must have been a slow year.
Let me know if you want the to try to make them look like 79s. They're yours if you want them. |
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I think I got a score over on CB. Guy has 26 on hand, and is sure he can get me another 20+. Thanks everyone for looking!! Really appreciate it!
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Sounds great. Let's see pictures when you get it finished! Sounds like a fantastic, thoughtful gift.
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Good to hear, I just had one '69 match case.
I thought I had mor mil brass but I guess not. |
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Quoted:
I think I got a score over on CB. Guy has 26 on hand, and is sure he can get me another 20+. Thanks everyone for looking!! Really appreciate it! Some good guys over there at CB's also. Sounds like you are set for "79 cases. Good luck on your project. Update this thread as you can, I would like to see how it turns out. |
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Update coming this evening. Got my parts kit from Sarco, and put a lot of work into it. Will have pictures and update around 1800-1900 EST.
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I would ask that question in the 1911 Forum under the handgun tab.
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First off, major thanks to all in helping me out. I have been insanely lucky with the very generous people at ARFCOM and CB. In my journey to complete this project a member over at CB was over-generous and sent me 7-10 pieces of brass for every year from 79-1999. Since I have the brass, and someone already mentioned I should try to get every piece from the years my father served, I thought that in the display case I would have a single piece of each year loaded, headstamp up, to show his accomplishment. I just got the massive amount of brass sent to me, and originally he stated he would include everything up to 1999, but to my surprise he also has some brass from 2002 and 2003! So now I am on the hunt for those last two pieces, a 2000 and 2001 to complete the brass collection portion.
Now onto the good part. 1911 Project is coming along exceptionally well, I am working on trimming the rails to meet with the slide, last night I was able to complete one, and it flows seemlessly, it took me about two hours, but boy does it look good. So either tomorrow or Wednesday I will work on the other and throw a picture up of the rails meeting the slide. I still need to pin the Ejector into the frame, and cut the Sear Spring hole (hopefully I'll do that Wednesday) and it will officially be time to do a test fire, I will be starting with a brass piece with only a primer in it, then work up to a plastic bullet, before finally some factory FMJ. If all goes according to plan, I will have a video up very shortly. Stayed tuned, and once again to every single person that has helped me work on this project, it is hard to put into words how much I really appreciate all your help. |
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Sounds like a great project. Looks like you have your bases covered, I just stopped in because I found a WCC79 in my .45 stash and remember seeing this thread yesterday. Glad everything is working out.
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Quoted:
Allright, here it is. I cut the sear spring slot the other night, and took it out today to see if it would fire. You will see the first couple clips are all from the cheap Chinese mag that was included with the kit, then it really starts warming up with the Mccormick mag. Enjoy, and once again, thank you everyone who has helped me with this project. I still have a long way to go, but this is a major turn for the best. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvHmEOsHXFA Nice vid sir. Congrats on making it this far. Look forward to seeing it finished. |
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Alright ladies and gentleman. Over the course of the last week I have been working on getting her to 100%. Now when I say 100% I do not mean completed and ready to give to me father, instead I mean 100% functional and complete as a pistol. I drilled the plunger tube holes, tapped the bushing, assembled and tested everything and it is all good. I have been testing it with a lot of different mags and ammo and they all feed very nicely. I do have occasional trouble with HST feeding, though this may be due to the cheap recoil spring, which I plan to replace. I am planning to install a wolff 23# MS and a 16# recoil spring along with an EGW oversized firing pin stop. My buddy and I sandblasted it yesterday and it turned our gorgeous, we will be parkerizing it with a zinc phosphate park, to get it to the grayish color. Things that still need to be done include:
Parkerizing Staking plunger tube (need the tool) Staking grip bushings (also need the tool) Gold plating small pieces Engraving (will be electroetching if I can figure out how) Building display box Possibly making custom grips It is getting closer and closer to be finished, and I'm hoping I can make it on time for Christmas. With no further ado, enjoy the pictures. ETA: Okay, I apologize I can't seem to get pictures to work on my phone...I will update with pictures added tonight at 10pm EST when I get home. |
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Ok -very cool
I realy like the some brass from every year he served idea Are you still missing any years? |
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Yes I am, I still need 2000 and 2001, but was lucky enough to get all the other pieces from a very generous gentleman over on castboolits.con
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I like the prototype grip, that design will look good in Red Oak.
The gold leaf not so much. Thanks for the update. |
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