Posted: 9/26/2010 10:34:04 PM EDT
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I finally got this project off my plate. It's been nearly a year, and it would always get pushed to the back of the bench as something else came along.
I picked up this Colt / Essex .38 from another member here, who happens to live about 2 miles away from me. The frame was Goverment length, which made something of an odd match with the Commander top end. I sold the Colt top end and decided to order an Essex 5" slide (an Essex frame deserves no better, IMO) and a ramped .38 Super barrel to finish it back out. Parts are a mix of new and take-off parts from my spares box, since there is only so much money I'm willing to put into an Essex build. Before: 
Work that I completed: Ramp cut in frame and fit Clark ramped barrel & bushing Cut 6" barrel down to 5" and crown High cut and checker frontstrap at 30 lines per inch Magwell bevel Fit Brown beavertail Slide: recut stirrup cuts with ball endmill, slide edge bevel, scallop front of ejection port to allow loaded round ejection Install new Wilson hammer and Nighthawk sear, set to 4 pound trigger pull Face bushing off on lathe Break all sharp edges Abrasive blast with 100 grit al-ox and finish in Norrell's semi-gloss black moly resin 
Sights are Novak white dot front, Kensight/Champion Bo-mar clone rear. Grip stocks are VZ black paper micarta Operators, and they probably won't stay on the gun long-term. As usual, the quality of the Essex slide and frame left something to be desired. I had planned to cut a French border on the slide, but it wouldn't have looked right because the front portion of the slide flats aren't parallel with the rest of the slide. The left side of the frame was slightly thicker than the right side... not really a problem until I was ready to fit the beavertail, which didn't line up just right. The slide breechface featured a lot of casting marks that needed polishing out, and the sight cuts in the slide were not flat-bottomed. Like other Essex slides I've seen and worked with, this one had a definite purple tinge to the bluing, which meant it probably wouldn't match up with the frame if I reblued it. That meant a paint finish. There are still casting artifacts visible on the finished product, but fortunately I never encountered any voids in the metal when I was cutting the frontstrap. The frame to slide fit was a bit loose, but not any worse than any current production 1911, and better than some. I haven't shot it since final assembly, but from my previous function tests, it promises to be far more accurate than it was when it wore the Colt top end. Once I get some more .38 loaded, I'll shoot some groups and post the results. |
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Quoted:
Looks very nice........too bad Essex isn't making any of those frames and slides anymore......they were decent starting points for a creation such as yours........... I managed to grab one of the last 9mm slides that Midway had in stock; luckily it already had the sight cuts I wanted. Caspian makes some good stuff but buying one of their slides for this build would have been an unnecessary expense. |
| yes.......I have used three of their slides........for the money they are decent......they packed up everything up in Vermont and moved down to Florida.........Rockledge.......when I called, a gentleman said nothing is in production at this time..........? Said they were planning on starting everything back up someday......but could give me no specifics..........Currently they are Owned by the same people that are selling/marketing Iver Johnson 1911's............. |
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Quoted:
I finally got this project off my plate. It's been nearly a year, and it would always get pushed to the back of the bench as something else came along. I picked up this Colt / Essex .38 from another member here, who happens to live about 2 miles away from me. The frame was Goverment length, which made something of an odd match with the Commander top end. I sold the Colt top end and decided to order an Essex 5" slide (an Essex frame deserves no better, IMO) and a ramped .38 Super barrel to finish it back out. Parts are a mix of new and take-off parts from my spares box, since there is only so much money I'm willing to put into an Essex build. Before: http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff35/kemays/38super/old1.jpg http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff35/kemays/38super/old2.jpg Work that I completed: Ramp cut in frame and fit Clark ramped barrel & bushing Cut 6" barrel down to 5" and crown High cut and checker frontstrap at 30 lines per inch Magwell bevel Fit Brown beavertail Slide: recut stirrup cuts with ball endmill, slide edge bevel, scallop front of ejection port to allow loaded round ejection Install new Wilson hammer and Nighthawk sear, set to 4 pound trigger pull Face bushing off on lathe Break all sharp edges Abrasive blast with 100 grit al-ox and finish in Norrell's semi-gloss black moly resin http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff35/kemays/38super/left-1.jpg http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff35/kemays/38super/right-1.jpg http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff35/kemays/38super/muzzle1.jpg http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff35/kemays/38super/frontstrap1.jpg http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff35/kemays/38super/barrel.jpg Sights are Novak white dot front, Kensight/Champion Bo-mar clone rear. Grip stocks are VZ black paper micarta Operators, and they probably won't stay on the gun long-term. As usual, the quality of the Essex slide and frame left something to be desired. I had planned to cut a French border on the slide, but it wouldn't have looked right because the front portion of the slide flats aren't parallel with the rest of the slide. The left side of the frame was slightly thicker than the right side... not really a problem until I was ready to fit the beavertail, which didn't line up just right. The slide breechface featured a lot of casting marks that needed polishing out, and the sight cuts in the slide were not flat-bottomed. Like other Essex slides I've seen and worked with, this one had a definite purple tinge to the bluing, which meant it probably wouldn't match up with the frame if I reblued it. That meant a paint finish. There are still casting artifacts visible on the finished product, but fortunately I never encountered any voids in the metal when I was cutting the frontstrap. The frame to slide fit was a bit loose, but not any worse than any current production 1911, and better than some. I haven't shot it since final assembly, but from my previous function tests, it promises to be far more accurate than it was when it wore the Colt top end. Once I get some more .38 loaded, I'll shoot some groups and post the results. Man that beautiful! You do great work! |
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Quoted:
Awome work Ken! Tell me about the grips? Thanks! They're VZ Operators, black paper micarta. http://vzgrips.com/gun-grips/1911-pistol-grips-1/operators-2 |
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Final update: Took it out today and put 200 rounds of reloads through it (136gr LRN bullet, 4.5 gr Titegroup).
I didn't have an easy way to bench it, but it was no great chore to keep all my shots in the A-zone in the head of a USPSA target at 20 yards. This was the first time I've used these LRN bullets in this gun, and I found I need to seat them deeper, or ream the throat. Occasionally a round would fail to go all the way into battery, and after removing the cartridge, I could see a bright scrape on the bullet where it was being pressed into the throat. I believe they are loaded at 1.275" OAL, if I recall. Other than that, reliability was excellent. Four old Colt .38 mags came with the gun, and I vetted them all with Bill Drills and El Presidentes. One or two of them failed to lock the slide back consistently, but honestly this isn't going to be a problem because I'm planning on buying a new set of mags. I took off the photo-op VZ grips and installed a set of Ahrends tulipwoods that I think will stay on the gun from now on. 
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Quoted:
real nice work, very classy to me. the serations are exactly what i was thinking for my wad gun. did you do them with a 15 degree EGW cutter or somehow else? if something else how so. Thanks! The grasping serrations on the slide? Already cut from the factory. |