Before; Stock Springfield Loaded


After; Springfield Loaded. I added a Wilsons Mag Well, Ergo XT Grips, Skateboard Tape, Chip McCormick Slide Release, Smoothed the edges of the Ambi Safety. I refinished it in Lauer DuraBake Matte Black. I'm Very pleased and impressed with how it turned out. Let me know what you think.

Cool.  Where's before?

It looks good but I never liked the griptape stuff.  

Stang

lookin good

What I think is that it didn't change much.  

I'm a cynical bastard though.  It does look like a nice settup [IE looks better than stock]- permitted it is accurate and functions reliably (my two major issues with springfield factory guns).  

As a next mod if it won't group inside 4inches with every round of an 8rd mag from the bench- maybe a drop in match grade barrel, or a Kart easy fit match barrel would be a good idea.  Like Townsend Whelend [SIC] said "only accurate rifles [and in this case pistols] are interesting."

Quoted: Before; Stock Springfield Loaded img49.imageshack.us/img49/9379/springfield2vf.jpg After; Springfield Loaded. I added a Wilsons Mag Well, Ergo XT Grips, Skateboard Tape, Chip McCormick Slide Release, Smoothed the edges of the Ambi Safety. I refinished it in Lauer DuraBake Matte Black. I'm Very pleased and impressed with how it turned out. Let me know what you think. img463.imageshack.us/img463/314/10095144pf.jpg

I like it ! I'm a matte black fan on 1911s.

Man, I have to get some of that durabake now.  Looking good.

Quoted: What I think is that it didn't change much.   I'm a cynical bastard though.  It does look like a nice settup [IE looks better than stock]- permitted it is accurate and functions reliably (my two major issues with springfield factory guns).   As a next mod if it won't group inside 4inches with every round of an 8rd mag from the bench- maybe a drop in match grade barrel, or a Kart easy fit match barrel would be a good idea.  Like Townsend Whelend [SIC] said "only accurate rifles [and in this case pistols] are interesting."

I only changed what I felt needed improvement. The accuracy is fine, as is the function. The finish is a drastic change from the stock parkerizing. The DuraBake is much slicker and I'm a fan of matte black.

Quoted: Man, I have to get some of that durabake now.  Looking good.

It's really easy to do. Detail strip the pistol to it's parts. I used clorinated brake cleaner to degrease the parts. I put the parts into a tray and sprayed them. Wear rubber gloves and do this outside. I scrubbed the parts with a clean toothbrush in the cleaner. Let them dry. The next day I wiped the parts with a lint free cloth and paint thinner. I preheated the oven to 100 degrees and hung the frame and slide on metal hooks. I let them heat about 15 minutes. Put the small parts on a foil lined tray. I took the frame and slide out of the oven one at a time to keep them hot. I kept them on the metal hangers I had made. Sprayed each one, it went on very evenly. I then brought out the tray of small parts and sprayed them. I suggest doing all of this outside or in a garage with the door open. While the paint dried, I preheated the oven to 350 degrees. I hung the parts and placed the tray back into the oven and baked them for 30 minutes. Wear rubber gloves throughout the whole process. Open the windows and run a fan to exhaust the fumes from the house. Oh and do this while the wife is gone, I did.  After it's cooled lube and reassemble. I worked the slide 200 times to get it smoother, as this will tighten up the slide to frame fit a bit. Then test fire. My pistol worked great. Took me about 2 hours total. The finish is much smoother and slicker than the parkerizing. Hope this helps out if you decide to do it.

did your loaded have tritiums? i heard that it is recomended you remove these before you "bake the gun" because of the possibility of the vials cracking.

Tagged. My 9109L will be coming home soon (I hope)

Quoted: did your loaded have tritiums? i heard that it is recomended you remove these before you "bake the gun" because of the possibility of the vials cracking.

Yes it does. I removed them before painting and baking.

Good job...simple and clean.

looks great

Quoted: It's really easy to do. Detail strip the pistol to it's parts. I used clorinated brake cleaner to degrease the parts. I put the parts into a tray and sprayed them. Wear rubber gloves and do this outside. I scrubbed the parts with a clean toothbrush in the cleaner. Let them dry. The next day I wiped the parts with a lint free cloth and paint thinner. I preheated the oven to 100 degrees and hung the frame and slide on metal hooks. I let them heat about 15 minutes. Put the small parts on a foil lined tray. I took the frame and slide out of the oven one at a time to keep them hot. I kept them on the metal hangers I had made. Sprayed each one, it went on very evenly. I then brought out the tray of small parts and sprayed them. I suggest doing all of this outside or in a garage with the door open. While the paint dried, I preheated the oven to 350 degrees. I hung the parts and placed the tray back into the oven and baked them for 30 minutes. Wear rubber gloves throughout the whole process. Open the windows and run a fan to exhaust the fumes from the house. Oh and do this while the wife is gone, I did.  After it's cooled lube and reassemble. I worked the slide 200 times to get it smoother, as this will tighten up the slide to frame fit a bit. Then test fire. My pistol worked great. Took me about 2 hours total. The finish is much smoother and slicker than the parkerizing. Hope this helps out if you decide to do it.

Man, thanks so much for this thread!
I am going to do it now, I've made up my mind!!!

Well it had it's first range test since the work was completed. I put 200 rounds through it, and it ran perfectly.

The only place that the DuraBake shows any wear is where the disconnector rides against the underside of the slide. I sprayed the inside of both the frame and slide. The rails show no wear at all as of yet. It's very smooth and shows no holster wear from live fire or dry fire practice.

Two of my shooting partners are 1911 converts now. Both are planning on picking up 1911's soon. The Wilsons mag well and the XT grips really make a difference as did smoothing the ambi safties. I'm really pleased with how it turned out and I would recommend the Lauer DuraBake to anyone.

Thanks for the comments.