Posted: 8/8/2008 3:41:15 AM EDT
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It should be noted that I have no experience working on or building firearms. I can break them down, clean them and put them back together. I was looking at Fusion's website last night and saw that they sell Kits. I was wondering, how hard it would be to build a 1911? Are Fusion's kits a good starting point? Is there any metal work/fitting involved, or do you just put it together? |
| Depends on what you want to pay to have fit to your gun and what you want to try to do yourself. There is always metal work to fitting parts on a handgun. Drop in parts can save tons of time and if you get lucky, some of them actually fit the firearm without much work. That's if you are really lucky.Without knowing your skill level working with metal it's tough to gauge. If you don't have Jerry Kuhnhausen's books on 1911's you might want to review them before getting to far. I would buy yourself a cheaper Springfield model ( G.I.) possiblly and do some fitting of parts on that before jumping into a project. Once you gain confidence and develop some skills, then proceed with a kit or buy a frame and slide from Caspian. |
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I grew up building plastic model kits, taking stuff apart to see how it was put together, and whatnot. I don't find assembling a functional 1911 to be all that difficult. There are numerous resources on the web that can guide you through pretty much every possible basic and advanced process involved. The difficult part to get over quick is building your first gun and expecting it to be a work of art. If you want a work of art, contract your build out to a known smith. If you're at all competent, you should be able to turn out a functional gun and come away with some new found knowledge. Depending on who you buy your parts from, the manufacturer may offer some optional services for stuff you don't want to tackle, such as Caspian does with their slide to frame fitting or machine checkering services and whatnot. Others, like STI, offer various kits (I think they call them short block and long block), that come "pre-built" to a point and require minimal additional work and finishing to complete. Have a look at the Brownells catalog and decide where you want to start. |
Give it a shot. I am in the process of customizing a Colt 1911. It's a learning experience and I find it a bit theraputic after being in the office all day for work. |
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The basic kits from Fusion include a frame, slide, barrel, bushing , and slide stop that are all fitted at Fusion before they are shipped. These are the hardest parts to fit, and the most expensive to replace if you screw up in the fitting process. I'm trying one out as my first "build". I placed the order last week and awaiting a call from my local gun shop when the frame and major parts arrive. |
| i had no experience building firearms, nor did I own a working 1911 and I built mine up from a frame and parts as well (granted the parts were take offs from a brand new in the box working gun so that helped a bunch). It's doable, I didn't have the manual either. My 1911 works but there's more work left to be done, I want to start upgrading the parts and once I'm done I will refinish it. |