With the emergence of 80% 1911 parts/tooling  and more reasonably priced parts kits from PSA and the like.

I am curious if anyone has attempted to make a faux copy of a 1911A1 with faux GI markings similar to what I see on 80% ARs on this forum?


Its raining ouside and I get to thinking about such things.  Probably not a good idea for me I spend too much as it is.

If you a few months, the CMP Is going to start selling them

I've heard that rumor, but I haven't seen that confirmed.

Whats the real deal on that?

Also When you roll your own you can get anything you want.  Remington Rand, Ithaca, Colt etc.

I bought the Auto-Ordnance 1911PKZE in March. Their website pictures are outdated as their current production (as of about 2012?) has the proper frame. There are a few small incorrect details, but I only know of them ebcause some of the 1911 wizards pointed them out. They have a very small, tasteful roll mark, shoot well, and are made in the USA. For $500, it is a great choice for a 1911A1 repro.

Try years if ever

I think braceman has made a couple of 1911.
Prob wouldn't be too hard to make s reproduction.

I built a 1911 on a Foster Industries 1911 frame.  It has a 1953 Colt slide and 1943 Keyes grips.  It would have been appropriate for a 'Nam build.

My only regret was not getting the U.S. Property engraving on the frame

Shown on the bottom.

I did the same.  The Auto-Ordnance is close enough for me and I'm not afraid to shoot it (vs an original).  I've heard 1911 80% frames are a pain to finish out, especially compared to AR's.

I've heard that the big effort isn't so much finishing the frame, but actually fitting all the parts together. I know it is much more in-depth and skill-intensive than an AR build for sure.

I tried it. At least, I tried building an A1 model correct gun, not necessarily from any time frame.

Bad news- there is not an appropriate 80% frame for sale out there. There are 1911A1 profiled 80% frames in stainless and aluminum, but not carbon steel. So I decided to go with a 100% frame. An RIA. It's not cut to spec. I have been searching for a frame that is cut to the right specs, but it's tough. I am kind of hoping to score an original frame at some point.

But there is good news. You can get everything but the frame if you hunt long enough. Here's my build. RIA frame, USGI everything else. Numax Electronics slide from the 80's. Mostly Remington Rand internals and it now has a checkered Colt slide stop and thumb safety that are awaiting reparkerization.

I don't think that's true of 1911A1 parts made to the original dimensions. All my parts were in the .gov supply chain at some point, and they all fit together beautifully with no fitting required. I did come across a slide stop that was a little tight, but it worked so I left it be. Everything else was easy.

Why not just get a "real" one? Recently I was looking for a correct slide for a '42 Colt frame I had laying around. The prices being asked for a correct slide was what I used to pay for entire guns. By the time you collect original GI parts to complete one, I would think that you would have about 1/2 to 2/3 the cost of an original. I recently bought what appears to be an unfired R-R for $1200. Not cheap, but it will hold it's value over the years unlike a home build which will pretty much be only worth the price of the parts in it.

I know there is a certain satisfaction in making your own gun, (I have built about a dozen AR's) so if that is the reason you want to do it, ignore the above post.

1911 porn:

I really don't want to use 100% GI parts - I would use as many faux /grey market parts as possible and Engrave a Blank Slide to whatever flavor.
With the 8% market growing in this sector (as did the AR 80% sector) the retro enthusiast can make some intersting things.

That's a pretty Ithaca!

I would say finding a nice GI at the price you did is a matter of luck and pricing seems to be somewhat regional or luck too.

Take a look at gunbroker and see what even arsenal rebuilds bring and I think you will be surprised. Hell, just a GI frame will set you back more than a complete RIA gun.

I can see the appeal of recreating one if you want a shooter or some super rare variant. Hell, if somebody did a pre A1 frame I would consider doing one up as a Navy marked one just because I will never own a real one, or maybe a Singer on an A1 frame.

The problem is that most of the GI 1911s can be had if you're willing to pay enough for one where most of the retro ARs are just simply not to be had.

I have ten GI 1911s and I view them as more if an investment that I like to finger bang once in a while and shoot rarely. I do have a mixmaster though that is my go to for some GI 1911 shooting fun and my stand in until I find a US&S that fits in my price range but I think I paid like $550 for it and only bought it because it had a US&S slide.

If I could find a decent US&S slide at a reasonable price, I would probably stick it on an extra frame too. I have been looking for a decent Union Switch and Signal that the current owner doesn't think he is going to finance their retirement of off and so far haven't had any luck.

Yeah, GI 1911s are the story of my life in that I got into them after they were no longer reasonably priced.

I was hesitant in that the difference between a $500 gun and a $5000 gun is all in the details but I've educated myself a bit to the point were I feel safe in the price range I'm willing to buy anyway.

I've gotten lucky in that I have a 1914 Springfield, a 1924 Kongsberg and every affordable WW2 manufacturer except a US&S so the search continues. I want to find a Remington UMC and one of the Savage slide ones as well but the Union Switch is my current obsession.

Why not buy a real WW2 USGI 1911a1 and have the real Vietnam era 1911a1, not a poor substitute? That is what the GIs used in Vietnam as Uncle Sam did not buy hardly anymore after WW2.

The same thing should apply to Colt AR15s. Why not buy an original Colt SP1 from that era as it is the real deal, even though it does not have the full auto M16A1 mag fence, tear drop forward assist and a few minor features, as opposed to a modern copy which was not made at the time, is not Colt and is not nearly as authentic.

I am not against copies, I just think that the foregoing are the real deal or closer to it than any modern made copies can ever be and a far better investment at that.

In retrospect, I may have been better off doing just that. Maybe someday.

But I really wanted to learn the 1911 by building it, and I needed something to do that could be done at my desk instead of my hot garage where my other projects are. I also intend to OC and truck gun the thing regularly, and I wouldn't do that to an original.

For your intended desires, I believe you are on the right track. Good luck in your project!

Most of us want the real thing with a third position on the selector but simply can't afford one. We settle for replicas of the pieces we desire, in some cases highly detailed replicas. Some of us do own a Sporter. I'm not knocking the SP1, but it is the one which is not authentic in the details it is lacking. They make nice Model 01 or 02 substitutes though. Right Rob, Mr m1sniper??


Colt could sell simple parkerized 1911A1's like hotcakes if they could keep quality up and price down.

I see your point but every AR build I've ever done started with a real GI upper.  you could rationalize that at least part of the rifle might have "been there." Granted,that's extremely unlikely.

Don't get me wrong , I love the SP1 for what it is . Hell,I just got outbid 4 times for some of those police turn-ins on gunbroker. Turns out they were all by the same guy. Does anyone really NEED 4 SP1s? How about some wealth re-distribution?