I'm a bit overwhelmed by the parts selection and mfg.  choices.  Can anyone boil it down to a  few, or point me to the source of all info?  I want to use the good stuff.  Sorry if it's right in front of my face, but I am uddenly having narcotic pain med issues and my eyes seem to be malfunctioning, and now I need to go operate heavy machinery.
thanks,
matthew  
p.s. defensive carry and harvesting feral tin cans.

Price range?

Heres what I would do:

Oversize Les Baer frame/slide
Heinie straight eight sights with the rear leg cut off and notch opened to .140"
dropped ejection port
Fitted SS match barrel, bar sto or Nowlin
GI recoil spring system
Ed brown thumb safety
S&A grip safety
STI carbon fiber trigger
hot shit ignition set of the 'smiths choice @ 3 pounds
flat mainspring housing with internal lanyard loop
dawson rail
dehorned
gunners grips
golf balls front and rear (you are familiar with that texturing, right?
EGW slide stop, no texturing on top, serrated bottom
Black-T

Thats my idea of a first class fighting arm. Leave the small parts to the smith. Things like hammer, sear, screws, plunger tube, choice of certain brands etc.

If you meant build it yourself, I'm sorry, I misread your post.  I would not reccomend doing that.  It is harder than it looks and more expensive than having one built.

Jack,
I like but sounds spendy.  A grand?  Any smiths in Oregon who do that work, or is there one you recommend specifically?
thanks,
matthew, but I gotta go lay down now!

Quoted: Jack, I like but sounds spendy.  A grand?  Any smiths in Oregon who do that work, or is there one you recommend specifically? thanks, matthew, but I gotta go lay down now!

I don't know of anyone in Oregon.  Go to louderthanwords.us and have a look around.

The best way to do a pistol on a budget is to keep it simple.  Get a Colt NRM, have a beavertail, sights, barrel bushing and trigger job done and blue or chrome it.  Many smiths offer carry packages that are less expensive than an all out gun.

Just my 2 cents worth, but a Caspian frame is every bit the quality of a Les Baer, actually better in my opinion, and it's cheaper.  Les Baer frames leave a bit to be desired.  Also, their customer service sucks, while Caspian's is outstanding.