I've built a couple of AR's and I have the bug. Got into reloading a year ago and after building my rifles I started wondering about a 1911. Is it worth the effort financially speaking or is it wiser to look into buying a complete 1911 and customizing? I love the idea of putting it all together myself but I've heard that the build can be a real pain. Any thoughts?

Buy a beater and RE-build it.

Took the words right out of my mouth.

Buy a cheap used springer, take out all the MIM parts, replace them with forged, and you are good to go.

Any recommendations where I might be able to pick one up? Not much within 3 hours of me. Online auctions, maybe?

Try gunbroker http://www.gunbroker.com/ ! Prefer to buy local but when I had cash I GOT the springfield Mil SPEC off there back when there where none avalible! Also good for cheacking price on any gun you are looking at

I happened into my used Springer (less several parts) at a pawn shop and struck a deal for the incomplete pistol.

You just never know when or where you may find one.

Doing a full build takes a lot of time, patience, rechecking, dissassembly and reassembly fitting parts. requires some special tools that you may only use once, unless you are going to build several.

Fusion is a good company to contact about doing a kit build, because they will send you a kit with the hardest fitting already done for you and will complete as much or as little as you want.

JUST TO BE CLEAR: 1911s are in a completely different league of build than the AR-15. Designed in completely different eras with completely different technologies and philosophies on parts design and assembly. In 1910 labor was cheap and hand fitting parts was cost effective. In 1960 modular design with parts that were built to the same dimensions within specifications to allow interchangeability was more cost effective and decreased assembly time.

I love both platforms, but I could crank out a lot more ARs in the time it took me to build my Fusion Kit. Probably a contributing factor to RRA suspending their 1911 production, while AR demand went nuts.

This post has been edited by SSGN_Doc: October 14th 2009 1:01 AM

From the position of someone who never handled a M1911, bought a bag of 1911 parts, slide, and frame, and painstakingly built/tuned/stoned/milled out a pistol, I can advise you to find a decent cheap pistol CLOSE to the dream gun that I know is floating around in your head, and add parts as the need for such arrises.

As well stated by SSGN Doc, they are an entirely different animal to nealy any other weapons platform, as far as building and modification. When a part in the Midway catalog says "drop in", that is a close approximation. It may drop right in (and have poor fit/finish), or it may need some filing to get it to fit. The dimensions in slides, frames, and internal sets vary from company to company, so it's really a gamble when you order parts, unless you know how to make a part work.

With ARs, basic handtools and 3 or 4 specialty tools can build any AR from a table of parts in a short amount of time. With 1911s, it takes more tools than that, as well as ALOT of time, expertise, patience, testing, and tuning. When I built my pistol, I sat with an expert gunsmith as he showed me the tricks and traps, as well as tearing down 5 of his own 1911s to show how to get things right and how to get things wrong.

All in all, I love my pistol, and the experience gave me an in-depth overview of the pistols as a whole, and honed my love for the guns as precision instruments even more.

Is it monetarily effective to build your own from scratch? In most cases, it's a bit cheaper when compared to midrange guns, like Springer and Para, but not by much.

Is it time effective? Hell no.

Is it reliable? It's a very nice option to just bring a freshly bought Kimber back to the gun store, and say it will not feed hollowpoints, and let the gunsmith at Kimber deal with it, while either you get another pistol, or yours is returned perfectly tuned. When you build a 1911 from scratch, and can't figure out how to correct a problem, it's hard to find a reliable gunsmith who will work on a "kit gun." Some gunsmith's insurance will not allow them to work on "extensively modified" guns.

As always, outstanding advice. I've been doing some research the past few days and I've definitely decided to go the route of customizing an already serviceable pistol. Maybe someday, if I can ever afford all the necessary tools and have the time.

Are there any savings to be had in rebuilding or building a 1911? or are you just doing it for the satisfaction and customization?

Yes and no. No if you have to buy special tools and count your time in $. Yes if you can get away with (mostly) parts swapping and don't count the time.

For example, my Para P-14 will cost me $1200 to $1300 between the cost of the used gun and parts. That does not count my time or any tools I bought. (luckily I had most of the tools I needed so, far) When I am done, I will have a one of a kind high capacity precision 1911. Not sure what dollar amount to put on that.

Thanks for the info.