This thread is Not Safe For Zombie66.

I used to wonder why 1911 pistols had such a wide range of prices and why some people would pay thousands of dollars. Then I found out how much work it takes to make one. Or at least I thought I did. It wasn't until after I took Bob Rodgers' class, did I gain a better understanding of everything I thought I knew, wasn't everything that I should have learned. Early last year I set out to make a couple 1911 style pistols from 80% frames and on a mill. I'd never used a mill. A combination of sadness from loosing my grandfather to old age, still being pissed about 594 passing, and the blessing that grandpa left for me, drove me to it.

I'll tell you what. Pistolsmithing is just as much rewarding as it is frustrating. "Why am I having to file so much?" "Did I just mill that slot at an angle?" "What....this...frame...is.....a tenth of an inch below spec. " Those are just some of the highlights. I've learned some some lessons along the way. Such as:
You can beat $175 sights into submission with a brass punch and have punch marks all over them.
Heat guns are your friend.
Heat guns cost less than a matched pair of Tritium sights.
You can remove some brass kisses with WD-40 and 0000 steel wool.
If your custom 1911 maker says they have 40hrs into the finished product....it's not really that custom.
There are some tools on the market that are truly just gimmicks.
A crossing needle file is a magic wand.
How to talk your friends and neighbors into helping you move a mill.

Again, those are just some of the highlights.


This pistol represents 60+ hours of work before it was parkerized. It's a carbon steel 80% roundbutt commander and matching mainspring housing, with a carbon steel Caspian slide. Ed Brown semi custom fit barrel, EGW bushing and plug, with everything else being Wilson Combat. Rasco black walnut grips. Novak rear and 10-8 fiber optic front sight. Having previously thought it was complete, after learning a few things, I'll be doing some more work later on to improve reliability. The outside won't change but, working on the barrel throat and adding clearance between the frame and slide are on the list of things to do.

When it was built and ready to shoot, it looked like this.



After parkerizing.



During the build, I spent so much time assembling, disassemble, and reassembling the gun, by the time it was ready to be parkerized, the small parts looked less than new and I needed to strip and blue the small parts. I did that by immersing them in apple cider vinegar for a half hour and neutralizing with water and then immersion in acetone and letting dry before cold blueing with Casey Birchwood Super Blue.










Finally. After many months and delays of adulthood.









After 500+ rounds it still maintains a 2.25lb-2.5lb trigger.

Hi Dana, your pics don't show up on my computer. Were they posted from your phone? Is there a way to get to see them?

Click refresh. I typed on from a computer and uploaded pics from my phone.

That's a beautiful pistol my friend.

Sure does look nice. When are you going to start serial numbering them for sale?

You do good work, Dana!

Love it. Looking forward to you running your own business.

I've been thinking about that. How do I get my own branding on a frame? Milling 80's is a process that I'm not really wanting to do on a regular basis. If I did and had them laser engraved at Hyperion Precision, that would be pretty cool and add to the customizing. BUT that would likely put me into needing a manufacturing FFL and that's a can of worms I'm not that hungry for. In addition to the ATF knocking on the door, I'd have a host of other alphabet boys at the door. EPA asking how I'm disposing of X. OSHA wanting to know if I'm wearing safety glasses. Who else?

In the meantime, I'm thinking about a makers mark.

Sign me up.

Beautiful job! Now that you've come this far, you really need to learn how to rust blue. It will give a much better finish than cold blue. I think that you'll like the finish better than parkerizing, too.
Applying the rust bluing solution on a pistol such as a 1911 can be done easily on a counter top and the parts boiled on a stove.

Gotta be your portrait in dreads on the receiver.

Nobody's got what you got, period.

I'm getting misty over here.....
Well done sir!
Great looking piece.
The joy (and frustation) of doing things with your hands cannot be measured by those that have never experienced it.

Hot damn Dreadi, that is beautiful. I built my first 1911 after seeing you post enough times about how you taught yourself to do it. After a ton of work I produced an idiot mark covered laser. This makes me actually think that some day I can make a visually acceptable gun.

Well done dreadi, you do some good work. You need to pass along the knowledge of 1911's you absorbed now, you can call it the 1911 School of dreadi and i'm in.

Awesome. You got skills.

I do love to oil up parked steel. Something timeless about that.