Like the title says, are there good ways to learn how to gunsmith/build a 1911?
I keep looking for smiths willing to teach, but no luck around me.
Like the title says, are there good ways to learn how to gunsmith/build a 1911?
I keep looking for smiths willing to teach, but no luck around me.
Good start point is to get Jerry(?) Kunhausen’s 1911 manual.
Brownell's has good info and references on their website. Also convenient their is a huge catalog of books, parts and tools for purchase.
^^True.
Or, you can trash umpteen dollars in parts/slides/frames/etc.
I was fortunate to have a grumpy, ex AMU armorer and former Bullseye competitor that tolerated me hovering as he worked.
Still- good reference material is not a waste.
The NRA sponsors summer gunsmithing classes at various community colleges and trade schools around the country. A 1911 class of some kind is always offered be it truing, accurizing, etc. I’ve taken a few and enjoyed them. Small class size, quality instruction and affordable.
The Kunhausen books are a good start for a basic understanding. Techniques in there are outdated but the principles are correct.
I took the class Larry Vickers does from time to time. After spending a few years tinkering, the class eliminated all the mystery for me. It was one week immersed in it, 5 students. Expensive and worth it.
I am not a paid gunsmith. My regular job pays me too well to make that switch. But I know how to build a 1911 right. Not at the master level of course but accurate and reliable I can do.
And I can spot and correct the common errors because of my training.
Last edited by JiminAZ; 11-27-17 at 20:56.
Aside from getting the manuals, I will search around for someone to teach me. Wish me luck.
Could be considered spendy, but if you are wrenching on your own guns it is probably worth it.
https://www.americangunsmith.com/app...olsmith-Course
-KevinBLack of Lubrication -- a lot of folks who learned on bolt guns don't understand that gas guns like women run better wet.
Im not sure if Chuck Rogers/Rogers Precision is still doing his classes, I think it is (or was) 5 days in length with a scratch build, costs a few thousand dollars and has a extensive/expensive list of tools you have to bring.
I would recommend looking at Cylinder & Slide with Bill Laudridge. I took the first 1911 course with him. Involved a lot of hand fitting and polishing of parts for reliability, trigger work, extractor tuning, barrel link replacement for better lockup, bushing fitting etc.
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