Springfield Armory 1911 Mil Spec – Upgrades, Lessons Learned... [UPDATE]!!!

[Mjolnir]

You tempt me.

Very clean pistol. I was thinking doing something similar with a few exceptions:

(1) Recontour the grip safety to get a slightly higher grip on the pistol.
(2) Undercut the material underneath the trigger guard to get a higher grip on the pistol
(3) Kart barrel
(4) Mars Guns arched mainspring housing with integral lanyard loop
(5) W DLC finish it.

The results would be a "normal" looking pistol at 5 feet distance and 2 mph. Only if one were to disassemble the pistol would they notice much of anything different.

Now I THOUGHT I had put that to bed...

[outrider627]

I hate you. That is one good looking 1911. A simple but beautiful pistol. I just wish I had the funds to rebuild my 1911 to something like yours.

[Polymerhead]

Very nice. I think milling a slide for dovetail sights is almost a requirement. I shot my staked sight loose and then did the same with a replacement sight before milling my mil-spec. I also love the traditional hammer and grip safety. I have some VZ grips but I recently replaced them with $12 hogue grip panels and I love them as well.

[jb7304]

That is a beautiful 1911. Nice work.

[Seraph]

That's close to what I had in mind for my Springfield Mil Spec (my idea included an Ed Brown weld-on magwell, however), but the Springfield Custom Shop sorta twisted my arm, and changed the project. I love the resulting pistol, but I still want one more like yours, the way I originally planned, so I bought a Caspian slide and frame, and some other goodies, and handed it all over to my friend Shannon Jennings, for the LONG wait... Here's the one that ended up not quite as I'd planned:

[GunBugBit]

Very nice job on your Mil Spec. I own one and also selected the 10-8 u-notch rear sight. I fit it so it's driftable with firm taps of a ball peen hammer against a nylon punch. I recently took an hour to fine tune my groups and then red-loctited the set screw once I was satisfied.

My next project is fitting a .220 beavertail grip safety and a new hammer. A lot of guys go with a new thumb safety but I like the factory one just fine.

Here's a recent picture during a range session. The Mil Spec is mine and the Rock Island Tactical belongs to my friend. Interestingly the Rock Island's dotless fixed sights are WELL dialed in right out of the box. I shoot as well with it as with my own gun.

[BBossman]

The "Colonel" would be proud of your work. Maybe a slight bob on that hammer and a little dehorn on the grip safety is all I would add.

I too have a thing for "retro" style pistols...

[D. Christopher]

8200rpm,

Thanks for a great post, very interesting. I picked up a barely used Mil Spec this summer because it was too cheap to pass up and it is going to be one of my winter projects. I think mine will end up being very similar to yours. Thanks for the ideas and pictures.

[8200rpm]

After a range trip with the upgrades shown in the original post, I convinced myself that this should be more than a range toy.

Further upgrades...

Novak Tritium White Dot (0.160" high)

Novak Picatinny Light Rail (Aluminum) - installed by Novak


Add a Surefire X300 and CMC 10 rd Power Mags = Night Stand Gun...


I also toyed with a flat MSH and realized that I definitely prefer the arched MSH. This gun feels damn good in my hands. The stock trigger is ~6 lbs according to my Lyman trigger gauge. A C&S Duty Trigger Set is the next call.

With all the upgrades, this gun cost me about the same as a MC Operator and a case of ammo.

[Dave Berryhill]

Very nice! Will the pistol with a light attached fit a Safariland or other "standard" holster made for a pistol with an integral light rail?