Steve_in_Allentown
06-27-21, 08:38
Here's the story. My friend is an 85+ year old who served in the Marines during the mid-1950s. His older brother was also a who served in WWII and Korea. When the older brother passed away not long ago the younger brother inherited his 1911. The younger brother asked me to look over the pistol to determine if it was safe to shoot. He didn't want it to be be a wall hanger.
The pistol looked like it had been left in a leather holster in a damp garage for thirty years. It was terribly corroded and pitted. I couldn't get a patch through the barrel without the patch catching and leaving bits of itself snagged on corrosion. In my estimation it was not safe to shoot so I set about to restore it as a shooter.
There were few parts that had not suffered badly from the ravages of time. The only parts I did not replace were the slide, frame, recoil spring plug, mainspring housing, barrel bushing, hammer strut, plunger tube, thumb safety, and hammer. From my parts box I donated a complete set of EGW pins, Kart NM barrel, trigger, slide stop, magazine catch assembly, GI guide rod, grip screw bushings, sear spring, barrel link, plunger pins & spring, mainspring cap, checkered wooden grips, Colt rear sight, and a new Check-Mate 8 round extended tube hybrid feed lip magazine. I had to buy some parts from Brownells because I didn't have them on hand (EGW long sear, ball head disconnector, GI extractor, firing pin, & extended ejector. Also, a 16lb recoil spring, 23lb mainspring, stake on front sight, and grip screws)
Here's the most photogenic side of the barrel.
https://i.imgur.com/iG9IZWJ.jpg
Here's the grip safety after I removed as much of the corrosion as I could by soaking it in rust remover and using sandpaper.
https://i.imgur.com/rxrbjVJ.jpg
These GI 1911s were built to work not to look good so I took it upon myself to pretty it up a bit. Here's the grip safety during the process of blending it to the frame.
https://i.imgur.com/bPlUr8b.jpg
The grip screw bushings were a mess and were staked into the frame. To get them out I used one of Brian Challis's bushing extractors ('https://challisgrips.americommerce.com/p/49-Full-Size-Bushing-Extractor.aspx'). It's an excellent tool and the bushings came right out without damaging the frame threads and without me having to grind down the flared skirts.
https://i.imgur.com/jasLqsn.jpg
After fitting the barrel the slide stuck out a bit beyond the frame.
https://i.imgur.com/uolfTH5.jpg
So I blended the slide and frame in the usual manner. In this picture you can see the back end of the new EGW extractor and extended ejector. You can also see some of the pitting on the tangs that I couldn't remove. The pitting was so deep in some areas that it could not be removed for fear of compromising the structural integrity of the part.
https://i.imgur.com/yI2rejS.jpg
I purposely used an extended ejector instead of a GI length ejector because I wasn't sure how this pistol was going to eject brass. I wanted the long nose so I could experiment with length and nose shape to ensure the brass got out of the pistol. Here's a picture of the new ejector in the process of being fit to the slide. The rub marks are evident and it took longer than usual to accomplish the necessary filing and sanding to eliminate the contact.
https://i.imgur.com/itNWKmP.jpg
Initial test firing before bluing the finished pistol showed hard contact between the ejected brass and the side of the slide below the ejection port resulting in some serious case denting as seen below. It took lots of ejector tweaking to get the brass out of the pistol with minimal denting. I opted to not lower the GI standard ejection port. This would have eliminated the denting but lowering the port would have looked out of place on this old warhorse.
https://i.imgur.com/J3Fj0mr.jpg
Even though I didn't lower the ejection port I did bevel the magazine well as a nod to functionality. Here's a picture of the mag well in the process of being beveled.
https://i.imgur.com/6BrXyE7.jpg
Here's the pistol after I spent days sanding and draw filing it to remove as much pitting as I could without compromising the structural integrity of the parts. I put some old Pachmayr grips on it just to see what they looked like and stuck a Check-Mate mag in it for this glamour photo. The deep pitting can be seen on the slide and frame.
https://i.imgur.com/ejqhxPU.jpg
I oxide blasted all exterior surfaces then blued it. This is how it turned out. The old Marine it belongs to couldn't be happier and it shoots lights out. I should have taken a picture of the frame feed ramp. I honestly didn't think it would feed FMJ ammo. I worked and worked on that ramp, crossed my fingers, took it to the range for testing, and it fed my 200gr HG68 SWC handloads and factory FMJ like butter. To date the owner has sent several hundred rounds down range without a single malfunction. I donated the new parts and asked for no compensation out of respect for the older brother's combat service and the younger brother's service. It's the least an old Army guy could do to honor two even older Marine veterans.
https://i.imgur.com/oprBo6z.jpg
The pistol looked like it had been left in a leather holster in a damp garage for thirty years. It was terribly corroded and pitted. I couldn't get a patch through the barrel without the patch catching and leaving bits of itself snagged on corrosion. In my estimation it was not safe to shoot so I set about to restore it as a shooter.
There were few parts that had not suffered badly from the ravages of time. The only parts I did not replace were the slide, frame, recoil spring plug, mainspring housing, barrel bushing, hammer strut, plunger tube, thumb safety, and hammer. From my parts box I donated a complete set of EGW pins, Kart NM barrel, trigger, slide stop, magazine catch assembly, GI guide rod, grip screw bushings, sear spring, barrel link, plunger pins & spring, mainspring cap, checkered wooden grips, Colt rear sight, and a new Check-Mate 8 round extended tube hybrid feed lip magazine. I had to buy some parts from Brownells because I didn't have them on hand (EGW long sear, ball head disconnector, GI extractor, firing pin, & extended ejector. Also, a 16lb recoil spring, 23lb mainspring, stake on front sight, and grip screws)
Here's the most photogenic side of the barrel.
https://i.imgur.com/iG9IZWJ.jpg
Here's the grip safety after I removed as much of the corrosion as I could by soaking it in rust remover and using sandpaper.
https://i.imgur.com/rxrbjVJ.jpg
These GI 1911s were built to work not to look good so I took it upon myself to pretty it up a bit. Here's the grip safety during the process of blending it to the frame.
https://i.imgur.com/bPlUr8b.jpg
The grip screw bushings were a mess and were staked into the frame. To get them out I used one of Brian Challis's bushing extractors ('https://challisgrips.americommerce.com/p/49-Full-Size-Bushing-Extractor.aspx'). It's an excellent tool and the bushings came right out without damaging the frame threads and without me having to grind down the flared skirts.
https://i.imgur.com/jasLqsn.jpg
After fitting the barrel the slide stuck out a bit beyond the frame.
https://i.imgur.com/uolfTH5.jpg
So I blended the slide and frame in the usual manner. In this picture you can see the back end of the new EGW extractor and extended ejector. You can also see some of the pitting on the tangs that I couldn't remove. The pitting was so deep in some areas that it could not be removed for fear of compromising the structural integrity of the part.
https://i.imgur.com/yI2rejS.jpg
I purposely used an extended ejector instead of a GI length ejector because I wasn't sure how this pistol was going to eject brass. I wanted the long nose so I could experiment with length and nose shape to ensure the brass got out of the pistol. Here's a picture of the new ejector in the process of being fit to the slide. The rub marks are evident and it took longer than usual to accomplish the necessary filing and sanding to eliminate the contact.
https://i.imgur.com/itNWKmP.jpg
Initial test firing before bluing the finished pistol showed hard contact between the ejected brass and the side of the slide below the ejection port resulting in some serious case denting as seen below. It took lots of ejector tweaking to get the brass out of the pistol with minimal denting. I opted to not lower the GI standard ejection port. This would have eliminated the denting but lowering the port would have looked out of place on this old warhorse.
https://i.imgur.com/J3Fj0mr.jpg
Even though I didn't lower the ejection port I did bevel the magazine well as a nod to functionality. Here's a picture of the mag well in the process of being beveled.
https://i.imgur.com/6BrXyE7.jpg
Here's the pistol after I spent days sanding and draw filing it to remove as much pitting as I could without compromising the structural integrity of the parts. I put some old Pachmayr grips on it just to see what they looked like and stuck a Check-Mate mag in it for this glamour photo. The deep pitting can be seen on the slide and frame.
https://i.imgur.com/ejqhxPU.jpg
I oxide blasted all exterior surfaces then blued it. This is how it turned out. The old Marine it belongs to couldn't be happier and it shoots lights out. I should have taken a picture of the frame feed ramp. I honestly didn't think it would feed FMJ ammo. I worked and worked on that ramp, crossed my fingers, took it to the range for testing, and it fed my 200gr HG68 SWC handloads and factory FMJ like butter. To date the owner has sent several hundred rounds down range without a single malfunction. I donated the new parts and asked for no compensation out of respect for the older brother's combat service and the younger brother's service. It's the least an old Army guy could do to honor two even older Marine veterans.
https://i.imgur.com/oprBo6z.jpg