Reworking a FREE 1911

[ConditionYellow45]

The Gun God's recently smiled upon me when they made my friend decide to give me his Kimber Custom Target II that he no longer wanted. You heard this correct....give.

Only catch is this....No Barrel. No Grips. No recoil spring. And God, how I hate those target sights....

Other than all this, it is a completely (or should I say incomplete) stock pistol. No magwell, no ambi-safety, etc....

So, I'm sure you can see where this going....please give me some guidance on what to buy! What barrel, grips, magwell, etc....What other mods would you make to this piece? Trigger work, grip tape to the front strap, etc? Bear in mind that I'm working on a pretty limited budget.

This is not my first and only 1911, but being that it was free for the most part, I feel it is my duty as a gun-nut to turn it into the baddest duty/carry/competition gun I can.


Let me know guys! I will post pictures as this piece of steel evolves....

[5pins]

You need to go to Brownells and do some window shopping. :D

[Dunderway]

If I had a free pistol in that condition, I would send it to a good smith. It is the perfect candidate, as you aren't throwing away the stock barrel and paid nothing for it.

Send it to a good smith (we have some excellent ones here) and you will have an incredible pistol at an envious price (since you paid nothing for the base gun).

If you know how to properly build a 1911 then let the thread proceed, but I assumed if you were asking for a parts list then you do not know how to properly fit a barrel, etc.

[BigBuckeye]

I am using the Fusion Mainspring housing/magwell.....love it!

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f398/mgriffin76/IMG_0191.jpg

[Rezarf2]

If I had a free pistol in that condition, I would send it to a good smith. It is the perfect candidate, as you aren't throwing away the stock barrel and paid nothing for it.

Send it to a good smith (we have some excellent ones here) and you will have an incredible pistol at an envious price (since you paid nothing for the base gun).

If you know how to properly build a 1911 then let the thread proceed, but I assumed if you were asking for a parts list then you do not know how to properly fit a barrel, etc.

I think those are excellent points.

However, if you are looking to "try" your hand at gunsmithing... you are all set. Just realize very few parts are ever truly drop in, and bear in mind, these two things will be hard to do at the same time ;)

"I'm working on a pretty limited budget.

I feel it is my duty as a gun-nut to turn it into the baddest duty/carry/competition gun I can. "

Not to say you couldn't get a good gun out of it. But if you are trying to make the "baddest" gun for duty/carry/competition... it won't happen on a limited budget. Now to get a shooter and buy used parts... I think you'd be up and running without breaking the bank.

That said, if you are going to dive in all the way- I'd go for a:

Kart Barrel
Simonich Gunner Grips
Target sights are okay... there are a few options out there.
Checker the front strap
Instal tool steel parts in some of the critical area's, extrator and slide stop to name a few.
Good recoil spring
Safety check from a competent gun smith then recoat.

Sounds like fun,

[Rezarf2]

FWIW, try to find some used Kimber parts to get you up and running. There are some good 1911 forums out there with high traffic "parts for sale" sections.

[MarshallDodge]

Does it have the external or internal extractor?

Unless you have a lot of patience and some mechanical aptitude, I wouldn't try fitting the barrel. Kart has their "EZ-fit" barrels but I guess it all depends on your experience. This link (http://how-i-did-it.org/1911-project/the_kart_of_barrel_fitting.html) may help you decide if it is something you would want to do.

Going the used route can be hit or miss. 1911 barrels are typically fitted to a particular gun and something that fits one perfect may not do so well on another.