Custom Guns are Evil

[SVTNate]

I buy a gun, I shoot it, I buy a bunch of parts, I sent the gun and parts away, and several months later the gun is completed and there is a bill to pay.

All I'm going to say is that it really, really adds up.

My advice to everyone is NOT to buy a nice 1911 you think is perfect, then change everything. Buy the "perfect" gun and leave it alone, or buy a GI model and work on that. Don't pay triple the price of the GI gun, and then replace everything on the gun. It's not the purchasing of parts so much, as the initial price of the gun and the bill from the gunsmith that get ridiculous.

;g

[OUSooner]

Lol, yep things can sure add up in a hurry. I have even on loaded up models there are still some things I just have to change up. It never ends.:cool:

[tdavis]

do it yourself and save, but i advise have a qualified smith check it out and correct any errors.

[lwt210]

Originally posted by tdavis
do it yourself and save, but i advise have a qualified smith check it out and correct any errors.

That's what I do. Only thing I would add is run several hundred rounds through it to ensure all is well.

Plus, shooting be good, clean fun, right?

[Short Cut]

I'd like to go the custom route someday. Been thinking about getting some mods done to a 4.25" S&W 1911PD, like a bobtail, night sights and Robar's NP3. What's holding me back is that I've never even held a bobtailed 1911 let alone shot one.

Nate if that gun's completed WHERE ARE THE PICTURES?!

[SVTNate]

The gun isn't finished, they just sent me the bill ;P

I'm actually thinking about having them serrate the top of the slide as well. At this point, I think most of the gunsmithing is done, and they are waiting to work out any last details with me before it gets refinished.

[Navy87Guy]

I bought a $300 Rock Island Armory 1911 and put about $100 worth of Wilson and King parts into it. There's probably a little more "tweaking" I can do/have done, but I'll be out of it for under $500. And it's a sweet shooting gun!!

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-11/889657/RIA-left-modified.JPG

I think half the fun is playing around and making the gun "yours".

YMMV...

Jim

[SVTNate]

It's definitely true that the fun is in the customization and having a gun that is unique. But, my lesson learned is that you don't pay a premium for a upper end gun and then replace all those parts that you paid for.

I bought a Springfield TRP, and the only factory parts to be left are the slide, frame, firing pin, and extractor (which is barstock, so I didn't need to replace it). Everything else, down to the ejector, has been replaced.

Next time I get a full-house custom gun built, I'll start with a Mil Spec, and not pay extra for all those parts I didn't use.

[.45 Combat]

What was wrong with all those parts. I do agree custom guns cost so much
and it really adds up.

Right now I have two Colt Series 80 handguns and they work great as they
are, now I would want for Virgil Tripp to do a mild de-horn on both of them.

The idea is to keep them stock since I own a few semi-custom 1911's, people
think 1911's don't like to work without money being spent on them, so far so
good.

[brownie]

It's not that custom guns are evil per se.

Custom 1911's that stray from the original design are IMO.

I carry milspec 1911's with them tiny little original sights on em. Loose fitting, rattle and role types. No mods to the orginal design features.

Why?

Just because




















Actually there is a reason, and it is that if I'm carrying a 1911, what was good enough for 75+ years for our fighting men is good enough for me. It's a nostalgia thing I guess. I honor those who fought and carried them by carrying one true to theirs.

Learned on the milspecs, issued a milspec, used a milspec. Why change?

That and they have never bitten me in their original form like they do others. ;f They're fighting tools, meant to get down in the mud, not meant to be "pretty" or gussied up for sunday best go to meeting events.

Guess thats why I carry the g17 mostly now as well. It's a fighting tool I strap to the belt, pure and simple. They don't need no stinkin add ons.

Robin Brown

[TedG]

I got my first 1911 in 1971 while I attended the Ohio State Highway Patrol Academy. It was a brand new outta the box blued beauty. Stock in every sense of the word. In the last 34 years, I've owned more 1911s than I can remember. Some, I'll never forget... like a genuine Clark Heavy Slide... by far the finest target gun I ever owned. Or my first Wilson Combat 110 model, with optional Bomars. Or the Baer Stinger that couldn't feed or fire. And my Teddy Jacobson custom SA with the finest trigger I've ever pulled.

In between all of those pistols were the ones I bought, took apart, changed parts, ruined some, and built some nice pieces. I've seen many suggestions in these posts that tell guys NOT to do their own work... send it to someone with a big name. Well, you can go ahead and do that if you want. But, if you do, you'll be missing out on some of the best times you can have with a 2 pound hunk of steel. It's my opinion that every REAL 1911 fan should ruin at least one gun trying to work it out for himself. When you do, you will have learned far more than any overnighted work-order from a gunsmith can tell you.

Picture this... you're at the range with a 1911 you did the mods on yourself. After many tries, you got that trigger down to 4 crisp pounds. You tightened the slide and fitted a bushing. She shoots straight and the throated barrel feeds every round. The guy next to you says, "Hey, nice gun. Who did the work?" And you say, "I did it all myself." Guaranteed smile all the way home from the range.

Read and do some research. Do it yourself. You'd be surprised and what you can accomplish. And you have plenty of time to learn.

All those fancy Clarks, Wilsons, Kimbers, and Baers I had, all belong to someone else now. What do I carry 34 years after my first Colt Series 70?

A 1971 Colt Series 70 almost bone stock. I guess it's back to the future. Good luck.

[TedG]

PS.....

The range fantasy above is all nice and well, but all the modifications in the world won't help in a life or death situation if you don't know what you're doing. Or, what you're going to do when the hammer drops.

Spend your money on practice ammo and some good classes. I wish the Suarez group held classes east of the Mississippi.

I am in complete agreement with Brownie. He and I certainly appreciate the 1911 that Mr.Browning designed. Specially those sights.

"..them tiny little original sights" Hell, when the time comes, you won't even see the sights... no matter how big and shiny they are.

Learn to point shoot on the run.