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Hello. Some weeks ago, a close friend and myself began another build of 5" 1911 forty-fives using Caspian slides and frames. Kart's EZ-Fit barrel & bushing were used. Though the guns were quite similar, there were also some differences due strictly to divergences in personal tastes.

Both slides were ordered with the serrated flat-top option and I went with Caspian's Bomar-like rear adjustable sight and had MMC make a front sight to the height I think will be right and to make it w/o the roll pin & hole. I used Caspian's "Trix Trigger", a flat-faced thing that looks sort of goofy but does offer pretty good trigger control. I cannot say that it is better than the more traditional triggers as I've not shot the pistol for group yet. It has been function-tested with 300 rnds of .45 ACP in varying bullet profiles. Works fine.

I opted for the Ed Brown grip safety even though it is a bit harder to mate to the frame and will only be "perfect" when either depressed or released, depending upon its position when fitted. In the final stages it was "lapped" as was the slide to the barrel.


The Wilson stainless narrow extended thumb safety was used and the bottom edge blended to the contour of the frame. The hammer and sear are from Ed Brown. The slide near the Caspian logo is not rough, but bright polished blue. I neglected to get oil and dust off of that portion of the pistol when taking the picture.


Many areas of the frame and slide were stoned and smoothed using up to 2000 grit wet to dry sandpaper. This is very slow but can be nicely done with patience.


It won't help it shoot a darned bit but I polished and left bright blued the area inside and around the trigger guard. There is nothing "practical" about it and simply was done for visual likes.


The Kart bbl and bushing were blue. I polished the bushing. The metal was polished back to the white on the crown. This bushing is fitted a little tight. I can remove it by hand, but it is a little tough w/o a bushing bench. This will ease a bit with use so that it can be removed w/o tools. I opted for the standard spring cap and GI type recoil spring guide.


Stainless steel pins, slide stop lever, safety, and hammer were used on this pistol for contrast and simply to "look good" but there's certainly no practical reason for doing it.
This pistol will see mainly use at the range.


...and from the right side. The stocks are about 25 years old and I'll probably replace them in the near future. As soon as I can, perhaps Sunday, I'll shoot the thing some more and set the sights. If necessary, a different height front sight will be used such that the gun is zeroed with the rear sight in the middle adjustment range so that there's plenty of elevation.

There are many on this board and others who could certainly exceed what I was able to cobble together but I am happy with it. Surprisingly, this one took longer to do than the first one! Based on what I went through on just this pretty basic pistol makes me appreciate what we see from the true 'smiths and artisans, not tinkerers such as myself.

The gun is safe and both safeties are positive. The disconnector does its job perfectly and I'd estimate the trigger pull right now at 5 lbs but crisp. It will lighten some with use but is a bit heavier than the clean 4 1/2 lbs on the gun's 6" predecessor.

Should you opt to do a similar project, I can only suggest that you go slow, slow, slow and avoid power tools. The VAST majority of this was done with fine stones, sticks wrapped with fine sandpaper, and small files. Be sure you understand what you are doing at the moment and when you tired or too frustrated, QUIT...for right then.

I say I won't do another as this one took a bit longer than the 70 to 80 hours invested in the long slide I did a while back, but when I do, it will be something a bit different than either of these.

Best.

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Nice looking gun. Interesting design. It's obvious you put a lot of time and effort into it. How does it shoot? Given your penache for range reports I'm surprised I had to ask...

Hello and thank you for the compliments. I will not be able to shoot for group and then it will be mainly just to set the sights and make sure that I don't have to move the rear too much high or low, until Sunday at the earliest. My father-in-law is very seriously ill and I will be out of town tomorrow visiting at the hospital.

When I do get the opportunity and have shot the gun enough to know that it is "settled" in, I'll do a post on its performance. If it groups as well as the 6" long slide I did first, I will be most pleased.

Best.

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Sorry to hear about your father in law.

Thanks for sharing. Another nice report.

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Jeff

Stephen... nice ride, beautiful job! I'm considering taking on something like you did, so I have lots of questions...

Did you opt for having Caspian pre-fit the slide to the frame? If so, was there still much, if any, to do after that? If I were to do such a project, that's probably the way I'd go, simply because I'm just a tinkerer myself.

Did you have to cut the barrel feet on the barrel lug? How did that go? This is something I would hope to not have to do.

Did you blend the grip safety to the frame entirely by hand with files?

When the grip safety is in the up ("on") position, is the hole behind the thumb safety shield visible?

Why did you order a blue carbon steel barrel when the crown and hood were to be left in the white? Would you opt for stainless if done again?

What did you use for final polish before bluing or did you have a finisher do that?

Who did your bluing work?

All in all very beautiful and impressive for a "tinkerer-made 1911"!

Hello all and thanks for the kind words.

DHart:




Stephen... nice ride, beautiful job! I'm considering taking on something like you did, so I have lots of questions...

Did you opt for having Caspian pre-fit the slide to the frame? If so, was there still much, if any, to do after that? If I were to do such a project, that's probably the way I'd go, simply because I'm just a tinkerer myself.No, the slide was not pre-fit to the frame.

Did you have to cut the barrel feet on the barrel lug? How did that go? This is something I would hope to not have to do.No, it was not necessary. I smoothed up the feet and marked both of them with blue marker and both sides were making good contact on the slide stop and on the pads that are filed down to fit the EZ-Fit. Cannot say that it wouldn't happen, but it's not been a problem at all on my two Caspian slide/frame/Kart Bbl pistols nor on three that a friend did.

Did you blend the grip safety to the frame entirely by hand with files?Yes. It took quite a while. I was tempted with the dremel and looked at it two or three times, but did it by hand with files and then sandpapered it smooth. That took a while, too. I would starve to death as a gunsmith.

When the grip safety is in the up ("on") position, is the hole behind the thumb safety shield visible? Just a tiny bit, perhaps 1/32" or so. Just barely.

Why did you order a blue carbon steel barrel when the crown and hood were to be left in the white? Would you opt for stainless if done again?Because the EZ-fit from Kart only comes in the carbon steel so far as I know. The in-the-white crown and hood are just for looks. This is a range gun for the most part and I wanted that which I could do myself other than the bluing.

What did you use for final polish before bluing or did you have a finisher do that?No, I did it myself. I did have the gunsmith beadblast areas that were not to be left polished such as the rear of the slide and frame where they were blended together and the rear of the grip safety. I used varying degrees of sandpaper and finished up with 2000 grit.

Who did your bluing work? Gunsmith, Scott Mays @ DFW Shooter's Supply in Lewisville, TX. (Formerly known as Nix Shooters' Supply.)

All in all very beautiful and impressive for a "tinkerer-made 1911"!Thank you very much. It seems a nice pistol so far. We'll see. It's predecessor continues to work fine and put a deer in the freezer last season.

Best.

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Nice job Stephen. As much as you like to shoot, examine, and educate it was only a matter of time before you lifted the hood and started working on em'. Thanks for sharing the pictures and the process.

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480-804-1911

"If everyone is thinking alike, someone isn't thinking."
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Hello. You are most welcome. It is most educational to me as I have far less knowledge and experience working on these pistols than do so many at this site and others.

Best.

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Hello. I finally managed to get to the firing range late in the day today to set the sights on the Caspian 5" 1911.

Essentially that amounted to raising the elevation 2 clicks initially and then one more after shooting the pistol a few more shots at 15 yards.

Ammunition: Today I used only 3 different loads as I'd tested the pistol a week earlier with various JHP and other bullet configurations. Today's mix included S&B 230-gr. FMJ, Hornady 230-gr. JFP loaded over 6.3-gr. Unique in mixed cases, using Winchester large pistol primers, and Precision's 200-gr. CSWC loaded over 5.0-gr. Bullseye. Each of the loads have grouped pretty well for me in various 1911 forty-fives in the past. (I find S&B .45 ACP plenty good in accuracy compared to their 9mm.)

Distances: The pistol was fired at 15 and 25 yards from a sitting position with my hands and wrists on sandbags. I shot some pop cans at about 65 yards but did not shoot for group beyond 25 yards today. (The reason was three-fold: It was hotter than seven yards of you know what, I'd forgotton my cigars, and I was hungry.)


The gun will shoot better than I can. I strongly believe the biggest factor in this group's size is the error that I introduce as a shooter.


This load has been a very consistently accurate load in several 1911 pattern pistols and this one is proving to "like" it, too.


This was the only group fired from 25 yards and was down seated and with wrists/hands supported as was the case for all groups today.

I am not yet really sure how much the flat trigger helps or doesn't as I really didn't notice it one way or the other when shooting. It sort of feels different when you first put it on the gun, but at the range I really sort of forgot about it as I was concentrating on sight picture, etc.

Only two separate magazines were used today: a factory standard McCormick PowerMag and an old Colt factory magazine. They were just fine. Function was satisfactory in that the pistol was 100% reliable.

Ejection was consistent and cases were not dented. Primer strikes were well-centered and there was no evidence readily apparent indicating anything other than a
good, solid strike.


As my eyes get older, I get rustier. I have to "cheat" now using my "range glasses" to really be able to still "get on" those sights. As can be seen here, fired cases are not
butchered and in plenty good shape for reloading.

Only a 150 to 175 rounds total were fired today, about half of what was fired last weekend to function-test the gun. So far, so good.

I don't yet trust the pistol; that will take a few hundred more rounds w/o incident but I am fairly confident that there will be no problems.

Cleaning the gun at home showed no unusual or accelerated wear for the few shots fired. The bright areas that are beginning are pretty much on both sides of the frame and not just one side or the other.

Should there be any problems or unforseen headaches, I'll post that information here.

Best.

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