ltwguns.com

I got the EMP back and I am truly AMAZED by what John did! The fit and finish of the pistol is excellent and the parts were all dehorned via the "Carry Bevel" John did. I cannot speak enough about John's work, and his attitude. He is truly a great person and I am very thankful to have this gun. He was a pleasure to deal business with and I cannot wait until my next Harrison build! Everyone said John was good at what he does, but man there is nothing like seeing and feeling it in person! I'm at a loss for words...

I would like to personally THANK:

John Harrison (http://www.harrisoncustom.com)
Larry Davidson (http://www.davidsonknives.com)
Ryan Payne (http://www.thefinergrain.com)

I was able to take it to the range and run 300 rounds through it. I had a few hiccups in the beginning, but I blame that to the ammo (PRVI PPU). After I ran a few mags of that, I switched to WWB and it run flawlessly! I switched back after 100 rounds of WWB to the PRVI PPU and it fed everything without incident.

I ran the gun liberally wet for the range with Hoppes #9, but I did not have time to test Slide-Glide Lite yet.

Ok, now to the good stuff...

Build List:


Remove existing rear sight, fit and install new rear dovetail sight. Includes laser bore-sighting.

HD-005 Harrison Design Extreme Service rear sight for Novak cut, tall height

Remove existing dovetail front sight, fit & install new ready made dovetail front sight

Dawson Precision D/T front sight, Springfield / D Wesson, .200"

Install tritium lamp in dot configuration with white ring in non-serrated sight blade

Drill sight & slide for vertical roll pin in dovetail front sight

Face off barrel flush with barrel bushing and re-crown with deep dished, high polished crown

Fit and install match grade slide stop

H-D Extreme Service Slide Stop, .38/.40/9mm/10mm, blued

Fit & tune match grade extractor

Springfield Armory extractor for 9mm EMP

Fit Harrison Design trigger to frame and adjust fixed overtravel stop

Harrison Design Extreme Service trigger for 1911, short smooth face with fixed overtravel stop, natural aluminum finish

Scallop front strap, includes truing & high grip

Scallop smooth main spring housing to match front strap

VZ aluminum mainspring housing, Officers ACP

Wolff 23# Officer's hammer spring

Lower plunger, main spring, Officer's ACP, blue

Cap, main spring, Officer's ACP, blue

Mainspring housing pin retainer

Fit extended thumb safety

Ed Brown tactical extended thumb safety, S/S

Carry Bevel Package

Countersink slide stop pin hole & recess pin

Modify frame, MSH and grips for Round-Butt

Refinish complete pistol in matte IonBond DLC




Please excuse the poor picture quality.











Here are some custom grips by Ryan (Sarge) that turned out absolutely fantastic!!! I am VERY impressed with them. It's really hard to decide which ones I want to use, I love both, but obviously the Larry D's have a lot more grip.





Here is the range test. I used 115gr PRVI PPU and 115gr WWB. 7 yards, isosceles stance.

Here is about 100 round grouping into the center of the target:



This was about a 20 round group:



Obviously, if I do my part, the EMP will do it's!

_________________
Semper Fi

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"Among the men who fought on Iwo Jima, uncommon valor was a common virtue."
- Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, US Navy, 16 March 1945.

I like that polished crown!

Very similar to mine only I went total black out and the polished black crown is pretty sweet! You couldn't be more accurate about John & his work. He is one of those people in life I hold in the highest regards and it was a pleasure to meet him face to face. I can't wait until my next Harrison gun, life's obsticals and medical complications for my wife & children have pushed that out for an undisclosed amount of time but I hope John holds at least 1 spot for me before he retires.

Mr. Harrison did a sub-compact for me as well, a Colt Defender Plus; he did an awesome job..... Beautiful EMP by the way ........

Thanks everyone! I actually originally wanted to do 25lpi checkering, but complications were resolved by using the scallops instead. Never feeling them, I was a bit apprehensive but I took John's advice very seriously and it really is awesome. He talked with me on the phone for a while discussing details over the build and he is a phenomenal person to talk to. I wish I could shake his hand.

Unfortunately, I'm only 21, and sadly cannot afford another Harrison Custom 1911, or believe me, I would be on the waiting list! I just hope he's still building 1911's when I can finally afford another master piece of art.

Thanks for the kind words! The EMP gets carried everyday and loves it!

BTW: All I originally was going to do was put a new rear sight on and change the safety.

_________________
Semper Fi

Ok so I wanted to give you guys a bit of an update. Not the best in the world, but I'll see what I can do...

Since I've had my EMP back, I've only had a chance to run ~800 rounds through it. These pictures were taken today, the EMP hasn't been cleaned in 300 rounds, and I will continue this at least until 1k rounds. I wanted to do a "dirty" report, specifically to see where the oil was wearing off, if any parts where wearing, what was getting dirty, etc. Usually I clean my guns immediately after I get home from the range. I like seeing pictures of dirty 1911's and seeing people actually use them.

Initial Impressions

The gun was fantastic, I was amazing when I received it and was excited to say the least. I went to the range and ran about 200 rounds through it and experienced all kinds of FTE's. After taking some knowledge provided by Quack and others, I pinned it down to an extractor issue. I tuned the extractor tension, went back to the range to fire another 300 rounds, and still had quite a bit of FTE's, with both FMJ and HP's. At this point I contacted John Harrison and the rest is history.

Fit and Finish

The fit and finish I honestly don't have much to compare it to. The lockup feels solid, there is a little play in the frame-to-slide, and after I got the EMP back from John, the grip safety is terrible. Now, this isn't John's fault at ALL, I believe it's from the poor fitment from the factory and the fact that it's hard to weld up aluminum frames. I've heard it's best to leave it alone, and that's what I did. In John's defense, I never even asked about fitting a new safety, I want to say again, this has NOTHING to do with him. Unfortunately, it's a rattle-trap. If I accidentally hit it, it rattles and I can shake it. I'm not really upset about this, but I'm not exactly happy either. Other than that, the parts John fit are superb, and extremely well done. The slide stop for example, is really tight and actually fairly difficult to remove and put in place. The trigger is also solid and feels great. If anyone is thinking about taking out the ILS system that SA uses, I can say without a doubt it makes a huge difference. Everything feels much more consistant and "easy." I believe the stock trigger pull is ~5 lbs. I want to say my trigger pull is probably ~3.5 lbs now, which is perfect. Nice clean and crisp trigger break makes a world of difference.

Malfunctions and Other Issues

One of the reasons I chose John was because of all the good words I heard about him. I was very impressed by the pictures of his work, and when I talked to him, he was a pleasure to talk to. John only called me once during the build, and that was to discuss my checkering issue. After John measured my front strap, he noticed that after truing the frame, I would only have 0.030” left in my frame. He suggested that because of the aluminum frame is weaker than steel, I opt for something else. He didn’t want me to have any issues or a cracked frame down the road. Because of this, and with his guidance, I chose scallops.

Another reason I chose John was because of his simple, yet elegant philosophy, “I enjoy a reputation for building guns that run. It sounds like such a simple thing, but in reality it is the core of my philosophy about customizing pistols and I believe it’s what keeps my customers coming back. The gun has to run.”
I currently have 1,300 rounds through the EMP, 800 since the build. I can honestly say the only issues I’ve had are a few FTE in the very first mag and I 100% blame that on the ammo. I switched ammo after that, and the EMP has fired and extracted EVERY single round. To say I’m impressed is quite an understatement.

I also want to say, the EMP was shooting about 3" off (can't remember if it was low or high). John took a .200" Dawson Precision front sight and filed it to .191" and laser-sighted it with his HD-005 rear, which is .375". The EMP now is incredibly accurate, more-so than me. Also, because I was a picky customer, he had the Dawson front custom made. He took a plain front and bored it to accept a Trijicon Tritium insert, which of course was done by Trijicon. I love it. The original sights were .140" and .325".

Ionbond

There has been a lot of discussion about different finishes lately and I wanted to give my two-cents. Ionbond is a great finish, and has served me well so far. All I really know is that so far, there is ZERO wear on my EMP, from firing or holstering. The color kind of changes and goes from a dark charcoal color to a dark black, depending on if oil is added. I chose a matte finish, and am very pleased. The only drawback to Ionbond that I see is that it’s a little expensive ($350), and the wait time is long. The current wait time for Ionbond is 6-8 weeks, mine took 7.

Since there is some oil on the slide in the pictures, you can kind of see what I mean by the different colors. The oil spots are distinctly more "black."

And of course, here are some pictures! (Click for larger view)


http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j9...1/DSC02087.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j9...1/DSC02088.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j9...1/DSC02089.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j9...1/DSC02097.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j9...1/DSC02096.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j9...1/DSC02090.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j9...1/DSC02091.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j9...1/DSC02095.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j9...1/DSC02092.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j9...1/DSC02094.jpg

_________________
Semper Fi

Ah, the EMP beavertail........ Such a sad point on those otherwise neat-o little guns. The frame radius is cut so small and then machine tumbled so all edges are rounded over, to the point that the gap is such that you can throw a small cat through there. There is not another beavertail made having a yet smaller radius allowing you to fit a new beavertail to it. So the other option is to make the frame radius larger and re-fit it to the existing grip safety.

The problem there lies in the aluminum alloy (7075) that is considered to be essentially non-weldable. I sweet-talked a friend at Springfield to weld up the tangs on the EMP that I built for a wedding gift to my daughter a few years ago. The first frame did not survive the process. The second made it through, but the welded area was kind of "gummy" when you filed it. So I swore off trying to weld 7075 frame tangs after that.

Now don't get me wrong, my bud at Springfield did an awesome job that no one else was even willing to attempt, but in the end, that alloy isn't really weldable. Until someone manufactures a beavertail with a small enough radius to allow a refit, I'm afraid there isn't much you can do with the alloy frame EMPs. Other makers? Everyone seems to be using 7075 alloy now days.

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shop.HarrisonCustom.com
www.HarrisonCustom.com

The grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love and something to hope for.

Yea it's a moot point, really. I'm not concerned about it, especially with the rest of the amazing work you did. I am really just blown away. Can't wait to get more rounds down range! Thanks again John!

_________________
Semper Fi

I'm curious, John. Just what is the radius on the EMP?

I think I figured one at about .205" but irregular from the tumbling.

_________________
shop.HarrisonCustom.com
www.HarrisonCustom.com

The grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love and something to hope for.

Almost seems that we need EGW to offer one with only the pin hole drilled to allow the smith to cut as needed.

I tried a different grip safety set up on the last EMP I built, I took a spur hammer and grip safety and bobbed both to get around the gap. I also did the factory grip safety blended higher in case the future buyer wants it. I tried welding the factory grip safety and recutting the radius which turn into a total waste of time.

I have an EMP that I have been carrying for a couple of years now that after seeing these pictures I would like to get some work done. I like the scallops but have never felt them either. How do you like them? I have a Les Baer 45ACP with checkering and actually dislike it since it will tear my hands up after a lot of shooting.

I think I would add the bevel on the bottom of the edge of the slide as well and serrations on the rear of the slide.

How does the round butt feel?
Does the flush magazine reduce the number of rounds it holds?

I saw that Mr. Harrison offers a width reduction on the slide from like a high power, I wonder how this would look on the EMP? Would lightning the slide effect reliability of the EMP?

I like the deep dished crown but with such a short barrel already how much velocity do you loose?


I also have a threaded barrel I need fitted to my EMP for suppressor use.

I really can't answer those questions except for the scallops. I haven't actually shot a 1911 with checkering, so I can't compare them. I really like the scallops though because they provide a lot of grip, but they don't snag or get caught on anything. They are not abrasive at all, and coupled with the round-butt, I could shoot it all day long. The round-butt makes a HUGE difference, at least to me. The corner used to dig into my palm and was very uncomfortable.

The flush mags (mine are from Log Man), you will lose 1-round (8).

I recently completed my 1,000 round test with my EMP, which was to only re-lube it (no cleaning) over several months and I did not have any malfunctions. I have 100% faith in this gun, and I simply love everything about it. I like it so much, I even shoot it in USPSA.

_________________
Semper Fi

Who made the black grips in the first pictures?

They are black Warthog's by Larry Davidson, custom made for me with the round-butt and "melt" treatment around the edges.

_________________
Semper Fi

I wouldn't recommend a High Power cut on an EMP. Because of it's short length, the front of the slide lacks cross sectional material that longer pistols have. I would be concerned that the strength of the slide's nose would be adversely affected by HP cuts. I don't believe it would look good either.

While I haven't tested before and after muzzle velocity with the recrowned barrel, I doubt there's enough difference to matter.

_________________
shop.HarrisonCustom.com
www.HarrisonCustom.com

The grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love and something to hope for.