ltwguns.com

I must profess right out of the gate that I am a technological klutz so if someone is willing to help me out with posting some pictures of my new pride and joy I would appreciate it.

This project started back in June of 04. To that point I had been shooting IDPA for a while but always either with a Sig 229 or a Glock 35 in production or a Springfield XD and for a brief period a customized 1961 Buenos Ares Hi-Power in ESP. While I always enjoyed shooing all of those guns I always had an itch to shoot CDP but more importantly to shoot it with a 1911.

So the project begun with me knowing about guns in general but not really knowing the 1911. For the next couple months I read, and read and read some more about the gun, the current manufacturer's and the after market parts available. I briefly considered having one built from the ground up but quickly realized that avenue was best reserved for a time when I really knew what I wanted exactly.

After kicking tires and looking around I settled on a stock Springfield loaded with the plan of shooting it for a while and trying to decide what I liked versus what I didn't. Luckily for me the Springfield was both accurate and reliable from day one and I haven't had to suffer through any of the horror stories that you always seem to hear about.

After shooting the gun for several months I got a pretty good feel for what I wanted and started buying the parts that I planned on using. While reasearching the individual parts I came accross EGW, I looked up their site and gave them a call. After taking with George at some length I decided that he was the man that I wanted to work on the gun. Many of the LTW folks know George well, some may only know his parts and for those of you who don't know him at all he is one heck of a guy as is his two right hand men Jim and Jeff.

After sending a deposit check in and waiting for my name to come up on the list I finally got the call at the end of Feb. I was more than happy to hop into my car and make the 90 mile drive to Quakertown to drop the gun off. And the wait paid off yesterday when I went and picked up my newest pride and joy.

After picking the gun up I hit the range to run some rounds through it in advance of a classifier that I am shooting tomorrow. I was able to get 250 rounds of various ammo through the gun before heading home. While the gun was accurate before I dropped it off it was pretty scary how good it turned out (clearly better than I can shoot) and it ran like a champ no matter what I threw at it.

Now to the gun and parts. As I stated before it began its life as a plain jane stainless Springfield loaded. Since it was very accurate I decided to leave the factory barrel in the gun. I also decided to keep the beavertail, the ejector and the stock ambi but every other major component went.

The list of the parts are as follows:

Heinie Slant Pro low mount rear sight.
Wilson bulletproof firing pin retainer.
Wilson bulletproof extractor.
Wolff extra power firing pin spring.
Wolff 19lb main spring.
Wolff 17lb recoil spring.
EGW firing pin.
EGW match bushing.
EGW solid trigger with fixted over travel stop.
EGW GI guide.
EGW Plug.
EGW hard Sear.
EGW disconnector.
Cylinder and Slide match hammer. (Later switched to an EGW hammer).
Smith and Alexander plain flat Magwell.
Davidson Wyrm grips.
Ed Brown Tactical mag release.
Ed Brown replacement pins.
Grieder precision slide stop.

The work that I had George and his guys perform was:

3.5 pound trigger job.
Install match bushing.
Cut barrel flush with the bushing and recrown.
Install Heinie rear sight.
Blend S&A magwell to frame.
Cut slide stop flush with frame and bevel the frame surrounding the hole.
Fit new trigger.
Polish the feed ramp.
Radius and tension new extractor.
Polish the bolt face.
Throat barrel.
Checker frontstrap 25 LPI.
Checker Magwell 25 LPI.

I considered some other cosmetic work but decided to leave that for my next project. Needless to say the gun has clearly exceeded my expectations and George and his crew has my thanks for a job well done. I only wish my poor photographic skills could do his work true justice.

Finally, this project has been a really good learning experience for me. I only wish I found this board sooner as it has turned out to be an outstanding resource. The mistakes I made during this process and the lessons learned will be applied to the next project. Hopefully it will end at some point but I doubt it after looking at all the wonderful guns posted here.

Thanks for looking.

Peter.

Edited for poor spelling

Your gun sounds great. But we want pictures.

I've got them but I have no clue as how to post them since they may need to be resized.

Badger,

If you know how to e-mail pictures, you can send them to me and I'll resize them, host them, and post them for you. If they are large pics, you may have to send them one or two at a time because of the size limitations on many e-mail accounts. You can e-mail them to me at jimmykeeney@yahoo.com

~Jim Keeney

PS - I really like 1911s and I'm not afraid to admit it.

_________________
"I'd rather die on my feet than keep living on my knees." - Emiliano Zapata, Mexican Revolutionary

Thanks Jim. I just sent you five pictures. Let me know if you got them.

_________________
"I'd rather die on my feet than keep living on my knees." - Emiliano Zapata, Mexican Revolutionary

Excellent, excellent, excellent!

What a nice piece. I think you did it exactly right. The only thing I would have done different was to have George weld up the front cocking serrations, or mill them away to give that "Hi-Power" look.

Very well done and I hope you enjoy it!

Nicely done..another nice from EGW..

I am a big fan of EGW, George and the boys..thanks for sharing...

Great piece! I. too, am a big fan of EGW. George built a Colt LWOM for me that is absolutely magnificent. IMHO.

_________________
Sic Semper Tyrannis

1. Where / How did you get the contoured grieder slide stop w/o the serrations
2. Whose thumb safety is that

I called Grieder directly and ordered the slide stop. The thumb safety is the stock factory safety.

I forgot to add that this was version 1.0. Since I posted these pictures I have changed the trigger to a solid Grieder one and in the next couple of days it will be off to Tripp's Research to have a Schuemann match barrel fitted and the sights replaced with a Caspian adjustable rear and an EGW FO front sight (no jokes please it is a game gun after all).

Great gun.
Recognition where due: Greider, not Grieder.

You are indeed correct. I guess all those years of being taught i before e except after c must have sunk in at the subconscious level.

Another Fine Gun From EGW
Looks Like I may have to place a call for a couple of slide
stops.. I like the look of them... already have
two of the short triggers and one flat...
but alas I have many projects and some that I want to just change up..

Again Great Looking Gun..

Jerry K.
SuperComp9

Badger,
Could you provide the contact information for Grieder?

Thanks, much.

Bob Greider
Greider Precision
431 Santa Marina Ct
Escondido, Ca 92029
760-480-8892

I thought I ought to mention that Greider doesn't have a website nor does he take credit cards. You tell him what you want he tells you how much it will cost then you mail him a check. In a world of instant gratification it was interesting to do things the old school way. I can't remember the last time I mailed of a check for a product. Any way be careful or Bob will talk your ear off. He is a good guy and I like his products.