ltwguns.com

I hope I get this inserting a picture right. This is my first attempt to build my own gun. I won it last year and the USPSA Single Stack Nationals and decided to give it a try.

http://www.imagestation.com/album/slide ... 2099333799

Bill,
It looks very good for a first build! What work did you take on yourself?

I had a local smith (John Larson, WA) do the BoMar cut and top of the slide. I did the did the front cocking serration (cause I like them) the rest with hand files and emory cloth. The checkering was started on a maching and I finished them by hand. Springfield did the Black-T finish. Oh, and I did use the terrible dremel tool to fit the beavertail safety. I spent a lot of time trueing up the lines (or trying to). Barrel is Kart, bushing is a Wilson, C&S trigger system (3 lbs.), Wilson trigger and Esmeralda grips.

Excellent work Bill, nice work on the clean serrations on the rear of slide, grip safety and overall detailing.

Your first build? No way.
Hey, there's a house for sale right down the road from me.

Greetings,
This is my first post,but I just had to add that for a first attempt,that is something to be proud of! Don't stop now!Just think,you may have a new job(or at least a hobby that could make you a few $$$)
Here's wishing you continued sucess!
DAT 85

You did great!

Very nice... If I only had the skills and patience

Wow, Thats very nice. Ok here is the difference between you and me. I have the desire but no talent, you seem to have both. I like that blaster, let us see the next project you finish. Thanks for sharing.

Not to insult any of the professional smiths out there, but do the work was/is not that hard (and I'm a minister, but did do 2 years of a Tool & Die apprenticeship 30 years ago). The hard is knowing what to do and how things work. Dick Heinie is a good friend of mine and over the years I have pumped information out of him, that helped a lot. Dick, in case you're reading this, I still want you to build me another gun (and I didn't ask all those questions over the years planning this build). It is hard to damage or make a huge mistake when all you have is emory cloth glued on a stick or dowl rod.

As a side note, I did also acquire a Caspian frame and slide, they are a lot more work since they leave extra material every place you are going to fit something (would have been nice to know that ahead of time). I think I got a little over confident and that frame now reside with George Smith to get some welding done to fix what I did -- put aside the the emory and figured this part needed a dremel. It is almost all cosmetic, but he Dick is going to want to see what I did and that excuse won't fly. Bottom line is that since I am not a professional and don't have an FFL or a business license, I could get the same fun from Hienie, Yost, Ned or others for not much more. But I had so much fun.

Nice pistola preacher!

Since you're a minister, I'll share a story with you. Back when I was a teenager (LONG ago), our family pastor liked pistols. Cheap little .25ACP pistols specifically. He packed one too.

One evening, he called me at home. He had sat his pistol on the tank of the toilet while--ummmm--attending to business and, after flushing, he had knocked it into the toilet bowl. His little blaster was now soaked and in imminent danger of rusting. He knew I fooled with guns and he wanted me to come over, take it apart, and dry/clean it.

I went over and found that his soaked pistol was a "popularly-priced" Sterling .25ACP. I field stripped it and removed the stocks and, given that it had staked pins and so forth, convinced him that we should just spray it out with WD40 and call it a day. Besides zinc doesn't rust.

Over the years, I've told this story to some folks whose reaction was "He was a PREACHER and he carried a PISTOL!?!! Didn't he have any FAITH?" To which I would reply, "He had A LOT of faith...it was a .25".

Rosco