Semi Custom on a budget

[Mghwk]

Hi Gang,
I know it didn't happen without pics, but I'm headed to the range with my freshly back from the manufacturer 10mm Cbob. I had planned to have Mr. Severns do some work on it, but wasn't sure the funds would be available when the work could be done at his shop, so I called Keith at DW with a laundry list:

DW
New ramped 10mm barrel fitted instead of the older non ramped barrel ( I was getting bulged cases shooting full power loads due to some dremel work by the previous owner, but, I got a great deal after he screwed it up.)

New fire control group like the Valor

New oversized bushing

Flush cut and crowned barrel

Flush and countersunk slide stop

Me
In addition to the factory work, I high polished the slide flats and bead blasted everything else.

New straight 8 rear sight.

VZ thin grips off my Vbob (after replacing those with some from Sarge.)

New 22lb Wilson spring.

EGW FPS fitted as per recommendations from LogMan/Dave B. etc. with the intention of slowing the slide a bit, but we'll see if that needs tuning with springs etc.

Anyway, it looks great and I hope to provide a range report with pics. The DW shop did a beautiful job on the barrel and the fire control group. Feels just like my Vbob. Semi-Custom on a budget, lol. Humbly, I'm proud of the polish and bead blasting, being a rank amateur. All the lines are straight and I have a mirror to shave with on long hunting trips

DW cust service was great, and was only 3 weeks door to door.

Crappy iPhone pics to follow...

Slide stop and new barrel


Flush cut and 90deg crown with new bushing


Ramp detail, DW machined the frame and fit the new barrel


New rear sight, which should be a sticky since everyone, including me, keeps asking what cut it is, ultra low mount Novak.
This is the standard in recent memory for cbobs and valors as far as I know.


Shiny slide flats, and preserved the lines that make this a classic style up top. Aggressive polishing can ruin lots of things, including these.



Coupla nice holsters from forum members RockIsland and NormanXDM, in that order.



All in all, I am very happy with the outcome, and it shoots like crazy. My best off a rest at 10 yards was a ragged hole of .6" (C to C) for 8 shots with hornady 180 gr xtps @ 1180 on the chrono. It was warm at the range and they were somewhat obnoxious to shoot. The trigger is great, breaking at 4lbs even on the gauge. Very crisp and no discernable creep whatsoever. Better than I expected before the 1000 round trigger job. Until the report and recoil, I'm not sure I could tell it apart from my Vbob blindfolded.

Smile, wait for flash

[jmlutz]

Congratulations, you've got a fine pistol there. Mike

[BadOscar]

Well you got the last part right. We need some pics. And i'm left wondering how many Benjamin's I would need for this budget makeover.

[Mghwk]

Originally Posted by BadOscar

Well you got the last part right. We need some pics. And i'm left wondering how many Benjamin's I would need for this budget makeover.

Well, I will tell ya that it was pretty inexpensive, considering the machining and new parts. Around 7 bills including everything I've done myself. Its not what you'd get from Dave Severns or any of the other folks we admire, but it shoots great and there is the advantage of the DW shop already being set up for production with these features. Its like custom without the setup charges and queue.

I plan on shooting the crap outa this thing and won't cry too much if it gets dirty or sees some wear from carry. I'm also learning a bunch about 1911s, which was the original goal in purchasing a used basket case.

[kgh]

Very nice. I like the polished flats. Very sharp looking.

[titanse05]

Some real nice work you got there, thanks for sharing!

[herefordman1]

I like the way it looks. What process did you use to polish the flats?

Jim

[Mghwk]

just got back from the range for another 150 rounds. So far, no hiccups with anything i've thrown at it including Rem Range 180gr FP, PPC 180gr HP, Hornady 180gr XTP, and, today, some Buffalo Bore 180 gr HP at 1340 on the chrono. I have shot the Buffalo bore stuff through it before the recent work and I am going to claim a noticeable reduction/modification to the recoil impulse with the new firing pin stop geometry. I know the physics are the same downrange, 800ftlbs is 800ftlbs no matter what, but the timing difference makes it seem like a punch instead of a hard slap. Muzzle flip is slightly diminished too and I'm back on target approx .25 sec faster according to my shot timer. Granted, this is all subjective, but the goal of the modifications has been met in my opinion.

To answer the question about polishing, I used duct tape to mask the bead blasted curvature then used an 8" bench mounted polishing wheel with coarse, then medium, then fine polishing rouge both vertically and horizontally. The duct tape masking is durable enough to protect the underlying metal from the polishing wheel if you're careful. After getting the desired level of polish, I then masked the flats with the same tape and bead blasted the rounds. The thick duct tape slows down the glass beads without cutting through the tape and is an excellent way to get a nice clean line along the radius edge. The whole process might seem bubba-ish, but it came out nice and only took probably 3 hours all inclusive including sight reinstallation. Incidentally, it is really easy to breathe new life into dovetail sights with Birchwood Casey cold blue. It came out nice and black and freshened up the carry wear on the front sight.

A fun project to be sure.

[SemperFi1977m]

very nicely done! I just noticed this thread lol. I really like how your slide treatment turned out,

[AutoMag]

Very nice!!!!