1911A1Junkie

DSCN0081 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

My 1911 is on the left, an Auto-Ordnance Ive rebuilt and reliable. The one I built for my father is on the right. Purple Heart grips with the smooth English style checkering, Caspian slide and frame, match set-up. I got a 3.5 out of 4 on that gun at school.

retDAC

How did it not make 4.0?

1911A1Junkie

The grips had some issues, Ive never tried finishing Purple heart before and It didnt take quite the way it should have. Along with that, the checkering chipped a tiny little piece that I had to try and blend in after having someone to checker it in trade for some of my work, so that was a 3.0 and the bluing on the barrel hood was rubbed because it was a tight competition fit. And I polished the metal using a buffer instead of by hand. So that was grounds apparently to give me a 3.5. The barreling was a 4.0 on fitting and whatnot. So it was a 3.5 overall.

retDAC

Certainly looks good in the pic.

IIRC, in his book Sixguns, Elmer stated he was told at the S&W factory that it took 15 years for man to learn the proper polishing of revolvers. Except of course for the Model 28 which had a matte finish and was appreciably lower priced than the Model 27 which it basically was.

I expect you learned far quicker.

1911A1Junkie

I appreciate that.

I thank you for the compliment, and the fact is that if your comfortable with the buffing machines then all it takes is some attention to detail and planning on which way youll move to get around the corner without catching a flat. I messed up once or twice in the earlier stages, but thats the great thing about that, even if you mess up its nowhere near as deep as sandpaper marks, so you can smooth it right out. Im not saying folks who get bad results aren't thinking, but I played on a buffer pretty much everyday for 16 months 5 days a week. You get fairly adept at which way to go with the piece your trying to polish with that much practice.

Again, thank you for the compliment.

retDAC

16 months 5 days a week is still a lot of time. Wish I was so patient.

Thanks for sharing the pic.

1911A1Junkie

It was a healthy amount of time and dedication. I went through a college for 2 1/2 years and they changed the requirements 3 times on me, each time refusing to accept my previous schooling. I got fed up with them and went to a trade school. Skills like that will always be useful.

retDAC

My hat is off to you, sir.

dixie.valdez01

Thanks for sharing the pictures. I would love to see your next work.

ifithitu

Nice looking Pistols.