Thinking of building....

[gsdrulz]

I am thinking about trying to build a 1911. I am looking to read up on the gun before I start looking for parts. If anyone could enlighten me on books or dvd's to pick up. I do have some building experence as I have built all my ar-15s (4) thanks.

[Hawkmoon]

Gerry Kuhnhausen's two books on the 1911 are probably as good a starting point as any. They aren't specifically on building a pistol, but the information you'll need is there.

Over on the technical side of M1911.ORG ( http://www.m1911.org/full_technic.htm ) you'll find reproduced a 6-part series of articles from Brownells on building the 1911. This series is useful but beware -- it takes a lot for granted, and omits a few key steps and checks along the way, probably because it was written by gunsmiths who "assume" that the steps would automatically be performed. This caused me a few problems when I built the Frankengun, but with the help of John 1911Tuner and Wichaka we got it running despite the gaps in the articles.

[Tom in CA]

I think AGI (American Gunsmith Institute- find them with Google) has a series of videos on building the 1911 - they are a little pricey - I have used some of their videos on other guns and they are EXCELLENT.

I thought about building a 1911 also but it turned out to be quite expensive - and my gunsmith ability is pretty much zero - I bought a Kimber Raptor instead.

[gsdrulz]

Price matters but only a little...Having the pride of saying I built this is worth it in most cases....Besides you know your pistol inside and out helps a lot.....But thanks for the ideas.....Keep em coming!