Modifications Questions - New 1911 RIA owner

[Deacon Aegis]

Howdy all,
I recently purchased a Rock Island Armory .45 Government-styled auto, as I've wanted a 1911-styled .45 for a long time and the price was awsome for a beginner's .45. After having made the purchase, I started digging around online for as much info as I could find both on this model, and 1911's in general and soon found myself prowling the message boards here. That said, the immense amount of absolutely top-notch information I've found here really has been helpful and I've poured through dozens and dozens of articles that have definately increased my knowledge and understanding of the pro's and cons of many elements of the 1911. I especially want to thank 1911Tuner for several of his articles and posts, such as the article covering magazine riser dimples and other reliability effecting insight. The very first time I took my RIA to the range (earlier this morning) I had 3 FTF issues with the 8 round stock magazine. No biggie though, since I had read the article already, I knew exactly what was happening and which clips I needed to obtain to solve that problem.

Metalform...Stainless...Flat 7-round follower with the raised dimple...Opt for the Wolff spring upgrade...(only available with stainless...Dunno why)...

I'll be sure to tell Ginny that Johnny over in North Carolina sent me, hehe ;)

Anyway, I am also looking at making some other modifications to the RIA and was seeking y'all's good insight as to whether my logic is good or whether I need to rethink some of the modifications. I'm planning on making the following alterations (having a skilled gunsmith for those alterations I can't simply drop in.) :

1. I'm getting hammer bite as I've got big hands. I do not want to change the gun's stock frame shape or remove any metal in any way and the King's Gun Works offers a replacement drop-in beaver tail rear safety (#203 on page 3 of their latest catalog online). According to the blurb on this specific beaver tail, the angle of the tail itself allows for the stock hammer to remain rather than need to be replaced as is the case with every other beaver tail rear safety I've so far managed to find. I don't even want to begin messing with trigger, sear, and hammer mechanics at this time.

2. I like a rather weighty gun at the range. I own a Glock 21 and hate the barrel bounce that thing puts me through using 230 gr winchester hardball ammo. The RIA 1911, with just 50 rounds put through it, felt much more comfortable to shoot these standard 230 gr rounds through it, however I was thinking adding a tungsten single-piece guide rod (3.25 ounces) would potentially tune the barrel-flip on the RIA to be even a more enjoyable shoot for my particular tastes. I do understand that this will make take-down somewhat more difficult, but I don't intend to use this gun as my carry gun.

3. I've read several posts concerning the recoil spring and various weights and ordered a Wolff 18 1/2 pound recoil spring to accompany it, but I'm wondering now that I've read some other posts if I've gone a little bit too heavy. I plan on mainly firing the Winchester 230 gr FMJ loads through the gun as that seems to be the most common load I can find in bulk for the gun.

4. I definately want to change the sights on it, but I'm not sure the best way to go here. I am not building a match-grade pistol here and have no illusions of chunking that level of sighting hardware on a pistol that is simply going to be a range gun. The front site of the RIA is mounted in a narrow tenon and that seems it might limit my options a bit. Any suggestions would be great.

5. I'm also going to add a Wilson Combat magazine well and have it tooled to match the already throated mag well of the RIA. I'll be flat honest, I like the asthetic enhancement this provides and perhaps popping a clip into the gun if I'm being unusually sloppy is made easier.

6. I'm replacing the stock grips with a Hogue grip that I particularly like.

Anyway, that is basically the alterations I'm really interested in making to the gun right now. I may take interest in further altering the RIA a little down the road, but these alterations "feel" like they'll give me both the shooting characteristics and functionality I'm looking for out of the gun for now. I absolutely do not want to make any modifications that hinder the reliability of the gun. I think if I get the Metalform mags suggested, I'd definately fix the current reliability issue I've encountered. The beavertail is simply to thwart the hammer bite I'm experiencing, thus improve the enjoyment of shooting the RIA, and the remaining alterations are entirely intended to satisfy my shooting preferences. Any suggestions or comments would sincerely be appreciated and thanks a whole bunch already for the many insights your past posts have given me.

[John]

First of all, and before we can suggest anything ...

:wl:

[Deacon Aegis]

Hehe John, yeah I wanted to get some pics up before I posted. Tell ya what, I'll snap a couple here with my digital camera and see if I can find someplace to host them real quick and I'll link them in if possible. :D

On a side note, I'm amazed and kinda scared to have the man himself as the first ever person to reply to one of my posts. The force is strong with this one, I must be careful. ;)

[John]

Well, how else can we suggest something about the sights etc. if we do not know what sights this one already has?

Oh bragging is also strongly encouraged here.

[Deacon Aegis]

Agreed, pics would definately illustrate the various components of this particular RIA and show some base lines to the gun. I had to let my batteries charge to snap them, but I got them and are working them over in an editor right now to reduce the image size and file size of the compression. I hope to have them up shortly.

Hmmmm, bragging, well it's hard to brag about a $300 1911. Kinda like showing off that VW with the Rolls-Royce grill. Hehe Now when I get an Infinity, I'll proudly flex my purchasing power and dare any manly man to lock credit scores with me. :D

Grrrr.... having to download something else to try and edit these in. I'm in a 64-bit environment and normal software gives me fits. May be a short while longer, but I'm fighting the good fight!

[Deacon Aegis]

Ok, here are the images. :D

http://webpages.charter.net/papaserph/images/RIA-001.jpg

http://webpages.charter.net/papaserph/images/RIA-002.jpg

http://webpages.charter.net/papaserph/images/RIA-003.jpg

http://webpages.charter.net/papaserph/images/RIA-004.jpg

http://webpages.charter.net/papaserph/images/RIA-005.jpg

Hope that helps a bit. Sorry if they're rough, did that off the cuff...

[John]

Sights-wise, get King's. They are taller than these and they fit the same dovetail at the rear and the same tenon hole at the front. Someone with a sight staking tool can do the job in 10 minutes, without any refinishing being required.

Hammer bite, I believe the Wilson drop-in beavertail should fit your gun without a problem, but you will also need another hammer (round or oval).

Springs: the Government model works fine with 16 lbs springs, no need to go to 18 lbs.

As for the grips, I would leave these ones on the pistol, they are quite nice. I am a ... wood man, although in my younger years I didn't use anything else but rubber Pachmayrs. I've seen the ... light though.

And please, edit back your post, we have to see the pictures, clicking opens them in a new window, which is somewhat frustrating if there are more than one.

[stans]

I agree with John, but if you want to reduce hammer bite and save some money, just cut off part of the hammer spur. Quick, simple and cheap. Kind of like me!

[Deacon Aegis]

Editted it back John, still trying to learn the ropes here and wasn't sure what was prefered.

I'll dig through the King's catalog this morning and take a gander at the variety to see what strikes my fancy. With the primary role of this firearm to be as a range gun, I might go ahead and invest in some mildly adjustable sights. I'm finding myself in a delimma though of wanting to try and accurize it and at the same time knowing that dropping that much into an entry rig like this really isn't the wisest thing for me to do with the gun.

Concerning the beavertail, I don't know what I was thinking earlier, I could swear the first time I read it, it specifically indicated that it could be installed, yet still allow the stock hammer. You are right though, I will need to replace the hammer as well. This opens a can of worms that I didn't want to mess around with at this stage of the game. I just feel that if I'm going to replace one part out of the firing grouping, I should probably look into the sear and maybe the trigger as well. Not that it is required, but if I'm going to mess with it down the road, it would probably be best to mess with it all at once and get it done utilizing parts designed to work together. Dunno, maybe my logic is completely flawed though and I'm giving that whole collective to much attention when no potential problem even exists.

I've still got to figure out which areas of importance are more critical than others when making these changes, so bare with me as I "vocally" logic them out.

I gotta think about the grips... I'm kinda wanting to preserve them so I can put them back on the gun at a later point if I take the tricked-out stuff off. I am surprised how much mention they get although I do agree the wood really does give the piece some character that would be lost with the Hogues. I'll give it some thought, probably play with both options for a bit to see which ones I actually like more.

Stan, aye I gave it some thought, but I really dread destroying a good part and I think the beavertail may be more comfortable for the web of my hand to ride under. Although I might be able to order a replacement hammer and clip that.

Thanks for y'all's time and input. I obviously need to go hit King's catalog again and rethink that hammer/beavertail issue again.

[John]

My usual advise to people who get their pistol and start immediately thinking about changes is "Shoot it first and see what you do not like. Then you change those things you do not like".

Stans advice about cutting the hammer is valid. Just do not overdo it, some mass is required there for the primers to ignite properly.And of course, make sure it is the hammer that bites you and not some sharp edges of the frame or the grip safety.

Our pistols/guns are very personal to each one of us. Some thing I like is not necessarily something you like. That's life. Personally, I rank reliability above anything else. So if the pistol works OK as it is, I might keep it like that, even if my hand suffers wihout a beavertail. Since I am getting old, I would definitely change the sights with King's #104 (I think), which are of the same style only taller and with 3-dots. Then if the trigger pull is not to my liking, a drop-in set from Cylinder and Slide would give me the required reliability but also the trigger weight I am looking for (4.5 lbs is fine by me), and at the same time it would allow me to install a proper beavertail. Grips is too personal to comment.

But all this, is for my gun, none of them may apply to yours.

My 2 Eurocents only.

[Tom T Bosee]

I say get the right grips first; you might not need the beavertail.(save the originals, of course).

[Deacon Aegis]

I do appreciate the input. I know individual tastes and desired performance characteristics very from individual to individual, I'm simply trying to avoid making an ignorant mistake that does sacrifice reliability to achieve some other characteristic. I suppose it is the potential I feel the gun has while shooting it at the range that has me wanting to make certain tuning changes to see if I can get that perfect feel I'm after out of a .45

John, I was settling on the #104 sites myself shortly before your post landed. I guess some tastes can be similar. ;)

I've read about the entangled issues concerning the firing system's physics when the hammer's mass is altered, which is one reason I shy away from it. I'd much rather change a part and be able to restore the original should an alteration prove to be undesirable than alter an existing part and hope that I don't have to wait around for a replacement should I have bodged the job.

Thanks again all, definately all things to think about.

Oh, and by the way John, the changes I'm considering are quite specifically because of my experience shooting it before doing anything else. I'm not just being a bubba. ;)

[3006mv]

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a99/3006mv/PC010065.jpg sorry about the blur, I really need to get a good tripod. This is the Kings target model. A drop in fit for the rear. I plan on getting another RIAGI 5" and installing these sights and leaving it stock, I swear. Try to search some of my posts, my 1st post was a lament on doing mods to my frame, thus waiting on buying another one to leave stock (except for the sights) and then shooting it w/ some gloves on. But I do not regret it now because I learned a lot along the way and enjoy shooting it. Good luck w/ your work. I also want to buy a S&W model 325pd so my "other" RIA will have to wait til next year, but hey I am prepared w/ the new sights, right? http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a99/3006mv/PB150007.jpg King's trigger, John Masen 3 dot combat sights drop in look and work really well, Chip McCormick beavertail grip, Wilson trigger, original grips of course. http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a99/3006mv/PB290046.jpg last mod, an EGW bushing which makes for even tighter groups. Sorry JOHN I don't know how to post just the pix w/o doing the opening up of other windows thing in my post.

[John]

Just add the word img and /img before and after the image address, but enclose those words in square brackets, like that:

http://forum.m1911.org/images/temp/howtoenterimages.gif

[Deacon Aegis]

Al, actually I've studied several of your modification threads and have really enjoyed seeing the progress on your shooter. If I'm not mistaken, you did the post on that front-strap checkering bonding, although I may have my wires crossed, in which case please forgive. I'll definately bounce back through some of your posts and threads. I'm curious to see what type internals you used for sear and such. Have you found a fix for that trigger gap issue as well yet or going to run it as is?

[3006mv]

Yeah, hi that was me that put the Wilson front strap on by using my girlfriend's favourite DIY glue, Gorilla Glue. That thing is on for good and doesn't pop off everytime you take off the grips. Glad that some of my posts have been a help to you. I just got into this 1911 thing this year, kinda just to show to my friends that I could shoot better w/ a $300 gun compared to theirs that cost more than twice as much as mine (no, really Springfields, Kimbers, Ed Brown, and even a Rock River Arms), plus I am Filipino and thought it would be neat to have a Philippine made gun; that and I like the nostalgia/history and look of the original. Well even though I ended up changing the look of the gun, mostly for fit in my case and maybe spent a lot on parts to the point of being ridiculous, like I said before what I learned along the way is priceless, (any money spent on education/educating yourself is never a waste, as someone wise once told me). My previous handguns were revolvers and my first semi auto is a Baby Eagle .45 which I love and am really good with. Otherwise it was alway rifles and shotguns for hunting before I got into the handgun thing for years. Anyway I got the King's long trigger black 3 hole and it helped a lot. The trigger pull is more crisp and doesn't have any side to side play, there is still some up down but not as much, it is smooth and I ended up reinstalling the overtravel screw and adjusted and loctited it in place so it feels and functions fine. All internals are original. Did not change any springs, sear, or disconnector and I have had no failures to feed, fire, eject or anything, maybe I was just lucky w/ this purchase. Even while breaking it in I have had NO problems. I use all kinds of ammo, even some of my old reloads w/ Rainier plated bullets. I must have over 2000 rounds through it by now (I spend a lot of my down time reloading). So basically this is an RIA w/ different externals (looks). I did polish the feed ramp/throat and do lube it and clean it so maybe that helps too. I did the front sight myself and actually surprised it hasn't worked its way loose yet. I don't holster it so maybe that has something to do w/ it I don't really know. Good luck w/ your project.

[Deacon Aegis]

Howdy Al,
Indeed it has actually been several of your posts that have given me insight into many things I've been considering for my own project. This morning, as I was chewing through some parts on MidwayUSA and trying to decide on a new hammer for my RIA that I clicked on the "Feedback" bellow one of the hammers and found your feedback post there. Hehe. So indeed not only was your learning curve helpful for your own skills, but now you know someone else out there, chewing through much of the same ground as you had to is benefiting from your experiences as well!

So far, over the course of this past week, I've dropped about $250 worth on parts now heading this way and I feel for the most part, my selections have been fairly well informed thanks to input from your posts, John, and 1911Tuner's posts, not to mention the dozens of others who have advised on such things as simply reducing the hammer spur size or checking to see if the Hogue's eliminate the hammer bite, etc.

I think all to often folks don't realize how sharing their experiences on forums like this can really help someone else attempting to find answers to the same questions. Before Sunday of this past week, I had no idea where to even begin, but knew I want to tweek and tune my .45. I hit google and ran a search and within minutes was crawling this site. By Sunday this weekend, I can tell you more about .45 operating physics, component dynamics, suppliers of extremely reliable clips, and even supply a tidbit or two of 1911 ownership wisdom on the range. Not too shabby for one week's research in my spare time.

On a different note as well, I have a meeting this afternoon with a local precision machine shop I know in the area and am going to be taking my RIA along with me to see what it will cost to have a custom beavertail machined that is specially notched to permit installation and use with the stock spur hammer. (I'm also talking to them about half a dozen other custom parts I want made and have never seen on the market before.) Who knows, if single unit cost isn't ultra expensive, I may sometime down the road have them do a small production run of the parts and see how things go from there.... The concept has intrigued me if for nothing more than fun. I'll post more on that if your interested after I've talked with them and seen how feasible it might be.

Anyway, thanks for posting, the input from the smallest to the most insightful has been useful and appreciated.

[AnimalKracker]

Hey Deacon, we can spend several hundred more dollars on our "cheap" pistols. That qualifies us to be cheap gun snobs. ;) And it's OK to be a Bubba at times. :D Load up on the bells and whistles IF you want, as long as it plays your tune. Enjoy that ROCK - Philip

[Deacon Aegis]

Philip,
Hehe good philosophy man! Sometimes if you don't bubba one or two you'll never learn anything. Lordy knows I'm doing it a bit. LOL

Cheers,
Matt

[Navy87Guy]

I'm seriously contemplating an RIA as an entry-level 1911, too. I've been perusing the King's catalog (what a frustrating online format!!) and I have a few questions, too:
1) Will the King #203 beavertail safety work as a drop-in on the RIA?
2) Which replacement hammer (Series 70 or Series 80) would be the right one to go with the beavertail?
3) Are all the King sights (particularly 104 and 109) designed for the narrow front tenon?
4) How do the blued parts look when they are put onto the Parkerized RIA?

For $350, the RIA sounds like a real bargain. Even after I make some minor mods, I'm still in for a lot less than a comparable SA (my other option).

Any insights are appreciated.

Thanks!
Jim

[AnimalKracker]

NAVY87GUY, IMHO the RIA is a excellent entry level 1911A1. IF you want to add a little at a time, yeah I think you can come out pretty good this way. But if you plan on going whole hog on it real soon, then I believe you are better off money wise getting a Kimber or Springfield or other decked out pistol. I got my ROCKs as a project , just a set to tinker with and dress up a little. I'll have more money tied up in them than some of the more expensive pistols out there when I'm through. But they will be mine. And they are good entry level pistol, lots of bang for the buck.

[Deacon Aegis]

Navy87Guy,
I can give you super recent experience on virtually every question you have asked considering I went down the same route, so let me walk down the list for you.

1) Will the King #203 beavertail safety work as a drop-in on the RIA?
Answer: In my humble opinion, the existence of an actual drop-in beavertail safety is a conspiracy formulated by the expensive gun illuminati to bewilder, confuse, and ultimately set us cheap gun snobs on the very course of parts research questing that will have you pull your hair out. As I'm sitting here twirling my King #203 beavertail and pondering what to do with it, I can safely say it was the "closest" match to a drop in you will find, but certainly not the tollerances I was finding acceptable. I also have a wilson combat drop in as a slew of posts well archived said they were compatible as well. What a mess, two $30 dollar beavertails down and still no fit. Save yourself the frustration and go with a Wilson Combat wide beavertail. Brownell's stock number 965-298-001 $34.95...

I found the width of this beavertail to really fill the gaps in the back and several of the others left far greater gaps between the beavertail and the frame. If you're going to attempt to file the frame yourself, you'll surely want the Wilson Combat Beavertail Fitting Jig, Brownell's stock number 965-402-000 and ringing in at $22.50.

This has been the best match-up I've found, but the S&A bevertail works just as well, just get the .250 jig for that one if you plan to do it yourself. Probably save time and frustration to get your local smith to do it if you have a decent one. Don't buy into the "drop-in" shtick... I never found a really workable match that made me happy.

2) Which replacement hammer (Series 70 or Series 80) would be the right one to go with the beavertail?
Answer: The RIA uses a series 70 hammer. The one I found that just seems to match the gun best for me was the Ed Brown Hardcore Barstock and I decided to get some contrast going by going stainless here. Visit www.edbrown.com and look at his 1911 parts. The part number I used was the 897. Any decent series 70 commander style hammer should work well for you though, so you should feel relatively comfortable shopping the different vendors and comparing styles. Again, Brownell's (www.brownells.com) is a good place to look as well as MidwayUSA (www.midwayusa.com).

3) Are all the King sights (particularly 104 and 109) designed for the narrow front tenon?
Answer: Not sure on the King's sights, I went again with Ed Brown for the front sight. Call King's and chat with them. They are great people and will steer you correct and are more than happy to field this type of question.

4) How do the blued parts look when they are put onto the Parkerized RIA?
Answer: The variations in shade are perceptable, but I honestly found the balance to be aestetically pleasing. I am entirely refinishing my RIA though as I'm having major work done... Lots of welding and bending and blending and shtuff. Gonna do a true parkerization job personally on the receiver, but then I'm also adding a Duracoat polymer seal instead of loading it up with oil right after the park job. Have much more going on on the finish, but until I can show it off, the rest is a secret ;)

Anyway, hope that helps, good luck and welcome to the addiction. Mwahahaha

[Deacon Aegis]

Oh, quick side note, so you can see what AnimalKracker was meaning about going all out....

I spent $375 to get my RIA (Yeah not the best deal, but workable).

I then proceeded to spend $105.63 for 3 custom ordered magazines from Metalform Company, Inc. and will buy a bulk of 50 of these bad boys next order.

Next I spent $176.78 with MidwayUSA Hammer, another beavertail, Ed Brown front sight, Ed Brown Frame rebuild kit (pins and springs) and a new hardened hammer strut.

But why stop there, A few days later came the $147.69 investment in Shok Buufs, Mag Well, a Tungsten full length single piece guide rod, and a Wolff recoil spring.

A few days later I decided to further enhance this glorious binge of 1911 rebuild and added another $85.15 for a new hardened sear spring, some specialized grip screws, and a slide-hugging Drop-In rear sight.

The Hogue 45600 Govt. Model with Finger Grooves Kingwood exotic hardwood grips added another $78.70 for sex appeal the following week.

Now this also spawned the desire to Parkerize the frame again, considering the massive changes and amount of clean-up work I did to the frame. But I really wanted to do something crazy with the frame and dang it, not anything normal would work. I knew then it was going to take a pistol smith of exceptional quality to do what I wanted to have done. This is where I hooked up with Ken Crawley, who probably thinks I'm nuts, but liked the design enough to cut me some serious slack on the work he is going to do, so the welding and machining I am having done is coming in at a svelt $482.97 (An uber serious good deal for a man of his talents to even touch my gun.

Figured I might as well get the parkerization stuff too, since that was a route I wanted to go (at least on the lower frame) - $48.35 from Shooter's Solution for a decent Manganese kit.

I knew I wanted to seal that finish as well, so DuraCoat got $85.18 out of me.

I also was going to need to airbrush this stuff on before curing so $10 for the airbrush and $99.00 for a quiet compressor air compressor from Harbor freight.

But wait, there's more.... LOL I'll spare you the rest. Overall, so far I have roughly $1694.45 invested of which $375 was the original gun. Granted, I threw ion the cost of the compressor on top of this, but hell, if I started adding up the cost of the new screw-driver set, the plunger staking tool for the custom Caspian build I'm playing with while my RIA is in the shop, and the myriad parts, bits and pieces involved in going absolutely insane in tool-up and production ready smithing gear right at my desk, I could have bought a couple of kimbers and maybe even slid a lower-end Les Baer in there.

All that said, I was interested in going where I went when I started. I went a hell of alot faster than I had planned, but ********, no harm, no foul. Mwahahaha

[AnimalKracker]

Yeah, but they shore do make me feel good people like my ol mutts. Makes me go all warm and fuzzy.

[Navy87Guy]

Deacon -

Wow...thanks for that detailed response! Frankly, I think I want to keep things pretty simple and use the RIA as a shooter. Although it will be hard to resist the temptation to tinker! I think my immediate concerns would be the beavertail (to keep my fat hands from getting too much slide bite) and some decent sights.

I appreciate you taking the time to write all this down for me. I'm hoping to nail down the purchase of the RIA before New Year's -- then the fun can begin!

Jim

[AnimalKracker]

Navy87Guy, That's where it all starts. And IMHO the RIA is a good place to start. You can add a little here and a little later, and not break the bank. But as you can see the Deacon knows all theses parts because he's bought all this stuff for a $300.00 pistol. :) I'll have the price of another Kimber invested in each of my pistols when I'm finished. :scared: And yeah, they feel like a pair of comfortable boots after awhile. Save yourself while there is still time. Sell that RIA or better yet just give it to one us nuts here. We're already past hope, and in too deep to dig our way out money wise. I'm warning you IF you keep the ROCK and start shooting it , you'll soon be in our shoes. Save yourself. Just go out today and buy a $1200.00 --$2000.00 pistol and you'll be safe from the "Tinker Bug". I got my ROCK ,took it shooting, I found myself with two ( these things are soo cheap I'll just get another) , well they'll look cool with differant grips,and night-sights,ambi-safty,now they need a refinish, and a bob-tail. But you've heard the expression EXPRESS YOURSELF. HAVE FUN with YOUR MUTT.http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a301/AnimalKracker1/ROCKISLAND1911A1-RIA979047RIA979008.jpg http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a301/AnimalKracker1/VERSAMAXIIb.jpg

[Deacon Aegis]

The RIA is a fine entry level 1911-based pistol. It'll definately deliver the 1911 experience for those interested in this type of handgun. For those inclined to personalize, customize, or tinker with their equipment, it is an excellent base to start with that will keep you from breaking the bank (or cause you to break it, not sure which exactly it is yet, LOL).

Don't expect a Les Baer, Kimber, or elite-level 1911 craftsmanship from it and you'll not be disappointed. An alternative that should become more readily available this coming year is Taurus new 1911 that should be within the budget-minded shooter's awareness with many of the features desired by the average 1911 owner, like a factory beavertail. Add the beavertail and the cost of a smith or your own time, tools, and effort into the RIA and the prices will be dang close to what your looking at right now. If you like tinkering and find tearing a Kimber or better apart sacrilige, the RIA serves up nicely.

There's a whole lot I'm doing and having done to mine, but I'm eccentric so it doesn't matter. I'm also not out to impress anyone because there are oodles of members that prowl this forum that humble me quick and I'm not trying to blow smoke and sunshine at them. Yep, they've seen guys like me come and go for years, all zeal, no longevity. The proof is in the pudding so to speak and I've got a long way to go to earn my stripes, but everyone starts sometime, so at this point if I can help someone else who is considering some of the things I've just recently experienced, very cool. I certainly don't expect everyone to go tearing into their 1911's like I did, but like AnimalKracker illustrated, if your nature is to tinker, it can become a heck of an investment rapidly.

Hope this all has helped and I know I ramble...lots... but I enjoy chatting about the experiences and ideas and such. :)

[Navy87Guy]

I've been eyeing that new Taurus, too. But since it doesn't look like they'll be available for a few more months (they've pretty much missed their "fourth quarter 2005" delivery), I think I may get the RIA to play with and get more familiar with the 1911.

Feel free to ramble in my direction any time -- all your insights and experiences are helpful to guys like me that are just getting started. Besides, that's where all the good ideas come from!

Thanks again,
Jim

[Deacon Aegis]

Aye, I can understand not waiting for the Taurus, who knows when it will actually hit the shelves considering the fact they can't seem to get a delivery agenda they can hold to.

I've found particular value in reading all of 1911Tuner's posts in the stickies here in the smithing section. Additionally, I crawled the site's side that is not the forums, but the general information side of the house and dove through all of their links. Add a dash of Kuhnhausen and you'll have a pretty well rounded library of information and answers for most 1911 questions you may ever have.

Easily a significant amount of my knowledge has been derived from these forums coupled with taking said-same information and either matching it up with real world expirements and experience. I'm only fractionally ahead of where you're at and very interested in designing some interestingly unique firearms for my own pleasure adding an "I crafted that" to the end of it when folks ask.

Good luck and let us know what you get when you get it and be sure to post pics!