Okay...here goes

navman · #1 12-10-2012, 07:02 PM

This one is my Daily carry piece (off duty). A Titanium framed Officer model in .45.
his started as a Caspian Ti frame and Caspian Carbon steel GI slide. The slide was flat topped and you can see the ball mill cuts. I also did something a bit different on the inside, grit traps. The rear sight is the third sight I had made from 4340 barstock and had sent off with the slide to get ionbonded. The front sight started as a blank SDM, I turned down and mounted into it a 9 carat gold pin then blended it to the slide with boardering ball cuts. The rear of the slide was serrated at 50lpi with a matching extrctor and ejector. I finished the slide with a bead blasted rounds and bevels; and a 600 grit satin finish, then DLC black. The pictures don't do the finish justice!

The frame has carbidized rails and was deburred inside and out. I found that the magazine well was out of spec slightly and had to be massaged. The font of the trigger guard is serrated at 30lpi and the bottom was given a (purely cosmetic) ball cut. The MSH was blended to the frame and then stippled in a stinger pattern that terminates on the bottom of the MSH. The pad on the beavetal was also stippled and cut with a simple groove to compliment a high hold. The Beavertail started life as a Wilson BP stainless one and was shortened by a quarter inch and reprofiled slightly.

The thumb safety is an EGW that was reprofiled for easier carry and concealment. The Slide stop is the 10-8 Gen 2. Barrel is a Wislon combat Forged stainless barrel with an 11 degree crown. The trigger is a 10-8 flat triger that has been internally lightened and the bw drilled and polished. Mated to an EGW hard sear and Harris Design trigger and Diso. the sear was given CW's True Radius on the nose and the pull breaks at a smooth, but snappy 3.5 lbs. I also used the EGW flat wire set-up with an eared Reverse plug. I luted the Guide rod, mainly cause it looks cool.

As for the Mag release. It is an EGW HD stainless that was cratered then given a "cat's tongue" finish reminiscient of the old Gerber Mark II handles. The tera drop thumb relief on the frame is a shout out to Gary Smith at Caspian, he knows why :mrgreen:

Finishing it all off is the set of Carbon Fiber thin grips I made using CF from Dave Erickson, thanks again Dave.

And now for the pictures:

navman · #2 12-10-2012, 07:03 PM

navman · #3 12-10-2012, 07:04 PM

This one was done for a friend and fellow CPO. He had an early 90's stainless steel 1991A1. He didn't particularly like the gi grip safety, the trigger or the front and rear gi sights. He also wanted a match barrel installed, and the pistol tuned for reliability. Here is the build details:

S&A Beavertail safety
Hgh cut under trigger
Serrate rear of slide 40LPI
Custom MSH/Round butt
Replace cast internals with Tool steel
Wilson Ultralight hammer
C&S Sear and discoReprofile Slide Stop (3.5 pound let off with CW TR)
Polish stainless pins
Bevel mag well
Wilson Match Barrel and bushing
10-8 Rear U notch site (GI cut)
Staked gold bead front (my own)
Greider Medium LOP solid trigger
Debur inside, polish series 80 saftey parts
Polish Sides to Brushed stainless look
Bead blast the rest to 120 grit glass bead.
light carry bevel to all sharp edges, lines straightened.

navman · #4 12-10-2012, 07:09 PM

More to follow.

Each build takes a few weeks once all the parts are in one place. Hours on each fitting process and the sights are a whole nother story...cause I make them from Barstock in house. The IONBOND I have to send out, so that adds a few weeks (6-8 usually). I do my own Rust bluing as well and that takes about 3 days.