1911 Questions--Barrel and Slide Swap

[Marauder06]

I recently acquired a couple of fancy Colt 1911 slides (stripped), that I want to mount to lowers. The intent is for the guns to be functional, but to serve more as display pieces than a range/self defense gun.

My plan was to buy the necessary parts to build a couple of 1911 pistols from the ground up. However, based on the prices it appears that it would be cheaper to buy a whole other handgun and simply swap out the necessary parts than it would be to buy a frame and all of the parts for the lower and to fit out the slides.

I have a Kimber 1911 5" Stainless II. I thought I could swap out the barrel, etc. of the Kimber into the Colt slide and mount it to the Kimber frame. But the barrel didn't seem to fit and I didn't want to try to force it. So now I'm wondering about spending the money on getting a new gun if the parts won't match up.

Looking for input: seeking options to either buy and kit out a frame, or what kinds of handguns are interchangeable with Colt slides.

 

[Devildoc]

LOL, that's sweet, thinking 1911 parts are so interchangeable. "Drop in parts rarely are" (Larry Vickers).

In all seriousness, it's logical to think that all same-series 1911 parts would be interchangeable and drop-in. In theory, that is the case, and really was the case with mass-produced USGI 1911s so the armorers could work on them easily.

I would stick to Colt manufactured parts for that series/model (70, 80, whatever). Most drop-in parts need to be machined to some point to reach spec. I would definitely be weary of barrel and bushing for lock-up reasons.

If if it's for display only you'll have a lot more latitude. If you want to shoot it I'd be very judicious about the parts, Brownell's has all the parts and some great resources. Another option is to get the pieces and send it to a smith who can machine the parts.

I did this very thing with a SA mil-spec 1911 about 30 years ago. That $400 gun ended up costing me 9 months and $1,000.

 

[Box]

Just my worthless few cents...

Long ago I was in a similar position - and I also took apart a gun that I already owned to make a cooler more better gun with my newly acquired parts. I had a brief chat with a fellow that was already an SME that went on to be a well known and authoritative SME. He told me how nice the gun looked - and then in a surprisingly un-judgy way, told me a little bit about my "original" gun and the value that it had in its original configuration.
-I was not aware.

I took his advice and collected the peices/parts that I needed to make a cool gun as well as returning the original to its factory state. I was so glad that I did.

If your intent is to build a "Barbecue Gun" I would (just my two cents) build a BBQ gun from the ground up - but I wouldn't unKimber my Kimber. if you aren't a "gunbuilder" then I'd DEFINITELY start with something of lesser value. Buy a shitty old 1911 at a pawn shop and change THAT one.
Otherwise - I would look at a few places that sell frame kits...

Look at the Caspian frame sets -
Caspian Arms | Serving the custom pistolsmith since 1983
They are great building blocks for a BBQ gun and are generally pretty compatible with colt slides.

There are also low budget versions that wil be more than "good enough" if you are building a display piece that isn't going to be called on as your EDC weapon...
Stealth Arms 1911 Complete Frame - Stealth Arms

1911 Lower Frame Assembly - Government, Action Style


You could dip into the big bucks like an STI frame kit and have a nice high capacity "2011" BBQ gun...
...but I still wouldn't unKimber my Kimber

 

[The Quartermaster]

Message the Modern Tactical Shooting guy on his insta page about it. He's a retired 18B and carried it with him even. He'll be able to help you out.

 

[Devildoc]

Message the Modern Tactical Shooting guy on his insta page about it. He's a retired 18B and carried it with him even. He'll be able to help you out.

That guy is local to me, I've always wanted to take one of his classes.

 

[The Quartermaster]

That guy is local to me, I've always wanted to take one of his classes.

He's been of great help to me. He's also a southpaw rifle and right hand pistol shooter like myself, and helped me set up my battle belt for SHTF and another for competition for our way of doing it.

He also squared me aware on my X95 and fixing an over gassed AK issue.

 

[Marauder06]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. Regarding my Kimber, I tried the parts swap to test the hypothesis that I could take a random 1911 receiver and barrel and swap them in with the fancy slide, before I start buying things. I'm definitely keeping my Kimber a Kimber ;)

The above links to the receivers are super helpful. But with the parts kits necessary to fit everything out, it looks like it would still be over $1000 just for the pieces, not counting the things I would lose/break during the assembly process.

What I might do is buy an inexpensive 1911 like this one and do some research/fitting/experimentation to see if the slide will work with the rest of the parts.

 

[Box]

Daly makes pretty good range worthy 1911's.

What "kind" of Colt slides are you working with? Is it a series 70, 80, or even 1991 run Colt slide? That could come into play dpending in what type of frame you go to put that slide on.

If it is a series 80 slide and you put it on a series 70 frame, even if it fits, the gun wont fire because of the way the safety "upgrade" is designed. You can use a series 80 frame on a series 70 slide but you will have to "remove" some parts from the frame to make it run right.

 

[Devildoc]

Daly makes pretty good range worthy 1911's.

What "kind" of Colt slides are you working with? Is it a series 70, 80, or even 1991 run Colt slide? That could come into play dpending in what type of frame you go to put that slide on.

If it is a series 80 slide and you put it on a series 70 frame, even if it fits, the gun wont fire because of the way the safety "upgrade" is designed. You can use a series 80 frame on a series 70 slide but you will have to "remove" some parts from the frame to make it run right.
View attachment 44587View attachment 44586

Series 80 is an abomination unto the Lord...

 

[Marauder06]

Daly makes pretty good range worthy 1911's.

What "kind" of Colt slides are you working with? Is it a series 70, 80, or even 1991 run Colt slide? That could come into play dpending in what type of frame you go to put that slide on.

If it is a series 80 slide and you put it on a series 70 frame, even if it fits, the gun wont fire because of the way the safety "upgrade" is designed. You can use a series 80 frame on a series 70 slide but you will have to "remove" some parts from the frame to make it run right.
View attachment 44587View attachment 44586

That is extremely useful information, thank you. Based on the above, I think both my Kimber and the Colt slide are Series 80.

The first picture below is the slide on my Kimber (no barrel, etc. inserted).

The second picture is a comparison of the two slides, the Colt is on the left and the Kimber is on the right. The Kimber looks the way it does because I'm working on it.

 

[Salt USMC]

Your barrel will need to be fit to your slide, which will need to be fit to the frame. All 1911 parts are made oversized so that a gunsmith can fit them tightly with the proper tools. With enough patience, and marker, and done hand files you COULD do it yourself, but I would just save the headache and take it to a local smith.

 

[Box]

That is extremely useful information, thank you. Based on the above, I think both my Kimber and the Colt slide are Series 80.

The first picture below is the slide on my Kimber (no barrel, etc. inserted).

The second picture is a comparison of the two slides, the Colt is on the left and the Kimber is on the right. The Kimber looks the way it does because I'm working on it.

View attachment 44588View attachment 44589View attachment 44590

You can see how the Kimber slide doesn't have the parts installed for the firing pin safety plunger. The Kimber receiver is built like a Series-70 Colt and doesn't have the cuts or parts for the lever that depresses the plunger for the firing pin safety.

Also...
Where did you get that gun light?

 

[The Quartermaster]

Also...
Where did you get that gun light?

The Quartermaster rear with the gear has got you. Streamlight TLR6 for non rail 1911's.

New TLR-6® Fits Non-Rail 1911 Handguns

 

[Diamondback 2/2]

Saved for later response.

 

[Diamondback 2/2]

Okay, so 1911's are like fine watches. Just because something says "drop in" it will still require proper fitting. Example: matched barrel and bushing will generally fit into a slide and lock up to some degree, but almost always there will be binding, because ever slide is not machined the same and hand fitting is pretty much always required.

You best bet would be to build from the ground up, most of what needs to be covered has been covered. Emery cloth and jewelry files are your friend. A lot of time with a sharpie marking wear spots and fitting to get rid of any binding or corse wear spots. Taking tool marks and rough machining down a polished surface, etc.

I recommend Ed Brown frames and parts, but you can mix and match, because again you will need to custom fit everything. Absolutely National Match barrel and bushing! You are looking at $700-$1,000 depending on how fancy you get. Honestly, the learning experience is worth the investment. Yes it's will be expensive, yes you will probably adjust things you had already done and spend more time and money. But it will be a truly custom 1911, that you customized yourself, and that's a pretty cool conversation piece all by itself. Worth the time and money IMHO.

Larry Vickers use to have a custom 1911 gunsmithing class, but I am not sure anymore with the legal stuff he was going through. Most gunsmith's will take time to show you how to do things if you explain you are trying to learn...

Good luck, I will answer any questions that I can for you.