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c/gunsmiths•wood.paigewood.paige•3mo ago

I finally got the hang of fitting a 1911 slide to a frame after messing it up twice

First two tries, I was taking off way too much metal, like .005" each pass, and the slide would just rattle. Watched an old timer at a shop in Tulsa do it and he barely touched the rails, maybe .001" at a time, checking fit every single pass. I switched to that method and got a perfect, smooth fit on the third frame. The whole process went from a 3 hour headache to about 45 minutes of careful work. Anyone got a better jig they like for this, or is hand-fitting still the only real way?
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3 Comments
leet32
leet323mo ago
That old timer's method works because you're fitting the slide, not machining a new one.
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butler.mark
That Caspian frame story reminds me of a local smith who always says you're just moving metal from the high spots to the low spots. It's a handshake fit, not a blueprint spec.
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luna519
luna5193mo ago
My buddy learned that lesson from @leet32 after he ruined a nice Caspian frame.
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