Oct 27, 2014

The Commander Reporting for Duty, Sir.

It's one of the reasons for a quiet blog lately.*

So, is it done?

Of course not. A 1911 is never done until the builder/owner has exhausted(a)  his entire reserves of patience and (b) the last Federal Reserve Cartoon he owns.








The trigger is a dream, and, even though her uniform is slightly mussed, she is otherwise fit to dissuade your rampaging thug from the notion that well-ripened Americans are easy pickings.

I like that old boy despite his questionable habit  of keeping too much cash in the house and letting the neighborhood know about it.

Here at Camp Jiggleview, of which I am Commandant, the miscreants would find  no more than the jug where I toss change and dollar bills. The rest of the on-hand wealth consists mostly of some new wool socks against the coming polar vortex and said Commandant's new Coltish Commanderoid.

She is about 80 per cent complete, behind schedule due to a devil of a time swapping around hammers, sears, and disconnectors.  The Windom loophole Saturday turned up a large handful of 1911 internals, including the ignition parts that finally gave me the letoff  I wanted. She's still unfired but feeds hard ball fine and will go bang.  (If you can't get out in the country right away you can chamber a primed empty and squeeze her off, even though that is probably illegal here in Smugleye-on-Lake. But what the Hell.  Molon labe.)

There's a new beaver tail grip safety on the bench, but it defied my "drop-in" hopes, and I've had all of the "minor fitting" I care for at the moment. It will be added in due course, probably as I get her ready for for the final finish.

(Geekout: AMT aluminum frame; Caspian slide, straight GI sights. The hammer is a Model 80 piece, lacking a half-cock hook. There's a ledge in its place to hold half-cock, but a trigger pull drops it.  I can live with that, but I'd rather -- and will -- have the JMB original.  The grips are Pachmayr wrappers, and yes I know how utterly trailer-park that makes me.  Don't care. I've always liked the way they feel, and in the immortal words of Charles Parlier, "This is muh working' pistol, not muh lookin' pistol." )

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*There are others keeping my fingers busy with chores other than typing, but here's no plan to retire the TMR until authoritarian forces are entirely routed, and I don't expect that to happen for a very long time, months anyway, perhaps even a few years.

7 comments:

Joel said...

Pachmayr wraparounds are trailer park? I did not know that. Looks good to me.

Jim said...

Yep, pure 12-wide according to what I read. Anything less than burled cocobolo is déclassé, and to be really effective a 1911 must wear grip panels fashioned from coprolites of an Aztec virgin.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the Geekout. I was wondering. As for the wraps, I thought they looked out of place. If you can't have cocobolo, at least have original GI. JAGSC

Anonymous said...

So, a set of Packys that reduces recoil and muzzle flip on a Super Blackhawk is trailerpark now, huh?
Pardon me while I got get a tattoo and a suitcase of Bud lite...

John in the GMA

Anonymous said...

Nobody said anything about Super BHs,455 Casulls or other hand cannons. We are talking 1911s here, and esthetics are muy importante. JAGSC

NotClauswitz said...

Looks nice to me, I like Commanders!
If you want a nice set in wood I got some from Mark at Rimfire Designs - but they have a bob-tail cut and that would entail a lot more work...

Jim said...

I try to be amenable to all reasonable people. I've solved the Pachmayr debate thusly.

A set of factory-new Colt 1911 grips -- gold medallion -- is in my possession. I will install them for ceremonial occasions church, weddings, political meetings, high-end funerals and the like; any occasion during which I am unlikely to find cause to shoot. In more threatening situations, she will wear the Pakkies.

See what a good president I would make? Remember, vote Jim Teamer in '16.