1911 was having failures, such as the round jumping ahead the extractor, and the slide prematurely locking back with a loose round atop the follower.
He charged me to polish all moving metal to metal surfaces and adjusting the extractor, but upon detail stripping the gun, I saw that he did more than he charged me for.
A little background, John Dixon, who was an IPSC world champion back in the 90's (However, that world championship was protested by other big names such as Enos, as apparently it was too close to one that had happened not too earlier, however he is mentioned as an IPSC world champion in a picture caption in the Layne Simpsons 1911 book, I hear) was also a gunsmith in Pasadena, TX, east of Houston. I've heard his name mentioned on the Brian Enos forums forums now and then, but not much elsewhere other than one other forum. He had his own shop back in the day, but later closed down and retired. He still does this as a hobby nowadays. He has shown me some of the guns he built, and man oh man are they great. Tight frame to slide fit, great fitment and quality, they look excellent.
Anywho, upon disassembling the gun, I saw that he had also changed out the leaf spring for another one, tuned my magazines to work better with the gun, as the slide was prematurely locking back, added a recoil buffer, which I may or may not remove, and cleaned up and lightened the trigger pull. I changed out the grips and trigger body after the fact myself, which is why I have a long trigger and arched housing, instead of either straight housing and long trigger or an arched housing and long trigger.
The trigger used to be 5.5-6 lbs, but now it feels a tad bit lighter and cleaner. I don't have a trigger weight scale to measure it, unfortunately. He polished the hammer face to a shine, as the slide rides on it upon cycling, and polished up the inside of the slide and the exterior of the barrel as well. Gun feels way smoother now when working the slide. There was one blemish on the finish that wasn't there before, but I'll just cold blue it. I like a good worn out looking 1911 anywho.
All this plus test fire for $60 flat. He also quoted me $190 to install new sights, fit a beavertail, and fit a new hammer, that is parts AND labor total. He does this as a hobby now rather than a job, as he is retired, hence the low prices. He is quicker to advise you not to change parts rather than suggest what to change.
Here are some pics, which really don't matter, because as I said, most of the work is not exterior. Also, my camera sucks at taking pictures indoors in shitty lighting, so you'll have to excuse me.
I still have yet to test fire it, but I may go to the range after this coming exam on the 27th.
He charged me to polish all moving metal to metal surfaces and adjusting the extractor, but upon detail stripping the gun, I saw that he did more than he charged me for.
A little background, John Dixon, who was an IPSC world champion back in the 90's (However, that world championship was protested by other big names such as Enos, as apparently it was too close to one that had happened not too earlier, however he is mentioned as an IPSC world champion in a picture caption in the Layne Simpsons 1911 book, I hear) was also a gunsmith in Pasadena, TX, east of Houston. I've heard his name mentioned on the Brian Enos forums forums now and then, but not much elsewhere other than one other forum. He had his own shop back in the day, but later closed down and retired. He still does this as a hobby nowadays. He has shown me some of the guns he built, and man oh man are they great. Tight frame to slide fit, great fitment and quality, they look excellent.
Anywho, upon disassembling the gun, I saw that he had also changed out the leaf spring for another one, tuned my magazines to work better with the gun, as the slide was prematurely locking back, added a recoil buffer, which I may or may not remove, and cleaned up and lightened the trigger pull. I changed out the grips and trigger body after the fact myself, which is why I have a long trigger and arched housing, instead of either straight housing and long trigger or an arched housing and long trigger.
The trigger used to be 5.5-6 lbs, but now it feels a tad bit lighter and cleaner. I don't have a trigger weight scale to measure it, unfortunately. He polished the hammer face to a shine, as the slide rides on it upon cycling, and polished up the inside of the slide and the exterior of the barrel as well. Gun feels way smoother now when working the slide. There was one blemish on the finish that wasn't there before, but I'll just cold blue it. I like a good worn out looking 1911 anywho.
All this plus test fire for $60 flat. He also quoted me $190 to install new sights, fit a beavertail, and fit a new hammer, that is parts AND labor total. He does this as a hobby now rather than a job, as he is retired, hence the low prices. He is quicker to advise you not to change parts rather than suggest what to change.
Here are some pics, which really don't matter, because as I said, most of the work is not exterior. Also, my camera sucks at taking pictures indoors in shitty lighting, so you'll have to excuse me.
I still have yet to test fire it, but I may go to the range after this coming exam on the 27th.
