1911 help

[Nate6512]

My brother-in-law recently inherited a 1911 that has not had any love for a number of years. It seems to be in decent shape at first glance, but he and I both feel that it needs to be gone-over by someone who knows what they are doing before it is fired.

I have offered to help him get it up and going -- he is fairly new to guns, and I don't have any 1911 experience.

Would it be best to actually engage a gunsmith for this kind of work? Any recommendations in the Indy area for someone who loves to work on 1911's and isn't overly expensive?

 

[mospeada]

Definitely seek professional help if you are unsure. I'm sure someone around here has a gunsmith recommendation for Indy.

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

I cannot speak to cost...

But THE shop in Indy for all things 1911 is Elmore's Firearms.

It's actually in Greenwood, but not by much. They're at SR 135 and Fairview Rd behind Jiffy Lube.

-J-

 

[slackerisme]

https://www.indianagunowners.com/forums/general_firearms_discussion/36560-i_got_a_job.html

Maybe IGW can help?

 

[Nate6512]

Thanks for the help

I cannot speak to cost...

But THE shop in Indy for all things 1911 is Elmore's Firearms.

It's actually in Greenwood, but not by much. They're at SR 135 and Fairview Rd behind Jiffy Lube.

-J-

Thanks. Does Elmore's have a gunsmith on staff, or just really knowledgeable people?

https://www.indianagunowners.com/forums/general_firearms_discussion/36560-i_got_a_job.html

Maybe IGW can help?

Thanks. I PM'd him but haven't heard back yet. I thought of him as well.

I have also heard that Beech Grove also has a gunsmith -- anyone use them?

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

Thanks. Does Elmore's have a gunsmith on staff, or just really knowledgeable people?



Thanks. I PM'd him but haven't heard back yet. I thought of him as well.

I have also heard that Beech Grove also has a gunsmith -- anyone use them?

Russ Elmore does the 'smithing at his shop...at least on the pistol side of things. But I honestly do not know if he's a "gunsmith" per-se... He's a straight shooter. If he can't do something or isn't comfortable, I'd think he would let you know.

As far as Beech Grove...they have a 'smith that comes in on certain days. he's not full time there. Pretty reasonable rates...at least I remember them being so when I inquired about having some work done a few months ago.

-J-

 

[wetidlerjr]

Russ Elmore does the 'smithing at his shop...at least on the pistol side of things. But I honestly do not know if he's a "gunsmith" per-se... He's a straight shooter. If he can't do something or isn't comfortable, I'd think he would let you know...
-J-

A lot of Elmore's gunsmith work, including 1911s, is sent to Ray Saltzman in Tipton.

 

[Nate6512]

Thanks everyone. I believe I have something set up.

- nate

 

[IndyGunworks]

Thanks. Does Elmore's have a gunsmith on staff, or just really knowledgeable people?



Thanks. I PM'd him but haven't heard back yet. I thought of him as well.

I have also heard that Beech Grove also has a gunsmith -- anyone use them?

thats mark highsmith.... he is at beech grove once a week... call the shop ahead of time and find out when he is there.

 

[thompal]

My brother-in-law recently inherited a 1911 that has not had any love for a number of years. It seems to be in decent shape at first glance, but he and I both feel that it needs to be gone-over by someone who knows what they are doing before it is fired.

I have offered to help him get it up and going -- he is fairly new to guns, and I don't have any 1911 experience.

Would it be best to actually engage a gunsmith for this kind of work? Any recommendations in the Indy area for someone who loves to work on 1911's and isn't overly expensive?

I dunno, call me brave (or foolish), but I'd go a different route. Field strip it, give it a good cleaning and lube, and look for cracks, abnormal wear, broken parts. Put it back together, do a function check with it unloaded, including testing the safeties. If it checks out, hand cycle a few rounds. If it passes all that, take it to the range, load ONE round, chamber and fire. This will check, among other things the sear. If, after firing that ONE round, the hammer remains cocked like it should, fire a magazine load, disassemble and examine.

A 1911 is a pretty durable machine. If there are no cracks, no abnormal wear, the safeties work, and the hammer doesn't follow the slide forward, I'd say it's functional. Then you can decide if you want to mod it (for accuracy, trigger work, etc). Don't jump to conclusions: my Remington Rand 1911A1 (made in 1943) has a barrel that looks like hell, but groups better than I can hope to at my age (with MY eyes, anyway), and the trigger breaks like glass.

That's my take on it. It's also probably influenced by my hatred of taking anything to a gunsmith and having to be without it. If I wanted to be without it, I wouldn't have bought it in the first place.

 

[AverageMidwest]

Remember hearing good things about Ray Saltzman....if he's not too busy to look!

 

[HiTechVeteran]

Absolutely! If you do not know what you are doing, you could cause problems. In addition, the gunsmith can clean and lube it for you at the same time he inspects it.

I paid $50 to have my guns (each) inspected. I do this about once every 12 to 18 months.

In the between times, I clean them regularly and shoot them often.

Now that I'm moving to the Sig C3 (selling my 9mm, .22LR and .380) I intend to learn a bit more about them and see where that leads, but I doubt I will stop having a gunsmith check them regularly.

At best, I might extend the check ups to 2 yrs if I can do 'more' to check and clean between trips to the smith.

Make sense?

 

[Nate6512]

At the gunsmith

Upon further inspection, I was able to determine that the grip safety was not functioning properly. Since it is a safety issue, it has been taken to a gunsmith.

Thanks everyone for their help.