1911 slide and frame fitting

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  • AllenM

    Diamond Collision Inc. Avon.
    Industry Partner
    Rating - 100%
    132   0   0
    Apr 20, 2008
    10,387
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    Avon
    Post of the day, I have a 1911 build to do and wanted to share the process I use to mate the slide and frame.

    It starts with taking several measurements to determine amount of material to remove from the rails and in this case the frame had to be decked down a little.
    STI Frame and Caspian Slide
    Finding the slide rail height cut:

    I take measurements from multiple areas to check for consistency. The slide rails averaged .119 while the frame opening for the rails was .112. A .007 difference that needed to be shaved off the bottom of the slide.









    Next is to find the slide width in comparison to the frame rail width. I use this adjustable block to find the inside dimension of the slide.







    Then the frame width. Only about .002 difference



    Then I like to cut the width first. The Frame gets set up and indicated to make sure it is parallel to the cutter. I also like to make certain the dust cover is parallel to the rails. Nothing I hate more then a slide that rubs on the frame dust cover. This frame was very nice as far as the rails and dust cover being symmetrical.
    That is not always the case.









    Now to find center of the barrel lug releif and then compre to outer rails to make sure that the lug cut is centered.





    Left side measurement



    As you can see the right side is .0026 wider then the left side, therefore I will only remove the .002 needed from the right side and it will be almost perfectly centered to the barrel lug relief.





    Picture of a cutter




    After cutting



    Next is to index the slide for cutting.



    then remove excess material



    After removing metal and the frame just starts to fit it is time to stone it the rest of the way



    I did have to relieve the deck on the frame a couple thousandths but did not take any pics.

    nice no binding and no rattling

    [video=youtube;pOr-pfWPDhY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOr-pfWPDhY[/video]
     
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