Thinking of building one

[jonny4523]

I don't have to the money to get a new Kimber like I would really like to do. So I'm thinking about building one. I know a ton of people have done it. Where would be the best place to get parts? Think a good build would be possible for around $300?

[Cannibul]

I hate to tell you but there is no way you are going to do any type of quality build for $300.

And building a 1911 is not the easiest thing in the world. And building a quality one is much much harder. There are some specialized tools needed to properly build a 1911. And getting those tools is a big chunk of your $300 budget. And there is the matter of using quality parts. Caspian frames and slides come to mind.

I have seen tons of 1911 frame pistols that the tabletop "gunsmith" built/worked on. All of them had problems.

I currently own one that some hack worked on and added parts to. It does go bang every time you squeeze the trigger but it does have this bad habit of shooting about 6" low at 10 yards.

I'm going to find a decent smith here in Oregon and have some work done on it.

Personally if you want a Kimber (God knows why) save your money and buy one. Or take a look at the SA Loaded series. Awesome pistols for the money.

[actionflies]

For $300 you can get a used RIA 1911.

[ElrodCod]

$300 won't even get you the frame & slide. You'll end up spending more on the parts than a good ready made gun costs.

[saltysquid]

The worst reason to build one is because of money. Building a 1911 is a great project, but the only to do it cheaply is to use a bunch of sarco parts and then you will have one that is cheap made and cost more than an ria.

The reason to build one is the satisfaction of building your own and if you use good parts it will cost more than a production one. I'm not saying don't build one, but don't do it for the reason you state.