New to me 1914 Government Model "Resto" Project

[Mexican Kerry]

Picked this old pony up recently and it arrived today. Its a 1914 Gov't Model, its got all the features I like in a 1911 pattern pistol and none of the extra stuff I DON'T like.





Its not mint, its not pretty. But all the mods its had done are reversable. And as luck would have it, I've got almost all the parts sitting here to bring it back to its original configuration. I don't have the correct barrel and grips, but I've got reasonable facsimiles that will do until I source out the proper bits.



Here are a few pics with one of my other '14 Gov't pistols. Just a comparison to show the subtle changes I'm making.

Trigger is wrong, new pistol on right. It should have a solid long trigger. This will be remedied soon, a short trigger on a 1911 is for cavemen.



The slide stop on the new one compared to the old one: a type 1 piece should have a checkered "shelf", not the upswept radius seen here on the top pistol:



Grip safety: this is a point of contention for me. A lot of folks complain about hammer bite with non-beavertail grip safeties. Here's the deal: you're doing it wrong. The 1911 should have a small profile spur. Anything more is just a snag point. Proper grip safety shown on upper pistol (yes I know the frame spurs are shortened and radiused but I blame the previous owner)



Another thing I will be changing is the mainspring housing. This one came with an "improved" arched unit, but it will shortly be fitted with a nice blued original flat unit (original on the left).





Before Cranky jumps on me for "parts-swapping", I'd like to say this: its all about the correct parts with these old pistols. The beauty of it is that a 1911 is all about parts swapping. Yes I know there is some fitting with some stuff but the basics are pretty easy. Not trying to give away trade secrets of the 'smiths but most things ARE actually drop in on a 1911. Might get some flak for saying it but its true. At least to get it to function properly. Anything else is not rocket science.

*Disclaimer to keep smiths from getting pissed. You all are better than me at getting these to run like a Swiss watch, and you need a qualified gent like Cranky to do that. I'm strictly talking about putting it together so its correct and goes bang haha.

[Mexican Kerry]

Started parts swapping. Not too complicated, just undoing screws and banging on parts with a hammer and punch.

Here's my collection of parts that has been waiting for a project like this:



Easy peesy, grip safety and msh. Simple task of drifting out pin and swapping. Took longer to find my msh pin tool than it did to do the swap haha. I just swapped the mainspring and pins into new housing (these seriously aren't important, as long as the hammer drops you're good to go)





Note: fire control parts are functioning fine, grip safety is engaging/disengaging as it should.

[guncrank1]

*Disclaimer to keep smiths from getting pissed. You all are better than me at getting these to run like a Swiss watch, and you need a qualified gent like Cranky to do that. I'm strictly talking about putting it together so its correct and goes bang haha.


Biggest BS statement on KAC yet

Looks good CanadianBeanDip

[1fastmach1]

Pretty slick pistola. I like the original used look it has. It should look even better after you swap a few things out as you have mentioned.


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[Mexican Kerry]

Hell, that's High Praise from the Crankster! I feel so proud!

[shelbygoat]

knowing very little about a 1911, I liked you shot some pictures comparing the two different ones

[Mexican Kerry]

Frame actually looks pretty good. Little bit of discoloration but all in all pretty good shape for 100 years old.

[Mexican Kerry]

knowing very little about a 1911, I liked you shot some pictures comparing the two different ones

My "old" one was a complete dog. Its been buffed and polished, and the original owner's name/rank/etc was engraved on it. Its very smooth, with some matte on the top rounds of the slide. The thing is, the very early pistols have a really distinct look and profile. Sharp edges and very precise contours.

I like it because of the provenance I've tracked on it. The named owner was a British ex-pat engineer who joined up for the Great War. It was kind of a status thing to go to war then in Canada, we were (and I guess we still are) a colony of the British Empire. A pistol was not so much a fighting tool for them, it was a mark of rank, sort of a hold over from the European heirarchy you could still see in WW2.

[Mexican Kerry]

Plus, my dad is an historian. I guess I get it from him haha. We're all about the details!

[Mexican Kerry]

So, pulled the front sight. As I suspected by the loss of bluing on the slide, some dumb shit used heat and brazing to install the patridge type front unit. Some people shouldn't be allowed to work on guns.

I understand the practical side of customizing, and I also understand the way of thinking. Who would have known these things would end up being collectible?

Still irks me though. I knew it wasn't perfect when I bought it but its still a piss off. Gonna have to do some fine tuning to get rid of this mess and fit the new sight. Dust off the files and try not to scuff up the slide too bad. Look at the pics I've posted, this is bascally an 80-85% pistol but for the bluing loss on the slide. Might not sound like anything important but we're talking about the difference between a $600 pistol and a $1500 pistol. All because of some loser with a torch and a brass rod.


\

For all you rookie 1911 types, if you want to put a new sight on an old pistol, there are a few absolute do's and dont's.

Modify the small and cheap part. Don't modify the slide (big part). Easier to replace the small part than the big one.

Don't use heat. Old finishes are susceptible to this, you are opening a can of worms.

An old 1911 has a staked front sight. Melting butter into it to hold it in place isn't a good choice. Do it like the old timers did it. A mechanical connection is best. Fitted and staked. No finish loss, no extra material for a dude like me to remove.

[Mexican Kerry]

Refinished and polished (left) vs untouched (right)



Blended lines on the left, crisp on the right. This is how an original 1911/Gov't Mdl should be.

[Mexican Kerry]

Punched out rear sight too. Used an old leather glove in the vise to protect the slide. I have a solid piece of leather for clamping stuff but it must have gone into hiding like my humble supply of 1911-specific tools.



I couldn't find my brass punches amidst the whisky bottles and various sundry, so I grabbed a Chinese cold chisel and brass hammer. I don't like aftermarket sights so I won't lose sleep over marring it.

[Mexican Kerry]

Next pics to come are the money shots, all my small parts bolted together to make a reasonable copy of the original as John Moses Browning intended,

[guncrank1]

An old 1911 has a staked front sight. Melting butter into it to hold it in place isn't a good choice. Do it like the old timers did it. A mechanical connection is best. Fitted and staked. No finish loss, no extra material for a dude like me to remove.

It is called staked for a reason

[Mike]

Damn you make me proud......

[Mexican Kerry]

Well I didn't leave for work yet, so figured I'd continue with the project. Once again, here is the slide after front sight removal:



I taped off the surface of the slide to protect it as much as possible while I removed the brazing. I used a couple of small files to dress it. once it was cleaned up it revealed more of the previous "work", looks like they used a file to clean up after brazing. Slide is gouged along sides of sight.





New sight fitted, still see the gouges but its coming along.







Tenon needs trimming and slide needs relief before staking. Apparently my dad still hasn't returned my staking tool so it'll have to wait.



I don't like the discoloration from the brazing, but not going to reblue the whole slide. It wouldn't match the frame and would lose that old Colt blue. I don't have the resources to duplicate it, and neither do any of the smiths around these parts.

I used some BC cold blue to touch it up, not perfect but I think its a heck of a lot better.

[Mexican Kerry]

I also did the rear sight this morning. I took an old beat up GI sight from the parts bin, and tried to duplicate the profile of a really early version. Rounded "u" notch, and rounded the corners. Again, not perfect, but a reasonable facsimile until I can figure out how to import some proper repros from Cylinder and Slide (hint hint).

[Mexican Kerry]

So here's the almost finished product, mostly reassembled. Can't install the barrel and bushing until the front sight is staked and trimmed, but this is basically what it should look like when its done.





And side by side with one of my other 1914 Gov't Models. Both survivors, neither is perfect. But I've done what I can to restore them to as close as original as I can.

[1fastmach1]

Nice work. The more I look at these, the more it makes me want an older colt.


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[SSGBPowell]

Great save. I like the work you did. The finish around the front sight looks great in the pictures. You will be the only one to notice the change when you show it off. Great looking pistol. I hope to find an old warhorse like yours. All of my 1911s have been modified to the point of no return.

[irishrob]

I've been trying to buy this from a guy at work. He doesn't know what to do with it & not sure if he wants to keep it or not. Hopefully one of these days he'll let go of it.

[Mexican Kerry]

All of my 1911s have been modified to the point of no return.

Nothing is too butchered to fix, just depends on how much you want to spend haha.

This old Argentine contract Colt went from this:



to this:



And my old beat up Ithaca went from having the dust cover shortened, a couple holes drilled in the front strap, lowered and flared ejection port, and slide milled front and back for Millett sights to this:

[Mexican Kerry]

I've been trying to buy this from a guy at work.

Keep at it, maybe he'll cave. It looks like it has been heavily polished and reblued, but it still looks like a nice pistol. But I wouldn't give him premium price for it. Do your research on what a WW1 M1911 goes for. If its refinished its value is cut considerably.

But it also depends on how bad he wants to sell (and how bad you want to buy).