1911 slide measuring jig

[KevinD]

I took Bob Marvel's 1911 class at Montgomery Community College, Troy, NC last summer. One of the most impressive (ok, I'm easy) things was the way he measured the frame and slide for fitting. He had a dovetail jig to go between the slide slots so one could take a measurement and file/sand/cut the frame rails to fit with 0.002" clearance. Since last summer I'd tried to noodle out making one of his jigs when I hit on a great way to cheat using a size "C" adjustable parallel. That's the one that measures 11/16-15/16". Simply mill the edges to 0.100" wide x 0.080" (+/-) . I plan on putting a thumb screw in the binding hole and maybe some small socket head screws near the wide ends to make adjustments easier.

I've tried adding a couple of pic's, we'll see how it works )

 

[pdentrem]

Made a similar piece for mine as well. It was one piece and had the screw to push against the top of the slide to get my dimensions. Worked great.
Pierre

 

[KevinD]

Pierre,

Interesting idea to bind the jig against, I'm supposing, the disconnector 'rail' or farther forward to contact the slide lugs and top? I'm wondering what the advantage is there? Mainly because in measuring the inside of the slide grooves I find there needs to be a certain amount of slip so one can get the parallel out an measure the width. Looking to improve on an idea ) thanks

 

[pdentrem]

I can not remember where but it was pushing the plate up towards you, or if held in shooting position down to the bottom of the groove. As the bottom surface of the slide had uneven wear I wanted to basically find the lowest spot and then bring the rest of the bottom surface to that same datum. Then I had the reciever rails tig with little pads that filled the area at the top of the groove and then set everything into a good fit. I ended lowering the slide down to the bottom of the grooves and the slide runs with minimal play. If I remember right, I took about .007" out of the frt and more than that at the rear. It is an old armoury gun. Made of a collection of parts, Colt and Ithaca. It rattled more than a maraca!
Pierre

 

[KevinD]

I can not remember where but it was pushing the plate up towards you, or if held in shooting position down to the bottom of the groove. As the bottom surface of the slide had uneven wear I wanted to basically find the lowest spot and then bring the rest of the bottom surface to that same datum. Then I had the reciever rails tig with little pads that filled the area at the top of the groove and then set everything into a good fit. I ended lowering the slide down to the bottom of the grooves and the slide runs with minimal play. If I remember right, I took about .007" out of the frt and more than that at the rear. It is an old armoury gun. Made of a collection of parts, Colt and Ithaca. It rattled more than a maraca!
Pierre

Ha! they are a good ol' gun, plinker or target.