Ramblings and Such From Hunting Coyote

My Winchester model 70 in 30-06 likes .062 jump. It's an old one with the Mouser style action. I don't know what the newer ones are like, but I sure do like mine. I learned a lot with my last project, enough that I know there is a ton more to be learned and that I want to do some more studying on the 1911.
 
Around Christmas I told one of the teachers that my wife worked with that I would take care of her cows while she went to see her family. As she was showing me her cows and where they were fed and watered, she said something that I can identify with very well, I have more dreams for my cows than I have money to do it with. I always said I either have the time or the money but seldom at the same time. I got one (1911) at an inexpensive price and have been putting better internals in it as I can and learning as I go along so very much. I have been very fortunate to have Ed to help me along on here. But I am also finding that there is so much more that I want to know and have found that a couple of people that teach 1911 armorer's courses have written books on them as well. And that AGI has a short course as well. If I added up all of the school and other training that I have had it amazes me how many years of it, I have had. And every day still I am using some of it in my everyday life. Even the machining schools, the safety valve schools, the steam turbine schools all play a part in how I hunt, call and trap coyotes as well as all of the other aspects of my life, fifty years plus later. I am convinced that everything a person has had the chance to do and learn plays an important part in how they do things in their everyday lives, as well as the things that they do for enjoyment.
 
I've always wanted to build a 1911. Someday I suppose when time and funds allow but that's always the case lol.
Keep your eyes peeled for an older, used Springfield Armory 1911, the ones with the serial numbers that begin with "NM".
They are my preference for building a "custom" 1911.
They were made with slightly more metal in the wear surfaces such as frame and slide rails and the pin holes tend to be on the tight side.
They were more utilitarian than racy and tend not to be beat up when you find them.
I have built two 1911's with these and they were my primary carry weapons through a large part of my LE career.
My full-size had roughly 7,500-8,000 rounds of full power ammo through it before I put a Nowlin bushingless barrel in it. It is still tight and runs perfectly.
The other one is an Officers Model frame with a Commander slide and barrel giving me the slightly longer sight radius but the shorter butt which aids in concealment.

For students of the 1911, I highly recommend THE best first book to get is Jerry Kuhnhausen's 1911 Shop Manual.
You can buy it new on Amazon for just over $50 or go to Abe Books website and pick up a like-new copy for about $35.

Ed
 
Keep your eyes peeled for an older, used Springfield Armory 1911, the ones with the serial numbers that begin with "NM".
They are my preference for building a "custom" 1911.
They were made with slightly more metal in the wear surfaces such as frame and slide rails and the pin holes tend to be on the tight side.
They were more utilitarian than racy and tend not to be beat up when you find them.
I have built two 1911's with these and they were my primary carry weapons through a large part of my LE career.
My full-size had roughly 7,500-8,000 rounds of full power ammo through it before I put a Nowlin bushingless barrel in it. It is still tight and runs perfectly.
The other one is an Officers Model frame with a Commander slide and barrel giving me the slightly longer sight radius but the shorter butt which aids in concealment.

For students of the 1911, I highly recommend THE best first book to get is Jerry Kuhnhausen's 1911 Shop Manual.
You can buy it new on Amazon for just over $50 or go to Abe Books website and pick up a like-new copy for about $35.

Ed
Ed, thank you for those tips. I will definately keep an eye out for those Springfield models and try to find that book. I've always kinda been a Springfield fan anyway as thier striker fired options have always pointed and shot well for me. The 1911 game has always been a high dollar thing around this area. If you ever go to a gun sale or LGS there's always certain things that you just know will bring top dollar, whether they should or not lol. ANYTHING 1911, ANY nylon 66, and many more will always go silly. Probably why I haven't got in the game yet lol.
 
Pawn shops in certain towns in my area have good pricing on pistols that haven't been fired or very little use. A lot of people in these areas want a good pistol but are on fixed income so when they get their checks, they will buy one, and maybe a box of ammo. Then they pawn it to pay their bills and sometimes just to get food till the next pay day. It's sad but reality. I also will be looking for the Springfield Armory in an Officers size, with the NM prefix. I looked at that book a while back the copy I looked at was pretty pricy a little over 100.00 so I will look for it in a better place.
 
Pawn shops in certain towns in my area have good pricing on pistols that haven't been fired or very little use. A lot of people in these areas want a good pistol but are on fixed income so when they get their checks, they will buy one, and maybe a box of ammo. Then they pawn it to pay their bills and sometimes just to get food till the next pay day. It's sad but reality. I also will be looking for the Springfield Armory in an Officers size, with the NM prefix. I looked at that book a while back the copy I looked at was pretty pricy a little over 100.00 so I will look for it in a better place.
My go-to for searching for a book is the website https://www.abebooks.com/ .
You name it, someone is selling a copy of it.
Be careful, if you like to read, that site is extremely addictive and can get really expensive! 😁

Ed
 
This is the perfect example of what this site is about people helping people. I'm as they told me a long time ago getting ten pounds of information to put in my five-pound sock. I love all of the assistance and very useful information. Yes, I could see where my reading addiction could be a disadvantage on that site lol.
 
I found one in good condition used for 37.00 delivered to my door, the pages are all good just the outside shows some wear. Having put good quality parts in the 1911 I decided to look at the less expensive ones and play with them. I set them up and marked the areas where they meet each other, with my sharpie, then got one of my good quality ceramic stones out and polished those areas. I was completely amazed at how not flat and rough they were in those areas. Not being as hard as I thought they would be, I can see where they wouldn't last a lifetime of use other than for an occasional shooter. After polishing them I put them back in the frame just to check them out and how they functioned and was impressed with it. The learning has continued I have found some ways to make assembly and disassembly easier and better. Some of the functions can be checked without completely assembling the grip safety. Putting the thumb safety on makes it easier to remove the recoil spring end cap. Putting the sear spring in and sliding the main spring housing in part way to hold it in place on the sear and disconnector helps with the rest of the assembly. So many of the things that are part of the other crafts and trades apply, especially pride in craftsmanship. This all applies to the art and craft of predator control especially the pride in craftsmanship part, I don't know how many times I have been told that's just being too nit-picky it doesn't matter that much, probably not till you have to kill one that is well trained because the other person didn't think it mattered to be picky. But then that's just me and why I keep visiting with others to see how they do things.
 
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