I decided to assemble another 1911 recently. I've built on Wilson, Caspian, STI, as well complete pistols like Springfield, Colt, Para etc. and decided to try something new. I've been reading about Remsport so I decided to give them a try. I was able to get a government style frame and slide with novak sight cuts, front and rear serrations, serrated slide top, pre-fit frame and slide and 25lpi checkering for 370.00 so it was a pretty good deal. I know some big name 1911 smiths have used them so I wasn't too worried about the quality plus companies like Fusion, DW, and others source frames and slides from them. There are also very distinct similarities in these slides and frames and some other high end custom shops. When they arrived I was impressed with the overall quality. The frame and slide fit was almost there and a little bit of lapping compound got it the rest of the way with a very nice fit. Very few machine marks, my Wilson frame was worse. I'm not a big fan of the ejection port style but it's okay. The machine cut checkering did leave something to be desired. Don't order this kit if you want ready to go checkering. I've had to take a checkering needle file and take all the lines to depth and I lost several top lines because they just were not clean even cuts but it's starting to look good.
Frame and Slide:
After fitting the frame and slide I moved on to the beavertail. This frame came pre-cut with a .250 radius. I would rather cut the tangs myself to ensure a tight fit but this one wasn't cut that shallow. I used a Chip McCormick safety which is similar to an Ed Brown in installation. I used an Ed Brown single side safety.
The easiest beavertail to install is probably the S&A followed by the Wilson. The Ed Brown style requires quite a lot of frame removal and contouring and there is often little room for error. If you cut your frame too much when the safety is in the out position sometimes there is a gap so be careful. In the following somewhat blurry picture you can see one side is roughed in and one side is still stock.
Here is a close-up with the safety roughed in. From here you would just polish it out up to whichever degree of polish you want to get to. I generally take it to about 400 grit and beadblast and look for any remaining file/grinding marks. To be perfect you should also recontour your safety. You can see on the stock safety that about the bottom 1/3 is overhanging the new frame contour, this needs to be dressed back so the safety contour follows the new frame contour.
Before polishing:
After polishing:
I'll post more as I progress.
Frame and Slide:
After fitting the frame and slide I moved on to the beavertail. This frame came pre-cut with a .250 radius. I would rather cut the tangs myself to ensure a tight fit but this one wasn't cut that shallow. I used a Chip McCormick safety which is similar to an Ed Brown in installation. I used an Ed Brown single side safety.
The easiest beavertail to install is probably the S&A followed by the Wilson. The Ed Brown style requires quite a lot of frame removal and contouring and there is often little room for error. If you cut your frame too much when the safety is in the out position sometimes there is a gap so be careful. In the following somewhat blurry picture you can see one side is roughed in and one side is still stock.
Here is a close-up with the safety roughed in. From here you would just polish it out up to whichever degree of polish you want to get to. I generally take it to about 400 grit and beadblast and look for any remaining file/grinding marks. To be perfect you should also recontour your safety. You can see on the stock safety that about the bottom 1/3 is overhanging the new frame contour, this needs to be dressed back so the safety contour follows the new frame contour.
Before polishing:
After polishing:
I'll post more as I progress.
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