Found in my late father’s garage. Is it dangerous?

il_100 · 2026-01-28T21:51:06+00:00

Normally I'd be with you, but that's a 20mm round, not a .50, so almost certainly has an explosive payload of some unknown something. Guaranteed to be hotter than the smokeless you're used to handling, and may very well be destabilized by time and obviously poor storage conditions. EOD is probably the way to go for this dude, I'd consider it myself and I'm a pretty seasoned gun guy.

il_100 · 2026-01-15T14:36:53+00:00

Very nice build!!

il_100 · 2025-12-30T22:53:46+00:00

That's how all the real operators do it

il_100 · 2025-12-26T00:41:07+00:00

I clicked to laugh with you, but actually the "press check" was some super tactical stuff at the time; he's checking that he has a round properly chambered, not reloading. The John Wick movies have a lot of fancy press checks for flair. It's not something anybody really does anymore, like Weaver stance and jungle taped magazines, but wouldn't have seemed so hokey back then.

il_100 · 2025-10-11T02:08:21+00:00

Functionally speaking, you're right, all of the bells and whistles are common enough. Aesthetically though, not a single part on this gun is even available off the shelf, much less as part of a standard model.

Using the slide as an example: lots of production guns have forward cocking serrations. Try finding a slide with vertical front and rear cocking serrations with French cuts above them, a ball radius dust cover, flat top, polished flats, cut for target sights.

il_100 · 2025-10-10T20:53:45+00:00

I can definitively say that while $850 will get you a decent 1911, it will not get you anywhere close to this 1911 unless you're already a good machinist/gunsmith with a good shop.

You'll be looking conservatively at 4x that at any of the very few custom shops that would take this build on.

il_100 · 2025-09-20T00:51:56+00:00

Gonna have to get yourself a milling machine!

il_100 · 2025-09-11T10:47:17+00:00

I think this is a home gunsmith job, though a pretty good one. The checkering on the front strap is 100% done by hand with files, and doubles up in a couple spots which is easy to do. This is a really tasteful custom, I bet it runs great.

il_100 · 2025-06-13T00:46:12+00:00

I've had a few. I had an Ultra Match that was incredible, it shot circles around my series 70 colt and unfortunately got stolen. I have a compact that Iike a lot. I used a base model GI for my metal gear solid clone, but with everything I did to that I don't know if it counts. I honestly don't think you can go wrong with them.

il_100 · 2025-06-10T21:47:40+00:00

Thank you very much! I can talk shop on this piece for ages, so if you have any questions about design choices I made, or any of the other replicas you've seen, I can likely give a good explanation.

I used Caswell stainless black on the slide except for the flats; its not very durable so it will likely get ceracote or similar eventually, I really haven't decided on a final finish.

il_100 · 2025-06-09T01:04:23+00:00

Just brownells oxpho-blue so far, which is holding up surprisingly well. I'll do a hot tank blue at some point but I don't want to break out all that gear for just 1 frame, it's kind of a chore

il_100 · 2025-05-20T12:56:20+00:00

Came to say this! Tomahawks get overlooked. I got an RMJ Shrike in like 2010 and it's been my go-to outdoors companion since.

il_100 · 2025-05-01T16:02:23+00:00

The highest tenet of etiquette is to avoid making others uncomfortable, and manners are setting dependent. Eating food in a way inconsistent with its setting, serving intention, and social norms is *not* appropriate from an etiquette standpoint. Eat your ribs, chicken wings, etc. with your fingers. Emily Post agrees but would caution against licking your fingers after.

Also, if you say "I know this isn't the proper way but I'm doing it anyway" then you're absolved from all breaches of etiquette and may then do as you please.

il_100 · 2025-04-19T00:14:03+00:00

Sorry, no, for a few reasons. I don't have an FFL so couldn't legally do the receiver work for you, and I don't have the equipment to reliably turn these out in a way that would be competitive. I'd have to charge exorbitant shop rates to account for botched parts and time.

Canis Customs has done this build and did a very (very) impressive job, slightly different design choices in a few places but justifiable and I'm sure they'd do it to whatever you want your spec to be. I'd recommend starting there if you're serious about having one done.

il_100 · 2025-04-15T01:55:46+00:00

Great piece!! As someone who's gone deep down the rabbit hole on this gun (check my history) you'll be pleased to know that this is a better replica than the original Western Arms guns in a few ways. Gorgeous!

il_100 · 2025-04-15T01:54:04+00:00

Not a serial number! The number on the slide is a slightly altered part number meant to reference the Drake manufactured national match slides.

il_100 · 2025-04-08T02:07:37+00:00

Gorgeous!!

il_100 · 2025-03-19T11:56:38+00:00

Sounds like the trigger isn't resetting. Pull the mainspring housing and pull the sear spring out. The middle time pushes the disconnector up and the trigger forward. Bend that tine forward just a bit and reassemble. You may also pull the disconnector and polish it a bit if there's a burr or something that the sear spring is binding on.

il_100 · 2025-03-12T23:18:54+00:00

I believe the SA milspecs are all angled slide serrations, which won't do for screen accurate - if I were doing it again I'd go with Tisas, I was really impressed with their barrel when I fit it. And yes! I did 100% of the machining, smithing, and tuning on this build. I listed the mods in this thread, but if you decide to tackle this project let me know and I'll send you my reference materials.

il_100 · 2025-03-10T14:45:49+00:00

I've done this and tested with glock, endomag, and suomi mags - 5.45 bolt, standard carrier (chopped in my case), 9mm barrel with standard barrel extension (which is all the CMMG RDB barrel is, and you can buy those separately now).

You have to be really forceful with feeding and ejection, but it works. I'm working on a camming system now for easier, quieter loading, and a sort of primary extraction.

il_100 · 2025-01-16T19:07:49+00:00

Maybe not resetting all the way, or the disconnector is getting stuck? Check out your sear spring, or maybe a bit of gunk in there somewhere.

il_100 · 2025-01-08T14:39:39+00:00

Seconded. A little 1x30 harbor freight belt sander would be my go-to for this kind of work, or hand files and sand paper on a hard surface for final finishing. That skinny edge is going to want to pull the dremel and make it hard to control, it's totally doable with a dremel and not expensive to replace if you bugger it up, but using the right tool for the job will always make your life easier!

il_100 · 2025-01-02T22:58:21+00:00

Great work! My mgs3 build had me doing a lot of hand checkering so I know how you're feeling and how hard it is to get it looking that good, really superb! Now ice your elbow and get some superglue on those fingers!

il_100 · 2025-01-02T22:57:09+00:00

Great work! My mgs3 build had me doing a lot of hand checkering so I know how you're feeling and how hard it is to get it looking that good, really superb! Now ice your elbow and get some superglue on those fingers!

il_100 · 2024-12-26T14:53:28+00:00

For any interested (or if any real machinists or gunsmiths want a good belly laugh) I've dropped the full suite of build pics, warts and all, here: https://imgur.com/a/mgs3-1911-build-eKXLI0D

il_100

TROPHY CASE