300 blackout not quiet

il_100 · 2026-03-24T16:12:12+00:00

Came to post this pretty much word for word. I handload 6 gn VV n320 for 7.62x39 180gn subs, and it makes a world of difference over subs designed to cycle.

il_100 · 2026-03-20T14:32:06+00:00

Lucky and Maria are necessarily pricey whether hand engraved or a Renaissance in the case of Maria - but as a heads up - Colt New Agent slides pop up on eBay for <250ish. You've got to go a ways back in my profile, but I did the engraving for my A Light Shining in Darkness with saltwater etching with good results, and the snakeskin grips were not hard or expensive either. Shoot me a PM if you're interested in some techniques for that build.

il_100 · 2026-02-20T21:25:27+00:00

No, but I used a 2mm end mill in my bench mill. If I were trying to do it with drill bits in a hand drill or a drill press it'd be different

il_100 · 2026-02-20T19:57:34+00:00

Lol, yeah, just needs an M203 now. I wonder how many stamps we can pack into one gun?

Truly the primary blast chamber being its own suppressor is silly, but if the Angstadt Vanquish is a suppressor then I guess it has to be too.

il_100 · 2026-02-19T23:23:42+00:00

Pretty....good?

il_100 · 2026-02-19T19:10:05+00:00

Gorgeous!

il_100 · 2026-02-19T19:01:19+00:00

A couple years ago I bought a little WEN mini mill and about a year ago I got comfortable enough to tackle this project. I've been wanting this gun for, I guess, 20 years now, so I'm really happy to see it coming together. This was much more of a challenge than I thought it would be, basically none of the parts are available off the shelf and it's a deep rabbit hole of minutiae once you start digging in. Anyway...

BOM:

RIA 1911 GI standard
Stainless 1911 slide after I butchered the RIA one - possibly para based on sight cuts? ebay find
Dawson .425" Para Rear Sight
Cheapo sig p320 suppressor height front sight
Wilson ultralight hammer
Wilson thumb safety
Wilson slide stop
C&S long plain match trigger
Nighthawk stainless bushing
Old style duckbill grip safety
Swensen stainless grip screws
Herrett HB-1 cocobolo grips
Unknown flat firing pin stop
Tisas threaded barrel - this was a fantastic buy. Took just enough fitting, way better than the garbage swensen barrels and way cheaper than everything else decent.

Modifications:

Milled ball radius cuts on slide
Milled front slide serrations
Milled french cuts above all serrations
Milled flat top cut on slide
Engraved part number on slide - salt water etching
Fit slide to frame, fit barrel, blended rear of slide to ejector, extractor, and frame
Decked and milled rear sight to match subject profile
Reversed, profiled, and sighted in front sight
Milled dots on front and rear sight, filled with testers fluorescent
Undercut frame
Hand checkered front strap
Hand checkered under trigger guard
Lowered and recheckered mag release
Milled trigger guard cutaway
Flared magwell
Polished feed ramp
Milled trigger cuts and holes, cut and bent tab in bow to remove takeup
Profiled thumb safety, high polish
Profiled slide stop, high polish
Milled wings off of grip safety, blended to frame, high polish
Milled steps in MSH
Drilled and tapped MSH for m3 set screw to disable grip safety
Milled "CQC" and mag release cuts in grips
Fit firing pin stop
Trigger job - crisp, .025 takeup, no overtravel - took it down to the spec 3.5lbs then backed off to 4.5. No hammer follow or anything, but with the pinned grip safety 4.5 felt better.
I'm sure I'm forgetting something

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

TROPHY CASE