Frankenstein 2011
Posted: Thu Jun 27, 2019 9:32 am
I have a 9mm STI SteelMaster that I won at a match several years ago. I wanted to use the 2011 platform in pistol league competition, but the SteelMaster has a compensator and a red dot sight, both of which are banned in the league.
So, I bought a slide designed for a 5” barrel, but wanted a 6” barrel, just because I think the extra inch sticking out of the slide looks cool. You can buy two types of barrels for a 1911/2011 pistol; the “drop-in” type and the “must be fitted by an experienced gunsmith” type. I got the latter. I’ve been building 1911s for over 40 years, but never tried fitting a ramped match barrel.
I’ll tell you, fitting the new barrel into the slide and fitting both to the frame was a bitch.
“Experienced gunsmiths” who do this stuff for a living have all kinds of jigs and fixtures and milling machines to cut the barrel lugs precisely so they fit the slide and the frame. I have files. And a lot of patience.
I won’t bore you with the details, but there’s an enormous amount of assembly and disassembly and checking for “bright spots” that need to be filed down and super-careful filing. Once you remove metal, you’re not gonna be able to put it back. Also, I needed a “finish” chamber reamer to get the headspace just right after the barrel hood was fitted.
I installed the sights and hit the range.
At the range, the 1st two shots went into the same hole. Turns out, this is a very accurate pistol, so I must have done something right. That shot outside the top scoring ring is due to the fact that I’ve gotten used to shooting my XD, which has a long, 5 ½ lb trigger pull. The new Frankenstein/STI has a super-short 1 ¾ lb pull.
Anyway, after a couple of hundred rounds to break it in, the gun runs 100% and is a joy to shoot.
https://www.irista.com/gallery/6a8auiucnmhc
So, I bought a slide designed for a 5” barrel, but wanted a 6” barrel, just because I think the extra inch sticking out of the slide looks cool. You can buy two types of barrels for a 1911/2011 pistol; the “drop-in” type and the “must be fitted by an experienced gunsmith” type. I got the latter. I’ve been building 1911s for over 40 years, but never tried fitting a ramped match barrel.
I’ll tell you, fitting the new barrel into the slide and fitting both to the frame was a bitch.
“Experienced gunsmiths” who do this stuff for a living have all kinds of jigs and fixtures and milling machines to cut the barrel lugs precisely so they fit the slide and the frame. I have files. And a lot of patience.
I won’t bore you with the details, but there’s an enormous amount of assembly and disassembly and checking for “bright spots” that need to be filed down and super-careful filing. Once you remove metal, you’re not gonna be able to put it back. Also, I needed a “finish” chamber reamer to get the headspace just right after the barrel hood was fitted.
I installed the sights and hit the range.
At the range, the 1st two shots went into the same hole. Turns out, this is a very accurate pistol, so I must have done something right. That shot outside the top scoring ring is due to the fact that I’ve gotten used to shooting my XD, which has a long, 5 ½ lb trigger pull. The new Frankenstein/STI has a super-short 1 ¾ lb pull.
Anyway, after a couple of hundred rounds to break it in, the gun runs 100% and is a joy to shoot.
https://www.irista.com/gallery/6a8auiucnmhc
