This:
Has turned into:
I still have more profiling to do on the beavertail and thumb safeties, but they're functional.
Slide and mags show up today, so my use of abrasives has only just begun.
Once I get the frame/slide fit, then I'll take it to the mill and fit the barrel. I ordered a non-ramped frame just so I could get the pleasure of fitting the barrel to it. I realize that's kind of ironic since I ordered a drop-in barrel, but I didn't see any gunsmith fit barrels that didn't also need the chamber finish reamed, which means gages and reamers and all that business. The nowlin's have a good rep for fitting, and it's a great snap fit into the Mrs.' Springer (the lockup would actually be excellent if her slide/frame fit was tighter). Hopefully the STI slide will prove to be as good of combination.
The mix of infinity and STI trigger components is awesome. I'm not sure just how obscenely light the trigger is, but it's niiiiiice.
If I had to guess I'd say it's in the <3# range. Oldman's contender is lighter, but these are out of the box assembled components with zero break-in. I may end up bumping it up a little too. The only tuning I've done so far is getting the sear spring tweaked into position so it will actually stay on the sear. As it came, that leg was barely touching the sear and it would slip off after one pull.The Wilson full length guide rod is a bit of a disappointment. The surface of it was rough enough to require polishing in the lathe with steel wool before I even bothered trying the spring on it. I still need to clean up the plug ID, because as delivered the plug is rough enough to scratch the now polished rod.
The extended mag well was another surprise. I wasn't overly thrilled that I had to re-contour the bottom of the grip just to get the thing on. I suppose with the amount of people who just sand them smooth and grip tape them, they don't really care if it takes some sanding to get it on, but it became a no turning back proposition just to try it out. At least I like it.
Then there was the sanding the inside of the grip to make the bevels match, but I kind of figured that'd be part of the deal. I'm guessing I can flame polish the plastic to make it look pretty once I'm done removing material?So far I'm quite pleased with my decision to pursue this project. I love how the grip fits my hand. I still haven't decided on sights to use either.
