1911 TACTICAL PISTOLSMITHING SCHOOL 

Total school package (Pistol, Parts, Tools & Tuition) $2,492.27 for Fremont, Nebraska and $2,792.27 for Out of State.   

1911 Tactical Pistolsmithing School 

This is a three day hands on class and is designed to teach the student specific modifications that would be commonly found in a modern high quality tactical model 1911.  Students will receive instruction in basic operating function of the 1911 style pistol through each individual part design and function in relationship to other parts during the firing cycle.  Instruction and hands on skills will cover basic maintenance through complete preparation of a pistol with the installation of the proper premium after market accessory parts needed to produce a high quality tactical pistol.  

The following subjects will be covered in class. 

1.   Safety

i. Shop work safety rules

ii. Series 80 System

2.   Internal Polish and Deburr of all Critical Areas

i.    Slide

ii.    Frame

3.   Ejection Port Modifications

4.   Beavertail Grip Safeties, Installation of 

5.   Fitting Standard or Ambidextrous Thumb Safeties to the Frame and Grips

6.   Fitting the extractor

7.   Barrels

i.    Fitting the barrel link

ii. Fitting a barrel bushing for accuracy and reliability

iii.      Throating the Barrel & Frame

iv.   Barrel Crowning

8.  Triggers

i.    Fitting the trigger to the frame

ii. Trigger Pulls

9.   Sight Fitting, Basic

10.  Recoil Spring Weights and Their Function

11.  Carry Beveling the Complete 1911 Pistol

12.  Magazine Well Beveling

13.  Proper Lubrication of the 1911

1. Ambidextrous Thumb Safeties will only be covered if at least one student in the class chooses that option.

2. These topics while part of the curriculum may be presented as a “demo only” due to time constraints. 

Cylinder and Slide will provide all tools and parts to build your pistol in this class other than a few items that students are required to supply. 

All work will be performed on a Springfield Mil-Spec M1911A1 that will be provided through us. 

Students will have a choice of either a Standard Thumb Safety or Ambidextrous Thumb Safety.  Amby Safeties are available at an additional cost of $20.80. 

The pistol you build during the class would cost you approximately $1800.00 if we were to build it for you. 

Student Options:

Optivisor-

This is a Headband Magnifier that provides 1¾X at 14” magnification.  Greatly aids in detail type work especially for older eyes.  This is a standard item in our Custom Pistolsmithing Classes but is offered as an option in this class.  Additional cost is $45.95. 

We guarantee that you will get your money's worth in this course. If we need to work for 9-10 hours a day in order to cover everything, that is what we will do. 

We will need to transfer your pistol to an FFL Dealer after it is finished.  Please have your local Dealer send us an FFL noting that it is for you. We will send our FFL with the gun so he will have a copy.  Please contact us for further details. 

School Requirements 

Kuhnhausen's Shop Manuals Vol I & Vol II on the 45 is highly recommended (but not required) as a primer to this course.  There are many good general pistolsmithing tips and techniques contained in these books. This will give you a good base to start from.  Vol II contains drawings of the various parts of the 1911 with dimensions included. This information will be invaluable in trouble shooting the various problems encountered when you start to work on a pistol that has had previous work done and does not function properly. Cylinder & Slide, Inc. has both of these books available for sale.  

It is highly recommended that each student practice filing before they attend this class.  You will be file fitting almost every part on your pistol.  You must be able to handle the file to fit your parts correctly. You need to get a small odd shaped piece of cold rolled soft steel from your local machine shop. Take your file and try your best to file a perfect cube from the piece of steel. The cube only needs to be about 1" square. This will teach you to file straight and true to another surface. If you learn to file before you arrive, you will have much more time to learn the subject matter rather than concentrating on learning to file. For more information on filing see our web site at www.cylinder-slide.com under technical information, click on "An introduction to filing." 

As part of this class you will purchase all parts and tools to build your pistol from Cylinder & Slide.  The reason we require the student to purchase all the parts and tools from us is because it would be impossible to teach six students with six different tools to do the same job. This would cause a time delay that we cannot afford.  There is more course material to teach than there is time to teach it in.   It's sort of like trying to put 10 pounds of "STUFF" in a 5 pound sack to teach this much course material in 3 days.  

Items to be supplied by the student

(Please bring the following items with you the first day of class) 

1.   Cleaning rod and patches for 45 Auto

2.   Roll of 1" wide masking tape

3.   Safety glasses with side shields

4.   Mini Mag flashlight

5.   Shop towels (Minimum 4)

6.   Cotton gloves

7.   Black magic marker

8.   Crescent wrench, 4" or 6"

9.   Paper type dust mask  

10.  Old long sleeve shirt to protect arms from metal chips

11.  Sharp pointed scissors (not your wife’s good sewing scissors)

12.  Small needle nose pliers 

Variable speed Dremel or Foredom tool with 1/8" collet.

(If you are using a  tool with flexible shaft you must bring the tool hanging stand on which to hang your power tool.  This stand must clamp to the bench.)NO Battery Powered DREMEL Tools are allowed in class. 

3/8" High speed variable speed drill (must have a trigger lock button).  We highly recommend the Hitachi Model D10VH available through Lowe's or Home Depot. 

Dial Caliper _ must be made of steel, not plastic, electronic okay but not recommended.

(Please do not purchase inexpensive steel calipers designed for reloading use.  We have found that they are not accurate for our use and tend to come apart.  We recommend you purchase 6" Starrett dial caliper for approximately $125.00 or 6" Mitutoyo caliper for approximately $100.00.  If you are unable to find these let us know and we will purchase them for you.) 

Polishing Sticks:

                 3/8" x 7"   Mild Steel Rod with 1½" long slot cut in one end, centered

                 1/8" x 3"   Mild Steel Rod with ½" long slot cut in one end, centered

                  3/16" x 3" Mild Steel Rod with ¾" long slot cut in one end, centered               

The Mild Steel Rods can be purchased at any hardware store or from Brownell's.  You will need to cut the slots yourself before you come to class as we will not have time in class to do this.                

The following pricing does not include transportation, lodging or meals.  

Total school package (Pistol, Parts, Tools & Tuition) is $2,366.85 for Fremont, Nebraska and $2,666.85 for Out of State. 

Classes that are taught Out of State will have additional shipping charges which are not included in the above pricing.  This is to cover the cost of shipping the school package to the out of state school site. 

A $500.00 deposit is required to hold a class spot which is due at time of class sign up.   We will need to have final payment before class starts.  You can make payments monthly if you wish so as not to hurt the pocketbook all at once.  Just call and let us know.    

 

Cancellation/Refund Policy  

If you register for the class and then are unable to attend the following will apply:  

1.   If you cancel more than 45 days from the start of the class we will refund your $500.00 deposit.

2.   If you cancel in less than 45 days of the course starting date, your $500.00 deposit on the course fee may not be refundable. We will try to fill your slot with another student so that you can get a refund, but we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.  If we are unable to fill your spot then your deposit is non-refundable. 

If you are unable to attend at this time, but would like us to advise you of future course dates, please let us know. You can contact me and I will put you on our contact list.