Have a Fed Ord. aluminum frame 45. These frames were made by (for) Fed Ord & the rest of the gun was mostly GI parts. These parts seem to be “fitted” rather dramatically to make them work in the gun. The frame has several casting flaws on the inside including a small cavity (hollow spot) along the rails. To top it off the back of this frame broke off behind the thumb safety! The underside of the slide if very battered. In my opinion this pistol is junk, unsafe to shoot & not repairable. The one option I can think of is to get a 2 conversion slide & mag. the broken section could be epoxied or brazed in place & the “Ceiner” type 22 conversion installed. The owner is a very good friend and or it would end up with me. I doubt I would recommend this for an unknown customer what do you think?
I am not a fan of aluminum in guns. Some are designed well and it is not a problem i.e. Sig frames. Others it isn’t as critical for wear and tear i.e. Rem 870 trigger housings. But 1911’s should have steel as you well know or know now, and Fed Ord isn’t the best of quality. A .22 conversion would work fine but be aware that you still may have problems as the holes for pins are not where they should be, the rails as you mention could be (probably are) way off and you may have to do some serious work to make the whole thing operate correctly. I would not solder or glue the broken part just tell the customer what he has and what his options are. When you fit the .22 slide and parts to the gun do all the work on the frame that way you won’t be altering the slide and making it inoperable with a different frame down the line.
Reply:
I had not thought about the pin holes being way off & no doubt you are right. Fitting and or modifying the frame, not the conversion parts is great advice. This is how I will proceed if I go through with this. This project was a last resort to regain something from a junk gun.
Thanks for your help
Answer:
I think it is great to salvage a gun. Just don’t go overboard, there is a happy medium.
