The Gunsmithy Blog: Indian 1911

There is a certain level of fear and trepidation that proceeds handing off a project. I feel like a certain level of familiarity and intimacy with the firearms that I work on. A month or so of working there is a wave of emotions that go into customizing a piece. There's usually some pain and anguish, a little blood and tears and a great sense of accomplishment. Plus there's the not wanting to give the gun up when it comes time (I may have a gun hoarding problem). The most recent project has come and gone however, and it left the receiver of the pistol absolutely speechless.

The 1911 was patterned to imitate the recipient's Indian motorcycle and it caused me to go through with a laundry list of modifications to a 1911 that I had never done before and I would like to say that there is room for improvement as well as a lot of successful operations to draw from after this project.

The big one is the paint job, this is the second attempt at a red DuraCoat finish. The first attempt required me to strip it all down, re-parkerize the frame and then repaint it all. DuraCoat, surprise surprise, is a pretty tough finish and does not like it when you ask it nicely to be removed. The final coat looks good though and it matches the same color as the motorcycle, so accomplished that task.

Another big new step was adding texturing to the front strap of the grips, which was accomplished with a file. After the horizontal lines were cut in I realized it actually liked it more then the average checkering job.