twong11219

Looks great. Not as bad as you expected right? Are they making carbon fiber clips now?

Thanks for showing me. I don't have much meat there so likely I feel it more than most ppl. I'll need to revisit my grip to see if I can reposition it. You have enough clearance to not get clipped by the slide rail?

Looking good Topher. Nice thing about DIY, do it the way you like it.

I find it that the point close to the tang on the left side is a bit sharp and recoil would just jab it into my knuckle. I'm a righty. Maybe I need to do a meltdown treatment to that area. Looking for a 2011 right now but that was the first thing I noticed from my friend. He has the same issue.

The lightening holes and serrations are kind of a trademark style for Brazos. My question is regarding the beavertail. I see them often used. What's the benefits of the relief cuts on the sides? I'm use to the beavertail being the full width of the frame and find the relief cuts uncomfortable as it did into my thumb knuckle.

IC. That is a rare one then. Your journey was long, my friend, and the outcome looks great.

That's nice Spartiati. For 1.5 yrs hunting this down, would it not have been easier getting on LB's waiting list? Does he not make this configuration anymore?

You're not wrong on that. All variants will do the same thing, but some will have a slight advantage over the other. I couldn't imagine wielding a 26" match bull barrel rifle to a rifle stage. I'd be slapping the barrel into barricades or walls or my times would be slower because there's so many more inches to swing around not to mention weight. Sneakers and dress shoes do the same thing, but I'd pick up sneakers to do a 10k run any day.

I thought so too as my first one is a SR15. Figued it's good for mili, should be fine for anything i dish at it. My main purpose was for 3G competition. In the end, I found it quite heavy compared to my friend's Noveske. Aiming and transitioning is so much easier when the front end is lighter. My SR came with the URX 3.1 and an LMT Sopmod. Both one the heavier side compared to others on the market. It's fine for other purposes, but long range precision or run and gun is not it's strong suit. I'm not heavy stocked or very strong, so now, every oz I can shave off counts. Overall, I'm happy with it, but for the price I paid, there were a lot of other options I could have considered. I didn't opt to build my own at first because it was election year and parts were scarce. I just did not have the time to stalk the retailers and distributors. Also, being that it was my first one, I just did not have a grasp of what was important and what I really wanted. From the pics and reviews, the KAC just seemed like the perfect fit. I'm now doing my first build and now know exactly what I want based on my SR's shortcomings and others I have had the chance of playing with.

Bear in mind the intent you plan on using it. Are you going to go varmint hunting, paper punching, competition, etc. What you initially imagined might not be the good option in the end. Some parts are lighter than others which will provide advantages which you didn't consider.

Man, I miss these outings. Haven't gone in so long. One of these days.

Thanks. Funny, every time I look at the kits, I look at the same one you got. Just never bought the kit. I got a piece of cheap Home Depot carbon steel that I plan in the future to grind my own fixed blade and attempt to do some tempering. The profile is a twist between an old style Southeast Asian jungle knife with some modern twists. It's currently sketched and ready for the grind. Just need a grinder now. DOH! Topher: FYI. The tanto is suppose to be a chisel grind. Intentional to provide a strong point for penetration and a strong edge. I've tried double beveling them and it's just not the same. Keep it chiseled. Besides, sharpening them is WAY easier than the double bevels.

Here you go. Hope my links worked. First time so I figured I'd start with the basic vine pattern. It's surprisingly easy and fun to do.

Sorry, I'm just a tinkerer so never built a kit. I've only disassembled my production and custom folders. I have refinished some short comings from some knives I received. Tweaked them to the way I like them. Adjust the lock bar tension, detent hole, reprofile the blade, refinishing, etc. Sometimes after disassembly, the blade alignment's off when you put it back together. If I had the gear, I'd start making my own. I've done filing work on a project fixed blade I picked up from a show. I'll snap some pics to share.

I have yet had a chance to buy something expensive from them as I always seemed to be looking for something specific. In 2 separate times with 2 different salesperson, both provided me their full attention and showed me a lot of guns. What I really liked about them were that they weren't pushy or looking to make a sale. They have the customer's interest and satisfaction as their top priority. The things I was looking for weren't in stock. The showed me various comparable options, but ultimately told me that I should get the one I'm looking for as the better buy. That impressed me a lot, and I hope to do business with them one day.

Honestly, I'm glad the RO was watching for this stuff. I can tell when slow shooting if it's a squib, but when I'm under the clock, I may have not caught it unless it was clearly that light. I've had squibs before so I know what to look out for. Wasting ~$10 to be be safe is better than a blown gun and possible injury any day. Love the sport and I want to make sure I keep doing it.

I was able to get it slightly cheaper than what it is now. Considering demand was high at the time and supply was completely non-existent, I didn't have any alternatives. Having my backorder delivery date being pushed later and later didn't help. I will say that this Freedom stuff is super shiny. Cleaner than any of the factory stuff I've used. Like they ran this stuff through a buffer, it's so clean. I concur with the option of just scoring it as is and take the 2 Mikes, but by the time I thought about it, the targets were already taped up. I always carried extra with me, but that day was EXTREMELY tight. Ended the day walking away with 3 rounds left. Super conservative shooting on the last stage.

I've sent 500 down range at a couple local matches. Not one issue and surprisingly quite clean. I did get called out by the RO when one of the rounds seemed like a squib. It cleared the barrel and hit the target. Second to last target on the stage. At least I got a live practice run and a reshoot. Didn't help much though. My brain fell out of my head when I heard the beep.

If you bought a modern style kit, it's pretty straight forward. Very little amount of tools and fitting is required to get it all together as everything is held together with screws. When you tighten the screws, there's an order to get it right and have the blade centered to the liners. First is to tighten the pivot screw tightly so the blade is snug, clamping the liners, and scales depending on design, together. Make sure the blade is in the closed position before you start tightening the stand offs. Start tightening from the center screw and work your way out to the end. If the blade is not centered in between the liners, put pressure on the whole assembly to bend the liner till the blade is centered and tighten the screws. I usually prop up one side of the knife on a non-slip surface like wood scrap or work bench. Putting pressure on the center to bend the liners. Once the screws are tight, the blade should be centered when you release pressure. Use some blue Loctite if you want to make sure eveything stays secure. Loosen the pivot screw to the desired tension. Open the blade to make sure the locking mechanism works. If not, you'll need to reprofile the contact points to allow it to lock. When it finally does lock, clamp the blade in a vise and put pressure on the scale to make sure the lock works properly and that the blade's not going to close on you when you're using it. If the scales are pre-cut and shaped, they should just screw on as well. If they are not, you'll need to shape them first before assembling. You can assemble everything without the blade and shape the scales to the liners with a belt grinder or what ever tool you plan to use. It's ok if you grind the liners a little. It'll just provide a nice seamless finish. If you have G10 scales, remember to peel off the top layer after shaping to bring out the texture for grip. If you want to get fancy, try doing some decorative filing on the edge of the liner and blade. Don't worry, if you screw up, unassembly it and try again. Buy new scales if you screw them up. I do overhauls on all my folders by disassembling them for a deep cleaning ever so often. Have fun with it. You'll be surprised how easy it can be.

Damn, just can't win. So far, my comp's been pretty effective. No complaints, and it doesn't seem to blow off RO's ear protection.

Thanks for the tips. I was talking to my friend about investing in a 2011. My current gear mainly slots me in Prod or SS. Was considering finally getting a Lim gun. I'm a huge fan of the 1911 FCG so it's fitting to get a 2011. So far I like Freedom Gun Works and Cheely. Brazos would be next on the list. Somehow I just don't like Akai's version of serrations. I was thinking of doing a custom 2011 with 2 fitted uppers and pre-drilled and tapped receiver. One slide set would be configured for Limited while the other would be comped and configured for Open. Slap on a C-More and I'd be game for Open. I know working 2 different configurations will put double duty on the frame. Money's tight so I'd like to diversify what I can to stretch it. Maybe even find a used one and have a second slide fitted to it for a different configuration. Good idea? Sorry, didn't mean to kick this post off topic.

Sounds fair. I'm a green horn so I'm gonna work on my skills before I start blaming my fishing gear for not catching any fish. One thing I will do next time is run lighter loads. Remy UMCs are much milder than Lake City. Gonna drop the zoom to increase my FOV.

Another wicked piece from your vault. SVs are so nice. These are like the Bugatti's of 1911s. With a price tag like that, customize any which way you want to go. You can spot their barrels a mile away. How often do these hit the market second-handed? I assume most buy to keep.

Thanks for sharing Bob. I've got a soft eye open for a 686 SSR similar to what you just described. I assume typical process. Look at it, pay for it and have it transferred to local FFL? Wait a month for NICS to clear based on you having a PP already?

Shane. You are definitely correct about the operator's preference with equipment and the limitations each one has. I own and have played with various RDS's at the range before. I've never tried a higher-end scope before so this was the purchase to fill the niche. I can get much more accurate shot placement and groupings at 100yds with this over a 4MOA RDS. It helps that my reticle has a ~0.9MOA dot in the center and a ~6MOA horse shoe around it. Turn on the lum, and it works as a nice and big dot. I need more range time practicing various magnifications at various distances to find out what my personal preference is to balance speed and accuracy. Maybe I should just leave it at 1x and zoom in when I need the hard critical shots. Now I know for handguns, there are basic things that you should be mindful of. (ie., using both hands, both eyes open, grip high, no cup and saucer hold, etc.) What is considered the best fundamentals for shooting with optics. Considering that you are running with the fixed 3x scope on, you can't adjust zoom to 1x, do you engage with both eyes open, or shut your non-shooting eye when you view through the scope. I'm right eye dominant and shooting with magnification up just renders my left eye useless. I can track a little to put my reticle in position to follow up with the right eye to do the final sight picture, but that's about it. The rest of the show is through the tube. This is the part I'm wondering. Am I doing what everyone else is doing or am I missing something here.