Update:
Manufacturing in America...or that which is accepted by American companies is less than ideal. I am pretty disapointed with the wide range of tolerances of the parts I've gotten during this build. I've used parts from various manufacturers during this process, so as not to single out Fusion. I think Fusion gets a lot of their small parts from other companies, or as it is in a lot of other industries, they share suppliers and private label.
Anyhow, I've had fun ordering parts to only get parts I return, because the machining was so terrible I would not try to make it work. If this is the kind of manufacturing we've come to expect in American, I can't blame work going overseas. At least the overseas stuff is cheaper....for the same quality!
Now I know why custom spoons cost so much...because there is so many out of spec parts that the smiths have to work with.
Fusion for their part did a great job machining the frame and slide. There is just one slightly out of spec pin hole, but with the lack of tight tolerances of some parts, it's relatively pretty damn good.
Anyhow, I'm still waiting on a replacement magwell fro Smith & Alexander, but I'm using the 2-piece magwell MSH from Fusion for now. You'll notice the spoon is missing the magwell. It wouldn't fit without me cutting the grip of the frame shorter as the magwell prevents the MSH from going up high enough in the frame to insert the pin! I could modify the magwell, but then the opening would be worst than it is (it's too wide now and blending is not going to give me the result I want). So I'm waiting on the 1-piece magwell-MSH to replacing the non-assymetrically machined one I received. With the S&A part, there's enough material that I can blend the magwell to the frame. The S&A fit better, but the hole in it was not perpendicular to the axis of the MSH....
I could go on about every part I've handled.
So! The Alumagrip should be here this week. I hope it's a good piece. I custom configured it, so I don't want to have to deal with poor machining. The things left to do (not in any particular order): choose and fit sights, do a trigger job, make the grip safety fit better (the one on there is a Fusion (STI?) but I also have an Ed Brown that looks better but will need more fitting to the frame at the tangs), fit new MSH-magwell, some minor frame contouring to blend the machined surfaces better, bevel the muzzle end of the slide and frame, bevel the bottom of the slide and send out for coating.
I thing I'm going with the 10-8 rear sight with a Trijicon front. I should get my sear jig and Arkansas stones this week, but the trigger actually feels decent now. I have to adjust the weight, but I'm going to do that when the sear and hammer get tuned.
I spent hours getting to this point combing through Kuhnhausen's shop manuals, reading old posts on 911forum.com and studing other people's work so I don't repeat their errors and pick up useful tips from the pros.
I'm still learning, but the process is not as difficult as I thought it would be...but I did a lot of research before I fitted the first part.
So here it is...so far.
