Extending the beavertail on a 75 pre-B

[sberres]

I've been contemplating something and I thought I'd check with the rest of the gang here to see if there has been practical experience with what I'm thinking.
I recently picked up one of the surplus 'poor' pre-b models from Buds. It was in tough shape but I did a lot work to smooth out the pitting and it took nicely to the rust blue finish. While some of the lettering is the worse for wear there was little I could do about it if I wanted a smooth surface. I also did some reshaping of the beavertail and, while it's okay, I'd like to do the next one a little better. The last one was a learning project so I want to improve on this one, of course. It came out smooth enough but I wanted the profile to more closely imitate an upswept version. Obviously this is hampered by a lack of material.
Has anyone ever built the rear of these up to allow enough material to sculpt?  I have no problem with the tig welding aspect but there really is no choice in filler material and I question how well it would take the bluing. This will again be done in a slow rust. If anybody has any experience with this I'd like to hear if you were pleased with the results or if it turned out so badly that you'd recommend not doing so. 
  Frame-wise this one is in far better shape than the last one so I think it'll come out very well. I'd hate to deliberately butcher it and wish I hadn't. Other than the modification potentially sticking out like a sore thumb I have no qualms about reshaping this area or welding on it. With the small surface the heat input is easily enough limited and mitigated to avoid metallurgically affecting higher stress areas.  Any experiences with this, or how other frame welding finished out?
Thanks guys!  Steve

[redlightrich]

Hello, I do respect this project. I am sure you can weld it without distorting any critical areas. I am sure you are not the first person to weld, then blue. I don't have experience with bluing, so I am sorry I can't help you there. I do however have experience with difficult projects, and there is usually a way to achieve the goal.

Don't give up, and keep us posted. Someone will weigh in on the challenges of bluing a welded area.

Rich

[The Guardian]

Ambitious project.....curious to see how it turns outs.  I've done a lot of major work to CZ's, adding to the beaver tail is definitely something I would like to see.  Only issue I can sort of anticipate is if the added metal isn't the same makeup as the CZ's metal there will probably be a variation in the final finish, though depending how you do the finish it may be minor. 

[sberres]

  Thanks for the responses, guys.
  I'm just guessing but thinking that the finish on the end of the tang could very well come out a bit differently. I doubt it would be that much of a major distraction, however, as it would be such a small area. From the side it should be barely visible, from the bottom wouldn't really show when being gripped. If the topside came out with an odd line a little Oxpho after the regular blue to just blend that area might be able to even it out a bit for appearance sake.
  Still on the fence with this. Just waiting for someone to post, "Dude, stop!  I tried something like that and now have a nice, spare slide with nowhere to sit.".  I'm in no real hurry with it.

[Earl Keese]

Do it and post pics!

[John1125]

I have read threads where some of the top 1911 smiths have built up the tangs on a gun that was over cut for the grip safety . As I recall they would usually mill off a larger part of the frame then silver solder or tig on a dutchman , then machine / fit to correct size and fit .

The only thing being different than what you are wanting to do is those finishes were usually a paint (ceracote) and the rust blue finish would show up different color more than likely , depending upon the alloy of the steel used of course the weld line would be evident .

If you were to cut the frame back a ways I don't think it would look bad at all .

Kirk

[sberres]

  A few months ago I'd posed a question to the esteemed members of this forum about whether anyone had any experience in adding to the beavertail of a 75. None did but there was encouragement to do so. And post pics. I finally got around to both the work on the frame and learning how to post pics!  So, if this happens to be noticed, here's what transpired...

  I stripped it down and clamped it into a bucket of water to keep heat away from more sensitive areas of the frame...
...and added on about 10mm of filler material through several passes. I knew there would be some pitting to touch up later so this was just to get the length and start finishing.

  Between a small sanding drum and some file work it took shape pretty quickly.

I had to go back and touch up some pitting due to oxidation that ensued during several passes. But it worked easily enough. Just with basic sanding this was the end result. I also took out a bit from under the beavertail area and under the triggerguard.


  And here is an image to compare the previous project (my first refinish and mod) and why I wanted more of a tail to work with. This one suits me well enough but I wanted the more pronounced appearance.

After filing the flats and sanding it all out to 150 grit I bead blasted all of the contoured areas and then went back to the flats with a sanding block to finish them and get the edges back. This will get a rust blue and the blasted areas will take on a very dark, charcoal/graphite appearance while the sanded areas will be more of a gun metal gray. I'm going to try the flats at 150 grit for bluing in hopes of keeping a bit of the grain look. If I don't like it I'll smooth them down. I may even sand them back clean again after bluing and then brown it to give it a two-tone look.

  It's going to have to warm up a bit before I can get at the bluing, though.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Underwhere]

That looks like good progress. I didn't see this thread but my suggestion would have been to cut off the beavertail after the square hammer cavity...then re-attach at a higher angle. Fill in the gap below with filler metal.

I see you did it differently by TIG'ing over the existing which I think works as well.

For me: I would prefer the beavertail to be higher in the back. The only way i know to do that is to remove material from the underside....but to do that you'll need to add to the topside.

[sberres]

I hadn't thought of that. I only had it in mind to add to the length and then sweep the tip upwards. This mod will preclude the use of the original hammer, however, unless I bob it. I'll probably try that and see how I like it. If not I'll pursue either an OEM ring hammer or stick an RHK in it. It'll probably be another 3-4 weeks before it'll warm up enough to use the garage for bluing, though, before I can even think about reassembly.

[newageroman]

Awesome work. I'm new to all this and czs, but I love mine. After gripping a shadow 2 at a local comp, I definitely like the larger beavertail, triggerguard and undercut grip mods. This kind of work is way over my head, but good to know that it can be done.

[redlightrich]

That really looks great!! I can't wait to see it after you blue it. You did nice metal work.

Good luck

Rich

[MoRivera]

Looks perfect.

[Earl Keese]

That looks nice! Will be interesting to see how it goes with the rust blue.I know this is somewhat common in BHP circles. KneelingAtlas has also documented this on BEnos.

[sberres]

Thanks all!  I'm really happy with the length and contour. I didn't include a top down view but I also like the side to side contour I wound up with. I can't wait to get to bluing and I'm really leaning toward blue/ brown two tone.
  Aside from sp01shadow doing the slide and the frame differently has anyone tried the method I'm thinking of?  I'd like to know how it worked out.
  I'd searched around a bit trying to find any general word on the extension thing; how to/what has been done/details/recommendations, etc... but came up blank everywhere. And I'd certainly figured if not here then a BHP group somewhere. But nothing seems to be posted that I can find.

[Earl Keese]

I tried blasting the rounds and sanding flats(320). After rust blue, I couldn't see enough difference to make it worth the trouble. On the BHP side, I remember seeing weld on extensions for sale somewhere online. There are pics of a 75 with a ridiculously long beavertail, I believe that one belongs to KneelingAtlas, maybe reach out to him directly.