2 Comments

  1. I’m also very interested in the design of the pistol. 1911’s done as .22s are lot of fun, but the there tends to be work involved to get them to a place where a pro level shooter will be willing to bet money on the gun functioning correctly throughout the match.

    The most accurate conversions are typically the Bob Marvel – type conversions. With these, I’ve seen a three piece conversion. The three pieces are: (1) the slide, (2) the barrel and “lower slide”, “fixed” to the frame by way of a threaded rod bearing against the slide stop pin, and (3), the “upper slide”, including the sights. The sights tend to be a continuous top piece attached to the barrel by several bolts threaded into the barrel. I can’t be sure about Jessie Duff’s pistol, but it appears that the white part is a unique “upper slide” section. The dimensions look about right for an “upper slide” section of a Bob Marvel conversion.

    From the things that I’ve read, the real secret to making the conversions work is: (1) ensure no contact between the rimfire slide and the centerfire frame-mounted ejector, if present; (2) correct weight mainspring (my current preference is for a 17 lbs spring; (3) good mags ( the new, small diameter, round coil springs tend to get the highest ratings); and (4) ammo that has been thoroughly tested with the gun (I lean towards Federal AutoMatch)

    I’ve got an iron-sighted 6″ Marvel Unit 1 on a STI Master frame, and a strange, older Kart/Colt Ace conversion on an Essex frame. I’ve strongly considered adding an RMR to the Marvel/STI gun, and this picture is a definite encouragement.

    Great stuff.

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