Kuhnhausen

Someone suggested I get a copy of Kuhnhausen's books on the 1911.  Yes, I have it.  Lots and lots of good stuff in there.

You read that book several times, I've found, and other people interested in 1911 smiffin' bear this out.

You read it as a noob and get a LOT of good info out of it.  Then you make a 1911 a time or two.  Then you re-read Kuhnhausen and another light comes on!  You understand more subtext to what he is getting at.  It's amazing.  If I understand correctly, when I have a bunch of builds under my belt and return to Kuhnhausen I will glean even more and different info.

There is a big assumption when you read that that you, the reader, are already pretty mechanically inclined and can puzzle technical things out pretty quickly and efficiently on your own.  I'm not shabby in that department but I still gawp at raw talent he and other folks display.  Well, some of that is from long experience, too. 


That said, you need more than that book to make a custom 1911.  And that book would be several encyclopedia style volumes long to get decent coverage of how to work this pistol.