Is it possible...

[Guest 1911Girl]

I want a 1911, now if I buy a 1911 .22 and have a slide for a .45 can I change out the slides and make the 1911 a .45? Would it be cheaper to do that than to go out and buy a new 1911 .45?

Where can I but the base part for a 1911 if I cant just exchange them?

[Lumber_Jack]

I'm not quite sure you can put a 45 slide on a 1911 .22. ThTs not to mention it would be hard to find just the complete upper portion without building it. I would just look for a complete .45 that you could afford.

Look at

Rock Island

ATI

Metro Classic Arms

For lower budget guns that still get good reviews.

Now if you buy a .45 you can get a 22 conversion that will make it cheaper to practice with. It's just like the idea you posted above, but in reverse.

[Guest Lester Weevils]

Yeah, maybe there are some .22 1911s that have frames identical to a .45, but am pretty sure most of the common dedicated .22 1911's don't look anything like a 1911 inside.

Maybe a dedicated .22 1911 would be better than a conversion kit. Shoot better and such. Dunno. Kimber has made a dedicated .22 1911 that some owners really brag about but it is kinda expensive. Some of the less expensive .22 1911's get good reviews from folks.

I got a Metro Arms stainless American Classic II .45 that seems to be a pretty good pistol for the money. People smarter than me were bragging about them, which is why I got that one.

Then got an Advantage Arms .22 slide to put on it, and leave the .22 slide on that gun most all the time. But could go back to .45 in maybe 2 minutes just because I'm slow.

Last I looked, Advantage Arms makes either two or three levels of 1911 .22 conversion slide, different prices, with the more expensive supposedly better and more accurate or whatever. Can't recall details except the cheapest model has a moving barrel and the slightly-more-expensive ones have a locked-down barrel that doesn't move. Or maybe it is just the sights that don't move. In addition Advantage Arms .22 slides (and a couple of other brands that are more expensive) will lock open on an empty mag, which many 1911 .22 conversion slides will not do.

I don't recall all the details. Lots of companies make conversion slides and you can find both happy and sad customers on all the brands. The AA slide appeared to ME the best tradeoff of price vs features vs more happy than sad customer reviewers. But each person's preferences are different and I haven't used any other brand and can't say anything about them other than hearsay you can google yerself.

Most places were backordered on AA 1911 slides, which apparently is a fairly frequent happening. A little over a year ago found this place in TX that had a bunch in stock and prices were pretty good. The company name is deceptive making you expect perhaps non-government business is not welcome. I've run into those kind of biz who don't even want to talk to you unless you are a gov or industrial purchasing agent. But that company seems happy to sell small volume to individuals, at least on stuff the gov allows individuals to buy.

Anyway, if you want to know I'll look up the name. Got an ad email from em a couple months ago saying they had plenty of the AA slides in stock.

Edited January 29, 2012 by Lester Weevils

[Guest 1911Girl]

I have a .22 converstion kit to a old 1911 i use to have, so I guess just getting a new 1911 would be my option.

[Dolomite_supafly]

Depending on the conversion you might be able to sell it and fund a new 1991 with a new conversion. Some of the Colt conversions are getting pretty pricey to collectors.

If it isn't a collector then I would buy a cheap 1911. RIA, Metro Arms, ATI are all available for under $500 and the majority are under $450. And all of these seem to be well built and reliable for the cost. There are better guns out there but they are exponentially more expensive.

Dolomite