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Hand Gunning March/April 1997
How-To's Building a Widebody Article

The popularity of the Government Model pistol continues unabated. Modern technology has given us a number of fine aftermarket parts to upgrade old slab sides, and one of the more interesting ones is the wide frame that markedly enhances magazine capacity. In the era of the 10-shot magazine, widebody .45s make very appealing pistols. The broad rear surface of these semiautos soaks up most of the recoil thrust if you have a hand big enough to manage the gun in the first place. The newest firm to offer a widebody kit is Entreprise Arms of Irwindale, California.
As an interesting "How-To" project, I obtained a kit from Entreprise and enough other parts to complete a gun. Rather than send off the stuff to a shop like Wayne Novak's to build the gun, I enlisted the services of my California kitchen table gunsmith and partner Jon Maxwell. We did the job in Jon's home shop using no more than hand-tools and a Dremel. The project went exceptionally well, in part due to Maxwell's familiarity with the grand old gun. I also credit the fact that we worked with the best of parts. Other than the kit itself, I bought a complete Model 1991A1 upper from a dealer advertising genuine Colt parts in Shotgun News. I then called the guys at Brownells and asked for everything else that makes up a .45 pistol. Armed with these components, Jon and I were able to put the gun together in a couple of hours. It has been test fired to my complete satisfaction, but I would caution the reader who builds such a gun to take his completed project to a competent gunsmith and have it thoroughly examined before firing.

1. Slide the trigger into the frame and make sure it moves back and forth easily. We had to lightly stone some of the trigger bar edges to get really smooth trigger movement.

2. Install the magazine catch by putting it in place and turning the screw to lock the unit in. The receiver width means the magazine catch has to be longer than usual.

3. Oops! We took this picture before we noticed the sear and disconnector were not in the proper relationship. Consult a takedown diagram if in doubt.

4. With the sear and disconnector properly oriented, install the sear pin. The flat paddle end of the disconnoctor should be against the flat rear surface of the trigger.

5. Entreprise Arms wisely left extra material on the back tug of the receiver. This makes good sense in light of the variety of beavertails that customers will likely use

6. A smooth rear tang is the result of using a Dremel tool with grinding drum in place and slowly fitting in a cut-and-try fashion

7. Place the sear spring as shown. Slide the mainspring housing upwards slightly in to hold the spring in place. Note the bare steel on the rear part of the tong.

8. Try the hammer fit in the receiver. Nowlin's kit from Brownells includes the hammer, but we had to add a hammer strut and pin. The tip of the strut fits into the mainspring cap.

9. The mainspring cap goes into the mainspring itself and is held in place with a small crosspin. Basically, it's a three-handed job.

10. The plunger assembly is a small coil spring with tiny plungers on either end. Installed in the plunger tube, this is what makes the manual safety and slide release work.

11. Make a final check of all parts before completing assembly. With the thumb safety installed, press the mainspring upwards, position the tip of the hammer strut correctly, and then drive the mainspring into place.

12. Check function one more time. Make sure everything is working perfectly before proceeding

13. Install the grip screws. Our screws thread into the frame ;there are no separate bushings.

14. Complete the assembly by installing the Colt slide on the finished receiver. Fit should be perfect

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