Getting This Crazy Idea
So, yeah. Meteorite 1911s. Sounds nuts, right? Well, it kinda started by accident. I was looking at this chunk of space rock I got my hands on, a Gibeon meteorite piece, I think. Just turning it over, seeing those patterns, the Widmanstätten lines they call ’em. Cool stuff. And then it hit me. Guns are cool. Meteorites are cool. Why not put ’em together? Specifically, the classic 1911. Seemed like a mountain to climb, but the idea just wouldn’t leave me alone.
Finding the Right Rock
First off, getting enough meteorite that you can actually make something substantial out of, like a pistol frame or slide? That’s not exactly easy pickings. You can’t just walk into a store and grab a block. Took a while, tracking down some decent-sized pieces of iron meteorite. Had to be iron, obviously, for strength. Spent a good bit of time and cash just sourcing the raw material. Needed chunks big enough to mill down into a slide and a frame. Ended up with a couple of likely candidates.
The Hard Part: Working the Stuff
Okay, here’s where the real headache started. This meteorite material… it’s not like regular steel. Not even close. It fought back every step of the way.
- The hardness was all over the place because of the crystal structure.
- Milling it was slow going. Chewed through bits like crazy at first.
- Sometimes you’d hit inclusions, little pockets of different stuff inside, that could mess up the cut or even crack the piece if you weren’t super careful.
I had to figure out the right speeds, the right feeds, the right kind of cutting tools. Lots of trial and error. Plenty of moments I thought this was just a dumb, expensive experiment doomed to fail. Had to learn patience, real quick. We’re talking slow, careful work, lots of cooling fluid, just coaxing the shapes out of these alien blocks.
Making the Pieces Fit
Eventually, slowly, I started getting shapes that looked like 1911 parts. Got a frame milled out, then a slide. The finish was wild, even raw, you could see those meteorite patterns. It wasn’t perfect, had some character, let’s say. I decided early on, only the frame and slide would be meteorite. Making the barrel, springs, pins, all that tiny internal stuff? Nah, that seemed like asking for trouble and probably wouldn’t even work right. So, I got high-quality standard 1911 internals. The fitting process was meticulous. You know, hand-lapping the slide to the frame. Because the meteorite wasn’t perfectly uniform like forged steel, getting that smooth action took extra time. Felt like building a regular 1911, but on hard mode, with materials from another world.
Putting Lead Downrange
Building them was one thing, shooting them was the real test. Took ’em out to the range, half expecting something to crack or jam instantly. Loaded up some standard .45 ACP. First few shots… held my breath. But they cycled! Felt solid, maybe a bit heavier than a standard steel 1911. Recoil was manageable. Ran a few magazines through each one I built (yeah, I ended up making a pair, figured if I went through all that trouble…). Had a couple of minor feeding hiccups at first, probably needed a bit more breaking in and maybe some polishing on the feed ramp, which itself was tricky on that meteorite frame. But overall? They actually worked. Felt pretty amazing, shooting guns literally made of stars.
So, What’s the Point?
Why do it? Well, ’cause it was a challenge, something different. It wasn’t about making the best performing 1911, but about making something unique, something nobody else really had. Holding these things now, seeing the patterns etched by cooling over millions of years in space… it’s just cool. A lot of sweat and frustration went into them, but yeah, I’d say it was worth it. They’re conversation starters, that’s for damn sure. Not planning on making any more soon, though. My nerves (and my wallet) need a break after wrestling with space rocks.
