Round butt conversion

[ram1000]

Can I have a gunsmith convert my Kimber Ecllipse2 to a round or angled butt or are there parts that can't be converted after the fact?

[sqlbullet]

Yes.  You can do it yourself if you want.  You need a bobbed main spring housing, officer mainspring innards, and enough guts to put your 1911 on a drill press and then hack away at it with a file.

The mainspring house will run about $50.00.  Installation, I would think $100, but I don't really know.

One thing to keep in mind is you can't run heavy mainsprings, aka hammer springs, in a bobbed 1911.  They don't make them.  So if you ever intended to bump the mainspring rating to slow the slide, can't do it with a bob.

[Mike_Fontenot]

Can I have a gunsmith convert my Kimber Ecllipse2 to a round or angled butt or are there parts that can't be converted after the fact?

Before you do that, be sure you get some shooting/handling time with a bobbed or curved butt.  A lot of people like them, and they may help a bit with concealment, but I find that the lower straight portion of the butt of my Eclipse helps a lot in holding the bore horizontal.  That might not be the case for people who use a high grip, but if the lower-left portion of your strong palm contacts the bottom-rear portion of the straight butt of your Eclipse (a "low" grip like mine), the bobbed or curved butt might not work as well for you.

[ram1000]

Thanks, I'll look into how I hold with the extended grip surface...

[Raleigh]

This is a relatively simple operation, I have done a handful of them.

You will NEED the Bobtail jig from Ed Brown if you want to do this properly.  It runs about $50 and the Ed Brown MSH comes complete with a proper spring installed.  The MSH runs between $55-$80 depending on what you want.

Other than that you need a drill press with a vise, some quality files and a lot of patience!

http://www.edbrown.com/cgi/htmlos.cgi/04379.1.460721008311568451/mainspringhousings.htm





The other thing that will need to be done is to refinish the frame, I have had mine re-blasted since I took these photos.