The extreme recon package, for $575 plus $75 for the barrel retail, looks like a GREAT deal for a buildup if you want a railed gun.
$650 gets you a fully machined and matched frame and slide, bull barrel, firing pin and stop, extended ejector, grip safety, and an external extractor.
At that point all you need are the following
1. A good quality firecontrol set (hammer, sear, disconnector, trigger) plus safety and slide stop appx. $110 for non-name parts
2. Grips,bushings, screws, $40 and up
3. A plunger tube, mag release, hammer strut, pins etc.. another $50
4. A guide rod, reverse plug, mainspring housing, and springs, about $100 if you want a magwell
5. Sights, at $150 for Novak LowMount tritiums or $100 for most other decent sights.
If you can even get $100 off that buying wholesale (and you should be able to get more than that), you are talking about a steal.
That’s a serious pistol, no machine work required (except final fitting), for just about $1100, even at retail. Upgrade the parts a bit to name components, and you’re only talking about another $150, for drastically increased resale value.
$1250 for a pistol of that quality, is a damned good bargain.
Hell, I might do that, just for the hell of it. I wonder what my FFL will charge me to buy the frame from Caspian. I’m a gun club member, they usually charge me cost plus $25; but if they don't already have a relationship with Caspian they'll charge me retail.
Man, I miss working for a gun store, where I didn't have to worry about not having an FFL or setting up accounts with my parts suppliers.
The thing is, I'm only really building a gun or so a year, so for the most part I don't need it for what I do; and the hassles involved are considerable. The problem is, the one gun a year I want to build may jsut be worth it.
If I were building an AR and a 1911 a year, having the FFL would be worth it; and I was planning on doing jsut that as of last year; but I decided against it. Now I'm thinking about it again.
Bah, this is getting expensive jsut thinking about it.
