LOL @ "higher end kit".

Sorry to say, but the Hurricane kits are actually one of the LOWEST end kits available. Once you take out all of the extra bits and bobs that the kit comes with, they're the cheapest kits around.

I would prefer a Guarder kit over Hurricane kits, too bad Hurricane is doing a lot of the really cool Kimber kits.

This was the first Hurricane kit I have seen in person. I always assumed they were higher end due to the price tag and rarer kits available. But Illusion you are the man when it comes to 1911's so you say its crap I'll take your word. I have always used Guarder parts for my builds and have been happy with the results after a little elbow grease. I know I won't be shelling out for a Hurricane kit any time soon if I'm paying for a rusty kit.

1911 kits are very expensive, due to the complication required to manufacture them. If you thought a Hurricane kit was expensive, then you haven't seen the price tag on some of the actual high end kits... they might make your head explode. LOL. The price of one of those kits alone, would cost more than a real gun.

Lol I don't doubt it, I have drooled over plenty of pics of your builds and other really nice builds, but unless I win the lottery they are out of my reach for now. But I do appreciate the work that goes into those builds just like building their RS counter parts by hand one at a time.

I think I just cried a bit :( Didn't you just build me a hurricane kit? LOL. I was under the impression that the hurricane kits once fully worked on and tweaked by a doc, were a better kit than the guarder.

either way, hurricane was the only one with the kimber kit I wanted as you mentioned already.

Anything build by a good quality installer will become a quality build. It's getting to that point, that's where installers can appreciate the build quality. A Nova kit, even at a staggering $700 price tag, can be slapped together in less than 20 minutes.

A Hurricane kit, on the other hand, requires hours of fitment work. Your build, took me almost 6 hours for just the actual kit installation, plus almost 10 hours of testing, and trialing different configurations for you, and countless hours of consultation.

Just because the kit itself is garbage, doesn't mean the build you'll get is garbage. As long as it's built well, and runs, then nobody really cares how much work went into it, except for the installer (me, in this case.)

Like I said previously, Hurricane kits are expensive, because you're paying for a lot of other little bits and bobs that come with the kit that other kits might not come with. Once you deduct the value of all those extra parts, the value of the frame and the slide themselves (which makes up the core of the kit), the value of those two parts would be less than a Guarder kit. People buy Hurricane kits, not because they're easy to install (they certainly aren't), but because they make very unique conversion kits. If what you wanted was a Kimber Custom Covert II, that's what you got, and it's a well built one. It's die cast aluminum though, and if you wanted one that's CNC machined from billet stock, then your only other option is to buy a real Kimber, unfortunately... that, or machine your own kit by hand.

Just realize, that at the end of the day, it's still just a die cast aluminum kit, just like Guarder's is. Realize the limitations of die cast aluminum. It's not as durable, and fitment isn't as precise (due to the casting process). If it's installed well, it should be free of major wobble, play, and rattle... but due to the soft nature of die cast aluminum, as you use the gun a lot, play will develop. Much like a real gun, but it happens faster with die cast aluminum, despite the lesser forces that airsoft guns endure.

Poorly installed kits will have tons of material filed off just to get parts to slide without friction, and that's probably the worst way to do it, because you end up with slide to frame fitment and/or barrel to slide fitment that makes the gun sound like a maraca from all the slop and wobbling in it.

Hurricane seems to be working from much looser tolerances, or just using crappier molds, so of any manufacturer I've ever had to work with, Hurricane has already required the most amount of work. I'm kind of glad they're hard to find these days. They're a huge time waster for me, but it doesn't mean I'll be lazy with the build. Don't worry, you're going to get a good gun. You and at least a few dozen people on ASC that I've built Hurricane guns for can attest to this. A lot of them have even gone on to 3rd and 4th owners who say their gun built by me is still performing extremely well. Your build was actually the last Hurricane build I'd offered with free installation. Since then, I've tacked on a $300 labor charge to install Hurricane kits. They simply require WAY too much time to get them installed well.

I've seen a lot of them simply slapped together by other installers, and they were chock full of problems. The biggest problem without re-working the entire kit from the gut out, is extremely poor gas consumption. Some of them, I've seen them get only 8 shots out of a full mag of gas. And then there are other installers who alleviate that problem by doing what I mentioned above... filing the crap out of everything so that it's so loose, there's zero friction everywhere, but also no components are really holding well to each other and causes the entire thing to shake and rattle more than a belly dancer on meth.

Appreciate the clarity as always :) I'll offer my own by saying I never doubted I would be receiving anything but an awesome build. I have no regrets whatsoever and appreciate every second of your time and every drop of sweat that went into it. I can certainly appreciate your evaluation of the various kits on the market and which are tougher to turn a profit on due to the work involved. By no means was I criticizing your dedication to the project.

...was mostly poking fun. :D

Just figured id throw in my experiences with the hurricane kit.

I have heard of many stories with the rust and strange fitment issues, regarding extremely warped barrels and so on.

On the positive side of things I had great success with my hurricane covert II kit. Went together fairly smooth and a bit of fitting here and there as expected and all around im very impressed.

I actually have to say that the slide play on my hurricane is better than my two nova kits. For a bit of back story, both my nova kits and hurricane kit went onto brand new tm 1911 slide rails, each fit with no filing on the slide rail areas and the nova ones seem to rattle more even with the inclusion of slide spacers and that little slide bar in stock 1911's (TM) that are removed? or added? for use on a 5.1 rail system.

Taking off the material is always easy but adding it has me a bit stumped... id really prefer over sized everything rather than under. I suppose it makes it easier for companies to sell 'drop fit' kits rather than ones that need a little extra work so it appeals to more people.

Any way, here is a bit of eye candy for my Nova v12 kit that is almost built!

Sorry about the less than extraordinary photos

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/tpzmgptuim0gexy/iaLxs58-_y

Mine came with absolutely no rust on the barrel, and plus im not using most of the internals.


Based on my experience, Prime/Nova 1911 kits were the best, little modifications, fitted perfectly with no wobble. I didn't really want to get the Hurricane Kit, but its the only company that manufactures this style. Either way, not going to use any of the controls, springs, etc. Gonna use nova mag catch, slide catch, safety, beaver tail, hammer etc. You can see that Nova 1911 kits are much higher quality, here is LA Vickers i recently acquired, you can see the difference compared with hurricane kits:

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h1...t/IMG_1089.jpg

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h1...t/IMG_1090.jpg

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h1...t/IMG_1088.jpg

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h1...t/IMG_1087.jpg

If you see the Nova 1911 kits, you will be amazed, but the price will make you faint.

The Hurricane Kimber grip safety will fit with zero modifications.
The Nova one will require modifications to fit the Hurricane kit.

I wouldn't mind doing some modding, its what I enjoy doing the most :tup:

You still have THAT in the box???
I thought you built it already.

LOL

LOL ill be honest with you, but don't laugh. It looks so nice and smooth and snuggly in the box, I don't wanna disturb it...

That's exactly what I thought when I saw it. lol.

I stared at it for a good twenty minutes thinking of places to display it around my house.

Nova now has Kimber Raptor and Pro Raptor kits for the TM 1911. Must...get
http://www.handgunsmag.com/files/201...er_120705c.jpg
(what they look like)