He began doing this as a result of being given a 1911 knock-off that had a bad case of stove-piping.
He could cure the stove-piping, but while looking at the pistol, he was amazed that it had gone through more than 50 rounds without falling apart.
Magnaflux showed so many cracks in the slide that he said it looked like a map of the US Interstate system.
Amazingly, it contained a spring kit from Wolf and a Springfield match barrel.
The rest of it was, in his assessment, cold-forged and hand filed.
He pointed out the tool marks in the mag well and inside the slide and figured it was most likely of Paki origin, not even up to Phillipine ghost-gun standards.
He has since done a Glock and several Beretta 92's.
Mostly junk, all, but surprisingly with some aftermarket high dollar parts thrown in.
But he never doubts the fact that they are capable of killing, and killing more than once.
That crap abounds in the Sand Box (and a lot of other places) and it usually reflects the environment it originated in.
He once showed me how to take a piece of cold-rolled steel, available at any big-box supply house, and turn it into a reasonable facsimile of a 1911 slide.
Needing much work of course, but a start and not out of the capability of someone with determination and a modicum of skill, equipped with files and cutting equipment.
The one's I saw from the Viet Minh were not even finished on the outside, but inside were good enough to function, at least once.
And that's all it takes.
Anyone that has spent time in the Sand Box and the Asian countries Have seen much of this type of "engineering".
Where is this Sand Box? Asking for a friend.