Ever since I learned about the Ed Masaki Dragon gun, I was sort of obsessed with it. I was lucky enough to buy one, but some questions still remained unanswered – why is it not available anymore? Why no one else tries to make one? And can I be the one?

After a years of hesitation I finally decided I should make one, or at least, a similar concept. I started with designing a 3d model of a barrel block that will hold the barrel and gas tubes. I made some test parts on my 3d printer just to see how everything fits together.

Then it was time to make some chips. I machined the outer shape, then bored it on the lathe and back on the mill I cut the picatinny rail.

The gas tubes were drilled and silver soldered in place.

Lastly, I assembled everything and did some test firing from the ransom rest.

The initial results were disappointing. Turns out I was venting too much gas out, so I plugged the two lower ports, leaving only the upper two functional. That did the trick, I was finally able to keep my shots on target and the cycling was fairly reliable.

Here is my gun next to the original Ed Masaki Dragon. Of course, it is just a prototype and I used some junk parts from my parts bin, just as a proof of concept. I’m going to build one more prototype, this time using quality parts, and perform some additional accuracy and reliability tests. If everything works as expected, I will be offering it as a conversion service for your existing GI 1911.

Stay tuned for part II!