My thoughts
And they're worth what you paid
As far as mark-up or profit on parts, any business whether it's gunsmithing or any other, is in business to make a profit. I work in my father's business, collision repair, and I am taking over the company. I have been involved in the management of the company over the course of the past five years. Before that, I would have thought it's great to get parts and cost or for the cheapest I possibly could, as a consumer. After being invloved in the running of a business and looking at gross profits, net profits, costs, sales, etc. I have a newfound way of looking at products or services I purchase. A business is just that, not a charity or a non-profit organization, the goal of every business is to make money, read profit. The profit should be fair but most people don't realize the overhead involved in running a business, insurance, etc. If the business you patronize does not make a profit then eventually they will cease to exist. Then where will you be? I don't know much about the inner workings of the gunsmith trade but in my field parts make up almost half of our sales as an industry. Imagine what my bottom line would be if I lost the profit on that sale. Simply put, speaking from my business standpoint I know what profit I need to make on each sale for it to be a profitable job and if someone wants to supply their parts then they will need to go elsewhere. We never overcharge for anything we do but we cannot fix something for less than what it takes to pay the bills. Gunsmithing or any other business is the same way. It's slightly different for me because a car gets the part that it gets and a pistolsmith has a variety of parts with which to use in any given application, but if I were a smith I would charge additional to install customer supplied parts. I hope my rambling helps someone, and if not sorry to waste the bandwidth. I for one want the smith of my choice to make a profit (fair) and stay in business so he's there when I need him. You get what you pay for anyway. That much I know is true and bear that in mind when making a purchase. There's a reason that a Lorcin is $75 and a Kimber is $750.
As for building a 1911, I have started on my first. I did not skimp on any parts, I chose what I felt and found out (through my research) to be the best. Parts alone on my 1911 will be over $1200, machine work I need done by a professional will be $300, and the finish will be from $100-$200. So without factoring in labor over $1600 tied up in a gun that I am building. My theory was that if I was going to spend hours after hours building a gun I wanted it to be the best I could do, and I figured quality parts always fit easier and last longer than low quality or cheap ones. The downside is that if I screw up a part it will cost more, but out of spec parts cost more time and may not ever be suitable or safe for that matter. Besides, my time is valuable so I would rather fit a trigger that takes 45-60 minutes versus one that takes two hours.
This is my first build, there are smiths that have been helpful and others that have discouraged me through their comments. That's okay though, everyone started as a novice at one point. I'm sure most of the top name smiths have screwed up a frame or slide, or trigger or whatever. Who knows, you could be the next big name. Or you could be the guy that mails George a box of partially filed parts with a blank check and a request to send it back in condition to fire live ammo
I say go for it! You don't have to buy the absolute best most expensive parts, but buy good ones: Wilson, Caspian, Brown, SVI, STI, etc. Pick and choose what suits you and don't be afraid to ask questions. Good luck.