Well...........
I got the side back from the welder this afternoon. It appears that they did an excellent job with it - all the holes seem to line up well and clearances seem fine.

I have everything reassembled and the slide feels fine. In fact, it feels like there is a little more spring pressure on the bolt than before - maybe being apart for 3 days allowed the op springs a chance to expand a little.

Anyway, I' m planning on taking it to the range tomorrow (weather permitting) to find out for sure. If I don' t post a report in a day or two, watch the obituary or strange events sections of your local papers............if something doesn' t work right, I might make the " Big Time" the hard way [] .