[10-Ring]

I have a couple 1911's and they're fun to shoot & all, and I know I'm gonna always have one in my collection, but I just feel like my other pistols are just better performers to the point I rarely shoot them. Am I alone here, am I missing something in my 1911 shooting experience? HELP :(

[ACP230]

If they don't grab you, they don't.
I have been shooting my Browning HP and some Smith N frames more than my 1911s recently, but I'm starting to feel "a disturbance in the force."
I have a Taurus .40 that I've shot twice.

When the snow melts I think the 1911s will be coming out.
The Taurus will be staying home.

[Blueduck]

Kind of same deal here. I respect them as a design. I've owned two (both worked perfectly BTW). Just never got the bug:confused:

Oh well, lots of other stuff to spend my money on:cool:

[10-Ring]

Don't get me wrong, I have a buddy that has a couple of Caspians that are just sweet performers that I would love to own for myself. But the expense of building a true custom is a HUGE turn-off. Maybe I just haven't found the right one for me...yet :evil:

[noklue3]

10 Ring:
Check out the review at 1911forum.com on the Dan Wesson Patriot Expert By Steve Camp. It is a handfitted, top end 1911 for under $800. Also check out the Dan Wesson Forum there. I think you may be surprised with what is happening with them. Also, check out my post on this forum under "Buy Sell Trade". My Dealer has bought some under a special pricing deal that Lew Horton got from Dan Wesson. Very good price for what you get. Read up on them yourself and I think you will find out I am right.
Here is a pic of one:

Sounds like you just need the "right" 1911.

Good Luck.

Art

[10-Ring]

Being a resident of CA, I am SOL in regards to alot of guns that the rest of the country has access to. Unfortunately, the Dan Wesson is not approved for sale here :( :cuss: Limiting my options greatly :banghead:

[noklue3]

I think and could be wrong, that they were just approved in California....Might want to check with the Rep at their website.

Art

[noklue3]

10 Ring:
I just checked 1911forum.com for that thread...Looks like Calif is pending...You might want to read the thread there. I posted to it, so it is one of the first ones listed.
Is under Dan Wesson.

Art

[Blueduck]

But the expense of building a true custom is a HUGE turn-off.

The expense really hits me when I think of what I could buy with the same amount of money.

Custom 1911= $2,800

or

Trade in Glock 17 w/night sites and hicap+/- $450

NIB Sig 220 +/- $600

NIB S/W 642 +/- $500

NIB Ruger Mk II +/- $300

NIB S/W Model 629 +/- $550

NIB Ruger Blackhawk $400

= $2,800

One gun or a pretty nice collection that will pretty much cover any need you could come up with?

Course if you've already got a nice collection and still have $2,800 left over, more power to you :D

[noklue3]

BlueDuck:

Very true, I could not agree more. Use the $$ wisely and get the most "bang" for the buck.

Art

[Skunkabilly]

I have more fun shopping for 1911s than shooting them.

I shot my KZ45 last night and today trying to breathe life back into my interest for them...but I ended up bored and depressed and really wanting my Beretta :(

[sanchezero]

Man, I dunno.

I've been a glock fan for years, and always looked down on the 1911 as outdated. Not too long ago I got curious and started looking for one. Then I bought one, liked it. Then I bought another one. Even better.

Now, my primary carry is a 1911 (cmmdr size) and I'm looking a getting another one to build to suit or even doing one from scratch.

I shoot my carry gun better than any other gun I've shot. The other day I took a friend too the boonies to shoot and set up the el Pres at 25yds :D . First shots of the day, 2 mags of 6 fast as I could (a lil under 1rnd/sec + a lil speed reload) ended up with 4 shots on each 8in plate (wallyworld targeting system ;) ).

Made my day :)

[harrydog]

I've owned guns for many years. Glocks, Sigs, HKs including a P7, old Mausers, Walthers, Rugers, Kahr, and a few more that escape me at the moment.
Only relatively recently have I begun shooting 1911's and I wish I had started sooner. I love them! Just something about the way they shoot.
I agree that they are more expensive, at least the ones I buy, but they're worth it to me.
I used to think they were outdated also, but not any more. There's just something a good 1911 has that's lacking in all those other guns.

[railroader]

$2800 for a custom 1911? Why? I have a kimber with a 3.5lb. trigger, bo-mar sights and with the right loads shoots under 2" at 25yds. I have about $650 in it. I just don't think someone has to spend a fortune to get an accurate nice shooting 1911. If someone spends $2800 it's because they want to not need to. Mark

[Still Learning]

Carry and shoot whatever floats your boat.

I have a whole gun safe full of pistols, revolvers, rifles and shotguns that rarely get used. My 1911s, the AR and the Remington 870 get lead pushed out their gullets every week!

Your preferences are just as good as mine or anyone else's.

[Tacblack]

I avoided the 1911's for 10 years just tired of hearing about how good they were. I went with a Taurus 92 in 9mm, 97 I gave in kinda to a 2011 SVI in 40. I now know mostly I was just tired of hearing my friends tell me about the 45 ACP. I still have the SVI 40 and a Caspain 38 super along the 1911 line, but no 45's at this time. Its a good round no doubt, but the 1911's for me come in super, 40 or nine. You can just do so much to them and with them, given a little time everyone's 1911 looks different.

[gryphon]

I'm kinda the exact opposite. I have a bunch of pistols in my collection, but I always seem to go back to the 1911. It just turns out that the 1911 is what I shoot the best and what feels more natural to me.

I think that we all go through that sort of thing.

[blades67]

Sometimes it's just not your boat.

[Skunkabilly]

I had this 1911 project gun planned out and then realized I can do the same mods on a Beretta but I can shoot the Beretta better...go figger. :(

Maybe I should get one anyway.

[BamBam]

I set out to buy a 1911 a few months ago. I mean, I REALLY TRIED!
After an hour of not finding one that "Did It" for me, I asked the salesman if he could think of anything else. He suggested the Witness .45. I bought it on the spot (and saved $300).

[samualt]

I just got the 1911 bug! I rented one at the range and was hooked instantly. It was a beat-up old colt that had seen better days. But it was a real hoot to shoot. I was mostly shooting revolvers and Glock before. However, I do suffer from cheapophilia (attraction to being cheap) and couldn't see spending a bunch of money. So, I settled on the most accurate 1911-A1 reproduction I could find in my price range ($300) which was a Sistema Colt Modelo 1927 (Argentina). I'm bouncing off the walls waiting for it to be shipped. The only thing I will change is the grips and the sights. You don't need all that fancy expensive stuff just to have fun at the range!

I can't think of anything more exciting at the moment...I don't believe they make hand-held phasers, lasers, or plasma cannons yet! :D


"People want economy and they will pay any price to get it." - Lee Iacocca.

[Ramshackle]

10-Ring, consider yourself blessed, or at least lucky. I have several--actually almost all of my guns are 1911s--and while I LOVE them, they are toilet bowls for my income. Tweaking, upgrading or just fiddling with them ends up costing me money--lots of it. I wish I could just be happy with some other guns, but I can't. Nothing feels as good to me as a 1911. It really is an addiction. Stay sane and don't try too hard to love 1911s.

[WESHOOT2]

I love my Witnesses.
Until them I was a 'wheel-man'.

But I'd pick up a 1911 and point quickly; the friggin' things seemed to point super for me.

So one day I picked off a prize table a Caspian slide, and a buddy had a Bar-Sto for sale cheap, and I owed a certain gunshop a favor so I had them order me a custom Caspian frame, and I went nuts in a Brownells catalog, and a friend who is both a 1911-nut AND machinist/1911-'smith agreed to build my pieces into a gun, and suddenly (after a few years) I had this perfect 1911.
But it rusted just looking at it so off to Robar for NP3.

So now I got a more-perfect 1911.

It shoots like a Bullseye gun, has NEVER failed except with one weird foreign case that slipped its way into my used brass, and is just generally the epitome of a 'social-use' 1911.
But I usually shoot my Witnesses or wheels.

Go figure.

(On 9/12 I wore my 1911.)

[wanderinwalker]

Until I actually held and fired one, I considered myself a 1911 fan. Until I held and fired one, I despised Glocks. Things change. I still try the 1911, my dad's, when I itch to, but I almost always have a failure to feed, or eject, no matter how clean it is. And it is a mostly mil-spec gun, not exactly loose but not very tight either. And the Glocks just keep ticking, no matter what.

[dairycreek]

you will lfind that your tastes and proficiencies will change over time. So, keep the 1911's, (particularly if they are "good" ones) shoot them from time to time, and go where your heart desires. Good shooting:)

[Daguerre]

You don't have to spend a fortune on a custom 1911 to get a superb 1911. About $800 will do:

Colt Government Series 70 - new production re-issue
(Only mods: Commander longer trigger & black double diamond grips)
http://www.legendportraits.com/Images/Guns/Colt2937.jpg

In fact I like this pistol so much (if flawlessly feeds and fires CorBons, Gold Dots, Golden Sabers, WW JHPs, FMJ, etc. with over a half-dozen different brands/designs of magazines) that I just bought another one. These make superb pistols right out of the box and they also make great base guns for customizing. Unfortunately, I think most of the customized ones have lost some appeal from the classic configuration. But, of course, taste in guns differs! :cool:

Other designs will come and go, but I have a feeling this 92 year old design will continue to be around for quite a while longer. It's the grand-daddy of everything that's out there today. I enjoy and dabble with other designs like Browning Hi-Power (love 'em!), Colt SAA, Browning BuckMark, S&W revolvers, SIGs, etc., but there is nothin' like a 1911 in .45ACP. Load it up with CorBon PowRBall 165gr. +P ammo and you've got about the most accurate and effective defense pistol you can put in your hand.

[sm]

Growing up My Dad was In the NG, he brought home a Gov't 45. I watched him break it down, clean and reassemble it--Awed. A few weeks later I got to go to Guard drill with him and asked the 'Gunny' if I could shoot one...I shot a Singer Gov't 45 Acp at 6 yrs of age...still addicted. I've shot other platforms, but the 1911 is and always has had a spell over me.

I prefer the simple like the picture above. All I want is about a 4# crisp trigger and I'm happy. Mil-Specs , base models...

I've played with $3-$7k race guns...uh uh I want a plain Jane anyday.

[Kahr carrier]

Its a personal choice,I like them myself.:)

[TaxPhd]

Try some IPSC competition. Shoot in Limited or Limited 10 (so that you will be competeing against 1911's). If you are interested in doing well, you will quickly "get it."

[Skunkabilly]

I think I shoot better with my Beretta in IPSC than with my 1911...can't figure out why :confused:

[TaxPhd]

While there are certainly exceptions (and exceptions never prove the rule), overall, the 1911 does far better than others in many pistol competitions (IPSC, IDPA, Bullseye, 3-Gun, etc.).

The exceptions are outstanding shooters (Ernest Langdon - he's the guy that shoots Beretta's, right?) who would probably do quite well with whatever they shot.

However, day in, day out, the 1911 totally dominates these games.

[tex_n_cal]

I have seven of them.:D Come to think of it, I own no other style of centerfire auto:scrutiny:

For me it is a marvelous balance of power, reliability, speed, and accuracy.

Great fun to customize. Some of mine are stock exept for cosmetic stuff. Some have considerable work done on them, by me. I don't have a grand in any of them. All are reliable enough for defense.

[Skunkabilly]

Ernest Langdon is the man.

He can really make a Beretta sing.

[Dave Williams]

Nice looking GM.
Speaking of EL, when he used to teach at Storm Mountain there was an article in one of the gun mag annuals with some pics of him and a cool sharksking rig for his Beretta. Anyone know who made that rig?

Dave

[dave]

After having shot the "old GI .45" for more years than I care to remember, I didn't think I would care too again. The military .45s always felt as if they were going to fall apart any second. After I retired I went shopping, fired a Glock 21 and haven't looked back.

Here recently, I've started "feeling the need" to shoot a military type .45 again, don't know why. A friend let me shoot a few mags thru his kimber last week. It was all over 'cept the crying. I ordered a Springfield Armory Milspec the other day. I know, nothing fancy, but that's all I wanted. It will see mostly range duty, for those times I get the itch. I may carry it from time to time as well.

It's a hell of a thing, old design, copied more than a high school test, heavy, no wonder mag capacity, no "new" poly frame, just a good feeling hunk of gun.

Hope I don't get the itch for a '49 chevy.

[rick458]

It sounds like the 1911, is not fitting your hand
in regards to trigger length, MSH being arched or flat,thin grips etc...that is the beauty of a 1911 you can make IT fit YOU as opposed to the other way around:cool:

[Glockster35]

I used to be a die hard Glocker (hence the name). For some reason I was kind of scared of the 1911 because it had so many parts and I didn't think I could tear it down...not to mention hearind all the horror stories about having to take it to a gunsmith... But a year ago I bought my first 1911. A Springfield Armory Loaded. Within a month I had decked it out the way I wanted it, and shot a few hundred rounds. I was in love.

I still have 2 Glocks (23 and 35), and a DW .357 revolver. These things haven't been out of the safe since I got the 1911.

I have fallen for the 1911. I will buy/build nothing but 1911's from here on out.

(Keep in mind I am in Germany and my guns are stored in Oregon State somewhere for the next 4 years):D

[bokchoi]

I also tried to get into 1911s, but to no avail;

My first 1911 was a Para 14.45, but for some reason I got rid of it; even though it didn't malfunction at all, I didn't click with it and eventually sold it.

After that, I still went through a few 1911s, trying desperately to be bitten by something, including some Norincos, and I've shot a Valtro 1998, but either way I go, I never got hooked. I couldn't ever really justify being turned on by a gun that I had to "make good", as opposed to something like a P7, CZ-75, or Highway Patrolman, that I could pull straight out of the box and shoot with happily ever after, or, at least, until the novelty wore off.

Yeah, I'm somewhat depressed that I'll never have a gun that I can build myself and call my own, but that's why we see more than just Glocks in the cases at the store. :)

[Skunkabilly]

I'm on my 2nd (or more like 1.5th) 1911....still not doing it for me :(

Gotta shoot more maybe it'll grow back on me.

[rock jock]

I was like you. First time I picked up a 1911, it felt weird, nothing like the Glock I was used to. But that first touch began to grow on me. I would admire their beauty and simplicity. Eventually I gave in and now love them.

[harrydog]

It'd be a boring world if we all liked exactly the same things.
As someone else said, most people's tastes tend to evolve over time, if they stick with something long enough. Guns are no different.
I certainly wouldn't "try" to like 1911's as some of you say. No sense in forcing something on yourself. When and if the time comes for you to get into 1911's, it will just happen. If it doesn't - so what?