I don't understand...

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I have five 1911s (3 Colts, a Kimber, and a Para-Ordnance). Never had any problems with any of them. The draw to these guns is that there are so many accessories that you can configure them pretty much the way you want. I haven't had any reliability work done to any of mine. My Government Model had those crappy GI style sights, so I had them changed out for Bo-mars, a beavertail grip safety, and a trigger job. My Commander and Officer's ACP both sport beavertails grip safeties, as will my Para once I get around to having my gunsmith install it. I might get Novak fixed sights installed, depending on my mood, but that's it. My Kimber TLE is stock and I won't be changing anything (it's been 100% from round one - no break-in).
 
Comparing the 9mm P95 Ruger to a .45 ACP 1911 produced by a major manufacturer, is the classic apples to oranges arguement. That Ruger is a good, sturdy piece, that fulfills its intended purpose very well. At its pricepoint, I think a CZ75B is a better direct comparison to the P95, than the 1911. In my own humble opinion, I'd opt for the CZ, but that is my own $0.02, and YMMV.
 
Shoot what works for you!

1911's work for me. I currently own 5. I have owned 3 others that I sold.
Of them all only one (springfield Champion) needed any work. And I bought it used, tweaking of the extractor, new springs and its 100%.

Some 1911's need work, lots don't.
 
thanks for all the replies:) i don't see how ya'll can down ruger i own three of them and they all are very well made guns. also i heard that if a 1911 had a extended ejector and if a chamberd round was uncharmberd it could discharge:what:
 
Not trying to bash Rugers. For the money, they make a decent pistol. I just wouldn't put them in the same ballpark with Glock's,Sig's, Beretta's,HK's,etc.
And I wouldn't really say that those guns are quite on par with the appeal of a high quality,reliable 1911.
While I am sure that there are some high end problem guns out there...I personally believe that in the world of 1911's...you get what you pay for. Not to say that some bargain 1911's aren't out there,because I am sure that there are, but for a nice example of the pistol,in general...I would save my spare change until I could afford to purchase a top of the line pistol. You should have a better first impression of this type of pistol that way.
Also...I don't believe that the 1911 is a very good choice for a newbie to handguns. Not that it's any more difficult to learn with. It's just that it leaves you nothing to look foreward to later. Kinda' like giving a new driver a brand new Caddillac as their first car.:D
 
I didn't either...

...until I held my buddy's Springer last weekend (didn't even shoot it) and now I must have one.

BTW, my Ruger P95 just keeps shooting 10-rings over and over and over. It's really kind of ugly, but it just keeps working.

BTW, my G22 and G23 just keep eating everything I feed them (although that trigger is still a challenge).

BTW, my CZ-75B still shoots better than me...

BTW, my Mak's are objective evidence that sometimes you get FAR MORE than you pay for...

...but I must have a 1911...I'm thinking a Chuck Daly as a starter and working may way up the ladder from there...

Have a good weekend,

CZ52'
 
I have always prefered the 1911 design. Colt, Kimber, Springfield Armory, even Sistema-Colt.
I have tried other designs including single and double action revolvers.

The only revolver Iv'e tried which I truly adored was a 60's somethings Python. It's gone!

Ruger semis leave me cold. How far does that trigger move before the pistol goes bang?

I've shot some Glock 21 I think. Strangest feeling trigger I have tried yet.
I beleive could get used to it, I just don't like it. An each his own sort of thing.

CZ-75B accurate as all heck. Feels good. trigger was really spongy and complicated looking to tweak. I never have liked the 9mm Para round in a full sized pistol. I tried I liked, just not enough, I sold it. Good pistol though.
Mil spec ....wonder if the commercial models have better triggers.....

Makarov..simple, strong, phenomenaly accurate. Bargain priced. Definately one of the most fun pistol to shoot I have ever fired.

Now all I own are 1911 pattern, Colts and Kimbers, and Makarovs.

All this being said....Only you can know what is best for yourself.

The only thing I would reccomend is shoot your buddies springfield.
Then If you like it get one like it. You didn't mention which model it is.

I have learned the hard way to wait a little longer and get what I really want. You will be money ahead in the long run. Beleive me!!!!
 
Cosmose

I've only got one 1911 style pistol. I've got one of those 1911s that we always hear bad things about, a Kimber Series II. You know, one of those Kimbers made with one of those faulty firing pin block safety things. One that is not a 'Calackamas-marked Kimber' (whatever that means). I have one that was made after demand picked up and QC went down.

In fact, I have such a rotten 1911 I really feel guilty about loving it so. :neener:

MaterDei
 
The first major handgun failure I ever saw was a Glock. That doesn't mean it's a bad gun, far from it. I've seen Sigs, HKs, Glocks, 1911s, Rugers and Smith and Wessons fail. All machines fail, there has never been a perfect machine. And that is what a firearm is. You hear more negative 1911 comments than you hear about other guns because there are more of them. A properly made 1911 will run forever. So will any other well designed firearm. The problem is that there are many manufacturers out there, some good and some not. You get what you pay for. And even the best gun maker will church out a bunch of lemons given enough time.

i don't see how ya'll can down ruger i own three of them and they all are very well made guns.
Click to expand...

As many people have run into bad 1911s, I have run into many bad Rugers. But I've run into more bad than good, all from the same company. That doesn't mean they are bad pistols, for I have not seen every Ruger auto out there. But you have to go by personal experiance, so I choose to pay more and get more for that money.
 
Reliability

T'was said:

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
also i heard that if a 1911 had a extended ejector and if a chamberd round was uncharmberd it could discharge
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sean Responded:
Um, no.

Yes it can...Has happened to me. The pistol was an early 70's production
Colt Commander with standard ejection port and the stock ejector. Those
ejectors had a sharp point on the front end. The ammo was handloaded
with Hornady 230 grain flat point FMJ to hardball equivalent.

The combination of the smaller port and a slightly overlength extractor hook
caused the round that I was clearing to hang up during an overhand
clear, so that I could catch the ejected round instead of letting it hit
the ground. Two or three back and forth movements to clear the stuck round, and BANG! My left hand was blown away from the port. Stunned,
I was afraid to look at my left hand that was stinging like fire. Noticed
my right hand was bleeding. Brass shards from the case had gone down
the magwell and cut the palm in two places, and my pinky had a small
place too. I looked at the palm of my left hand and saw a crescent-shaped
cut about a 16th of an inch deep. The primer was impaled on the ejector.

I figured out what had happened, and after letting my nerves calm down a little, I finished my session and went home. The base of a bullet fit the
cut in my palm perfectly. Evidently the bullet had turned around and hit
my hand traveling sideways/backward hard enough to cut it.

I shortened the extractor hook a little, and opened the front of the port
a bit to let the bullet nose have some extra escape room. I was never
able to duplicate the incident with dummy ammo, and was happy. I
tell the "funny" story 25 years later...but it was UN-funny for about 30 seconds in the spring of '78 when I thought that I had somehow gotten my hand over the muzzle and shot a hole through it.

Newer extended ejectors don't have that sharp point on them. I guess I
wasn't the only one.

As for the reliability of the 1911...If the pistol is in-spec...If you have a
good extractor, use good magazines and good ammo, (and it doesn't have to be hardball) the pistol will so reliable that it's boring, and as long as
it isn't worn out or poorly built, more accurate than the average shooter
can prove without a sandbag rest.

Sloppy manufacturing and inferior small parts are the reasons for the
bad rep that the pistols are getting these days...but it hasn't always been so. I'll go so far to say that unless the pistol is hopelessly out of spec
in several areas, just a little fine-tuning and attention to detail, 2500
rounds without a burp...without cleaning or oiling, would be about par.
95% of the functional issues with a 1911 can be solved with a good
extractor and good magazines...and I can't remember how many
pistols that I've "fixed" for people with nothing more than a good detail
cleaning or replacing a "gorilla strength" recoil spring or worn out mag
spring.

The biggest problem nowadays is that the pistols aren't slated for a war
zone any more. When they were, they had to work. Now that they're
intended for the Nostalgia/Toy market...they don't have to. The good news
is that just a little attention and replacing a few small parts can easily
set them straight in most cases. The more stubborn ones take about
an hour to fix.

Be cheerful and mindful of your six...
Tuner
 
1911Turner :

The pistol was an early 70's production
Colt Commander with standard ejection port and the stock ejector. Those
ejectors had a sharp point on the front end.
Click to expand...



Now you've did it. I own a early 70's Colt Commander. I hand load using 230 ball. Never knew I had a time bomb. Guess i'll have to change a few things:cuss:
 
Tenn's Time Bomb

TennTucker said:

. Guess i'll have to change a few things

LOL...It ain't that bad. Just be careful when ya jack the slide back to clear
the chamber. It's not really a problem unless a round gets hung up in the
port. Lookin' back, Idon't remember what the cartridge OAL was. It mighta
been too long to start with.

Cheers!

Tuner
 
I love how a question turns into ruger bashing.. to each there own

I have a ruger p-90 45
a colt commander
and a Hk usp 45

Are anyof them more accruate that the otheres.. maybe the sights on colt suck so i dont shoot as well with it (soon to be changed)

Reliabilty? had jams with all 3 with that nasty win clean and some handloads.. no gun was better or worse. No broken parts on any of the guns none of them sent out of repair.

But what do i carry? since our state takes such a nasty postion on cocked and locked (seems they thinkif its c&l you looking for a fight ) i carry the ruger or the HK most of the time the Hk.

Why you might ask ? I carried my ruger for 3 years b4 i got my Hk so its not that i feel it wont work if i need it its simple #'s 10 rounds in the Hk mag VS 7 in the Ruger.

Ruger came out with a double stack auto i might even buy one and carry it im not a brand loyalist or design loyalist i buy what i want the new Kimber tactile looks pretty good right now :) So does a Sig..

The 1911 design does feel good though and all the problems you hear about are from the newer series of pistols rather than orginal design..

The orginal design was made for bullseye shooting or 2 inchs at 25 yards it was made to fuction in the worst possible conditions no cleaning for days maybe weeks, being subjected to rain -snow etc etc during wartime that is what it was designed for..

Now all these problems that crop up are from trying to turn it into a bulleyes pistol etc etc.
 
I've owned one or another 1911 type pistol since 1969. They always have worked and never had any mechanical problems with pistols or magazines. All were Colt.
 
Among my collection of 1911's, both military and commercial, foreign and domestic, I can recall a total of five malfunctions in, oh, prolly 40,000 rounds. Or, to put it another way, a .0125% failure rate. One of my two USGI 1911A1's ('43 Rem-Rand) went through two years of WWII, two years of Korea, two years of Viet Nam and two years with me (arguably the hardest years of its life:p ) and finally stopped working when its original firing pin broke. So I had to suffer the indignity of having to shell out $7 for a USGI replacement:rolleyes: . Does it rattle like a box o' nails when you shake it? Nope, it's pretty tight, really. I'll bet it's "minute of barn door" at 25 yards, right? Nope, it'll run with my SIG P-220 in accuracy, though the sights are a mite hard to see:mad: .

Well, it darn sure won't feed hollowpoints, that's fer sure!

Actually, it feeds Federal Hydra-Shoks and Remington Golden Sabers just fine.

SOOOO,,, what are you saying?

I guess I'm saying that 1911's that are made well, work well. Most 1911's are made well. All of mine were made well and work well. The 1911 is a sound design. I sleep well with a pistol in the nightstand.

I sleep BEST with a certain '43 Remington-Rand in the nightstand.

Though I have some pretty neat dreams with the '76 Colt Commander...


Oh well, I tried:D

vanfunk
 
One of the biggest problems of the 1911 come from those telling of how you have to spend $$$ on a brand new out the box pistol to make it work and have never owned or better yet even fired one. These experts seem to understand them, but never seem to aquire one.
 
I own 1911 of recent production. My gun functions flawlessly without me putting a single dime into any tuning or modifications. I paid just under $800 for it with all fees and taxes included (with cleaning supplies and one box of ammo).
 
thanks for all the replies i don't see how ya'll can down ruger i own three of them and they all are very well made guns. also i heard that if a 1911 had a extended ejector and if a chamberd round was uncharmberd it could discharge
Click to expand...

That is kind of an odd thing to say, coming from someone who is bashing 1911's without ever owning one.

I have also owned three Rugers. P90, P94 and P95. The P90 and P95 were solid reliable guns with good ammo. The P94 was a piece of junk. That doesn't mean all Ruger autos are bad.

I've owned several 1911's over the years. Most have been reliable, accurate guns. The only really bad ones were a Springer SS Champion that the slide cracked on, and a Kimber Ultra Ten II that would have been better served as a hammer.

Fact is, there are good and bad in all brands. We just hear about the bad ones more.
 
MY 1/50 of $1:

I have both a Ruger KP-90 and a Springy Champion model 1911. With good ammo, both are stone cold reliable.

Only ammo issues I have had were with Rem's UMC brand, and a partial box of American Ammo (Miami, FL home office, NOT to be confused with Federal's American Eagle branded ammo).
 
My first center fire handgun was a Ruger P91. (at the time gun magazines said that A. .40 s&w was the best thing ever. B. you had to have a DA/SA gun or you were hopelessly outdated).

I shot it a ton. It was very reliable. However I had to work really hard to get half way decent with it. The trigger pull sucked beyond all comprehension, and it was a clunky, poorly balanced, fat monstrosity. But it was reliable.

I wouldn't touch a 1911 with a ten foot pole. All of the gun magazines (seeing a trend yet) told me about how they were super unreliable and needed thousands and thousands of dollars to be good guns.

Then on the day of the very first ever TFL gathering I met a guy named George Hill and borrowed his antiquated Springfield. :p The rest is history.

I have been addicted to 1911s ever since, and a couple of years ago I got serious about shooting in competition.

Try this. Take a Ruger to an IDPA or an IPSC match. Shoot at targets that are going to be scored, and while you shoot you will be timed. For the vast majority of shooters the 1911 is going to be faster on target, more accurate, have better pointability, easier to use trigger, and better recoil characteristics.

The only shooters I ever see in matches with Ruger autos are usually new shooters, and once in a great while you actually find somebody ranked as a marksman or above that uses a Ruger. But they are the rare exception.

The Ruger is just much harder to shoot fast and accurately.

As for reliability, most of the stories about 1911 malfunctions are full of bunk. All guns jam, and the 1911 doesn't jam any more than the others.
 
The 1911 works IF you get a good one.

It works IF the mags are good.

It works IF the extractor is adjusted correctly.

It feeds HPs IF the throat and feed ramp is correct.

The average modern design WILL be all of the above out of the box at a MUCH higher rate than the average 1911.

If the average guy goes into the average gunshop and buys a 1911 or a Glock, Beretta, Sig, Ruger, CZ and so on the 1911 on average is more likely to have a problem OUT OF THE BOX.

You will not have to buy different mags or tune or polish anything to get the modern design to work.

You can blame the 1911 problems on the thousand different makers and different quality control and that is useally true BUT the fact still remains.

A good 1911 is one of the best pistols one can own IF you have a good one.
 
my inherited .45 has an inderterminate number of rounds through it and still works perfectly with ball ammo. i've used a variety of magazines and had no problems with any of them, even some of the cheaper OEM mags.

heck, i put 300 rounds of wolf .45 through it last week and it worked flawlessly.

i'm betting because it's never had any mods done to it and only gets fed ball ammo, but it works for me 100% of the time.
 
Cornbread and Beans

Cornbread said:

It works IF the mags are good.

Most of the OEM magazine problems that I've noticed in the last 20-odd years have been the fault of the spring, which would seem to be a vendor
issue rather than anything related to the design of the gun. The
other thing that seems to have a bearing on magazine performance is
the recoil spring. Recent trends toward overspringing the gun with the
goal of "protecting the frame" has led to some malfunctions that are
magazine related. Going back to a standard spring usually "fixes"
the problem.
---------------------------------------

It works IF the extractor is adjusted correctly.

That's true of any autopistol. Let the specs on the extractor be just a little
out of whack, and the problems will surface. Seen this issue on Rugers, Sigs, Smith & Wessons, etc. It's not confined to the 1911. Maybe the reason that we don't hear of as many in the other designs is that the 1911s are more numerous and see more hard use. Things do wear out and
fail with hard use. Also, the more recent 1911s are the ones with the extractor problems out-of-box. When I was in the biz, I rarely had to address an extractor problem except maybe to clean the channel or reset one that Joe Shadetree had been dinkin' around with.
-----------------------------------

It feeds HPs IF the throat and feed ramp is correct.

Now, that one may have some validity, but not with all hollowpoints and
not with all pistols. There are thousands of unaltered GI pistols out there
that will shuck Hydra-Shok, Speer Gold Dot and Golden Saber with the
best of'em. I have several that will prove it with boring reliability.
--------------------------------------

You will not have to buy different mags or tune or polish anything to get the modern design to work.

If that were true, the warranty departments of the various makers of
"Modern Pistols" would be unnecessary. The fact is, that if you'll look closely at the "Modern Pistols", you'll recognize Browning's influence
in several areas. There isn't all that much difference.
---------------------------------------

You can blame the 1911 problems on the thousand different makers and different quality control and that is useally true.

Valid. The problem with the 1911 today is that it's become a cash cow,
and the faster they can turn'em out, the more cash the cow generates. Even when things are out-of-spec a little, they can be persuaded
with just a few simple tweaks and attention to small details.

BUT the fact still remains.

The fact remains that the guns did quite well until folks started
"improving" things by trying to turn them into something that they were never intended to be. They all have their problems, mostly due to small
parts issues, the 1911 seems to have more than its share...but I'll stick with a pistol that allows me to service/clean/repair it on the hood of a truck in about 15 minutes without tools. It has withstood the ravages of time and abuse. When the "Modern Pistols" have been around virtually unchanged for a century, still in demand, I'll be more impressed.

I shoot with some guys who are very demanding of their pistols. They
shoot hard, and they shoot often. They also break a lot of guns. Sigs,
Glocks, Smiths, H&Ks...and yes, 1911s. They all break sooner or later.
The difference with the 1911 is that they can usually have the gun up and runnin' in 7-10 days without boxin' it up and sendin' it to the manufacturer.
Care to venture a guess which design is the toughest to break? How does
100,000 rounds without a parts failure sound?

Cheers!

Tuner
 
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