1911 advice.

Kinda curious about that myself. While not the prettiest 1911's, the Taurus has the most features in that price range, and are a quality gun. I sure like mine.<flame retardant suit on>

Of the original 4 you mentioned, bscott29, I'd opt for the Ruger. Good quality, good price. As stoky mentioned, in between that and the Colt /Kimber range, Springfield has some nice 1911's. (Range Officer)

I'd go with the Rock Island. They're durable, reliable, and accurate, everything you'd need a gun to be, and in case you don't like it, you wouldn't have broken the bank getting it.

Another good choice would be the Taurus PT1911. I've carried one for over eight years as my primary carry piece. The prices have risen for them slightly over the last few years, but they're still relatively cheap compared to Kimbers and Colts, and have tons of features you'd find on custom guns.

I was working in a gun shop, saw the ads for the Taurus which had just come out. Ordered one, got it and cleaned it up and shot it quite a bit. Problems for this one were: failure to reliably feed anything but RN (and I did my normal slick up of slide face, debur bottom of extractor and polish feed ramp..done it dozens of times), sloppy fit of thumb safety and way too easy to slip off safe, and finally mediocre accuracy. For a gun sold with "all the bells and whistles" it was a disappointment. I shot a few others that we had sold which were accused of poor accuracy and they were fine. I probably got one of the early ones before the bugs were out.
I'm not anti-Taurus. I have a Tracker 17 HMR which is about the most accurate handgun I've ever owned. I don't care for the small frame revolvers but do have a 709 Slim for carry.
Just the roll of the dice. Rather have the ones I named.

To add to rcmodel's comment, if you're going to get a 1911, learn to "ride the safety" with your right thumb. If you do that, then you won't ever have to "fool with" the safety... and it will help you maintain a nice, high grip on the gun. Which you should be doing anyway on substantially all your pistols.

In short, the safety should be a total non-issue if you learn the correct way to hold the gun. And learning the correct way may even help your shooting of other pistols.

Para has been bought out by Remington. They have not had a good reputation since they moved to the US from Canada several years ago. Of course most 1911 guys won't recommend Taurus either, but we've had a lot of recommendations for Taurus 1911's in this thread too.

I like Colt, and it's hard to go wrong with one, but Springfield, S&W, Ruger, and RIA all have very good customer service reputations (better than Colt's) and would be good choices.

The big decision is do you want/need a beavertail grip safety and what kind of sights do you want, fixed or adjustable. Pick the wrong option up front and you're usually looking at some semi-expensive work changing them usually done by a professional.

* * * so I'm looking at The Remington R1 and Ruger SR1911 in the $650 range. Also in the $750 range the Colt 1991 govt model and the Kimber custom II two tone. Between the Kimber and colt the Kimber has more bells and whistles, but the Colt is a Colt.

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Get the Colt. Hint: that's the one with the Pony on it and a real history behind it, besides being the original 1911. All other makes are clones.

If you can't find the Colt model you want, the default choice would be a basic Springfield 1911. I have an old (early '90s) S.A. GI-spec 1911-A1 that's run hitch-free.

Ruger is the new kid on the 1911 block, so the jury's still out on their entry. More time and user experience will tell.

The Remington is junk. I've seen more "pre-owned" Remy 1911s for sale than you can wave a stick at. Ditto for the Taurus 1911s.

Kimber used to build a decent 1911, even though pricey, but over the last several years factory QC has fallen off the map. If you get one that runs, that's great; but if you snag a lemon, expect to return it under warranty. And dealing with Kimber's customer service seems to rival the fun involved in dealing with the pissy CS folks at EAA when returning a Witness pistol.

CZ is entering the 1911-market this year with a basic USGI model that looks good on paper (and in pics), but I have yet to see one on the shelves of my LGSs.

Well, you're going to get every conceivable answer here. I've had experience with a lot of 1911s either owning or watching someone else run them, and in that price range my experience is that Colt is far and away the most reliable - they seem to have fewer feed and lockback problems than even many high-end brands. However, the base S70 and S80 guns with the GI grip safety safety chew up your hand if you shoot with a good high grip. So I would look hard at either a Wylie Clapp government model or a 1980XSE which are basically the S70 and S80 respectively with a beavertail and Novaks.

I would flat out avoid Taurus, Kimber and probably Remington.

There are other good options at higher prices.

bscott29 said:

What do you think about the newer para expert guns?

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Not good. They should have been on my list of things not to consider, but I sort of forgot they exist.

I'll throw in a vote for the Ruger. I have RIA, Colt, Citadel, Ruger, and SA, and the Ruger is my favorite.

Walkalong said:

... I hate decockers myself, but many folks like them. It goes against my grain, as a gun is supposed to fire when the hammer drops. ...

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Only once have I ever uncocked a hammer with a "decocker" on a pistol with a round in the chamber.

It felt like my BP spiked and my heart skipped a beat. Very uncomfortable.

So I have continued in manual thumb-on-hammer mode, ever since.

Thanks for the answer, PapaG. You are probably right about an early one that had a glitch. They sold like hot cakes around here when they came out and my grandson really wanted one. Took him almost a year to finally find one but it has been an excellent piece of machinery. I liked it so well I bought one about a year later and it has been the same. Both shoot anything you stick in them reliably. Anything from 185 gr. semi-wadcutter handloads to 230 gr. fmj and their accuracy is pretty good. The only thing that has been done to either is regular cleaning and lube and adding custom grips. I would kind of like to find one in 9mm. now that they are available.

A couple of earlier posts have dismissed the Para Ordnance pistols, but I've had a Carry 12 and a Carry 9 for several years, both with the LDA trigger, and I've had no problems. I'll admit I prefer the traditional trigger and I don't mind cocked/locked carry, but in my experience the LDA trigger works and is an alternative to those who want a 1911 but don't want cocked/locked carry.

I sure wish someone would have told me the Taurus PT1911 sucks before I bought one and it became one of my best shooters...I could have shot those 1000's of flawless rounds thru a much more expensive fire arm!

I have 10 or so 1911s presently....I've owned more but have whittled my collection down some.

Buy the Ruger and you have a $1000 pistol that you only paid $650 for...thats advice you can take to the bank.

Buy an Armscor model and you have one that you can take apart and put back together and not worry about scratching. You ARE going to scratch one eventually learning the ropes so it may as well be a parkerized fugly one like a RIA or Citadel (I have both - great shooters!). Google "idiot scratch" and you'll see what I mean.

The whole key is don't overthink it. Its not a marriage proposal. Decide how much money you can spend - then spend it. Get to know the platform and have fun banging away with your .45!

I'll add my .02 for the Ruger in that price range. mine's over 11k rounds now. still going strong.

My first "I just want to try a 1911." was an RIA 1911 tactical. Since then I have purchased 2 additional RIA 1911's. They aren't pretty, but they are accurate and they work. RIA has a no BS guarantee and in my case paid for shipping to their facility in Nevada both ways. All three pistols had great triggers right out of the box. I've been tempted by higher priced pistols but all my guns are range toys and I just shoot the snot out of them. Get the tactical model they are worth more than the slight bump in price over the G.I.. Resale is easy ( I sold off my 9mm) since they will appeal to a broader market.

I have owned several 1911s, and my personal favorite has been the Remington R1 Enhanced. Fit and finish are excellent, accuracy is great, and never had a problem with it with ammo that I have tested to work in it. It doesn't like all bullet profiles (most 1911s are not compatible with all rounds), but it runs like a top with ammo suitable to it. Their recent quality seems to be on the upswing.

I own two 1911s

Tisas A2
Para-USA GI Expert in stainless

I bought the Tisas for $350 from Bud's and consider it a pretty nice pistol, it cannot be beat for the price.

The Para is a nice gun and really pretty in stainless.

I have read that the SR1911 might be the best 1911 for the money.

In this order
Colt
Ruger, why this gun is priced so low is beyond me

Taurus has had too many problems with their self-loading pistols. Many run well, but too many are "jam-a-matics". I have heard more horror stories about Taurus' quality control and poor customer service than I care to relate. With Taurus, you simply "put your money down and take your chances".

The RIA seems a pretty safe bet for a "starter" 1911.

My first 1911, about 25 years ago, was a used Norinco I picked up for $200. It always shot well and I always liked the gun but it was pretty ugly. After owning it for a few years I took it to a gun smith buddy and dropped another three bills or so on I forget all what. Trigger was the main thing , as well as some cheap sights, a beaver grip safety, opened ejection port, fitting and a re-bluing. My gun smith buddy's comment was something along the line of he had a new respect for Norinco after working on the gun. It shot really nice after that even though it was kind of stupid to spend $300+ on a $200 gun.

Since that Norinco I have had a Remington and a Springfield. Both nice guns but not near as nice as the Nocinco. A couple months ago I was shooting with a buddy who has a worked over Colt Goldcup. After a while he looked at me funny and asked why I was shooting my Chinese POS and ignoging my Springfield. I told him I just like the Norinco better. This of course peaked his interest and so he had to give my Norinco a try. Well that was the last I shot the Norinco that day because he refused to give my Norinco back. "You can use my Gold Cup" is what he told me. His Gold Cup is a nice gun. When we were done shooting for the day he only had one thing to say about my Norinco "How much do you want for it?".

I am not exactly sure what my point is but a cheap gun that has been well smithed can easily out do an expensive gun that has been poorly smithed. Unlike my buddys Gold Cup my Norinco will shoot anything I feed it very reliably and most loads quite acurately.

I had a Kimber .I still have my Colts

I am not exactly sure what my point is but a cheap gun that has been well smithed can easily out do an expensive gun that has been poorly smithed. Unlike my buddys Gold Cup my Norinco will shoot anything I feed it very reliably and most loads quite acurately.

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You make a valid point about those old Norinco 1911s.

The RIAs seem to be the "new Norincos" in today's market, and most of the field reviews I've seen give them high marks out-of-the-box. For the problem RIA guns, reports about their customer service were positive.