1911 Selection Help

My advise to you is to look at Kimbers, Colts, Springfields, & Wesson. All make comparable 1911's. See if you can find one that has the features you are looking for. All have pretty much the same dependability/reliability, even though others will tell you their favorite is the best and the others aren't worth a crud. Me, I own a Kimber Tactical Ultra II that has been 100% dependable out of the box no issues for me. I plan on buying more Kimbers, but the Wesson CBOB looks mighty nice.

Springfield Loaded Model

1911

If you spend some time on these forums looking at 1911's you'll begin to see some patterns. What's good out of the box, and what companies have good customer service. Then make your decision. There are good guns, new and used, out there. My personal experience with 1911's is relatively limited; having been pretty much a wheelgunner. My research showed that it would be hard to beat Dan Wesson for about 1k. I bought a CBOB, and will have a Valor before I'm through. They are American and extraordinary pistols.

For $1000, what you're looking for is going to be hit or miss. You can get a great 1911 for that price, but there is no guarantee that it will be reliable because of the fact that even production 1911s are pretty tightly fit these days with newer manufacturing techniques, and while that will tend to produce better-than-average accuracy, it doesn't tend to produce a pistol that will eat anything.

From a guy who really likes his 1911, if your main concern is out of the box reliability, you may want to consider either going with a different style of pistol, or waiting until you have some more money. I spent $1400 on my 1911, it has 1000ish rounds through it now, and it is not, nor ever has been totally, 100% reliable. Sometimes it wont go all the way into battery and needs a tap on the slide to get it all the way there. We're only talking once or twice in 200 or so rounds, but it's still not 100%.

If that is okay with you, you're going to be fine with any 1911 in that price range. If it's not, you should either save up for a Wilson or something similar, get a gun you can afford and see if it is reliable (it just might be) and if it proves not to be save a little money to potentially send it to a gunsmith for a quick workover. This could also be considered as getting a cheaper model like a SA Mil-Spec and then building it up over time. Your third option as I see it is to try another style of pistol that will likely be more reliable out of the box, perhaps a Sig if you want a metal gun.

If you are dead set on taking a chance with a 1911 in this price range, I would look at SA, S&W, and DW, and I would probably say that the DW Valor might take the cake if it were me choosing. I do think that this is the most dangerous price range for buying a 1911, because you're past the point where it's "not much money" and into the point where you're dropping serious change. Problem is, 1911s go so high in price that the ones in this range might be considered by some to be entry level, despite their high price tag. Since "high end" 1911s cost between 2 and 3 thousand now, the quality control on guns in this range is very difficult to judge, since they are not hand made nor very thoroughly tested as true "high end" models are.

I guess what I'm trying to say is be careful, and don't expect too much. You might be doing yourself a favor to wait a while and buy a more high end model if you don't think you'll be happy with anything that is not 100% reliable. If you don't want to do that, just stash away a little money in case it needs to go to the gunsmith like a lot of them do, or look around at some other styles of pistols, because for that price you can definitely have yourself a 100% reliable gun, it just might not be a 1911.

Mine hasnt arrived yet, but from what you read a Dan Wesson Valor cannot be beat for 1150 bucks. I would spend a little more and go that route.

Jax, I was just in the same situation as you, trying to pick out an upper-end production 1911. I checked them all out. The Kimbers, the Colts, the Springers, the Paras, you name it.

This is the one I came away with (and if I had it to do all over again I wouldn't change a thing):



Dan Wesson Commander Bobtail Classic, stainless, .45 ACP.

The fit and finish blows away any of the competitors' pistols in the same price range that I've looked at. They are also made almost entirely of Ed Brown parts, and it comes with the exact specs that you want, except on number 1:

1) Extremely reliable. I do not need and do not want a match accurate 1911. Reliability is the first priority
2) Non-ambi wide safety
3)Night sights

Click to expand...

On number 1, you get the reliability and the match grade accuracy. It's fed everything I've put through it, even some pretty nasty hollowpoints, and has not had a hitch, not even during break-in. Still sort of low in the round count, with about 400 through it, but I do not foresee any problems.

Also, it is a series-70 style 1911, so none of those politically correct redundant "safety" mechanisms or locks.

FWIW, this will not be my last Dan Wesson.

Jason

You should do well with most any Kimber or other 1911 in the $1,000 range. Remember there is a break in period and these guns can be a little fussy on ammo. However once you have broken the gun in and found and ammo the gun likes, you should be all set. Are there lemons in any batch, absolutely! Might it be necessary to take a quick trip to the gunsmith to get it tweaked perfect (assuming no major manufacturing defects at the onset), maybe.

Do you need to spend $1,400 plus to acquire a 100% reliable 1911, absolutely not!

Wilsons, Ed Browns and Baers are all very nice. Someday I might actully get one if I come into a ton of money. Average price of these guns is actually more like $2,000 plus. Are they of better quality? Yes they are fit to even tighter tolerances and use more expensive parts. However I still would have a hard time justifying the price of a $2,000 plus handgun (budgets aside).

As stated above, you may get lucky and get a very nice and reliable $1,000 1911 out of the box. If not, you would still be spending far less money to get the gun reliable than if you bought one of the above mentioned exotics. Damn, you could probably even have two!

CB

From digesting lots and lots of threads on 1911's, I'd say SA, S&W, DW and STI.

All companies have good reputations on warranty and customer service. It seems more than a few SA's need some tweaking on the extactors. Had to lessen tension on my two SA's and they've been 100% since. My STI Trojan 9mm was 100% out of the box and, over the 2,200 rounds I have through it, I've never had a problem what so ever. I don't have experience with S&W but will be getting experience in a few days with the DW CBOB I ordered

Clouldpeak

I just picked up a used DW CBOB last week and have already put 200 rounds threw it with no issue. I think this is going to be my favorite pistol!

+1 for a CBOB

JaxNovice, I too wanted a 1911 style pistol and did not want to spend extra getting it to shoot accurately, I didn't have a lot to choose from, as my choices where between; Kimber, Springfield, or Taurus, I ended up with a Kimber TLE/RL II and it's been a great gun, 100% realible and accurate. It ended costing at about $1,000 when all said and done. I know that there are as good or better 1911's out there, like Colt, STI, DanWesson & etc. but I'm not regretting my choice. LM

COLT Special Combat.

I saw some on GB last week that fit that bill perfectly. Single wide saftey and Novak night sights.

Also for a $1000.00 you could buy a regular Colt XSE, remove the ambi saftey, put night sights on it and have $20.00 left over.
Will

Add me too the DW list. You can start out for less than $1,000, then upgrade as you go. (forgive me for my photo's, I don't do flash well, and it's dark out)

Severn's Custom CBOB 10mm. Severn's Hard Hat treatment, plus too many other things too list. Sarge's quartersawn Bubinga grips.

I'm surprised that I didn't see any STI recomendations in this thread. The Trojan in .45ACP would be right up there and at the budget level.

Look at post #11. He recommended STI.

You could do what I did, get a Kimber Custom II and look at a variety of different night sights rather than take the ones that come on the TLE.

Order the FREE 1911 catalog from Brownells.com

If I had access to a Valor here in MA, I would most certainly have one-it's an excellent gun with a LOT of features for the price. You will not regret that one. It's basically a custom gun, really, and they could probably get away with charging a few hundred more for it without any problem. The extra $150-200 is well worth it compared to other things in that price range, and from everything I have heard, DW has excellent customer service. It is also probably the single best looking 1911 on the market around this price (or even a good amount higher!).

Don't sell STI short, they make one hell of a pistol. Their $1000ish pistol, which I think is the Spartan, would also be hard to beat even with $2000 to spend.

Also, take a look at the S&W Performance Center line-this is what I own. I bought mine "used," though it had never been shot. I have been extremely impressed with this pistol, although like I said, it has had a couple rounds not go into battery. The extractors are external and huge, and they function absolutely flawlessly, and don't have to be tuned or anything like that. They are supposed to retail for a pretty penny, but in reality you will find them for much much less than retail. Mine was supposed to retail for around $2400, and I got it for $1000 less than that. You can find them on gunsamerica.com (where I found mine) for a great price, and possibly on the forum here as well. By the way, when I mentioned the hiccups mine had (about 8 in over 1000 rounds), they were all with the very cheapest of ammo. With good HP's or other decent ammo, the thing gets boring to shoot, and at 20 yards I can aim at the first hole I make and just make it bigger, with every shot touching. I have not had a single person who shot this gun say anything other than "wow."

I had to save for a while to get it, but it is worth it. Check them all out, but in the end, if you can find them for a decent price, I think they will outperform, or at the very least be right on par with the DW and STI, though probably a bit better (I mean, you have to pay Les Baer extra to guarantee this kind of mechanical accuracy). Go play around with all of them, and I'm pretty sure you will not make a mistake with any of these three, and probably a couple others.

One other thing I can advise is not to overlook used guns. You can probably find some great deals on pistols that might otherwise be out of your price range (as I did) from someone who is moving or just has more guns than he gets a chance to shoot. Gunbroker.com, gunsamerica.com, and the sale forums on this site and others can yield some absolute steals.

Good luck in your search, but with options like these, I doubt that you will have a problem finding an excellent pistol to suit your needs!

Colt Gold Cup- should have money left over to get night sights of your choice (instead of what the manufacturer puts on).

Springer Loaded- This is well below your budget. CS is outstanding. Very reliable 1911. I have one and it hasn't let me down. It has had one malfunction after 1700 rounds. I don't know the cause. I reload 99.9% of my ammo and the case rim was pretty beat up. My suspicions was the cases fault, but I cannot say for sure with a clear conscience. As the name states, it's loaded with features that most clients want.

Dan Wesson- I don't have any firsthand experience. However, the internals are HIGH quality (Ed Brown and Wolf are smothers it in parts). The finish appears to be well above average. Dan Wesson was rumored to have some QC issues several years ago, but I think they were quick to correct issues. I don't recall specifics.

S&W- Their 1911s are relatively new. I don't like the external extractor design. I think it kills the look of a 1911, also. However, I haven't seen any reported cases with problems with reliability of them. Their finish is well below average, IMO. It's extremely thin and wears quickly.

I've owned Kimbers. The past tense of own will always remain constant in my household. I have nothing good to say about their 1911s, their customer service, and marketing "techniques". It would be best for me to leave it at that. By all means, if you want further information, feel free to PM me.

My #1 suggestion IF you consider used is to find a Springfield TRP or a base model Les Baer. The reasons are so long that I can write a dissertation that would make War & Peace look like a 3rd grade book report. Instead, I'll just say that these for the price you're willing to pay will be an heirloom to your grandkids if you buy one.

My top choices at $1000
Fusion Custom - http://www.fusionfirearms.com/
STI Trojan
Dan Wesson

If you're new to 1911s, I'd avoid used. Too many tinkers that 'forget' what 'tuning' they tried. Count me as another person who is both a past-tense owner of Colt & Kimber products. I think both have a following online that sing their praise well beyond their current products.

$1,000 will buy one heck of a Springfield. But then again, it will buy just almost any of the higher end stuff short of an all out custom.

I've purchased two springfields and would reccomend them to anyone. Thier warranty is as good as it gets

SA A1 Loaded

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Jax'

I own the 4 following 1911s in order of my preference:

#1 Les Baer Concept2: This is the "entry level" line of the Baer 1911s. Best quality 1911 for the price.Tightest action of any 1911 I have ever shot.Very accurate and worth the price $1300.

#2 S&W 1911 Scandium: Very well made, lightweight and almost as accurate as Les Baer. $800

#3 Taurus 1911: Accurate & good quality for $500
#4 Springfield 1911 GI: Entry level 1911 for $399