Best non-custom 1911 for the $

A note on the STI Spartans, With STI on the frame you expect quality, well I have read some posts about quality being what you pay for, guess what guys, the STI Spartan is the same gun as the Armscor and the Rock Island Tactical.
That means that a lot of you are paying for the name, not the quality. If you buy the STI you are paying double for the same gun from Armscor. That should tell you 2 things. 1. the quality of the Armscor products is top notch.(Armscor makes the RIA and the Spartan) 2. Just because you pay more does not mean you are getting better quality. If you want quality for price, check out the Armscor, the Rock Island Tactical, or the Taurus PT 1911. I have at least 1 example of all of these pistols and can tell you that my favorite of them all is a RIA. In order of value in my opinion, best value is the Rock Island Tactical, and very close to that is the Taurus.

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The STI Spartan is not the same pistol as the Armscor imports.

Jason

Dan Wesson

Another vote for the Springer Mil-Spec



For $565 delivered from Buds, hard to beat it.

My GI Issue

I like mine. WWII surplus made by Ithica, liberated by a Marine right after the Big One.

For a new one - I'd be tempted to buy the Taurus in stainless, since it has many custom features that would put it into a higher price range if added individually. I don't buy new S&Ws anymore out of principle - since they adopted the Hillary Hole but I'd go for one of the several US-made listed (like Baer) if price weren't important.

Rock Island Tactical !!!!

Jason G wrote

Maybe in your mind, but if a company can sell steel as cheaply as plastic, then what does that lead one to suspect about the quality of the steel and/or workmanship behind the pistol? Remember, "cheap" does not equal "value".

If all you are looking for is a pistol that goes bang most of the time, then there are plenty of cheap pistols that do that, assuming you are are okay with sacrificing fit and finish, metallurgy, longevity, accuracy, reliability, and just about anything else you would want in a pistol.

There are some real values out there, but not too many in the price range you are talking about.

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This is my point, tooling that was designed 100 years ago has long since paid for itself. The machines that complete the work are computerized. Production cost is no more than the plastic guns and may be less (Ruger makes steel guns inexpensively). I do not equate cheap with value, but if a Taurus PT1911 is under $600 and has a beveled mag well, Heinie sights, lowered ejection port, beavertail grip safety, skeletonized trigger and hammer, all hand fitted with machined parts. There are no injection molded parts on the Taurus. This is my basis for my opinion that it has the most bang for the buck. Its finish quality may not be as high as some others but life is not a fashion show. I don't think a BG is going to care if the bullet came from an ugly gun or a pretty one.

JMHO

I rechecked my information and I was incorrect in stating that the Taurus is free from MIM parts, this negates my argument in favor hand fitted macined parts. Taurus does hand fit frames and slides to match level tolerances.

Rock Island Armory for sure. I'm ordering mine ASAP after shooting my friends several times.

This is my point, tooling that was designed 100 years ago has long since paid for itself. The machines that complete the work are computerized. Production cost is no more than the plastic guns and may be less (Ruger makes steel guns inexpensively).

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Whether driven by computerised robot or mechanical means, tooling wears out and requires constant refurbishment and replacement. Nobody is making 1911s on tooling that is 5 yrds old, much less 100 years old. The jigs may be old, but the actual tooling is quite consumable. Depending on the product cycle, I would expect the tooling to be removed and dressed quite frequently and replaced outright several times a year.

A design that is as mill-intensive as a 1911 is far harder to make than, say, a Ruger P90 or S&W M&P that are designed to be cast or stamped rather than milled.

There are no injection molded parts on the Taurus.

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As far as I know, this is not true. One of the ways that Kimber and Taurus and others are keeping prices down is by using MIM parts. Half of the Wilson and McCormick aftermarket bits are MIM, too.

I'n not knocking the Taurus PT1911 - I'm just pointing out holes in the argument.

I think that this thread is relatively subjective; there is no metric for 'best bang for the buck'. Certainly, the description will favor the low-cost 1911s even if they prove less robust than, say, a Colt or Kimber or other.

I define best bang for the buck in terms of how many generations of my family will get to use it. Against that yardstick, the Taurus and the SAM/Armscor/Rock Island/Daly pistols are unknown quantities.

SavageMOA said:

Rock Island Armory for sure. I'm ordering mine ASAP after shooting my friends several times.

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Ok, read that again. Did you really shoot your friends several times?

Les Baer.

RIA... if you want to pay double (which is what you'll pay to get a pistol that is significantly better), the used Baer.

Another vote for the Springfield Mil-Spec. Probably as reliable as they come (Since we're talking 1911's).

I have a Springfield Loaded Target and love it.....but that's a custom gun.

Loaded's are production guns.

Sti Trojan

Ditto jaysouth - STI Trojan for $1k. Smooth and accurate.

Dan Wesson

What manufacturer is SAM

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The one that makes:

SAM/Armscor/Rock Island/Daly

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That's why I lumped them together. It's a Philipino 1911 marketed under the name 'SHOOTERS ARMS MANUFACTURING' and imported by CAI and others.

Springfield Armory TRP

Going cheaper I liked my Springfield Mil Spec, but I ended up selling it in favor fo the Kimber Warrior, which I LOVE.

Another nod for the RIA Tactical. I got one after getting and shooting the RIA GI model for a couple of years. The best value in firearms.

I bought my last Colt Series 80 1991 for $525 lightly used. That's RIA Tactical and Springfield MilSpec and Para GI territory. (And yes - I have owned and shot all of the above.)

Take each of them apart, and you'll appreciate the Colt far more than the others - even the Springfield.

I'm not knocking the RIA or Taurus - just pointing out that Colt does a better job of holding to spec and (in most cases) using a higher quality material.

If I had to grab ONE of my 1911s and was told that it had to defend my family RIGHT NOW - I'd pick the Colt unquestionably.

Last gunshow, I saw at least three vendors selling new 1991s for less than $750.

Yes, they were Colt 1991 Series 80s.

Kimber uses lots of MIM (as do most manufacturers) but they seem to have worked out any issues with that. I have several recent-production Kimbers that have been 100% so far.