1911 for CCW?

[Crazy Carl]

Okay, so I'm on the prowl for another 1911. Wantin' this one for concealed carry.

I'm REALLY diggin' the idea of the Commander slide/Officer's frame combo, tho only Kimber & Sig seem to be doing 1911s in 'em right now.

I'm a bit leery of the Officer's/compact size, as I read a lot about reliability probs with the shorter ones & the complicated trickery required to make 'em run- bushingless barrels, full length guide rods, dual springs, etc.

Any truth to that?

So.... my first 2 choices are the Sig C3 or the Kimber Compact CDP II.

Other possibilities include the DW Commander CLS Bobtail, Kimber Pro Raptor II, SA Loaded Champion, or the Para 1911 LTC.

I know the Sig has an external extractor. Pros/cons?

The Sig & Para use Series 80 safeties & the Kimbers some wonky one I can't remember. Pros/cons over the Series 70 style (DW & SA)?

Any experience with any of these? Recommendations for or against (& why)? My price range caps at about $1K, so no recommendations for Wilsons, STIs or Ed Browns, please.

Thanks.

 

[COPATCH]

Go Kimber!

I carry a Kimber Pro-Carry (First Series / mfg 2000). I have no problems whatsoever concealing / carrying. The gun has never been a problem. I keep it in a kydex IWB in the kidney area and I also have a Crossbreed Supertuck that makes it disappear. I not a really big guy (5'11'' / 215-220) and I have never worried about anyone spotting it. Straight out of the box, it was the best shooting .45 (dollar value) I have had. The cost of the Pro-Carry gives the opportunity to do upgrades if you desire. I really don't think that it would be necessary though. Use the extra money and stock up on ammo!

 

[dmazur]

Well, I have both Commander-length and Officer's-length 1911's and I did have more trouble getting the Officer's to function properly. Once I had the aftermarket mag springs, FLGR and different recoil springs, lighter mainspring and titanium firing pin, it functioned reliably. Before that, I had failures to feed.

That doesn't mean there aren't plenty of "out of the box" reliable compacts. Most would agree, if pressed for an honest answer, that the timing issues for the compacts are more critical than for the longer frame sizes. A short term for this could be "fussy".

I never did the Commander slide / Officer's frame thing, but I've seen examples and they look good. For myself, I find the Officer's frame a little short to hang on to, and I don't have especially large hands. (My wife has tiny little hands and she loves it, however.)

The Commander that I carry has a Series 80 firing pin safety. I've managed to get a 3.5# trigger pull out of it, so I am not a follower of the "it ruins the trigger" camp. As the trigger came from Colt, it wasn't something you could live with. (Lawyers...)

 

[Crazy Carl]

Thanks.

I am kinda leaning toward the Kimber CDP, as it's supposedly built in their Custom Shop & has the exact set-up I want.

I figured the compacts would be fussier, but wanted to hear some ground truth on the matter.

I've got decently sized mitts & all the compacts I've handled felt pretty comfy in the hand. That said, I've never actually fired one.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

I've carried a full-size Kimber First Series Classic since 1996 or thereabouts. It replaced an Argentine M1927 that had been my carry gun for about 15 years or so before then. Before that, I carried a WWII Remington-Rand.

 

[nj.piney]

i carry a colt defender or a star pd45 . both are 100% reliable with remington 230 gr.jhp ammo. i prefer the star for the 4 inch barrel and the balance seems better.

 

[sevin8nin]

For the money I'd buy a springfield LW champion over the kimber any day. The Kimber pro CDP II I handled felt terrible. I also handled it back to back with a springfield LW champion, and I own one as well.

For the money the springfields are awesome and the 4" barrel of the kimber pro or springfield champion series is very easy to conceal. The only thing close to an officer sized that i've got is an EMP, and I use the same holster that I use on my commander. The biggest different to me is the weight, but it's also a shorter slide.

A commander/officer combo would be really nice, but to get the one I want it'd have to come from one of the high end custom manufacturers. For instance, check out nighthawk custom's T3. It's extremely nice.

 

[.45&TKD]

Why not carry a full size?

 

[Bufford t. Justice]

1911 for CCW?
S&W 1911PD or Sc

 

[tlen]

S&w Sw1911pd #108283

 

[jfdavis58]

I have two SA Loaded Champions-SS. Stiff and tight from day one. Excellent accuracy, flawless feeding. I also have a Kimber Ultra CDPII; Much better than expected accuracy, flawless function. All got 1500-1700 FMJ rounds before being used as CCW; including 300 (or so) JHP Near the end of 'break-in'. The oldest has about 5000 rounds fired, youngest about 3000. I carry one of the three daily. I like mine, just fine.

 

[MicrometerMike]

I don't mind a full length 1911 the holsters they offer us these day's make carry preference a non-issue with the 1911 design. I have 2 SS Champions one tight (new) and one loooose (old) both are reliable and accuracy is excellent at defense ranges.

 

[velobard]

Yup Crazy Carl, and you can even conceal it in a Karl holster.

http://www.kelloggcustomleather.com/karl.html

 

[ugaarguy]

So.... my first 2 choices are the Sig C3 or the Kimber Compact CDP II.

Other possibilities include the DW Commander CLS Bobtail, Kimber Pro Raptor II, SA Loaded Champion, or the Para 1911 LTC.

I know the Sig has an external extractor. Pros/cons?

I'm not a fan of external extractors on 1911s. Part of the beauty of the original design is that it doesn't require tools to take down. An external extractor goes way against that.

The Sig & Para use Series 80 safeties & the Kimbers some wonky one I can't remember. Pros/cons over the Series 70 style (DW & SA)?

I've had a Colt series 80 FP block plunger break and disable a gun. I don't trust any firing pin block on a 1911. They were added as an afterthought and because of this the center section is too thin for my comfort after having one break.

Luckily they can be removed on the Kimber Shwarz safety models, and removed on series 80 guns if a few little filler parts, available from Brownell's, are also used.

Any experience with any of these? Recommendations for or against (& why)?

I had a pre-firing pin block Kimber Pro Carry that I really liked, but I couldn't stand needing that little recoil spring capture pin tool to take it down. Springfield runs a similar bushing-less 4" bbl & slide setup. I much prefer the true Commander length 4&1/4" bbl & slide setup which Colt, SIG, S&W, and DW use with a conventional bushing & spring cap.

I had a commander size SIG that I lost faith in even though I was able to correct its out of the box feeding issues. I just never was able to trust it. That aside the blocky slide makes them more top heavy than traditional rounded slide 1911s, and that blockiness makes for less than ideal fit with many holsters.

That leaves me with Colt, S&W, and DW. If I wanted a CCO (which is the officer grip on a commander slide you originally asked about) I'd find a used Colt CCO and modify it as I saw fit. Current Colt Commanders are quite nice, and the Series 80 FP block is dealt with easily enough. A new Colt Lightweight Commander would be my next choice if I couldn't find a nice used CCO.

Both S&W and DW make really nice external extractor 1911s. Of the two, I'd get the S&W because the lightweight Scandium frame is going to be much more comfortable to lug around all day.