Im sorry but Larry Vickers knows 100% what he is talking about when he is discussing the 1911.Not again. Alas.
An article by someone who does not know what he is talking about. Not really.
Outdated? What does that mean anyway?
Perhaps capacity? Only seven rounds? That would make the Glock 36 outdated also.
Materials? Steel is outdated? Steel is bad? Nuh-uh.
Trigger? 1911 triggers, even bad ones, are better than the best Glock triggers....at least in my experience.
Accuracy.....I haven't met a 1911 that was less accurate than a Glock.
(Not to pick on Glocks....I like and own and use Glocks. It is a handy example.)
And so on..
Pete
Not only is he a retired Tier 1 operator, he teaches a 1911 gunsmithing and 1911 armorer class, in addition to his handgun and carbine classes. He is a personal friend of Bill Wilson of Wilson Combat, an engineering consultant for H&K, he consulted on the HK 45 compact. He is one the founding 5 of IDPA, not the mention that among the few in todays "trainers" he has actual combat trigger time on the 1911 and other pistols..the list goes on this guys resume, so yea he sure has no clue what he is talking about on the 1911..........
What a lot of people don't know is that Larry is quite possibly one of the top 1911 pistolsmiths in the country and has forgotten more about the 1911 than most here will ever know.
One thing that always makes me laugh is the "centtury old design" therefore it's obsolete.
He is a personal friend of Bill Wilson of Wilson Combat
I have shot hundreds of thousands of rounds though 1911 pistols over the past 40 years. I have had 1911s that run absolutely flawlessly. Those that didn't usually needed just a simple fix. Some needed mulitiple simple fixes to run right. My current carry gun is a Colt Lwt. Commander in .38 Super Comp and it is one sweet shooting pistol that runs like the Energizer Bunny.
Having said all of that, I couldn't agree more with Vickers. For the average guy that wants to get a mass produced pistol that will run about any ammo, under any conditions, with little maintenance right out of the box, the 1911 is indeed a PITA.
It maybe a conflict of interest IF Vickers discounted Les Baer, and other high end 1911 makers. Which btw he doesn't.But that's a conflict of interests. Guys like Bill Wilson (or his friends) don't want you to know that you can get a 1911-pattern that works every time and will hold the black at 50 yards for $600 or less.
Honestly though, a lot of what people are saying is inconsistent. I mean, like how it's somehow foolish to spend $1,000 on a "good" 1911 (their words, not mine) but it makes so much sense to spend $1,000 on an HK. IF you're looking for high-performance, then yes, you probably need to drop a grand or more, regardless of the make and model. If you just need a duty pistol, then even a Rock Island will run side-by-side with a G21 in terms of reliability, though a Springfield Mil-Spec is probably a better option.
They all will generally say the same things. Love the 1911, be prepared to do extra maintenance to keep the gun up and running, thats all.