1911 (not 1911A1) replicas on the market now?

[.455_Hunter]

Is anybody doing a good 1911 replica right now?

I know Colt had their 1918 re-issue a few years ago.

Thanks!

 

[Coyote3855]

I've bought some good Cimarron guns.

https://www.cimarron-firearms.com/products/hollywood-guns/1911-45-cal.html

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

Curious what do you mean by a 1911 replica?

 

[AlexanderA]

Curious what do you mean by a 1911 replica?

It's the WW1 configuration: no scallops behind the trigger in the frame, flat mainspring housing, short grip safety, long trigger. Besides WW1 reenacting, these are also used in "Wild Bunch" CAS competitions.

I believe RIA makes these in the Philippines.

 

[bannockburn]

.455_Hunter

Probably price-wise the Cimarron M1911 would be the best bet on an authentic looking Colt 1911. I did find a NIB Colt M1911 re-issue 100th Anniversary Model with a Buy-It-Now price of $1750. Original WWI M1911s appear to start price-wise at like double that amount...and go up from there!

 

[tarosean]

Curious what do you mean by a 1911 replica?

For the most part what you know as a 1911 is an "A1".... There are slight differences in the originals to what we know now a days..

I have one gun with a non scallpoped frame. But nothing else would come close to what the OP is asking about.




I.e. Pistol on left.

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

Like my RIA 38 SUPER GI?

 

[.455_Hunter]

Like my RIA 38 SUPER GI?
View attachment 1069584

Not exactly, but it does have the flat mainspring housing.

 

[9mmepiphany]

Like my RIA 38 SUPER GI?

You'd need a long trigger, a short grip safety, no relief cuts behind the trigger and a wider hammer spur

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

Thanks guys. Good to learn new things.

 

[halfmoonclip]

Some parts are relatively easy to change out (the mainspring housing, the long trigger); others are perhaps harder...the grip safety could be reshaped.
How exact a replica do you need, Alexander?
Moon

 

[AlexanderA]

For reference, here's my original Colt M1911 (top) compared to my original Remington-Rand M1911A1 (bottom):

 

[Zerodefect]

Hopefully Colt/CZ can be talked into making a nice OG 1911.

And a "sleeper" model. Same aesthetics, but slightly taller sights and slightly improved beavertail and grip safety. The custom built sleeper Colts, I've seen lately, were too cool.

What is the A1 trigger scallope even for? My trigger finger gets nowhere near that part of the frame. It seems optimized for someone that has to shoot with their feet, maybe.

 

[Jim Watson]

The trigger is a lot shorter, just grab the gun and you fall into an "electric drill" grasp with the trigger finger way around over the trigger. The scallop gives clearance.

The flat mainspring, replaced by arched in 1925, started its return in 1957 with the Gold Cup. Catalog said "available with flat or arched mainspring housing" but I have not seen one with a factory arched. Action shooters pretty much cemented the flat as majority standard.

I just looked at the Cimarron Wild Bunch kinda sorta 1911.
It has an unscalloped frame and flat mainspring housing, but its grip safety is too long, its trigger too short, and its ejection port too big to be a faithful copy.

 

[AlexanderA]

What is the A1 trigger scallope even for?

The trigger is a lot shorter, just grab the gun and you fall into an "electric drill" grasp with the trigger finger way around over the trigger. The scallop gives clearance.

Having smaller-than-average hands, the frame scallops and short trigger make a big difference for me. I can marginally use the M1911, but the M1911A1 is a perfect fit.

I just looked at the Cimarron Wild Bunch kinda sorta 1911.
It has an unscalloped frame and flat mainspring housing, but its grip safety is too long, its trigger too short, and its ejection port too big to be a faithful copy.

The RIA "GI" model (a supposed M1911A1 clone) has the same problem. The enlarged and beveled ejection port means that it's unusable for a true GI clone. I actually made an authentic WW2 gun out of one, but I had to replace almost everything except the frame. Even that was not 100% correct because of the beveled magazine well.

At least these repros are machined correctly, so they accept actual mil-spec parts.

 

[tark]

I just looked at the Cimarron Wild Bunch kinda sorta 1911.
It has an unscalloped frame and flat mainspring housing, but its grip safety is too long, its trigger too short, and its ejection port too big to be a faithful copy.

Couldn't have said it any better myself.

Like my RIA 38 SUPER GI?

Again, A-1 grip safety, short trigger and the thumb safety is contoured all wrong. Should look like the thumb safeties in post # 12. I'm guessing the ejection port it too low as well.

 

[Jimster]

Here’s my Cimarron version. Bought some small antique Colt parts off eBay. It’s certainly not perfect but scratched my itch to have an old school 1911.

 

[halfmoonclip]

On an impulse, got a Colt Black Army some years ago, and have never regretted it.
It's a great shooter, the microscopic old school sights excepted.
Moon

 

[AlexanderA]

It's a great shooter, the microscopic old school sights excepted.

Yes. I forgot to mention that one of the differences between the 1911 and the 1911A1 is the sights. The 1911 has a small "U" shaped notch on the rear and a thin blade on the front. The 1911A1 has square notch (Patridge) sights.

 

[halfmoonclip]

AlexanderA, even the A1 sights are nothing to write home about, but they are in improvement on the 1911's. Sights meant for young men, tho' I wonder how much point and shoot went on.
A buddy always brings up the scene in The Sand Pebbles where Richard Crenna's character boards the junk with a 1911 and a cutlass, blasting away. Yeah, that was a movie, but a lot of gunfights are waged at bad breath distance.
Moon

 

[Jim Watson]

1944 pistol training film at
army training film pistol training

 

[AlexanderA]

AlexanderA, even the A1 sights are nothing to write home about, but they are in improvement on the 1911's.

Very true. People complain about the low profile of the GI sights. I think this was a feature, not a bug. Remember that pistols were backup weapons, and spent most of their time riding in holsters rather than being used. Low-profile sights fit in holsters better.

 

[halfmoonclip]

Jim Watson, that Army training film was a hoot. A whole different attitude about muzzle discipline, 'cup & saucer' two handed shooting, what was that Colt revo they showed?
Kind of liked using tracer for training; wonder how the residue affected the barrel, since they weren't alternating any ball?
Thnx!
Moon

 

[AlexanderA]

that Army training film was a hoot.

One thing I noticed was the almost total lack of recoil as they were firing. And right at the beginning, there was a clip of the .45 being fired sideways, "gangsta" style.