herrwalther
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Not in my experience. I have owned several 1911s from Para, Ruger, and Springfield. All ran fine with the ammo I used.
1911's - are they THAT finicky?
- Thread starter Triggernosis
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fireside44
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You missed it. The gun comes with a factory magazine or two. I would like five or six mags total, which would mean buying three or four additional mags, PLUS a couple more to make up for the junk factory mags so add two more mags to the equation. I'd rather have a lower price with no mags tbh if the mags are junk.
I own two 1911 style handguns. They have always reliably gone bang when asked to.
I have seen some tuned for bullseye with loads that barely cycle due to minimum power reloads. I have witnessed a few failures to cycle there. But that is an ammo problem.
I have seen some tuned for bullseye with loads that barely cycle due to minimum power reloads. I have witnessed a few failures to cycle there. But that is an ammo problem.
ClickClickD'oh
Member
Nope, I got it. You almost did too, but you just aren't running the numbers.
You want five or six mags to run with your gun. Let's say the one that comes with a RIA 1911 does turn out to be rubbish, so you but six new ones, at $20 each. That's $120 for six reliable 1911 magazines.
Let's look at the other gun you are considering, the CZ. It comes with two magazines. To get up to 6 mags you will need four more. 9mm CZ-75 mags are currently going for $35-$40 each... so $140-$160
So, completely replacing all of your 1911 magazines is cheaper than partially buying CZ magazines, and gets more favorable with every magazine added.
I own both the 1911 and the CZ and they are both absolutely fabulous guns, but the economics work out in the 1911s favor in terms of long term ownership. The price of CZ magazines is why I finally transitioned away from them for daily use guns.
Coyote3855
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I own and shoot a few 1911s. Used a lightly modified Springfield Armory in IPSC competition. 200 grain LSWC reloads had to have the right crimp to function at match speed. Have a 2011 Caspian/STI hybrid in .40 S&W. Reliable if run well lubed. RIA .45 ACP shot only with hardball and never missed a lick. 1918 Colt 1911 runs hardball, chokes on SWC or hollow points. 1979 vintage Colt Combat Commander in .38 Super, feeds hardball and hollow points. Colt LW Commander Talo in .38 Super, OEM Colt magazine won't feed hard ball or anything else. Megar and HB magazines feed anything. Kimber Stainless LW, functions right out of the box with anything I feed it. So I gotta go with persnickety. But they are sort of like an old dog that farts and won't hunt, I love them anyway.
Boarhunter
Member
I currently own 1911s made by Colt, Springfield Armory, Dan Wesson, Ruger, SIG, and ATI. Shortly after purchase, both the Kimber and ATI had to be "tweaked" just a bit. Otherwise, they have all been reliable through lots of years and lots of ammo.
BOARHUNTER
BOARHUNTER
Yeah Glocks are finicky I have yet to see one to run with a Smith magazine.Well this certainly sounds like the definition of finicky to me.
I see a lot of parrots here, I wonder just how many guys saying a early GI 1911 will choke on anything but ball ammo have actually shot a pristine low round count like new USGI 1911.
My only 1911 is the Ruger. The only issue I have had was getting hit in the head with spent brass once or twice per magazine. I came to one of the forum boards & asked about it. I was told to check my extractor tension. After a little research I checked & adjusted the tension on the extractor. I haven't had any issues since. The magazines that came with it worked fine but I wanted to have more. It has been long enough ago that I don't remember what site I got them from but they are Checkmate magazines & work fine. I don't know how true it is now but someone back then said Checkmate supplied the ones that came with it.
Old Dog
Member
So, quoting this one, as it's pretty typical of comments coming from those who opt against 1911s -- "Owned one and sold it." Sample of exactly one (doesn't mention maker). I've owned more than 30. One I could have given up on entirely because of its annoying habits, but it forced me to actually learn about 1911s.
Again, one has to ask -- if the 1911 is, in fact, a "glorified relic" -- why are these guns manufactured in such huge numbers, and sold like hotcakes?
Another quote:
And I get back to what I mentioned earlier: The people who believe 1911s are reliable are typically those who have troubled themselves to learn how the platform operates and perform the maintenance, and sometime the minor tweaks, that may be required. It is not the firearm for someone with zero mechanical ability or zero desire to know how his/her gun functions, and why. Some have made the choice to avoid the 1911, and that's okay. But if you know someone who really gets the 1911, they're probably pretty good with almost any gun.
JTQ
Member
As a "for instance" take the Beretta M9, one of the most reliable pistols currently being produced. For a period of time, the US Government specified a parkerized finish on their magazines, CheckMate delivered them as ordered, and the guns had all kinds of reliability issues in the middle east, where the super fine sand caused problems with the rough finish on the magazines."It varies" darned sure sounds finicky to me.
Swapping the CheckMate mags for Mec-Gar mags, with a smooth finish, returned the guns to reliable operation.
Mags make a difference. One difference with the 1911 is that it's been around so long, there are probably dozens of companies making varieties of magazines for the gun, while other guns, even popular guns like the Beretta M9/92 or Glock probably have mags made a number of companies you could count on one hand.
Another for instance...
Top Gun Supply's listing for CheckMate, just CheckMate, 1911, 7 round mags (not counting 8 rounders), gives you 19 options
CheckMate 1911 7 rounders https://www.topgunsupply.com/magazines/1911/check-mate/1911-7rd-full-size.html
Top Gun Supply's listing for Glock 17 mags gives you 9 options, and that includes 10 round, 17 round, 21 round, 27 round, and 33 round options. If you limited it to 17 rounders, there would only be 4 options.
Glock 17 mags https://www.topgunsupply.com/magazines/glock/glock-17-magazines.html
RetiredUSNChief
Member
Preeeeeeeetty...
I've been toying around with the idea of buying a 9mm in a 1911 frame.
Lots of folks don't seem to like external extractors on 1911's because it is a departure from the traditional design. I find myself wondering if it might be better. The only down side I see is that it might be harder to get a replacement. I suspect it might be less likely to require maintenance too though. I have never owned one like that but I find my self admiring the Smith and the Sig offerings made that way.
With modern JHP Ammo. None.
Such unicorns would likely be replaced with a cheaper Wilson.
my experience, and that of most I know, yes they are finicky, but people will find any reason to excuse the malfunctions. In all my life I have seen 52 defective factory round (seen thousands) and 50 were in one box (excessive case length btw), but somehow when there's a 1911 crowd at the range, theres a huge run on defective factory rounds. And mags. And springs. The only excuses I have seem more thrown out was on one particularly defective AKM. That said, I have a 45 1911 (sprinfield), and a 9mm (auto ordnance) that run perfectly. The springfield required a heavily modified extractor, GI mags, Square bottom FPS, and a slight change to the frame to barrel clearence. The AO required a new ejector. The Springfield made 6000 rounds without malfunction of any kind when I stopped counting, and is always ran until its spitting hard peices of coal at your face. I rank 1911's as good as any pistol for reliability, better than most, but but they need to be made to work right, and I still have not seen a single 45 acp model work out of the box.
JR24
Member
Go for it! Especially aluminum frames. All the fun of a soft shooting 9mm, with much less weight on the belt.
Don't like aluminum .45 1911s, love the 9mm.
Kimber gave up on external extractors, but Sig & S&W make them work no problem.
A member 1911tuner that was a treasure trove of information on all things 1911 had a few from black army to ww2 era and early commercial that he said would feed the old Speer 200gr flying ashtray.
He would also often point out that his fine examples weren't rattle traps like is often parroted about USGI guns.
Another one that cracks me up it never would run right and I had a reliability tune up done at Billy Bob's gunsmithin before I shot it.
Rick McC.
Member
No, not at all.
fireside44
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Roger that and thank you for the info and recommendation. Didn't realize CZ mags were so expensive. $40 per is steep.
RetiredUSNChief
Member
I'm thinking a short barreled version of some kind. I wouldn't mind something nice I could conceal a bit more easily whenever I have to "dress up" on occasion.
Short barreled 1911s have to be made right, less room for error with the short barrel, but they work as well.
@1911Tuner once posted that short 1911s were like a mischievous child, when they were good, they were very, very good, but when they were bad (Not made right), they were very, very bad.
Very, very, good.
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