1911s Whats the Differance?

[charliemopic]

As far as range guns...
As I understand Norinco 1911s are made from good quality steel and no MIM parts. Generally speaking thats good.
American made 1911s are made from good steel and some MIM parts.
What makes a $900-$1200 American made 1911 better than a $400-$600 1911?
The Phillipines churns out a bunch of 1911s for well under $400. From what I've read here and other forums people have perdy good luck with them.
When the gun is used for shooting at the range what makes a $1200 1911 clone better than a $365 import?

Thanks

 

[geronimo509]

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=425403

this just might shed some light on the subject.

 

[NGIB]

What makes folks buy a BMW instead of a Kia? They both get you from point A to point B.

The higher end guns have better metalurgy, closer tolerances, and better internals. For a range gun, there's not a thing wrong with Rock Islands. I've owned a number of RIAs and they're a good entry level 1911. I also own Colt, Kimber, Springfield, and Dan Wesson. When you shoot a higher end gun you'll understand the difference...

 

[David E]

Sounds like you've never shot a $1200 (or even $700) 1911 side by side with the $365 import.

If you HAVE and you're still asking the question, then buy the $365 import.

.

 

[j1979]

I would say go and shoot a inexpensive model and then a 1200 dollar gun if your contemplating the two. I went with the more expensive. Some people are happy with the RIA some want something different. Its all personal preference.

 

[schmeky]

Sounds like you've never shot a $1200 (or even $700) 1911 side by side with the $365 import.

If you HAVE and you're still asking the question, then buy the $365 import.

Exactly. Well stated.

 

[rodinal220]

An Auto-Ordnance is worlds apart from a Les Baer.Chevette vs. Ferrari.

It all has to do with quality of materials,fitting,finishing.

 

[Hawk]

I can provide a couple oddball differences that seemed pretty comical at the time.

I bought a base model RIA parked 1911. It ran OK but inside a couple dozen rounds the web of my hand was bleeding from what I assumed was hammer-bite. The mystery was that I had a generic series 80 Colt with the same GI-type grip safety and it didn't bite. After staring at the two side-by-side until my forehead bled I still couldn't see a dimensional difference that would account for the phenomenon.

Turned out the parkerizing on the RIA was so rough it was sandpapering my hand. <slaps head>.

Another humorous event was in disassembling the thing - mine was one of the CA-legal types. If you wonder how it made it through CAL-DOJ's drop test without a firing pin block I have the answer - the firing pin spring was taken from an EMD road diesel. It was so strong it held the hammer back at around "1/8 cock" when at rest and was sufficient to embed the firing pin in sheetrock from across the room when the firing pin stop was removed. Use safety glasses.

The magazine release was defective - I replaced with a Chim Mc unit. RIA would have repaired it I'm told but buying the aftermarket part was cheaper than mailing the thing back.

The trigger was, in the context of some other 1911 triggers, strongly reminiscent of 18 miles of bad road.

Nothing show-stopping and it proved servicable. It didn't suck. It also proved that the principle of TANSTAAFL is alive and well.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TANSTAAFL

Nevertheless, for under 400.00, you could do worse. But it's not a bargain - it's worth precisely what you'll give for it and not a dime more, not that there's anything wrong with that.

 

[MT GUNNY]

IMHO
If your looking for a Range Gun I would go with something Less expensive .

If your going with a Competition Gun spend $1000 or more.

If you go with a Carry Gun Go like I did $700 or so. Buy the Way, I use My S&W1911 for all listed!

 

[sqlbullet]

I find the car analogies interesting, if not applicable. A Ford Fiesta and a Lamborghini Diablo are different designs of cars. The have completely different design goals.

A better analogy (with cars) would be VW Jetta's made in Germany versus those made in Mexico. The differences are all in the fit and finish of the final car. This analogy is still somewhat flawed, becuase in theory both the German and Mexican cars are held to the same QA standard.

The real answer is the amount of tolerance that is allow in the manufacture process. The cheaper gun specs are designed with 'slop' in mind, so the gun can be finished without each part having to be hand filed and lapped to fit.

This is why the STI guns that originate from the Philippines are nicer than a Norinco. The STI guns have a different tolerance spec'd, and require more fitting in assembly.

 

[mainmech48]

IME, putting one of those $365 imports into a comparable level of fit, finish, function, accuracy, etc. that a $1200 model gives you OTB nearly always ends up costing a whole pile more than the original difference in price.

IIWY, I'd split the difference between the two extremes you cited and consider something like a Springfield "Loaded" model or a Taurus PT-1911. You'll get a lot of the feaures that go into making a $1200 pistol for a lot less than it'd cost you to put them on a base model RIA or Norinco.

 

[NGIB]

I've also seen a lot of folks start out with a $400 RIA and dump $500 into it to make it what they want. At the end of the process they do not have a $900 gun - they have a $400 gun they put a lot of money into.

I've seen this happen a lot and the folks are very mad they can't get the money back out of the gun on a sale or trade. If this is what you want to do fine, just don't expect to recoup the investment when it comes time to sell or trade it...

 

[schmeky]

Hawk,

Your post #8 was great, I'm still grinning

NGIB,

You hit the nail on the head. We (meaning "I" as well) start off with something we can afford, and end with something we spend, often times, way to much on. I do not want to add up what I've put into my 1911 Norinco, and after all, it's still just an inexpensive Chinese import.

There is nothing wrong with an entry level 1911, but there is absolutely no comparative analogy between a $365.00 vs a $1,200 1911. None. It's Spam vs Tenderloin, both are edible, but which would you enjoy the most?