Anyone NOT like the 1911 design?

[HGUNHNTR]

I do wish mainstream 1911 builders would offer more caliber selection in their various models. I would really like a blued 10mm that was in the $700 range.
Maybe even a .357 sig.

 

[MattTheHat]

I love the 1911, though I will readily admit that being able to shoot one accurately requires more work from me than with some other designs, and I'm not sure why.

I like SAO and I like the grip safety (though I always install beavertails on mine) and the manual safety.

As for caliber selection, I'd bet the 1911 has been chambered in more variety than any other single firearm: this is probably an incomplete list, but these are the calibers I'm aware of:

.22LR
7.62x25mm
9mm
9X23
9X25
38 Auto (not sure)
38 Super
38 Special Midrange Wadcutter
.357 Sig
.40 S&W (10mm Kurz)
.400 Corbon
10mm
45ACP
.460 Rowland
.50 GI

-Matt

 

[Prion]

Sold my SA TRP and bought a P220 Combat. I like shooting the Sig so much more. I don't enjoy shooting 1911's. Wanted too, even bought one. I respect it immensely, but it's just not for me. Don't think less of me, I tried to love it!

 

[Butter]

Never wanted to be a 1911 kinda guy, but smallish hands and the weight distribution of an all steel 1911 tame recoil for me. Add to this that the single stack grip and 'hang-on' angle are superlative for me, then there you go. As per reliability, had one issue with a Springer fully loaded right out of the box that a smith fixed and now have four 1911s and none are bad. The other three, including one Kimber bought used, have functioned well and are accurate. I have no need to disregard a gun that points well, handles well, is accurate and does not bobble any of the ammo I feed it.

 

[ny32182]

I mentioned before I'm not a 1911 fan, but I will add that the skinny frame and mild recoil do make for a pistol that would be good for smaller type shooters, in my opinion.

 

[NinjaFeint]

I don't dislike it but I am not particularly enamored with it. It is almost a religion for some folks and I think that is silly. I guess I am just not a member of the cult of JMB.

 

[Headless]

Eh, i don't dislike it, but i'd prefer a gun without a grip safety, and i prefer DA/SA to SA only. I wouldn't feel particularly under-armed with a 1911...i'd just not choose to buy one over, say, an S&W 3rd gen pistol.

 

[Ronsch]

Well...I don't love and drool over them, if that is what you mean. In SASS, there is a big push for "Wild Bunch"(based on the movie of the same name) matches featuring the 1911. To me, that is sort of ruining why I got into SASS in the first place, but I digress...

I have shot various 1911's over the years, especially some really, really rough NG issues back in the early 1980s. I never did like the disassembling procedure. I much prefer the Browning High Power, plus, despite owning .45 ACP revolvers now, I just prefer the 9mm.

As an aside (and not to hijack the thread) For those that do not seem to believe that the 9mm is combat effective, I would draw their attention to WWI and WWII as examples of the 9mm effectiveness, just as I would the .45 ACP.

Just IMHO...

 

[Echo9]

I don't like that I can't release the slide from lock back with my right thumb without rotating my grip on the gun. Damn short stubby thumbs. I still sorta like them, I mean they are in the only proper caliber, but my damn little pt145 I can drop the slide forward with my thumb no prob and it holds 10+1.

Oh yeah I think there complicated to take apart.

Drop the slide by pushing the slide stop down with your offhand thumb as soon as you've returned to a proper shooting grip.

 

[mljdeckard]

^^I agree with the above sentiment in that a lot of the complaints here can be solved with a teeny bit of training and sometimes a modified part.

 

[oneounceload]

Some of us who are LH do not like those with RH only safeties. While the trigger is better than a Glock, it isn't any better than any of my S&W revolvers in SA mode.

They're not bad guns, but I believe there are better out there.....

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

I like the design fine. It is the execution of too many of them that gives me problems.

 

[MCMXI]

I managed to avoid buying one for 20 years since I really didn't find them to be ergonomic and they simply have too much "stuff" on them with all of those blasted safety features. I bought a SIG P220 and P225 in '92 and the SIG P220 is simply the best pistol on the planet (to me anyway). The SIGs are just so friggin' elegant in their simplicity. No safety, just take down, de-cocking and slide lock levers with 100% reliability and very good accuracy. I like the SA/DA feature since there's no way to have an AD with a round in the chamber.

Late last year I bought a Kimber Tactical Entry II because I figured every firearms enthusiast should own one as a tribute to the genius of JMB if nothing else. Needless to say, I won't be buying another 1911 anytime soon. My next pistol will be a Glock 22 Gen 4 followed by another P220.

 

[Matrix187]

I love the 1911 design, but I think todays hi cap 9mm/.40 caliber handguns offer significant advantages for most.

 

[five.five-six]

Some of us who are LH do not like those with RH only safeties

some lefties carry 1911's in the 1/2 cocked position, others have an ambi-safety installed

 

[mec]

The 1911 is something of a self fulfilling prophesy. So many enthusiasts have lionized it that it has become a highly developed phenomena. There is a plenitute of spare/replacement parts to keep it running.and it can be made into an accurate fine shooter. It is not just suited to the adult versions of little league baseball where the middle aged shooters substitute handguns for bats and balls and run the bases just like they did as 12 year olds but as a broad spectrum and truely practical personal defense and recreational tool with accuracy and rapid fire capability to spare.

 

[Sam1911]

some lefties carry 1911's in the 1/2 cocked position

There is NO safe "half-cocked" position on a 1911! That's depending on the safety notch which is designed to catch the hammer in the event of the hammer and sear failure or in the event of dropping the pistol jarring the hammer and sear. That notch is not secure enough to safely hold the hammer from falling, and yet it holds the hammer far enough off the firing pin that in the event of a failure or a bump which dislodges the hammer, there's enough energy developed to fire the cartridge.

Even "Condition 2" (hammer down on a loaded chamber) is safer than this.

-Sam

 

[oneounceload]

some lefties carry 1911's in the 1/2 cocked position, others have an ambi-safety installed

No 1/2 cocked position...(remember the adage about going off halfcocked...)

An ambi safety means there is an extra piece to snag

If it works for you, great, not for me.....I'd rather have a revolver

 

[w_houle]

The barrel is needlessly complicated, and effectively dealt with on the BHP. It's low round count for it's size isn't compensated enough by being a .45... and it still requires to much work to put new parts onto it :banghead: not that being in production for a century has changed that any Oh, and be purist all you want, but there's a reason the BHP has an external extractor.

 

[NMGonzo]

Went shooting to the desert with my boss.

He is a pretty good shot, and he owns a .357 revolver and a Sig P6.

He finally got some trigger time with my combat commander.

It's growing on him ... slowly but surely.

Next time out I'll bring the gov't RIA and see how he likes the bigger size.

 

[jojo200517]

I was taught that it is not a slide release, it is a slide catch... that in high stress situations, fine motor skills go to ^*&(%(^ so I always grab the slide with my left hand and release

Yeah I have been told this before, I have also been told that if you drop the slide on an empty chamber you can damage something too, despite the fact that most function checks do just that.

My problem with using my left hand to release the slide is that I might not be able to, who knows if i'm hit in the left hand and can't drop the slide foward then i'm screwed. As long as I can keep shooting the better chance I have of surviving. Just the way I always looked at it.

 

[okespe04]

I like the 1911 a lot, I also like my glock 19 a lot, my gp100 is nice too. However I can say the 1911 is the only hand gun that I can say I would like to get another one made by different manufacturer.

 

[mgmorden]

I'll chime in on this one. I have a 1911 - have shot it a good deal.

My opinion: it was a GREAT design for it's time, and it's not "bad" per se, but it is very, very outdated. They're heavy compared to newer polymer designs, single stack limits round count (and .45ACP makes for a very wide double-stack, it's single action, the "tuning" of the extractor that amounts to bending it until it works, pickiness about feeding hollowpoints, and the way some things attach (like the safety plunger tube) is just odd.

Like I said - good (heck - GREAT) design for it's time, but that time has long past. There are much better guns out there now. They just don't have the nostalgia factor working for them. Now for range or target use none of these things really matter that much, but for a defense or general utility gun? They're past their prime.

 

[Justice5]

The only issue for me is that it has a safety, and has an 8 round magazine. Otherwise, mine is the funnest, and most accurate shooting handgun that I own. I'm so used to my Glocks now, and it's easy not to have to think about flipping off a safety in a stressful situation.

 

[twice barrel]

Back in the 70's & 80's when I shot a lot and was a bonafide gun nut I had a friend (a WWII vet) that just loved his Colt 1911's while I preferred S&W & Ruger revolvers. Sometimes we'd trade out and other than looks; I never liked shooting the 1911.

Recently getting back into shooting and sampling what the local shops now carried I purchased my first polymer framed pistol, my first 40 S&W pistol...a Springfield Armory XDm40 because ammo was available and I loved how it felt and pointed in my hand. But it constantly FTF'd and I found I don't like the 3-dot sight picture. Sent if off to Springer Precision for some reworking and its now much better.

I've been hankering for a 45 ACP and truly liked the XD45 Tactical I shot but decided against it because I knew I'd have to send it out for a trigger job and sight replacement before I'd be satisfied with it. Decided I'd get an inexpensive 1911 and wound up with an RIA 1911A1 Tactical which I believe is referred to as a Milspec pistol. Took it and my XDm40 to the range.

Ran 76 rounds thru my RIA with the groups at 10yds being the best I've shot to date and the very first shot ever in the piston being dead center. Put her in my bag and pulled the XDm40 out.

Didn't like it so much. Just wasn't as nice to shoot as that 1911 and I've got 3 times as much in it.

Still haven't figured out what it was I didn't like about those Colts my buddy had so long ago either!

TB