Best 1911 Manufacture

Top 1911 Manufacturer

  • Para Ordnance

    Votes: 3 2.0%

  • Springfield Armory

    Votes: 32 21.2%

  • Kimber

    Votes: 18 11.9%

  • Colt

    Votes: 53 35.1%

  • S&W

    Votes: 19 12.6%

  • Les Baer

    Votes: 26 17.2%
  • Total voters
    151
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Pietro Beretta

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For out of box reliaibility and quality. I know their are different models, but who gives you the most for your money.
 
Its not really fair to compare those pistols. The Kimber, Colt, PO, S&W, Springfield aren't as high of a level as the Les Baer.

The Baer is in a different league. LB's are compared to Wilsons and Ed Brown. They're in the Semi Custom Level.

Check my other thread you started however on what I feel is best for "bang for buck"

Bang for buck and best is pretty different. :D
 
The Les Baer is out of place in this poll. However, I choose Colt out the others.
 
I voted for Les Baer, but I think the poll is unfair with LB included. The others are priced much lower.

I have a much higher opinion of Para Ordnance than some others. Having owner Colts, Kimbers and Paras, my vote is for Para as the best value right now. I have four of them as testament to my confidence in Para.
 
Id have to say the comparison isnt fair at ALL! With Baer, you MUST include Wilson, Brown, Nighthawk and the likes.
Wheres RIA, Norinco, Taurus, Auto Ord (new stuff), and the likes also.

I voted for Baer in this poll.......nothing comes close.

Shoot well.
 
Of the listed guns current production Colt is on top. Baer is completely out of the league of other guns listed.
 
Funny that Smith & Wesson doesn't get that much of a nod. Maybe it's because they haven't saturated the market yet.

$700 got me a 1911PD, which is a nice-looking, tight and accurate gun. Problems? Well, one of the factory mags had a weak spring, and there was a rare problem with the grip safety, but S&W paid for shipping both ways and had it back to me within a week. (I follow the forums, and complaints are really rare) All the parts are Wilsons, and the whole gun reeks of quality. Can't recommend it highly enough for the price.

I've got a Kimber CDP Compact (basically a Defender with a 4" bbl), which has been utterly reliable through ~1500 rounds, and is just a nice gun all around. Not a standard 1911 by any stretch, but still a trooper, and frighteningly accurate for such a small gun. A friend has an Eclipse that's just as reliable and accurate.

I've owned one Colt, and it had every type of feeding problem imaginable, sometimes several within the same magazine. Took it to a gunsmith who made a laundry-list of things that would have to be done to make it reliable. It would have cost $300 on top of the $700 I'd already paid. For that, I could have gotten the Kimber, which comes with all the bells & whistles (or a Smith and a half).
 
Once again, Colt sliding by on reputation alone. I'll go with Springfield as my experience with SA pistols has been great, its pistols are excellent, and SA has the best customer service of any gun-maker I've dealt with.

I've no experience with the Smith's, but they seem well-made. I've shot, but never owned a Para, so I can't judge them. On the other hand, I've had some miserable experiences with Colt's and Kimbers...
 
Once again, Colt sliding by on reputation alone.
Click to expand...

No joke, makes me wish people would actually do what's best for them rather than buy their favorite name. But then, if people did that, who would buy Ruger autoloaders and Dodge pickups?
 
You don't believe the recent Colts are significantly better than what they cranked out in the last century?

OTOH, I think last century's Kimbers were better than the ones I've seen recently.

John
 
Another vote for S&W. I've got a target model (just a 1911 with adjustable rear sights and a full length guide rod).

Close to 2000 rounds thru it with 0 - ZERO - hiccups. Neither a FTF nor a FTE to report.

Maybe I just got lucky with that one - wish I could say the same for some of the other brands I own.
 
You don't believe the recent Colts are significantly better than what they cranked out in the last century?

OTOH, I think last century's Kimbers were better than the ones I've seen recently.

John
Click to expand...

I'm with John. I think Colt has gotten a lot better in the last 5 years, and Kimber has gotten a lot worse.

That said, I still generally recommend Dan Wesson, Springfield Armory and Para Ordnance ahead of Colt. All three of those companies put out consistently high quality 1911s with all the gotta-have-it features for excellent prices. Around here (Memphis), anyway, Colts and Kimbers tend to be about $100-200 more than DW, SA or PO for the same level or quality and feautures.
 
I've got a Springfield, Kimber, Colt(s) and Les Bear. I also have Glocks, Sigs and a H&K in 45 ACP. Maybe I've been unlucky, but only one of these guns has been 100% reliable and that's the Les Baer.
 
If you could find any...Norinco! Bought mine for less than $300 NIB before Klinton killed their import, found it to be both accurate and completely reliable with all bullet types and loads...a problem with my Kimber, EAA Witness, and Springfield...and bought a second one still stashed in the gun safe for possible rebuild into a target gun. Have disposed of the others, and my trusty Norinco gets a lot of use! Have fired approximately 10,000 rounds without need for repair. (Am just about ready to reload another 1,000 round batch.)

Value for the money...Tops! :D
 
I should have originally stated that the 1911's I have listed are on the CA DOJ Certified Firearm Roster. Some other model 1911 manufactures were not included since I am not able to purchase one anyway :what:
 
Ive owned kimbers,springers,llamas,ria,S&W,and a colt and anyone that has shot a Les B would never say a factory gun is even in the same league. I shot one one time and if i could bring myself to cough up the cash i would also own one but i keep getting good deals on kimbers so now i own 4. I guess i would rather own 4 good ones than one great one. :evil:
 
These days Colt isn't sliding along on it's great name (almost 100 years manufacturing fighting 1911's for the US military and countless civies.) I would bet the few Colt "naysayers" here haven't bought a new Colt in the last few years... they're might fine. A company as old as Colt has been through numerous owners and plenty of troubles from time to time, but their current guns are excellent.

The new production Colts are the best production 1911's available in my opinion. Best reliability, best parts and materials grade. Service and warranty work - excellent... but you're not likely to need it. And resale, if you ever decide to sell your Colt... is tops with a Colt... no other 1911 carries the name recognition, history, or charisma... they do hold value quite well indeed on the used market.

With over twenty new Colts purchased in the last three years... I do have some experience with them. ;) Add in a half dozen Springfields and a half dozen Kimbers.

Springfields ain't bad, a nice second-choice to a degree, but their parts quality is lower grade than Colt's and resale of a used Springfield is, if you choose to, well... generally disappointing.

Kimber? Sheesh... the recent MIMbers are pretty much all fluff and puff... all show and lucky to get any go. Kimber figures if they can't win you with reliability, they'll WOW you with marketing, hoo-haw, fluff, puff, gizmos, and doo-dads. Of course many of them do run, but it seems just as many of them DON'T. I've got a few good Series 1 Kimbers, but in the last few years, I believe Kimber has gone to pot overall. Their focus is on high volume sales numbers and marketing doo-dads, not on producing reliable 1911's. Recent manufacture Kimbers are a great choice for posers... but not a good choice as fighting guns.... go with the new Colts...
 
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