I did, indeed “divorce” the 1911 system, twice. In the mid-Eighties, I let my first one go, due to reliability issues, and budget concerns. In the very early Nineties, I let three of them go, because the Colt Stainless Commander, which I was using as a duty pistol, ceased being reliable. By the mid-Nineties, I started buying 1911 pistols, again. In 2002, I down-sized, and kept only one, my best one, a Les Baer Thunder Ranch Special. 2002 to 2016 was a period of using Glocks, then SIGs, and then Glocks, again, as duty pistols. I actually could have kept my 1911 duty pistols “grandfathered,” but the then-mandated duty holster did not allow me to reliably get a proper firing grip, at the outset of the draw, and the checkering on the pistols, which I considered important, did not allow me to readily “correct” my grip after the draw. Reluctantly, I let the duty pistol status of my 1911 pistols lapse, and thinned the herd.
I resumed using the Baer TRS for personal-time carry, by early 2012, if not late 2011, because my duty SIG, a .40, was starting to vex my arthritis, an unwelcome 50th birthday “gift.” At the end of 2015, my then-chief OK’ed 1911 duty pistols, again, so I started adding more, with one pre-owned Les Baer, with work done by Harrison Custom, added in 2016, and then two more Baers, and one Detonics*, after I retired. With my income diminishing, as my pay-out of accumulated, unused leave is about to end, there will probably be no more acquisitions of 1911 pistols, going forward. I will probably hold what I’ve got.
*I bought the Detonics as an old-times’-sake collectible, because my first pistol, in late 1982 or early 1983, was a Detonics Combat Master. This newer Detonics is a full-sized 1911, and uses standard 1911 recoil springs, so, I may well shoot it, and as it is my only stainless 1911, may well carry it, if it proves reliable.
