Firestorm 1911

[MagnumDweeb]

A buddy of mine has a friend looking to sell his Firestorm 1911, it looks like a Commander size 1911. They tried telling me they were offered $300 and wanted to sell it to me for that sum and I laughed. I told them $200 if I was interested. We went back and forth and I told them if I was interested they shouldn't count on more than $200. It's in rough shape, the bluing is good but it looks worn on the exterior, the internals look good and almost mint.

Are the Firestorms good 1911s. I've looked up on google about them but folks say they are nothing more than rebadged llamas. Can they take most 1911 magazines. I'm thinking of it as something for being a truck gun. Cheap and expendable if stolen but I still want it to be reliable and worth my $200 expense.

 

[DanTheFarmer]

Look for the stamping to see where it was made. The made in Spain ones are indeed rebadged Llama's and don't have a good reputation. I've got one of the relatively few Firestorm 1911's made by Metro Arms in the Phillipines. It is the same as the well thought of American Classic, just with a different rollmark (the factory apparently decided to stop competing against itself and kept just the AC brand. It was a Pontiac/Chevy situation.)

I think the most commonly seen Firestorm 1911's are Spanish and are not fully interchangeable with the original 1911 design (Llama used an external extractor vs. the internal one for a true 1911). Parts may be hard to come by since Llama is out of business.

Take my opinion for what you paid for it. I haven't dealt with Llama's and I hope others have had good experiences with them but I recommend doing some more digging and making an informed decision.

Good Luck.

Dan

 

[Mxracer239y]

Dan has it exactly. I also have one of the Metro Arms Firestorms, and it is an excellent weapon. The spanish-made guns do not sound up to par. I would jump on a $200 (or probably even $300) Metro Arms gun.

 

[gbran]

My son bought the Commander sized Firestorm several years ago for around $300 new. Not as smooth as my Colt, but it has been rock solid reliable.