Good, reliable, accurate 1911 for under $1k?

Status
Not open for further replies.
O

Ohen Cepel

Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2003
Messages
4,802
Location
Where they tell me to go
Thinking about a 1911. Have one, but not happy with it. Reliability issues that I can't tolerate.

I don't want a tack driver, however, it should give a reasonable showing at 7m's.
Don't need a ton of bells and whistles and not looking for the deal of the century. I think $1k is a reasonable budget for such a thing (actually, I think it's high, but 1911's seem to be rather steep now)

Biggest issue is I want it to run out of the box. I don't want to spend $100 on ammo practicing my jam clearing skills. I expect a few hi-cups in the first 500 rounds but not every magazine. After that I need to be able to trust it!

Who would you suggest for such a 1911.

(nothing against Glocks, Hk's, XD's or other things, I'm wanting a 1911)

Thanks for your input!!
 
I have a SA 'loaded' 1911 that had about $150 worth of 'reliability work' done to it:
- re-cut & polished the feed ramp
- lowered the ejection port
- polished breechface
- reamed & polished chamber to exact dimensions
- new recoil spring
- properly adjusted extractor

It hasn't had a malfunction in over 2000rds.

I wish I could trade my 2 kimbers for 2 more SA 1911s. I doubt I'll ever buy another 1911 that isn't Colt or Springfield Armory.
 
I have owned a lot of 1911s... Colt, Wilson, Kimber, Springfield, and Smith & Wesson. I have had problems with all of them, except the Smith and Wessons.

For the money, I would say S&W is the best, followed closely by Wilson and Colt, with Kimber and Springfield at the bottom of the heap.

Wilsons are nice guns, but will cost more than your $1000 limit, and to be honest the law of diminishing returns kicks in big time with high end 1911s. In other words, a $1800 Wilson is not three times the gun that a $600 Smith and Wesson is. It is marginally better if at all. I had to send two of them back to Wilson to get them working right. So even buying high end is no guarantee you wont have a problem.

I have owned a total of 4 Kimbers and 3 Springfields that could not make it through a box of ammo without a jam. I sent 2 of the Kimbers and all three Springfields back to their respective customer service departments, and they came back with the exact same problems they had when I sent them. I would not remotely consider another Kimber or Springfield. The customer service at both places is unbelievably bad. I would rather just throw the money away than buy anything else from them.
 
I know its not a premium 1911 but so far its been just great. No problems but I only use one brand of ammo and that is CCI Blazer 230FMJ. Plus the ammo is only $9.97 at Wally World so why bother with more expensive ammo.. The only reason I'm not putting 50 rounds through the X ring on the target is my trigger control. I'm just a bit to the left and a bit high.

The .45 is a Rock Island.
 
I have had a Dan Wesson Pointman Major for close to 4 years and 2500+ rds with never a problem.
 
On the other hand, I've had a few thousand through my Kimber with no jams with factory ammo... at all. I screwed up some SWC's by overcrimping (And i mean REALLY overcrimping) they barely fed, but other than that, its been reliable with EVERYTHING except the lightweight golden sabers. I think they were 185gr+P's. One of those got hung up, and I didn't care to spend another $50 seeing if the problem would repeat itself.
 
No doubt the new S&W Scandium 1911's are sweet. I've got a TRP that costs just a little over $1k and it is super sweet. And don't forget Springfield's lifetime warranty.
 
I so rarely see new Colts I had pretty much ruled them out.

S&W could be an option, I know a guy looking to move one, I just didn't want to be the first on the block with one (hate to be the tester). Does anyone have enough rounds through one to see how it holds up?
 
Quote:
And don't forget Springfield's lifetime warranty.


Yep, you'll need it
Click to expand...
.


Edited to remove innapropriate comments with apologies to Lone_Gunman.

Personally, my SA GI model has been great. I think springfield offers a great product at a very competitive price.
 
Last edited:
I will probably catch some flack for this, but anyway... :(

None of the currently produced 1911 style pistol meet the original specifications for materials, and some of them I believe are put together by trained(?) monkeys. If I had $1,000 to spend it would be on a pre-1970's Colt Government Model. Used it might be, but I wouldn't have to start out replacing parts and wondering what was made out of steel and what wasn't.

On this forum you read thread after thread about how this and that brand won't run. But hardly ever, (never?) do you see anything about problems with the guns that earned the Government Model a reputation for unquestioned reliability - namely Colts and USGI guns made back when they were made right.

To expensive? I don't think so. I've seen them priced as low as $700 because they were short of being collector grade in the cosmetics department.

If you want a real 1911 pistol... Go buy a real one. ;)
 
My fullsize billboard (the one with S&W 1911 plastered on the slide) has well over 1500 rds and no problems. The slide on my Sc was rusting a month after I bought it. Smith repaced it and the next one did the same thing. I opted to have the pistol bobtailed and refinished. Here's pix. You might check out Ontarget Custom Gun Works, http://www.ontargetcgw.com/ Jess did the work on my Sc and builds some really nice 1911's for a little more that $1k, if you are willing to spend a touch more.

 
Virtually any 1911 that you take to a competent gunsmith who will mike all the specs and make sure it is correct will be a reliable pistol.

This is true for a Rock Island and Norinco just as much as it is for a Dan Wesson or Les Baer.
 
My three Springers are all great. Granted one of them, the Champion, needed a little help out of the box. If you add the cost of all three, it's just over $1000. If you really want to go on the cheap, look at a Firestorm. Ok, stop laughing. I just picked one up for $220 in great shape. Slapped a 18.5lb spring and a shok buf in it and the gun is unbelievable. It's accurate and highly controlable. I bought it to sharpen up my dremel tool skills before attacking one of my Springers, but after shooting it I think it'll stay as is. Before anyone gives me a bunch of grief, I'm saying more as a joke than anything else. While it seems to be a great and inexpensive gun, parts are all but non-obtainable. Some parts are GI spec, some are not. And LLama, AKA Firestorm doesn't seem to have the best track record. But hell, I've spent more than $220 in a few hours down at the local watering hole before...
 
ugaary asked:

Care to elaborate? Is there another 1911 maker you prefer? If so, please explain the pros and cons of that maker. Or are you just trolling? Please add something constructive to the thread.
Click to expand...

Which really has me confused. No I was not trolling. Did ugaarguy fail to see the rather lengthy comments I had made earlier in this thread? I went into a fairly long detail of my experiences with multiple 1911 manufacturers.

Why did you not read that instead of just calling me a troll? Wasn't it you that launced into that little tirade about "constructive" posts? Maybe the problem is you don't read the posts. You ought to at least read them you start name calling, dude.

Anyway, if you scroll up a little bit you will see my previous comments and explanation of experiences with 1911s.
 
Which really has me confused. No I was not trolling. Did ugaarguy fail to see the rather lengthy comments I had made earlier in this thread? I went into a fairly long detail of my experiences with multiple 1911 manufacturers.

Why did you not read that instead of just calling me a troll? Wasn't it you that launced into that little tirade about "constructive" posts? Maybe the problem is you don't read the posts. You ought to at least read them you start name calling, dude.

Anyway, if you scroll up a little bit you will see my previous comments and explanation of experiences with 1911s.
Click to expand...

Yes, I read your original comments, and I saw that you had problems with all three of your Springfields. From my experience with my one Springfield, combined with the incredibly large number of positive posts about Springfields here, and on other forums, as well as the many happy Springfield owners I've personally talked to, I can only conclude that you've had incredibly bad luck with SA 1911s. I would be upset to if I'd had such experience with any manufacturer. However, you had already made the point in your first post on this thread. Coming back with a quick jab of
Quote:
And don't forget Springfield's lifetime warranty.


Yep, you'll need it.
Click to expand...
reads like a cheap shot to me. Unfortunately we can't read voice tone, inflection, and facial expression of a comment thru a message board. I stand by my assertion that your very brief second post was not constructive since you had already made your point in your first post. However, calling you a troll was wrong and excessive on my part. I'd also just gone thru other threads where, unlike your first post, folks were posting comments that had nothing to do with the thread topic/subject, and was getting fed up with it. That is still no excuse for my inaapropriate comment. I acted foolishly and offended you. I sincerely apologize to you Lone_Gunman.

As for my "Constructive Posting" thread, it wasn't a "tirade." It was an attempt to remind folks to adress the subject at hand. If I wanted to go on a tirade I would not have put examples of how to constructively disagree in my post. I know debates here get heated, but I've read some great heated debates that stayed on topic which I learned a great deal from. I don't think there's anything wrong with heated as long as we stay civil. The last thing I want to do is start a flame war. Further, one of the great things I've seen here on THR is for the most part we all moderate each other very well without the Moderators proper getting involved too much. If I went too far and offended anyone else you also have my apologies.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

P
  • Locked
Best out of box 1911 under 1K?
2 3 4
Replies
83
Views
9K
BroughtEnoughGun
B
T
  • Locked
Sexiest stainless 1911 under $1k?
2
Replies
44
Views
2K
Pilot
P
B
  • Locked
Is it that hard to make reliable 1911's?
2 3
Replies
57
Views
6K
Ridgerunner665
R
D
  • Locked
  • Poll
1911 ccw quandry.
2 3
Replies
55
Views
2K
moredes
M
P
  • Locked
What to buy Dan Wesson Pointman vs Springfield Mil-Spec
2
Replies
37
Views
3K
noklue3
N
Back
Top