How much would you pay for a 1911?

Status
Not open for further replies.
I personally couldn't benefit from a 2000.00 to 3000.00 1911, someone doing serious type shooting, matches, etc, prob could.

I can pick up a decent new or new old stock sleeper or used one for 600.00 to 800.00 and put a bit into it for what mods I want to have and end up with a 1500.00 pistol. Or, I could buy a 1500.00 pistol and be done with it.
 
How much would you pay for a 1911?

Nothing.

Not trolling, but you asked, and I answered.

To me guns are utilitarian tools that are to be used for defending my life and if need be, putting food on the table. Do I take some pleasure in the drive to attain good accuracy from my handguns at the range? Sure I do.

But there are scores of excellent handguns for carry and home defense that can be had all day long at right around $500: Glocks, S&W M&Ps, Springfield XDs, Sigs, CZs, etc. These guns generally run incredibly well with all kinds of in-spec ammo, and are expected to do so out of the box. When the occasional bad gun crops up, a single trip to the factory is often all that's required and all is well.

The MODERN 1911 seems to be a serious exception. I say modern because I know the older guns weren't always like this. If you want a beautiful looking gun that is capable of shooting 1/2" groups at 25 yards and gets the ooohhs and ahhhhhs at the range and on gun forums, get a 1911. But the amount of malfunction, equivocation, bs, kitchen table tinkering, trips to the gunsmith, trips back to the factory, etc that are tolerated by 1911 enthusiasts simply are not acceptable with any other make, save some other antique / collectible guns.
 
Wow. I am stunned. I think I may buy a glock. They are cheaper and you do not need to get the ultra $1500 model to get one that works everytime.

Yes, you will be money ahead for a reliable pistol with the Glock as long as you don't go putting a bunch of after market crap in it trying to make it feel like a single action pistol and ruining it’s reliability.

I personally couldn't benefit from a 2000.00 to 3000.00 1911, someone doing serious type shooting, matches, etc, prob could.

That’s a good point until I started shooting competitively I didn’t have a 1911 type pistol that cost more than $1000 but you can’t even pay for the parts of an open pistol with that.
 
Special warning!!!
1911's are addicting and after you buy one you will most likely buy more.
Be carefull. I tried to get all the different varietys.
You have been warned. All of them cost me from $350 to $800 EA.
1911s.gif
 
Last edited:
$600 or so, but I'd prefer to go even less. With as good of a shooter you can get from a cheaper RIA, I see no reason to drop over $1k on some fancy safe queen that isn't going to do anything extra for me than look shiny

To me, a pretty gun is one that works when called on, and can hit what it needs to hit. RIA 1911s do just that
 
Owning a 1911 is not about the ohhhhhs and ahhhhhs I get at the range. It's owning a great weapon, a part of history and it just happens to be the semi I like best. The same with the Hi Power i like it next, but thats the reason they make so many different kinds. Everyone's taste is different. If you want to buy a Glock buy a Glock if you want a Sigma then buy it, but just someone wants a nice high end 1911 don't think for one minute it's about the ohhhhs and ahhhs.
 
But the amount of malfunction, equivocation, bs, kitchen table tinkering, trips to the gunsmith, trips back to the factory, etc that are tolerated by 1911 enthusiasts simply are not acceptable with any other make, save some other antique / collectible guns.

1) 1911s are unreliable
2) Glocks go kaboom
3) The .44 mag will knock a man down regardless of where you hit him
4) You'll be tried for murder if you shoot someone with reloads
5) Mark Walberg shoots 1-1/2 inch groups at 1,000 yards
6) CCI 400 primers will cause an AR to blow up in your face (recently read this one)
7) Firing a gun under water will make it blow up

Any other myths or internet expertise I may have overlooked?
 
Aside from the mim drama and the snide remarks I do appreciate the experienced input. :neener:

For me, I think my top dollar is $1500. I'm looking at dan wessons right now..............if I can find one!! :banghead:
 
The only Kimber MIM parts I have seen break are the pictures that have been posted on this board. Neither mine, nor any of the dozen or so owned by friends I shoot with regularly has ever had a problem. Same with the plastic MSH. Now I actually intend to replace mine with an arched housing with the lanyard loop when I happen across one, but I have never heard of a plastic one breaking.

My personal extensive experience is as follows.

In the army we had 87 WWII frankenguns of various manufacture and origins. I only shot them once, I don't recall any malfunctions of any kind. In the spring of 1992 we traded them out for new-in-cosmoline Berettas and I wept. I stole a handful of the G.I. magazines and I had all kinds of trouble with them.

I traded a guitar to a friend of mine for a Auto Ordnance 1911 which would have been manufactured around the early 90s. It was a nightmare. Everything about it was terrible. The sights, the slide, the trigger, and to top it off, the front sight popped out two days after the front sight on my new Sigma did the same thing. I got rid of both of them.

I bought a new Colt 1991 A1 in about 1995. Very vanilla and spartan. I liked it just fine, but I don't recall anything special about how well it functioned. It was much like the G.I. ones I had used in the army. I left the country for a while and wound up selling it.

I bought a used Para Ordnance P-12. Again, not bad, but pretty unremarkable. I went through a phase where I carried a Beretta, a Sig, a Glock, etc, and I came back to a Kimber 1911. I shot it, and all of the function was so fluid and perfect, I suddenly felt like it was what I had been looking for all this time. It was how I WISHED all of those other 1911s had worked. I let all of my friends shoot it, even those who weren't fans of the 1911 or .45s in general. They ALL loved it, several bought them, and most of my friends who carry now carry Kimber 1911s.

My dad asked me for suggestions for a 1911 and wound up buying a Springfield Armory Mil-Spec, and as was mentioned above, he will need to get the slide machined if he was a selection of sights. A good friend of mine went in on a group buy from Para Ordnance for some wide-frame 1911s with custom colors and graphics dedicated to a particular military unit. When he got his, the cavity under the bushing, where the plug sits was squeezed so out-of-spec that the plug wouldn't come out. He had to send it back to the factory to get it re-shaped. Both of them said they really wish they had just bought a Kimber.

Here's the thing. Kimber sells several TIMES more units than the next 1911 manufacturer. (BATFE posts these statistics if you want to check.) When you sell many more TIMES the number as your competitors, there may well be a higher percieved number of malfunctions. Added to this, on boards like this, NEGATIVE experiences with a particular gun get much more bandwidth than POSITIVE experiences. ("I bought a new gun this weekend, I took it to the range, I shot it, cleaned it, and took it home." is pretty boring.) Even if there is a higher NUMBER of problems, it doesn't mean there is a higher RATE or likelihood of problems than another manufacturer.

In all fairness, I try to look at all options in a given price range when I buy a gun. If I had to replace my Kimber tomorrow, I might look at a STI Spartan, a Dan Wesson, or some similar ones. But I have never had any more success between me or my friends with any brand or model than with Kimber 1911s. If the MIM parts REALLY give you the willies that much, they are all easily and cheaply replaced. (I haven't bother or worried about it in over 10,000 rounds.)
 
In the spring of 1992 we traded them out for new-in-cosmoline Berettas and I wept.

Sometime around '86 I was involved in qual testing before Berettas were issued. Having about 12 years experience with the 1911, I remember thinking, "This is gonna suck." It did.
 
mljdeckard,

Why pay $1000+ for a gun filled with inferior parts. Ford sold more Ford Explorers for more than any other vehicle at one point. Did that make them a good car/truck?

It is my opinion that volume is the exact reason that Mimber uses MIM parts. They do it so they can produce more pistols at a lower cost than anyone else.

I mean for gods sake they make all sorts of special models for individual retailers like Gander Mountain. They went from a very good builder of low volume production 1911s to the Ford of 1911s and let me be the first to tell you that Quality is not job number 1 at MIMber. I am happy to hear your pistols are doing well. I hope that trend continues.
 
Again I take issue with the idea you are putting forth. You are telling people that if you are not spending $1500 you are rolling the dice. The overwhelming majority of production guns, even Kimbers, run perfectly from the factory.
If you will go back and read my original post you will note that I stated $1000 not $1500.

Perhaps some of us expect more from a gun than others. My current 1911 has had a little over 7k rounds put through it in the last year. I carry it all the time and shoot it weekly. It is not a safe queen in any sense of the word. The finish is worn and it has shiny spots on it. It's also been perfectly flawless since I've owned it. It will shoot hardball, hollowpoints, or cast bullets with equal reliability. It has the best trigger of any 1911 I've ever owned.

A lot of people won't fire 1k rounds a year through their 1911. Most will fire much less. Those folks may be perfectly happy with a $500 1911. It all depends on the expectations that someone has.

It's possible that I could have had the same results with a $500 1911 but my experience tells me otherwise.
 
I am pretty sure my Dan Wesson CBOB which I paid $700 will be just fine. :)

I agree with you there is a tool for every job. Your job is not the same as everyone else's. Your original statements made huge assumptions. Your clarifications put your words into a context which make more sense.

How many shooters on this board fo you think put 1000+ rounds through a single gun a year? Let alone 7000+?

For you a $500 1911 may not be up to snuff but who else does that translate too? The OP made no statements about the purpose of the gun or intended round count.

PS I love the passive aggressive arrogance in your post. Some of us try to educate others on the wide variety of pistols available with the understanding that not everyone is the same as us. Not everyone has $1000 to spend on a 1911. From your statements one would conclude that there is no point in getting one if you cannot spend that kind of coin. :(
 
Last edited:
I have owned approximately 20 1911s in the last 20 years. I have paid from $200 to "around" $1500. Wish I had more to spend; I wouldn't have any trouble ponying up for a Wilson or a Brown, etc.

In my experience, I have had utterly unsatisfactory examples from Colt, Springfield, ArmsCor and Para.

The variable is the rate. With Colt it was 33% junk (based on a sample size of three). With Springfield it was 67% (sample size of three). With ArmsCor it was 100% (sample size of one). With Para it was 25% (sample size of four).
One Les Baer, good to go so far.

With Kimber it is zero per cent failures, based on a sample size of eight (and likely to climb).

Why is the sample size larger on the Kimbers? Maybe because the first three or four were flawless, and I continued buying them...just bought another about three weeks ago. The least expensive one cost me $575, and the priciest was about $1200.

If I were going to the gun show tomorrow (I am) and looking for another 1911 (I'm not, but one might catch my eye), I'd probably come home with a used Wilson/Les Baer or a new/used Kimber. And that is an opinion, but it is based upon solid experience. :)

Now if I find a CBOB for $700 tomorrow, I will probably take it home. :)
 
Last edited:
I agree with you there is a tool for every job. Your job is not the same as everyone else's. Your original statements made huge assumptions. Your clarifications put your words into a context which make more sense.

How many shooters on this board fo you think put 1000+ rounds through a single gun a year? Let alone 7000+?

For you a $500 1911 may not be up to snuff but who else does that translate too? The OP made no statements about the purpose of the gun or intended round count.

PS I love the passive aggressive arrogance in your post. Some of us try to educate others on the wide variety of pistols available with the understanding that not everyone is the same as us. Not everyone has $1000 to spend on a 1911. From your statements one would conclude that there is no point in getting one if you cannot spend that kind of coin.
Friend, it seems that my views simply rub you the wrong way, which I have no desire to do. I will again direct you to my original post in which I stated - "If you want a great 1911 you are going to spend at least $1500-$2000 or just a skosh more. Many people are satisfied with $800 - $1000 1911's, many aren't."

I'm not sure how you translate that into "passive arrogance". Some people are satisfied with Chevys and some aren't. Some people want a Cadillac. I'm glad you are happy with your CBOB and I'm even happier that I'm satisfied with my gun. I am in no position to criticize the choices you make for you and will not do so. However, I am in a position to state my opinion about my choices............which is what the original question was about.
 
I'm a professional musician. 30 years playing guitar. All of my instruments are custom made. Looking back I've realized that if I had just bit the bullet, say 15 years ago, and bought the high end stuff I now enjoy, I would have saved money versus all the flipping of axes I've gone through.

I'm not new to shooting, but I've only recently gotten back into it. My criteria for a 1911 type is extreme reliability, durability, made in the USA, easy shooting (lighter recoil), and accurate enough for self defense.

I'm considering the Wilson tactical elite. Pricey, like a great electric guitar. What else should I look at with the Wilson being the price ceiling?

I'm thinking I may not need that much gun.
 
Simple man.

$550.00 tops. Any more than that I would feel bad knowing I could have bought a brand new Glock and had a gun that works out of the box. Any more than that I know the gun would just be a safe/range queen that I wouldn't want to put scratches or holster wear on.

I drive a Chevy, ride a Honda motorcycle, hunt with a Savage rifle and can't appreciate the difference between a $20 dollar bottle of wine and one that costs $200.:p Maybe I'm just not at that stage in my life where dropping $1,000 and up on a gun is considered normal and I don't know if I'll ever be.

I've shot a couple high end 1911's and while they were nice to shoot and very pretty to look at, I would'nt buy one for myself. I will admit though that I have been looking at the compact RIA tactical and reading the reviews. If I ever get the itch to get a 1911 and buy one I think I can handle some folks looking down thier nose at me.;)
 
I'm considering the Wilson tactical elite. Pricey, like a great electric guitar. What else should I look at with the Wilson being the price ceiling?
If I were you I would also check out the Les Baer SRP and the Ed Brown Classic Custom or Executive Elite. I've owned Baers, Wilsons, and Browns and all 3 make a great 1911 but my personal favorite is Ed Brown.
 
A key part to this question that a lot of people seem to be missing is instead of consider simply "How much would you spend", you must also consider "how much do you make".

A guy working a job bringing in 15K a year, either part time or full time, may spend months or years saving enough to buy a new Colt. To him, this is an expensive gun that he may feel more than serves its purpose. This same person's friends working similar jobs may even ask why he would spend so much money on a gun. To these guys, $800-$1000 is a TON of money that may be hard to justify spending.

On the other hand, take a guy making 450k a year. This fella makes more money every two weeks than the first guy does all year. For this guy, it would be a whole lot easier to go and drop 6-8k on a fully custom and engraved pistol than it would for the first guy to buy his Colt.

My point to all of this is that money and cost are relative terms. Things that I own are coveted by some, scoffed at by others and both parties are just in their thinking.
 
Any more than that I know the gun would just be a safe/range queen that I wouldn't want to put scratches or holster wear on.

I've never followed that line of thinking. Other than true collectibles, why not shoot them? My most expensive model has about 12K-15K down range in about two years. The next in line is at about 40K in six years. The two swap between carry and match/practice. Eventually, I'll have them overhauled and refinished and keep on shooting. Others are used for different tasks. I love my Kimber Eclipse. It has a lot of rounds down range, but these days rides around in the truck as a backup. The Ultra Raptor is a church gun. Others come out for different occasions, but they all get shot regularly. Probably the least used is an moderate priced Wilson.

If I had a 911 RUF, I would drive it every day.
 
I think that it is ridiculous to pay more than about $550-$600 for any handgun. Anything more than that, and you probably bought a "keeping up with the Jones's" gun or somehow got into a "who has the biggest d!@& contest" with the guys back at the department. A handgun should be reliable and accurate, yet not have so many built-in "improvements/refinements" that it prices itself out of the purchasing ability of the average dude. I know that I probably speak for most of the other LEOs on this board when I say that I'm not rich but I still like to recreational shoot. Alot. We as Americans still need higher quality, lower priced handguns.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top