Most Reliable 1911

Don't put a highly biased answer just what fits please :)

  • Kimber

    Votes: 34 21.1%

  • Colt

    Votes: 59 36.6%

  • Springfield

    Votes: 43 26.7%

  • Smith and Wesson

    Votes: 25 15.5%
  • Total voters
    161
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sprice

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What's the most reliable 1911 with the best metalurgy out of these brands and price range? And even if you don't like the external extractors on the smiths or the front serrations of kimbers or how some brands arn't the "original" please keep it to yourself and I don't necessarily care about fit and finish either. Just reliabilty and internal quality. :) thanks in advance and pictures/stories of personal experience are always nice.
 
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My S&W 1911Sc has been running fine since I brought it home...but i only have a couple of thousand rounds through it. I like the way they are fitted better than comparably priced models in the other lines
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At the mid-priced range, my Springfield EMP has been surprisingly well fitted
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You won't find many detractors for Colt, Springfield Armory or Smith & Wesson. I have experience with all 4 brands and have not had any malfunctions with any that were not magazine related. Perhaps your next thread should be what magazines work best with "Your " pistol.
 
Who voted Kimber?!

EDIT: Joke. :p I don't expect you to tell us.
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I did, I only have a Kimber 1911 and it's never FTE/FTFed yet. So I voted for statistics. :V

Yes I know many people have issues.
 
Highly biased? I don't know since all any if us can speak from is our own experience, which means these kinds of polls are inherently biased. My two colts - 2009 1991A1 stainless combat commander and a 1990's stainless series 80 MkIV gov't - have been trouble free.

Then again,the LNIB used Taurus PT1911 (also stainless) I had for a year and some 2k-2.5k rounds was also a trouble free pistol. So what do I know...?
 
I have all four brands. They all run like tops. They all make good ones and an occasional bad one. :)
 
^^^^^^ what Walkalong said.

People have sent their Wilson's, Nighthawks, and Ed Browns back for tuning. A whole bunch of Rock Island Armory guns run like a champ out of the box.

I think an unreliable 1911 is the exception, not the rule.

My Norinco is stone cold reliable, as is my Kimber, as is my Les Baer, an example of low-end, mid-range, and upper tier 1911's. The pic is of my "cheap" Norinco.

HPIM0376.jpg
 
I voted Springfield (even though I own a Colt), as the MilSpec I have experience with was 100% Reliable. Smith has an external extractor, but they seem to work fine. Kimber? No problems personally but they sure seem to have their detractors.

My Colt Series 70 will occasionally hand up if hand cycling ball ammo through, wedging themselves on extraction. Shoots fine though. I think the scalloped/flared ejection port is nice to have as extra insurance.
 
All I can say is what I have experienced. My Kimber is the best handgun I have ever owned. My total malfunctions have been so few I can't even recall them.

I have owned 1911s from Auto-Ordnance, Para-Ordnance, Springfield Armory, and I have shot many others. I had a Colt 1991, and it was good, I don't recall any problems with it, but I don't remember it being as easy to shoot as the Kimber either. I didn't have it very long, I might not have properly broken in the trigger setup.
 
Highly biased? I don't know since all any if us can speak from is our own experience, which means these kinds of polls are inherently biased.
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This is true and it is on a reader, looking for information, to sort the recommendations between folks who only have experience with one model from those who have had experience with all the models being asked about.

I have always personally been reluctant to offer an opinion unless I have had experience with all the manufacturers being asked about, because I wouldn't feel that I have a basis for a valid comparison. There is nothing wrong with relating your positive experience with a platform, but you should be aware that it has limited value for comparison
 
the only 1911 brand that i have seen not fail or have serious issues in the training courses that i have been too is a Nighthawk. Yes even kimbers, wilsons etc have had issues.
 
I had a Nighthawk jam at a rental range. All machines fail eventually.
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that is true, and i totally agree, something you also have to think about is the fact that rental guns are shot alot, and how often are they cleaned and or taken care of? the 1911 is the ferrari(sp) of the handgun world, but you have to take care of them, that is why i drive a hondad accord(of the gun world).
 
I was looking for option E. not repaired by owner.

I have seen a few that were "fixed" I even took one as partial payment on a deal...(really bad idea that worked out OK). Lets just say it was so unsafe to use that I worried about handling it. The slide would go to full battery just by laying it down softly. It scared me to load it. Now its my 1911 in 22 cal. That fixed 99% of the problems. Now all I have to do is find the new trigger hardware that I want to use to replace the current trigger.

I know that many here do work on there own arms and many are good. I am not talking about you. I'm speaking of the ones that have not done the research and learning before fixing there arms. And by doing it have created unsafe weapons.
 
9mmepiphany said:
This is true and it is on a reader, looking for information, to sort the recommendations between folks who only have experience with one model from those who have had experience with all the models being asked about.

I have always personally been reluctant to offer an opinion unless I have had experience with all the manufacturers being asked about, because I wouldn't feel that I have a basis for a valid comparison. There is nothing wrong with relating your positive experience with a platform, but you should be aware that it has limited value for comparison
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Actually, my peeve with requests for "unbiased info", or "facts only please, no opinions" is that on a forum like this, one can only get information for an extremely small sample. Even if someone has owned one or several of each of the makes and models in the poll, that still represents a minute fraction of the guns produced in each group.

Questions about reliability, durability, life expectancy need large representative samples. It's like basing a decision solely on these ridiculous, gimmicks of marketing all over youtube - the one-off "torture test". So one gun out of tens of thousands produced had a great day at the range? All it tells you is that one individual gun had at least one good day.

Similarly, someone comes here and says (as I do, since I cannot offer anything else), "I've owned one of brand X, and it's worked fine". That really is not terribly informative about a long running make or model.

It just seems to me somewhat disturbing how some people seem to come to forums like this and treat this information like some kind of rigorous, scientific information. People need to understand what is stated here is direct personal experience (useful, yes, definitive, no) and opinion of a very limited sampling by any one poster.

It's just something I seem to see more and more, and yes, in younger people mainly who have grown up never knowing a time without internet. The reality is that as wonderful as the internet is, 97.693% of the information it has is worthless (which makes this post worth exactly the price of admission :D )
 
KIMBER!???? LOL


ok.....

Colt, and Springfield followed closely by S&W

I own or have owned at least 2 of each brand. My colt gold cup and delta were perfect, all the springers were perfect although 1 loaded model had a gritty trigger i knew should of been better for a stock gun and sent it back no problem, S&W 1911pd that just need the extractor fine tuned.

ive owned 6 kimbers, own 3 now... the 3 others were crap and kimber CS was no help. I'll never buy another kimber
 
I've succesfully fixed a few Kimbers right up. Not a bad slide/frame at all. And I actually like the external extractor.:p

Recoil spring, mags, and a little polish works nearly every time for the ones that FTF or FTRTB.

I like Dan Wesson, Fusion and Wilsons (without the Wilson Billboard).
 
I had a Nighthawk jam at a rental range. All machines fail eventually.
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nighthawks are notorious for extremely poor QC. i've seen nighthawk pics on 1911 that were so bad, i've never seen a $500 1911 look like that, let alone a $3,000 one :eek: (not to mention reports of parts like extractors and slide stops breaking on them).

i've looked at them at gunshops, and have never been impressed with the fit.
 
Never had a problem with any of my 3 Kimbers. Zero issues from day one for all of them, not sure how much more reliable you can get.
 
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