My ideal EDC 1911

[JR24]

Sooooooo, I hate to be that guy but I think I've found my perfect EDC 1911 too, unfortunately it's not a 1911...

View attachment 984172

This from a guy who carried a 1911 of one form or another for a decade, mostly a Kimber Pro, Dan Wesson VBob then eventually a DW Valkyrie CCO in 9mm.

My problem is my back won't tolerate a steel commander anymore and I don't like lightweight 1911s in .45. This HK shoots, in SA every bit as accurate as my 1911s and faster than my VBob or even Kimber Warrior (which is a heavy beast with that rail) and carries just as easy (both in weight and concealment) as my Glock 19.

Needs some more trigger time and Talon grips but I'm convinced, and saddened, that it's my ideal .45 CCW.

Just because I can't stand posting an ugly plastic in a 1911 thread without some beauty, here's my first mag through my VBob at .... 10 yards I think. Thing was a shooter from round one, wish my back would let me keep carrying it.

 

[Gordon]

Well my edc is no longer a 1911 format either, one gets old and times change ! I went down to .40 S&W about 9 years ago and this last year am down to 9 mm. My son had this Walther PPS I traded my .40 version for. It is a " tungsten" version finish withe night sights made in Germany and imported as an LE version. It is accurate, reliable and with one in the spout 9 shots of +P 127 grain Winchester Ranger goodness. The light is 600 lumens and recharges without removal on my dresser.! I carry it in a made to order small paddle kydex low profile holster I can get the odd 25 yard head shot with it if forced to.

 

[ApacheCoTodd]

Found a picture of the Combat Commander I bought in 1972 that got my love for the Commander format .45 acp going. I was very experienced in 1911a1 for almost a decade before that purchase, the last 4 years being issued one 2 tours in Combat duty . I chose a new series 70 in the new Satin Nickle as a civilian (to be reservist and brief other fed Agent duty) I carried this one in a Peruvian Shoulder bag in Big Sur Ca. a few years and 6 months in a shoulder holster on East Coast. I then put King sights on it and called it good and occasionally carried it in my "plain clothes" reservist duty in Army till 1986 It never failed. My son has it now, he doesn't carry it but thinks of me and fondles it. It indeed got me going on the 1911 .45 bandwagon 1972-2012 ish.
View attachment 984171

Having a long-term relationship with the platform - and not wanting to get into a Ford/Chevy lethality *thing* - did you ever personally arrive at a preference 'twixt a 9 or .45 Commander?

Todd.

 

[ApacheCoTodd]

View attachment 984172QUOTE]
What's the story with that extra magazine with the clip - how does that work?

Todd.

 

[JR24]

Clip is a Neomag, clips on your front pocket and holds the mag in a useful height/orientation with magnets strong enough to hold it but still have a smooth draw.

https://theneomag.com/shop-neomag/

With the big fat "horsehoof" floorplate on that mag it's harder to conceal, I have some basic HK45 mags coming at some point that will work better for carry.

But in the pocket with the Neomag it works fine.

 

[DDDWho]

Kimber Aegis Elite Ultra

 

[reedman]

I really like my S&W 1911SC e-series .45 for EDC. Weighs 28.8 oz, and I carry it in a Kimber #3 IWB in horsehide. If I rotate something else in for one reason or another, I go with my S&W 640-1 in a Mika pocket holster.
Jim

 

[Gordon]

Having a long-term relationship with the platform - and not wanting to get into a Ford/Chevy lethality *thing* - did you ever personally arrive at a preference 'twixt a 9 or .45 Commander?


I am sure the .45 incapacitates quicker with non CNS hit. Both work the same with modern expanding ammo and CNS hits. The 9mm has a much flatter trajectory, Ive know for 50 years that FACT, allowing those 100-200 yard odd for a pistol engagements. The 9mm MAY have quicker split times between hits , that really did not prove such in competitions between 1980 and 2000 as far as I know until the .38 Supers started showing up in winners circles. I still have a very well sorted out Para P14 .45 as my go to if I can pistol, and a P12 .45 as it's edc equivalent . But The 9mm Walther PPS shown is a gun I can comfortably throw on when ever I leave my home and as such sits on my dresser or desk right now ! The neat O light charges when docked in those places ! It is ready to grab when I get up from bed or where I am sitting right now ! The bigger 1911 formats are in at least wall safes , like the P14 & P12 . with belt rigs hanging alongside. Other kewl pistols locked in alarmed surveilled storage container/shop outside 100 feet away in my fenced property in heavy bolted safes . 3 generations on property with dogs ensures somebody is around to greet visitors who can only lawfully come in thru gates .
In short THESE days I rely on 9mm as a primary EDC , usually, and back it up with a 5.56 AR if I can. Inside the home it's SG as the go to , with a pistol with a light until I get to it. Works for me, I really don't worry about anything. We have no drunks or drug addicts around our homesteads and we have done the best we could for sane security measures , so Que sera , sera
The epiphany about 9mm, all though dabbled for decades before when I got my first Glock 17 in 1990, came when I prepped to be a field tech rep in Stan around 2005 or so. I paid to be trained in the Beretta 92 , which I purchased and an AK 47 type which I all ready had a few of . Luis Awerbuck and Scott Reitz did so as I waited the Detroit Diesel contract I had won to happen . I figured , from contacts in 'Stan , that I could get ahold of those weapons when I arrived . Well that didn't pan out the Corp. firmly instructed me I would be supplied adequate security and I hesitated because of that. They ended sending their own employees for substaintually less $$ My wife was happy tho , as were my employees in the little Corp. I owned. We ended up making money !
I slaughtered live stock with .45 acp and 9mm enough to have my opinions on what happens in the non CNS application of both calibers [

 

[Gordon]

And to me a "Commander" 9mm is a Browning Hi-Power 9mm
The Walther PPS is the "Officers" type , but that's just my feelings .

 

[herrwalther]

The light is 600 lumens and recharges without removal on my dresser.! I

I am looking at switching to the same light for my PPS. Currently has a 100 lumen light, which isn't bright by compact standards it was the 7ish years since I bought it.

I don't have a perfect 1911 yet. Maybe for my next ground up build. Based on spec sheets the Colt Lightweight Commander Railgun (say that enough times fast, you make a mistake) comes close. But I have never seen one in the wild.

 

[RobClarkeRVA]

hopped on the LW Ruger train thinking maybe to bobtail it but will see....

 

[ApacheCoTodd]

My opinion only for me. Might not suit you or anyone else.
I have a long familiarity with 1911 pistols, from years of Bullseye competition, more years of banging away at club events and just plain fun banging away at innocent steel and paper targets.
For every day carry, an aluminum compact frame and 4" barrel fits my needs.
Springfield Armory offers their 1911 Compact that fills the bill.
Originally, the pistol came with ambidextrous safety which was replaced with a left side only. This so that the right sided safety cannot be wiped or brushed off while holstered.
Magazines for carry are Wilson Combat 8 rd flush base and two 9 rd as back up.
So I wind up with a fairly light accurate pistol with a clean crisp 4 lb trigger (untouched from factory) easily concealed and reliable. Suits me just fine.

Can't find fault with a single of the OP's comments though I am mercifully unaffiliated - as yet - with demonstrable arthritis.

Recognize, please, that the following uses the handle "Commander" fairly liberally.

I went to 9x1911 carry fairly recently as well. My decision was backed into rather than a conscious goal.

A Pal had done a Cylinder&Slide treatment to his Hi Power for carry and given his background - I looked hard at it. He, being a former FBI HRT Commander, holds opinions of certain weight for me and handling his BHP got me to revisiting one of my favorite guns - my Howco Model 88 High Power. I had carried it in the past out of limited options but eventually turned back to full-sized 1911 W/extra mag. Carried that way for 25 or more years until really looking at my Pal's Hi Power.

Then, eventually the decision was made to generally shelve the full-size Kimber carried these past 15 or so years in favor of a moderately tweaked High Power.

In the midst of the tweaking and perfecting the holster - I came to *accidentally* own a Kimber Pro Aegis II and never considered the High Power again for dedicated carry. So the Full sized Kimber gave way to the more diminutive - in caliber and mass - Pro Aegis II.

The Kimber is built bushing-less, is fully factory tweaked already and shoots a dream with everything I've loaded - though HSTs are the norm. It has what I've come to understand only recently is preferred, a fully ramped barrel. It is as slim as 5 silver dollars and just handles like I never expected. Accurate, reliable, light, loves hard-hitting HSTs and has 10 of the High Power's 13 rounds in a considerably more amenable carry presentation.

One of the most interesting aspects of backing into this Kimber is that after all these decades - I now have a Jones for Commander-concept in general and Colt's in particular with 9x23 & .38 Super most very particularly.

Now, seeing the OP's SA, I recall one of my finest full-sized carries is a custom build SA by the Camp Pendleton MEUSOC armorer as a MEUSOC 1911.

Add SA's to the Commander list now.

Todd.

 

[jabram]

Difficult to beat pair of these for carry, lightweight DW EPCs bull barrels in .45acp & 9mm.