Not A S&W Fan, Or 1911 Fan, But.

[sigbear]

I never cared much for S&W semi-auto's, shot many, but liked other mfg's better (Sig & Walther) until I bought a S&W 1911, SS, 5" barrel.

I reluctantly traded in my Sig P220 in for it because it wasn't 100% reliable and I wanted another .45.

The 1911 now has 1000+ rounds through it, and the only issue with the gun, it started to jam after about 100+ rounds every time out, so, I went from oil on the slides to "Tetra gun grease", problem solved.

Now I shoot 200-300 rounds and never an issue. I can't believe the accuracy difference between the sig p220 and the S&W 1911. This 1911 is the most accurate combat pistol I have ever fired, but then it's also the only gun I own with a 5" barrel.

I bought this gun for 2 reasons, target and home defense and it fits the nitch perfectly. I have several other carry guns so carrying this 39 oz. 1911 was never a consideration for me.

Just thought Id share.

Sigbear

 

[Arkansas Paul]

Glad you like it. They sure do look pretty, but then again, all 1911s do. One of these days, after college is over, I'm going to join the club. You guys just keep bragging on them so I'll stay motivated.

 

[schmeky]

SigBear,

That S&W 1911 you "say" you have doesn't exist w/o a pic Congrats. I don't have S&W 1191, but I handled one several weeks ago at local gunshop and I was very impressed. My only advice is stay away from something like this:

 

[timbo399]

Sigbear,

you finally got me out of my hole. I have been reading this forum for a few months but never posted. Just got into guns starting 9 months ago. Bought my first one and now own 8! Unfortunately none of my friends are into this hobby so I am on my own- learned a lot off the internet and books and dvd's past 9 months but still consider myself a novice so a bit intimidating posting on this forum where I not only have been impressed with the level of information but also the friendliness, not a lot of bickering like other internet forums I have seen.

Well let me get to my point- my first gun ever bought (9 months ago) was a 5" SS SW1911, When I bought it I knew NOTHING about guns and a guy at work told me that a 1911 was only way to go. After I bought it and then made a few other purchases including a Ruger GP100 .357 4" revolver and Glock 17 9mm I started thinking damn what had I done! The 1911 was more difficult to take apart and clean than the others and I wanted a .45 as my HD gun and kept reading how 1911's can be finicky with HP's.

So although every time I went to the range the SW1911 ran like a champ and everyone else who has tried it loves it, always in the back of my mind I was saying damn I wasted my money, all I wanted was an ultra reliable .45, it doesn't have to be a tack driver for home defense, just completely reliable and like I said the manual of arms was more complicated than my Glock so I thought I had made a mistake and wasted my money. Well finally, after 9 months and probably 2,000 rounds through it, I have realized that my SW1911 is easily my favorite, not one hiccup in 2,000 rounds, not one!! I can't even say that for my Glock 17 (one of the most reliable firearms ever made at least from what I have read) nor my GP100 revolver! Now the problems with those were ammo and/or magazine related so was not the gun (so I am not bashing either of them because I enjoy them both), but my SW1911 has truly gone beyond all my expectations. Only thing is I have only run FMJ's through it (been using Glock 17 with HP's as HD so far since couldn't find any .45 HP's with this ammo shortage going on). But finally bought some Speer Gold Dot 230 gr HP's last weekend and can't wait to try them out, I am thinking they will run flawlessly, and then I will be switching over to my beloved SW1911 as my primary HD gun.

 

[Oro]

These are useful posts because I've thought for a long time the S&W 1911s are very under-rated. Next to/along with Colt I think they offer the best bang-for-the buck among major makers like now. They seem really well built, owner's love them, and they have great support.

 

[BigO01]

If you bought the gun brand new you should have sent it in so S&W could make it right a 1911 that is right should run fine even if it is completely dry !

I found that S&W's customer service is second to none with a revolver years ago .

 

[schmeky]

timbo399,

The 1911 has not only endured, but is more popular than ever. I don't ever see it's proliferation in the shooting community waning. You have probably read all the negatives about the 1911, but there have been many not so great copies, there have been hundreds of thousands of of cheap, flimsy magazines made, and many folks don't know there are speific mags for specific types of ammo. There have been many bullet profiles made since hardball was originally used to base the design on; some of these newer bullets are not 1911 friendly.

S&W got the 1911 right; I'm glad you bought one first. Now you understand

 

[m2steven]

My SW1911 is a great pistol, one of the hardest hitting, most accurate pistols i've ever shot. I just got 100 rounds of 45fmj at walmart and i'll probably take it out and shoot it tomorrow with my P238 (for which I just got 6 boxes of ammo from Cabelas!).

Enjoy your great 1911 - even if it does have an external extractor.

 

[sigbear]

No issue with the external extractor, the sig P220 I traded for the S&W 1911 had the "Internal Extractor" which is where my problems were. Sig has since junked the internal extractor on the P220 and went back to the external.

I know the real 1911 die hards don't like the external extractor which is not of the original 1911 platform, but, if this S&W 1911 goes bang every time, I'm happy, external extractor or not.

Sigbear

 

[Oro]

I know the real 1911 die hards don't like the external extractor which is not of the original 1911 platform, but, if this S&W 1911 goes bang every time, I'm happy, external extractor or not.

I'm pretty much a purist. Heck, I don't like most of the 1924 "a1" changes. I also think things really went down hill with the small parts changes during WWII. Don't even get me started about modern designs.

But I honestly fail to get offended by the external extractor. S&W has been playing with them since the early '50s at least, and if it makes an improvement then that's fine. The only thing that really does offend me about them is the lawyerly drivel they print on the frame, but you can learn to ignore it.

 

[schmeky]

I think S&W should be praised for proving/making the external extractor work on the 1911 platform, something Kimber was not overly successful with.

The 1911 as defined bt S&W simply works, and works well.