Want to buy my first 1911: $1000 budget, but need serious advice.

[CPshooter]

I know my Colts XSE's came with the FLGR. I believe the new rollmark series 1991 has a standard length guide rod.

Yes, it does. I know this because I bought one today!!!

After only a few days of making this thread, I decided to go with a blued 1991 NRM commander. It's funny how it happened actually. I drove an hour to take my girlfriend to lunch at this japanese steakhouse we like, and I simply suggested that we stop by this small gun shop that usually has a huge selection of handguns to choose from. Turns out they had TWO NIB blued-finish 1991 NRM commanders, and a stainless one too! I was only interested in a blued one though..

One of the two was noticeably better-made than the other. I took the better one The other LOOKED exactly the same, but upon further inspection I noticed the frame/slide fit was much looser, and there were at least two obvious flat spots on the barrel! The gun was a rattling machine. The Colt gunsmith that made that one did a poor job, and IMO the gun shouldn't have left the factory. Unacceptable..but at least the one I chose was excellent!!

The frame/slide is snug and doesn't rattle at all when I shake the gun around in my hand, but it still has a good amount of play to it when you shift the frame side to side manually. The barrel seems to be fitted nicely with no blemishes. It is exactly what I was hoping to find. I can't wait to shoot this puppy! I think it will be a success, but I can't jinx myself here. Wish me luck!

 

[CPshooter]

The guns in the last pic with my new Colt Commander are my USPc40, glock 19, and my Ruger LCP. I haven't had a single hiccup with any of these guns, but the LCP is going back to Ruger anyways for the recall upgrades. (anybody know why it's been at least 3-4 weeks and I haven't received my shipping envelope from Ruger???) I love all my guns equally. However, if I had to choose any of these guns as my only handgun, it would without a doubt be the Glock 19.

Also, I don't plan on clean/lubing my new Colt before taking it out for the first time. I'm curious to see how it will perform out of the box with some WWB 230g ammo. I'm just so glad that I went with a Colt for my first 1911! Let's hope I still think that after the first range trip.

For those wondering how much I paid... The pricetag on it was $899+tax, but I didn't pay that. The stainless version was the same exact price as the blued version. I let them know that their price MIGHT have been fair for the stainless, but the blued version should be at least $50 dollars cheaper. I told them I'd give them $850 OTD. The guy in charge said he could do $850+tax, so I said it was a deal as long as I got a free box of ammo with it. So basically I ended up paying $895 OTD for the gun after I factor in the free ammo. I realize this is around $50-$75 more than I should have paid, but I just had to take it while it was in front of me!