What does an extra $1000 buy me in a 1911?

[LanEvo`]

My feeling is that if I'm going to spend a fat wad of cash on a 1911, I'd want it to be exactly what I want. To me, that means a genuine custom pistol. In other words, one made to my specs by a trusted gunsmith.

I'd buy an $600-800 Springfield or Colt and give John Harrison a check for $1200-$1400 before I'd drop $2000 on a factory "custom."

Emre

 

[varoadking]

I'd buy an $600-800 Springfield or Colt and give John Harrison a check for $1200-$1400 before I'd drop $2000 on a factory "custom."

That ought to be about right for a down payment to Harrison for exactly what I'd want.

 

[varoadking]

What does a $2000 1911 have that a $1000 one doesn't?

My interest...

 

[Kimber1911_06238]

I've shot ed brown and les baer 1911's. The triggers were a little bit smoother than my kimber, but definitely not $1000 smoother. Accuracy was similar, maybe slight edge to the higher end guns, but not by very much at all.

I'll stick with my Kimbers

 

[Rinspeed]

I've shot ed brown and les baer 1911's. The triggers were a little bit smoother than my kimber, but definitely not $1000 smoother. Accuracy was similar, maybe slight edge to the higher end guns, but not by very much at all.

I'll stick with my Kimbers

I really like Kimbers but to me it's rather foolish to spend $1000 on a Kimber when you can buy a Baer PII for $1400 and change. Just for the quality of all the parts, not to mention all the hand fitting that goes into one, and it's a no brainer.

 

[schmeky]

Originally posted by Nona = I immediately went out and rented something from the range (Kimber TLE II). My hand was tired, but I managed to shoot it well and had a smile on my face again after a few magazines all the way through the end of two boxes.

There's your answer. I have a Kimber Classic Custom and it is may favorite 1911 hands down. Buy a TLE II and I believe you're dilema will be solved and you'll find 1911 happiness.

 

[nona]

There's your answer. I have a Kimber Classic Custom and it is may favorite 1911 hands down. Buy a TLE II and I believe you're dilema will be solved and you'll find 1911 happiness.

Well, sort of. I rented the TLE II because that's what they had. I know there are more guns out there than I can rent at my local ranges.

About the $1400 Les Baer gun. I'm looking for that kind of advice. If I can get a lot more value out of $400 more, I'll spend it.

 

[hank327]

Your Springfield is an excellent basic 1911. Send it to a good gunsmith and have them replace the grip safety with a beaver tail grip safety, do a trigger job and perhaps install a set of high visibilty sights. Your Springer will then be much more comfortable to shoot and you will have saved the money you would be out of selling it and buying a new high dollar pistol. Use the money you are willing to spend on a new 1911 to fix up your old one.

 

[robctwo]

I bought a Springfield Black Stainless Loaded for my first 1911. Nice gun, very heavy trigger. I had a few dollars available for fun and found an Ed Brown Executive target used like new in box for about $2,000. Great gun. Worth twice as much? Sure. I had been looking for a Les Baer PII. found one used with the 1 1/2" guarantee. It came with the factory speed mag well. I paid around $1,700 for it. Not a steal, but the gun wasn't even broken in very well. I've put thousands of rounds through them since purchase, almost all reloads.

For me the Baer PII with just the factory 3" at 50 yard guarantee would have been accurate enough. The Brown and the Baer are rock solid reliable. I shoot with a bunch of guys who have various levels of 1911s. Everyone who shoots these two guns is impressed with the way they feel and shoot. A couple of the guys claim I'm cheating at the bowling pin shoots. If I had to sacrifice necessities to get a high end .45 I'd stick with a 9mm or .22. I spend way more on ammo for my guns even reloading than I spend on the guns.

 

[HOLYROLLER]

Someone's name on the side or another 1911 for your opposite hand.

 

[Rinspeed]

or another 1911 for your opposite hand.

Hopefully they won't jam at the same time.

 

[BADUNAME13]

I had a list of things I wanted on my next 1911... Basically a SS Kimber Warrior.
(I wanted the rail so that I could slap a light on my carry gun at night.)
-I travel alot.

I was looking at $3K from Les Bare...

I figured I couldn't shoot well enough yet to tell the difference and decided to spend the ~$2K difference on ammo.

So I Bought a $1100 Kimber... And it's between 2-3 inches at 25 (And that's in MY hands, not a machine rest)

It's also been more reliable than my Glock 19

I done right.

 

[Geno]

I will never spend $2,000.00+ on a 1911 again. No, never, huh-uh! My "cheap" $700.00 to $900.00 1911s have worked better by far. JMHO.

Doc2005

 

[jaholder1971]

More "Oooh's" and "Ahhh's" at the range
Less money on other guns
A really angry wife

 

[crankshop1000]

Spend the extra $1-2K. That will ensure that you will need to explain to all your puzzled friends how much smarter than they are with your purchase.Better than they are really.Gun snob zone.Just keep your mouth shut when the guy in the next lane outscores you with his $ 500 Springer.

 

[Baldy518]

I agree somewhat with what HOLYROLLER said. "Someone's name on the side or another 1911 for your opposite hand". I'll add "Bragging' Rights".
I do not have any "expensive" handguns. I have only bought guns for self defense, so far. I have no interest in tight groups at 25 or 50 yards. My HK's can stay on a 8.5" x 11" sheet of paper at self defense distances, drawn from a holster and quick sight acquisition, so that is all I need.
Even what some have said about slower follow-up shots do not matter in self-defense. If your first shot is at center-mass, and your second shot is a bit higher, it will still be on the bad guy.
I guess you have to decide what your purpose is with the gun. Self Defense, IDPA, USPSA, Bullseye, etc.
The only 1911 style pistol I have is a Para Ordnance P14-45 LDA, which I call "1911 Style", because some 1911 purists poo-poo it as not being a "real" 1911 because its DA trigger. I don't care - I like it. The trigger is closer to what I am accustomed to shooting: All the rest of my guns are HK's and 1 Glock.
There is a Bullseye Pistol Team at my local Sportsman's Club. Many, if not all use 1911 for the .45 caliber portion of the Bullseye Matches. They range from out-of-the-box stock 1911 to $5000.00 customized 1911. One guy told me he took a Springfield Mil-Spec, which is what he trained with in the U.S. Army, and had his gunsmith customize it. When finished, it cost about $5000.00 total. Then he bought another Springfield Mil-Spec and had the exact same work done on it, so he has a spare, in case of malfunctions. That is, in case you can't add, $10K to compete in a hobby, with no cash prizes! He says if he waits too long before cleaning, the guns start having problems, since the tolerances are so tight. These guys shoot at 50 yards one handed, most with open sights!
The question remains: What do you want the gun for?
I would recommend that you take the Mil-Spec and just have a little gunsmith work done on it.
If you want near-absolute reliability, stick with your USP.
Also, try wearing gloves when you shoot, and your hand won't get beat up, or even try a Band-Aid on the spot that gets beat up.

 

[Hawk]

Reading about Kimber type II part failures and shattering safeties is one thing, and not much of a thing. However, should it ever happen to you personally it elevates the incident well beyond "anecdote" or "intr4w3b chatter" - it suddenly becomes true fact together with whatever factory response is experienced.

Hence, the idea of "getting a lot for a little" via Kimber just flat doesn't work for me.

I have a Springfield loaded that's not given me grief but try this experiment:

Download SA's "custom shop" pdf file. They get around 1,800.00 for turning their standard model into a "Professional" and outline what they do - if none of those things mean anything to you, don't buy it. IMHO it'd be foolish in the extreme to buy something one doesn't consider in any way "significant". However, if you do consider the stuff "significant" then it might prove a reasonable purchase.

What one might consider "insignificant" another might consider essential.

A lot of what exists at the high end is essentially art - I don't personally like to pay any extra for stuff like 40lpi checkering on the back end of a slide but there are some that enjoy such things. More power to 'em.

 

[robctwo]

Here is another place to go to read lots of posts on various makes of 1911s
http://www.1911forum.com/forums/

It's also a lot of fun to browse the on line auctions at
http://www.gunsamerica.com/
http://www.gunbroker.com/auction/BrowseShowcase.asp?Page=1&Items=50

Your original post was looking for reliability. I routinely will run 500 reloaded rounds through my Baer or Brown at a range session. I use a lot of 200 gr SWC, some ball, and some RN lead. I have intentionally not cleaned between range sessions to see when I would develop a problem. At around 1,500 to 2,000 rounds the feed ramps get crudded up enough to start to cause feeding problems.

In all fairness, once the extractor problem was fixed on my Springer loaded it runs that long as well. I did a trigger job on the Springer and put all Ed Brown parts in it. Got down to a 3 1/2 to 4 pound break. Very nice now.

Here's another problem for you. Once you get a $1,400 Baer, will you need a $2,400 Brown/Wilson/Nighthawk? And if you get one of those, will you need a $3,000 Supergrade or Classic Custom? That's the question I'm dealing with right now.

 

[GRIZ22]

Do I really care about 1" tighter group at 25 yards for an extra 1K? I do care about it being reliable.

$1000 isn't going to necessarily buy more reliability.

I believe the arched mainspring housing isn't helping.

Buy a flat mainspring housing.

I immediately went out and rented something from the range (Kimber TLE II). My hand was tired, but I managed to shoot it well and had a smile on my face again after a few magazines all the way through the end of two boxes.

What was different with the Kimber? Flat mainspring housing? Extended grip safety? I would do these things (yourself) before a trigger job (for a pistolsmith). A trigger job is not the answer to all problems especially what you relate here. A 5-6 pound trigger in a combat gun is fine. It seems like if you are slightly handy you can make your Springfield comfortable and have 8 or 9 hundred dollars for other endeavors.

 

[1911 guy]

Fix it for less money.

If you want to kep in 1911 pistols, get a Smith & Alexander beavertail grip safety, flat mainspring housing, Ed Brown or Wilson Combat ignition parts (hammer, sear, disconnector and trigger) and pay a 'smith a little money to fit them.

 

[Rinspeed]

Well, sort of. I rented the TLE II because that's what they had. I know there are more guns out there than I can rent at my local ranges.

About the $1400 Les Baer gun. I'm looking for that kind of advice. If I can get a lot more value out of $400 more, I'll spend it.

Here is a nice thread about a Baer TRS with a bunch of rounds through it. I saw a couple very similar ones when I was trying to decide which 1911 I wanted. There's much more to it than bragging rights or accuracy or being a snob. I've laughed at a couple of responses here in this thread but I guess my thinking is a little different.




http://www.1911forum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=53832