Lubricant
Member
P51 Mustang.67 Big block Corvette.47 Nucklehead.Old John Deer tractors.Double Bacon Cheeseburgers.1911.American classics.
What is it about 1911's?
- Thread starter VP
- Start date
- Status
Lonestar49
Member
Imitation is the greatest form of flattery
...
My thinking - it is part of American Made, Pride, the/a first, timeless, of its kind and they are no less than proof of living Legends keep going on and on and on
Best triggers then and now, for the very most part.
Agree with above, like a P-51 and many planes before it, the 1911, year, gun, design, simple, pure, name works for more people than any other hand weapon, I'd bet, in numbers, out there, past, present, future
Ls
...
My thinking - it is part of American Made, Pride, the/a first, timeless, of its kind and they are no less than proof of living Legends keep going on and on and on
Best triggers then and now, for the very most part.
Agree with above, like a P-51 and many planes before it, the 1911, year, gun, design, simple, pure, name works for more people than any other hand weapon, I'd bet, in numbers, out there, past, present, future
Ls
1) History and military use
2) Trigger
3) Accuracy
4) The .45 acp round
5) Ergonomics
1 - the 1911 has a legendary service record in the military. it also is the first handgun many millions of vets used and trained on. that alone is not an under-rated fact as many influencers of the gun industry are former military.
2- The SAO trigger of the 1911 if the best (and most consistent) trigger of any combat handgun I have ever used.
3- Even the bargain basement 1911s such as the rock island are capable of very good groups. it is a very accurate platform.
4- The .45 is an exceptionally good round. It is very effective and doesnt depend on expansion to cause catostrophic damage.
5- It points naturally. It is not "chunky". It is flat. It fits most hands small and large.
2) Trigger
3) Accuracy
4) The .45 acp round
5) Ergonomics
1 - the 1911 has a legendary service record in the military. it also is the first handgun many millions of vets used and trained on. that alone is not an under-rated fact as many influencers of the gun industry are former military.
2- The SAO trigger of the 1911 if the best (and most consistent) trigger of any combat handgun I have ever used.
3- Even the bargain basement 1911s such as the rock island are capable of very good groups. it is a very accurate platform.
4- The .45 is an exceptionally good round. It is very effective and doesnt depend on expansion to cause catostrophic damage.
5- It points naturally. It is not "chunky". It is flat. It fits most hands small and large.
Hey Lubricant
I couldn't have said it better and particularly since I retired from Deere & company after 30 years. Have a Springfield Loaded .45 and yes, a lowly but fantastic Taurus PT1911 9mm. I may trade my other pistols but I'll own these two until I wake up on the wrong side of the dirt! There's just something about a 1911.
I couldn't have said it better and particularly since I retired from Deere & company after 30 years. Have a Springfield Loaded .45 and yes, a lowly but fantastic Taurus PT1911 9mm. I may trade my other pistols but I'll own these two until I wake up on the wrong side of the dirt! There's just something about a 1911.
lockbreech
member
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2011
- Messages
- 9
Hey Tuner, that was interesting about JMB never seeing a Browning High Power or ever designing one.
1911Tuner
Moderator Emeritus
Browning's basic tilt barrel/locked breech/short recoil system is alive and well in the High Power. He didn't use it in the Grande Rendement because he was working against his own patents...at the time, owned by Colt. Once the patents had expired, Saive was able to incorporate them into the design and finish the project.
So, technically...Browning did "design" the High Power in the same way that he designed the basic operating system of the Glock and other tilt barrel short recoil pistols. He just never had a direct hand in any of them.
That's right. Your Glock is nada mucho but a combination of the 1911 and the High Power with a single upper lug instead of three. The only real difference is the gun mount...the frame...and the controls housed within.
Cheers
So, technically...Browning did "design" the High Power in the same way that he designed the basic operating system of the Glock and other tilt barrel short recoil pistols. He just never had a direct hand in any of them.
That's right. Your Glock is nada mucho but a combination of the 1911 and the High Power with a single upper lug instead of three. The only real difference is the gun mount...the frame...and the controls housed within.
Cheers
1911Tuner
Moderator Emeritus
A problem common to some...not so much for others. The only ones that "Hammer bite" me are the originals with the long hammer spur and the short grip safety tangs and the old Commanders with the short safety tangs, and only then if I reach for the pistol in a rush...and they are truly brutal...but the others generally only produce a light blister from the bottom of the safety after about 300 rounds in a single session, and only then if I jam the web of my hand hard into the bottom of the safety. Arched mainspring housings accelerate it. Flat ones delay it. YMMV
Cocked & Locked
Member
They are like an old friend...
GMcBoozer
Member
I currently just got the fever, Ruger SR1911 is to blame. 
1911s speak with authority. This is the sidearm that was at Belleau Wood, The Marne, Torch, Anzio, Normandy, the Bulge, Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, Chosin Resevoir, Khe Sanh, Ia Drang Valley, Hue City, Grenada, and personal weapons were carried in Desert Storm and OIF. I'm sure versions are being carried in Afghanistan as I write this. It has been putting men in the ground and defending the innocent for one hundred years.
It fits most hands well. Is safe enough and tough enough for GIs to use. And GIs could break a one foot solid steel cube. It comes in a staggering variety of configurations and calibers. You can fit it with a .22 barrel and magazine to practice cheaply. It may not fire a supersonic telephone pole, but it makes an impressive hole in your target. You can always tell when someone is shooting a .45 at the range by the bits of paper being blasted off their target.
In short it is an American ideal. You can see it by watching someone unfamiliar with one handle their first at the gun store. You'd have to have no soul to not feel it when you pick one up. And that's just a new production gun. There are still guns out there that come up for sale that are WW1, WW2 or Korea veterans. Those get the mystique of history piled on top.
It fits most hands well. Is safe enough and tough enough for GIs to use. And GIs could break a one foot solid steel cube. It comes in a staggering variety of configurations and calibers. You can fit it with a .22 barrel and magazine to practice cheaply. It may not fire a supersonic telephone pole, but it makes an impressive hole in your target. You can always tell when someone is shooting a .45 at the range by the bits of paper being blasted off their target.
In short it is an American ideal. You can see it by watching someone unfamiliar with one handle their first at the gun store. You'd have to have no soul to not feel it when you pick one up. And that's just a new production gun. There are still guns out there that come up for sale that are WW1, WW2 or Korea veterans. Those get the mystique of history piled on top.
PT92
Member
Outside of the 1911 being perhaps the most important handgun design in American History (and arguably, perhaps, firearms history in general) it truly is part of our nation's culture analogous to say the American Bald Eagle.
Speaking from a tactical point-of-view, the fact that 100 years later SPECOPS still use them means the design itself is so ingenious as to defy time.
Personally, the only two other semi designs that seem to have that same accurate and 'fit-like-a-glove' feeling would be the Beretta 92 (Taurus PT-92 in my case) and the Browning Hi-Power.
One cannot in any way overstate the absolute Brilliance of John Moses Browning--Hats off to the late-great JMB 100 years later.
-Cheers
Speaking from a tactical point-of-view, the fact that 100 years later SPECOPS still use them means the design itself is so ingenious as to defy time.
Personally, the only two other semi designs that seem to have that same accurate and 'fit-like-a-glove' feeling would be the Beretta 92 (Taurus PT-92 in my case) and the Browning Hi-Power.
One cannot in any way overstate the absolute Brilliance of John Moses Browning--Hats off to the late-great JMB 100 years later.
-Cheers
Nushif
Member
What I like about the 1911 is two things ...
The trigger. I swear if any of the other manufacurers actually started using the same trigger system, the glitter of the 1911 would fade for em real quick ...
Secondly ... everyone and their mom has parts for it, stocks holsters, works on them, makes them look better, you name it.
I am one of those few people I guess who actually don't like the 1911 for the history, the caliber and whatnot ... I like it because it is *the* handgun here in the US. It is so massively supported that anyone who says "I want a custom piece" is gonna be hardpressed to find something that has even 10% of the support base the 1911 has. I can't incrementally make my 92D Centurion a custom gun, getting whatever upgrades I want over time ... hells, I can't even find someone who will "compacterize" the thing for me! Much less offer a nifty looks alteration!
The draw of the 1911 at first in my opinion was the trigger, sheer genius ... but ever since then it has become a cult ... and let's face it folks, people who don't go to church on Sunday are gonna have it rougher than those who do around these parts, if they're looking for gun-vana.
The trigger. I swear if any of the other manufacurers actually started using the same trigger system, the glitter of the 1911 would fade for em real quick ...
Secondly ... everyone and their mom has parts for it, stocks holsters, works on them, makes them look better, you name it.
I am one of those few people I guess who actually don't like the 1911 for the history, the caliber and whatnot ... I like it because it is *the* handgun here in the US. It is so massively supported that anyone who says "I want a custom piece" is gonna be hardpressed to find something that has even 10% of the support base the 1911 has. I can't incrementally make my 92D Centurion a custom gun, getting whatever upgrades I want over time ... hells, I can't even find someone who will "compacterize" the thing for me! Much less offer a nifty looks alteration!
The draw of the 1911 at first in my opinion was the trigger, sheer genius ... but ever since then it has become a cult ... and let's face it folks, people who don't go to church on Sunday are gonna have it rougher than those who do around these parts, if they're looking for gun-vana.
SSN Vet
Member
they speak "craftmanship" when you take the time to listen carefully
wow6599
Member
I resemble this comment.........
Cobrageezer
Member
They seem to fit every size hand. Myself, have not got the biggest mits in the world and a 1911 feels as if it were made just for me. Being a lefty, reaching for the mag release with my index finger is much more natural and swipeing off the safety with said index finger on the draw works very well.
ET
Member
Even a "low end" 1911 is better than a piece of "tupperware". Don't get me wrong, there's a time and place for other guns, I just don't know where that place or when that time is.
I own several pieces of tupperware and would trust my life to them over my neighbors classic 1911. I have never had a jamb in my 21sf nor my 27, where as my neighbor's gun jambs every time he takes it to the range. That said, I just caught 1911 fever from shooting his gun & will be purchasing one immediately. I'm sure I'll love it, but I'm also sure I'll still carry my 100% reliable Glock 27 for protection.
Powerglide
Member
If you ever use one for limiting someones ability to kill you, you'll know why they are the cats meow.
What is it about 1911's? I just purchased an SW 1911 last week and since purchasing it, all I can do is sleep, dream, and think about 1911's! I've never felt this way about a gun before
I only put 75 rds through it last week. I've already considered dipping out of work one day to take it out for 200rds this week!
You really need to get a life...
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
mortablunt
Member
M1911's... crack is cheaper and less addictive.
Sean Smith
Member
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2002
- Messages
- 4,925
To hell with the 1911 romanticism. Almost every 1911 owner is carrying a gun that looks nothing like a military 1911 and has as much individual connection to history as an iPod.
The reasons the 1911 design is still relevant and not a museum piece are all practical - superior trigger pull, superior ergonomics, superior capacity for accuracy, ability to be outfitted with the best handgun sights available. That's why it dominates the top level of every competition the rules allow it in, and that's why MEUSOC and FBI SWAT and numerous others that depend on a weapon's practical utility still use a 100 year old design.
A 1911 is not the cheapest path to a good gun, and a lot of mediocre to poor versions are made of it that harm its overall reputation. But the design persists while other old designs have died out because of its obvious positive qualities compared to even the newest handgun designs out there.
The reasons the 1911 design is still relevant and not a museum piece are all practical - superior trigger pull, superior ergonomics, superior capacity for accuracy, ability to be outfitted with the best handgun sights available. That's why it dominates the top level of every competition the rules allow it in, and that's why MEUSOC and FBI SWAT and numerous others that depend on a weapon's practical utility still use a 100 year old design.
A 1911 is not the cheapest path to a good gun, and a lot of mediocre to poor versions are made of it that harm its overall reputation. But the design persists while other old designs have died out because of its obvious positive qualities compared to even the newest handgun designs out there.
- Status
