What Makes the 1911 So Great?

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From my perspective, the 1911 is a fun range gun to shoot, and excels in competitions. Having said this, I would NOT depend on one for anything serious, such as defense.

The primary advantages I see are:

Great accuracy (on target-grade models)
Great Trigger
Low recoil/easy to control


The disadvantages, IMO:

Ergonomics of a 2x4 piece of wood -- that grip feels terrible to me! This is subjective and will vary greatly among individuals
Hit-and-miss reliability (in those I've owned)

Shoot and own what makes you happy. I do think that every serious collector should consider getting a 1911 though...especially to have a piece of history (I'd make the same argument about a Luger, Walther P38, Colt SAA, etc).
 
Once again I'm going to completely upset the 1911 crowd, why do I keep falling for this...

I paid $500 for my XD. You should see the enormous list of things that I have had to do to make that pistol shoot reliably and accurately, fit my hand comfortably, be easy to carry either concealed or not, and be something I trust my life too.

1. Nothing.

It's hard to find a 1911 for $500, let alone have one accomplish what my XD has out of the box. You have three choices with 1911's, cheap, reliable, well made, but you can only pick two at a time.

In short, I still believe that the only thing that makes the 1911 so great is a wonderful fantasy overdue to be forgotten.

People will buy a brand new truck, and if it needs a ton of work and is always back at the dealership for repairs, they'll lemon law it. People will buy a brand new 52" TV and when it doesn't work they'll complain about it. But they'll buy a 1911 and have to work on it to make it reliable and for some silly reason that's perfectly acceptable. It doesn't make sense.
 
1911

tsk! All this talk about unreliable/obsolete/ old 1911s is a caution. I don't have these problems. 'Course, I don't use tricky 8-round magazines or extractors made outta recycled beer cans...Most of the ones that folks bring to me for function problems and I have to fiddle with are usually up and runnin' in 30 minutes or so...usually with a little extractor tweak or just handin'em a good magazine or two. Once in a while I gotta get semi-serious to get one to run...but that's rare. Maybe some voodoo witch has put a hex on ya'll.:scrutiny:

And who was it that said that the service life for a 1911 was 15,000 rounds?:confused: What a crock!:D

Well...Coffee time! We now return you to your regularly scheduled flame war...:cool:
 
What Makes the 1911 So Great?

The men who used it.


Vern Humphrey - Lots of Moros may have died but few by the 1911 given that particular adventure was over in 1902.
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You're thinking of the Philippine Insurrection -- which was an insurrection of Christian Phillipinos against first the Spanish and then against the Americans when we took over.

The fight against the Muslim Moro pirates took much longer. The M1911 was first issued in 1912, and had its baptism of fire at the Battle of Bagsak Mountain on Jolo Island in 1913.
 
OK, I didn't read EVERY word on every post before I lost my head - but here goes!

A lot of posts were about how fast you can field strip: gun A vs gun B.

The WHOLE point about a reliable weapon is : you DON"T have to field strip one in combat.

Three tours in combat with a .45 - I NEVER had to "field strip" one to get back in the fight! Only had one malfunction - after crawling through mud for two days - I had a mis-feed. I took the .45, clip inserted, and dunked in the nearest pond, shook it out and got back into the fight.

A REAL combat weapon will function in places that you, as a person, will be HARD pressed to function yourself!

I've carried .45's that sounded like castenet's when you shook them- and still they shot and killed!

You want a "pretty" gun - buy what you want, put pink ribbons on it and admire what you've got. Me, I'll take a 1911-A1, ugly as it is, and probably save your ass somewhere down the line.

"Pink"(pretty) don't work in combat! Besides, even empty - a 1911 makes a useable club. Try THAT with your tupperware shooter.

cr
 
I think that part of the appeal of the 1911 is the fact that John Browning designed it so as to be able to completely detail strip (not field strip, detail strip) it using nothing other than the parts of the gun itself. If you want to remove the grips you need to use the rim of a cartridge, but other than that you can detail strip it without having to go find tools first.
 
Also, let's not forget that the Crane Naval Research Center gives the HK Mk 23 a service life before depot level maintence is required fully twice that of the 1911s in military service--30,000 rounds compared to 15,000--with the Beretta tagging along at 5,000. So newer polymer framed pistols can compete with the service life of a 1911 and fare well.
Click to expand...

At 2000 bones a pop, the service life should be that long.

And 5000 rounds for the m9? That fact alone discredits the source.
 
Crashresidue:

You and I have either worshipped at the same altar or drank the same Kool-aid, depending on who you ask. My carry gun is a 400 dollar clunker that goes bang every time, rattles a little if I have to get my butt beyond second gear and has no bluing left whatsoever. Daily carry gun, many thousands of rounds and every failure has been a cause other than the pistol itself (ammo, mags or me).

Go ahead and laugh at my "philipino beer can", but it's more reliable than my 650 dollar Para Ordnance (which is actually running decently now, thanks for asking.).
 
Life

Can't figger where this ugly rumor about the 15,000 round service life of a 1911 got started. I've got a pair of 91A1 Colts that went 75,000 before I rebuilt'em...and they've got 55,000+ on'em since then. That's per gun.

Somebody's blowin' smoke, methinks...:rolleyes:
 
psh...Ya'll come see me and I'll treat ya to a 45-second detail strip...from in-battery to gutted...frame and slide.
Click to expand...

What? ya only gonna use one hand this time?
I swear, I scooted up closer to the table to watch Tuner take mine down and before I could finish the phrase " I wanna watch you detail strip my..." the thing was in forty pieces:eek: :D
Ever seen one of em world champion rubix cube guys work that puzzle? same type thing with Tuner.
 
Personal preference, honestly. A lot of people have had a lot of positive experiences with them in the past and present so it has maintained it's popularity. If the weapon platform sucked then the market for them wouldn't be even closer to what it is now.

Mark(psycho)Phipps( HAHAHA! )
 
I hate for this to be my first post but, whats wrong with the 1911 is a better question. Mine all run great and I like to personalize my stuff so nothing suits me better. I dont understand why people seem to have a personal issue with an inanimate object.

PS. Ive owned Sig, Glock, Beretta and S&W autos.
 
Yeah....I posted a range report about my '70 series on another forum...all I said was that I put 100 rounds down range into a fist size group with zero malfunctions....

It got zero replies....guess only controversy sells

As to the reliability/durability of the design not being up to snuff...gimme a break!

How in the world does anyone figure it lasted 80 years as a service arm in the military???
 
I'd be lying if I said the 1911's history didn't play into my decision to pick one up but something else was always eating away in the back of my mind. I was shooting a 9mm, sleek, fast and hi capacity. It wasn't enough. I wanted to lob a big, slow (comparitively) hunk-o-lead down range. My 1911 is HEAVY. I actually feel like I'm holding something. I don't know if anyone else will agree with me, but follow up shots with a 1911 are better because of the weight of the pistol. my 9mm had a lot of rise being a half alloy piece.

I've only had my Colt for a few months and only put a couple hundred rounds down the barrel but I'm in love. It's function is flawless and it leaves BIG holes in everything I put in the sights.

Of course I also have a Ruger Mk II that groups better, but I've got the advantage of 13 years experience with that particular piece so I know exactly where it shoots. I'm really enjoying getting to know my 1911, it's accurate right out of the box, all I need to work on is me. I can't say the same for my old 9mm, it was a good and reliable piece, but needed shop work on the sights right out of the box.
 
Well

Ergos
Accuracy
Style
Pointability
Safety
.45
Soul
Pride
Ease of total disassembly
Freedom.
 
The Chinese-made Norincos are dirt cheap, yet they have an excellent reputation for reliability (please don't get into the politics, I'm simply saying they know how to put a 1911 together). The Philippine-made RIA pistols also tend to be reliable, even if the steels are a bit soft. Colt and Springfield can build reliable out of the box pistols, I've seen them and owned a few. However their workers seem to have "on" and "off" days. Kimber used to have a flawless product but seem to have become a victim of their own arrogance. I still won't forget the idiot who insisted the one I had was failing to fire only because I wasn't holding it correctly.

The bottom line is, the 1911 is a perfectly reliable AND durable design when it's manufactured correctly. A lot of folks here have had problems with theirs and flat out don't trust them, but they should realize the design itself isn't the problem. It's when they make the parts out of crappy materials, fail to abide by the proper tolerances, OK parts that belong in the reject pile (Colt, are you listening to this?), and hire folks who don't know what they're doing to fit the components (this means you, Auto Ordinance) that people tend to lose faith in the 1911.
 
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