What's your favorite 1911?

My favorite 1911-style pistol is my Volkmann Combatant Carry. 4.25" bbl, .45acp, Bobtailed grip, NP3 coating, night sights. It's beautiful and shoots like a dream.

 

Love my Springfields, but my Dan Wesson (C-Bob) is my favorite.




Carry it often.

 

I've owned a couple of Coltls and a couple of RIA's over the years. The only one I shot a lot was my first one, a Colt 70 series, Government Model in 45 acp. It was my "IPSC" gun when I was shooting with a local club for a couple of years. It did everything I asked it to do, including working with my reloads that I put up using a "wack-a-mole" Lee loader. No idea how many rounds I put through it, but it was along the lines of a hundred a week. Those Lee Loaders are pretty slow, and I was pretty poor, being saddled with wasteful things like a house, a car, wife and kids and such back then.

I've got a Kimber Pro Carry II that I like so far, but I've only had it to the range. I think I put about 100 rounds through it with no problems. I admit that I bought it more for "pretty" than anything else. It's not a carry gun, or even a range toy. I just wanted it.

 

After being bitterly disappointed by three Kimbers, in the 1997 to 2000 time frame, I settled upon Les Baer Custom as my favored higher-end 1911 pistol brand. I phased-down my 1911 buying, after acquiring my new Thunder Ranch Special, about 2000. Regrettably, I sold my reliable Series Colt Government Model, along with the Kimbers, in 2002, when I reluctantly transitioned to Glock G22 (.40 S&W) duty pistols. In 2016, I was able to return to using a .45 ACP 1911 duty pistol, so my LBC TR Special regained its status, and I added a pre-owned LBC Premier II, that had been customized by Harrison. This one had been used, and carried, but not abused, by the previous owner. In 2018, as a self-gift after retirement from LEO-ing, I added a pre-owned, but very well-preserved LBC Monolith.

I still like Colt Government Models, and may well re-acquire a carefully-selected sample. Baers are a bit expensive, for a retired guy’s budget, though I may yet decide to re-enter the working man’s life. (Receiving paychecks, plus my police pension, could be sufficient to enable acquiring the occasional nice pistol.)

The high-water mark of my 1911 acquisitions was the year 2000, followed by that one brief surge in 2016 to 2018, when I added two pre-owned Baers, and a pre-owned Detonics 9-11-01, a commemoratively-named Street Master.

My first handgun, in 1982 or 1983, was a very compact Detonics Combat Master, which I owned only briefly, as it was not very reliable, and back then, I could not afford to keep a firearm that did not earn its keep. When I later became nostalgic for a Detonics, I decided to get a full-sized model, that used standard 1911 Government springs, as the springs for the tiny Combat Masters are very difficult to find, and my right hand has aged-out of shooting compact pistols that fire duty/service-level cartridges. To be clear, I am not saying that Detonics is a “favorite” 1911 brand, but they were a new-cool-thing in the early Eighties, and, there is that middle-aged nostalgia for things we liked, as young ‘uns.

Edited to add: My having failed to mention a specific 1911 pistol brand is not an indication of disfavor or disdain. I formed my ideas or favorites over twenty years ago, and have not sought to try any new-to-me brands, since then.

 

I have only owned one Wilson Combat 1911 pistol, a very compact Sentinel, in the very late Nineties, or very earl 20th Century. It did not, however feed reliably, with the short Sentinel magazines. (These are even shorter than Colt Officers ACP mags.) It only worked with the extended Sentinel magazines, or with full-sized 1911 mags. None of the usual diagnosis methods showed any fault with the pistol, itself. I sold it, with full disclosure, and swore-off compact 1911 pistols, as I’d also had rotten luck with a run of Colt Officers ACP and Commander pistols. I later learned that a bad batch of magazine springs, in the Sentinel mags, was the probable culprit.

I was left with a feeling of respect and high regard for Wilson Combat pistols, but they cannot be “my” favorite, unless I own a sample that works well. I am unlikely to own a Wilson Combat 1911, unless a substantial trade is part of the deal. I do, sometimes, wish that I had kept the Wilson Sentinel, as I have developed a niche for a short-slide weapon that need not have a short overall height.

Edited to add: My having failed to mention a specific 1911 pistol brand is not an indication of disfavor or disdain. I formed my ideas or favorites over twenty years ago, and have not sought to try any new-to-me brands, since then.

 

The only Colt I have left is the first 1911 I ever owned which is a Gold Cup purchased new some forty five years ago.
I will never part with this gun and the only problem I've ever had with it is after years of use the trigger pull is now down around 2lbs.
Of all the 2 dozen or so 1911's I've owned over the years this one is the most accurate and unlike my Kimbers it's never had to go back to the mother ship.

 

I like them all, pretty much. Even the AMTs if only just [])

 

My Kimber Custom II is the best handgun I have ever owned. If it has ever malfunctioned, I can't remember. I switched because I wanted a double-stack 9mm 1911, so I got a RIA .22 TCM/9mm combo. It took a lot of work (back to the factory, new Wilson Combat extractor,) to make it "carry reliable ", but I got it there. I am currently embezzling to be able to afford a Dan Wesson DWX if they ever become available.

1911s are going to run the full range of price and quality. I have owned $350 1911s that were dead-nuts reliable. I shot a $4200 Nighthawk at a rental range that jammed on me. The thing I see most is, the more they deviate from the original design, the more they create potential for problems. I'm not too interested in compact guns, I have carried full-size guns since 1992, I have just never felt the need to shrink them, I'm used to it. If I had to buy another 1911 today to replace my Kimber, I would probably look at Ruger and RIA.

We gun guys start to get tribal and dogmatic. I try not to. If it works, I use it and keep it. If it doesn't, I ditch it and avoid it in the future. If you are fixed on the 1911 idea, I would get a few books, learn up on them, and go to a few rental ranges an as shoot their most expensive 1911 and their cheapest one. Personally I found that the law of diminishing returns kicks in at about $1000. (Meaning, you can pay more, but the return on quality may not be proportional.)

 

I only have one as well, a 1968 Government. Terry Tussey worked some magic on it a few years ago, and I bought a set of Hogue rosewoods to replace the brown plastic stocks, which had shrunk to the point of not fitting well.

 

Easy, the cheapest 1911 I've ever purchased..an old Colt Combat Commander 9mm with well used satin nickel finish. Paid $399 & tax for it, less than a new Rock Island.

 

Eyes left, you're lookin' at it. Real live hand engraving, real dead real ivory. Charcoal blueing, niter blueing on small parts. Retirement present from Les.

 

OK, I guess it's only fair to post a better pic. The gun was featured in the 2013 December issue of HANDGUNNER. The knife is a Mike Delluvio ( Hope I spelled that right.) Damascus folder. Ivory is turning a bit yellow.

 

Ithaca-made M1911A1. I don't own one, (yet) but I love 1911's and I love Ithacas, so it would stand to reason........

 

I'd suggest getting that taken care of, unless it's only used for Bullseye.

 

The only 1911 I own is a Ruger SR 1911. I don't think there is anything particularly special about it but it works & I like it. I did have to tension the extractor not long after I got it. I was getting hit in the head with spent cases.

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I have 10 of them so far in 45, 9 milli-metric, 38 Super and a 22lr.

My three favorite are:
Sig Sauer C3 1911 in 45 ACP ( my EDC ) 4.25 stainless slide on a LW officer frame.
Wilson Combat CQB Compact in 45 ACP 4" slide on a officer frame, basically the same configuration as the C3 but 8 ounces heavier being all steel.
Dan Wesson Vigil in 9 milli-metric, bobtail commander.

 

Here is on of my home assembled 1911’s


45 ACP, Olympic frame, Caspian slide (notice, no slide sight cuts), Weigan optic mount, aTasco red dot sight. If I remember correctly, it has a Wilson barrel.

It is a good shooter but I’m not excited for the red dot sight. It is not my favorite 1911 but it is one of my favorite projects.

 

I have a 1928 vintage Colt. Bought it nearly 40 years ago from a guy at work that bubba'd the slide teying to install a sight rib. Of course he dumped the slide. I bought the gun with a replacement slide for $35. It runs flawlessly. Best money I ever spent.

 

An impossible question…. If I were to break down and get rid of the majority though, I think these three would be last to go…

Chambers Custom Black Knight



Bob Marvel 9mm



Chambers Custom WMG

 

My stainless SA Range Officer in 9mm has got great looks to go along with being very accurate and a very soft shooter.

 

Without getting into the semi-custom world, I'm kind of fond of several Dan Wesson models. Probably ECPs and Valkyrie are my favorites.

 

I have 4
A colt , two SA and an Ed brown
The brown is my favorite

 

I'm partial to Rock Island. Crappy mags and grips but a good solid, reliable gun.