I still don't understand the "1911" thing.
Perhaps my perspective will help. I'm not a 1911 addict either but I have one, so I understand it a little bit.
They are the king of feedway stoppages,
Guy, that's a powerful blanket statement and an over generalization. Every type of handgun, if we just look at it as a general type and don't consider specific models and specific guns, can have ammunition feeding difficulties.
I agree there's lots of anecdotes of very expensive 1911 format pistols having too many problems. But if you dig just a little bit, you can find reports of custom revolvers, rifles, and shotguns being pieces of junk too.
If it's pretty close to the original 1911 format (some say it has to be exact and I disagree) and not a precisely fitted match or race gun, the 1911 can easily be reliable enough to be viable as a defensive sidearm.
The problem is that the 1911 has become kind of a big boy's toy and less of a weapon in the eyes of some makers, so they're not really worried about making weapons just guns. But that doesn't speak for the platform itself.
Relative to what? Okay let's just concede that 13 > 8 or whatever.
Thing is, for a lot of people, that's a moot point as they can't own a magazine that holds more than 10 rounds anyway. If I couldn't, I'd probably be much more interested in the 1911 myself.
And the thing is, just because guns exist now which hold more rounds, doesn't mean that this is the only deciding factor in our purchase decisions. I personally much value reliability over capacity for instance. It's a happy coincidence that often you can get both in the same package, but my opinion remains. It also doesn't mean that a gun that holds 7 or 8 rounds is any less effective or useful than it was when it was created.
and you need to manipulate 2 devices to make them go bang (safety and trigger).
I agree with that, which is why I much favor revolvers and double action semis for defensive purposes. But some people have the opposite opinion that the external safety is a good thing, and I have to respect that opinion.
The Germans love H&Ks, the Swiss love SiGs, the Austrians adopted the Glock - and we have the 1911. Hmmmm, go figure.
Actually we have the Beretta 92. Coast Guard uses Sigs last time I checked. Glock 19 is widely used in Iraq too among contractors at least.
Question is, will the younger shooters still favor the 1911 over more modern designs once the current/previous generation of shooters pass on to the great range in the sky?
I'm 26 and I sincerely believe there are better choices than the 1911 for a serious sidearm.
However I feel the gun's other features make it interesting and worth trying to learn. Consider this: the 1911 fires an effective self defense round, has a long sight radius, a flat easy to carry profile, and has very low felt recoil coupled with a crisp single action trigger. It's easy to fire quickly and accurately. There are advantages to its construction with its steel frame (which has the feedramp integrated into the frame) and the fact that it is actually relatively mechanically simple. A GI spec gun can actually be detail stripped using its own parts as tools.
I'd sooner take a Glock, Sig, XD, or whatever, but I won't count the 1911 out.
