Worth it to carry a custom 1911?

[CoRoMo]

This is an individual choice.

I wouldn't carry one that cost me that kind of dough. Same reason I never wear my "fancy" wedding ring to work. I only wear it to church, and I wear a cheaper silver band every day.

 

[Shipwreck]

Well, if you have other guns that you like and can carry - no reason to carry it if it bothers ya.

People can joke with me all they want - but I do have 3 carry guns. With those 3 guns, I don't really care if they get beat up or marked up, etc.

Why should I holster EVERY gun I own? I have several guns that never see a holster or get carried. They are strictly range toys that I try not to screw up.

 

[Jim K]

I know that no one wants to hear this, but I will say it again. If you have to use your gun on the street, there is a very high probability that you will be confronted by police officers and ordered to "drop the gun, now!" If you hesitate because the street is concrete and the gun is expensive, I can almost guarantee you will no longer have to be concerned about damage to your gun or anything else in this world.

If the gun is not damaged before that, it will be taken from you when (not if) you are arrested. You will be thrown in a cell and the gun will be tagged and tossed on the concrete floor of the evidence room.

(And please skip the business about how you are a good guy and the police will just let you walk away from a shooting. Even if the case is clear cut self defense, the street cops won't make that decision; it is very unlikely that you are going to gun down someone on the street and not be arrested.)

Personally, I would not carry an expensive gun. Reliability is the most important factor in a defense gun, not tight fitting, target accuracy, gold plating or engraving.

Jim

 

[CoRoMo]

Personally, I would not carry an expensive gun. Reliability is the most important factor in a defense gun, not tight fitting, target accuracy, gold plating or engraving.

+1. I've always subscribed to the Keenan/Fuff/Watson/Jim V/Tuner line of logic.

 

[brandon_mcg]

you'll need to shoot it a good bit to decide if it is the gun you want to carry or not. if you decide that it is reliable and the one you would bet your life on then i would carry it. if i had any doubt i wouldnt

 

[ForumSurfer]

you'll need to shoot it a good bit to decide if it is the gun you want to carry or not. if you decide that it is reliable and the one you would bet your life on then i would carry it. if i had any doubt i wouldnt

That's what it all boils down to, no matter if it costs $500 or $5000.

Everything else is just simply preference.

 

[Hammerdown77]

Depends on what you mean by "custom". If we're talking about something that's meant to be a showpiece of your collection, something you want to pass down to future generations as an heirloom in pristine condition, no, don't carry it.

If by "custom" you mean spending the money to have a professional pistolsmith go through every detail of your gun, correcting problems and perfecting fit and function, and updating the pistol with specific items that make it easier for YOU to use and shoot well, then yeah, I'd be carrying that thing 24/7. Why trust your life to something "off the rack" that may or may not have gremlins in it, when you have that other perfect pistol at your disposal.

I sent a Springfield lightweight to John Harrison recently and basically told him, "I want to carry this gun, and I want it to be accurate, reliable, and easy to shoot. Do whatever needs to be done to meet that requirement." What I got back is not only a fine piece of craftsmanship that is pleasing to look at, it's a tool that I feel completely confident would save my life if called upon to do so.

I think money spent on that kind of "custom" is money well spent, but ultimately you have to decide that for yourself.

 

[Olympus]

If by "custom" you mean spending the money to have a professional pistolsmith go through every detail of your gun, correcting problems and perfecting fit and function, and updating the pistol with specific items that make it easier for YOU to use and shoot well, then yeah, I'd be carrying that thing 24/7. Why trust your life to something "off the rack" that may or may not have gremlins in it, when you have that other perfect pistol at your disposal.

+1

And I would say you can accomplish that for less than $2000.

 

[Russ Jackson]

You can't take it with you so you might as well carry it. Its only $2000 and how much will it depreciate if you carry and shoot it? How much will it go up if you don't? Get a good holster. That comment about drop the gun now has never happened to me or anyone else I have ever known. I guess if you were in your 20s and lived in a really dangerous area. Plus Custom 1911's are just plain cool. And if a gun was built for accuracy then it should be shot....Russ

 

[davidbee]

Its really all about reliability with 1911s. If you can find a combat accurate RELIABLE 1911 at under $1000.00 I would buy that pistol like maybe a Springfield Loaded or a Colt series 70 or 80...

I would just want it to have night sights preferably and for it to be 99% to 100% reliable.

I would not mind carrying an Ed Brown or a Wilson Combat 1911 for EDC however, I have spoken to many great gunsmiths that have said that no matter what the price, 1911s are very finicky and high maintenance.

Why spend $2000.00 ??
if its for reliability forget it you can find a reliable Springfield Mil Spec If you are lucky or buy a jam o matic Wilson Combat if you are not so lucky.

Get a Springfield 1911, Glock, M&P or an XDM for carry and a $2000.00 1911 for range and showing off.

 

[rellascout]

Most 1911s that are problem guns have been Bubba'd in one way or another. Yes you will get the occasional lemon which cannot be fixed but for the most part today's 1911s require no more maintenance than other auto loaders.

I have owned tons of them. Shot thousands upon thousands of rounds, come of them even hitting the intended target, and do not consider them to be a high maintenance gun. I have owned everything from a stock Norinco to a Les Baer. I am in process of saving my $$$ to have my Colt CCO worked over.

Its all up to you what you carry. I do not carry a custom 1911 but I do carry a custom BHP often.

 

[OrangePwrx9]

One $2K custom 1911 = Two $1K mass produced 1911s = Four Glocks.

Dunno what your world is like or what's in your future. For the future I'm expecting, I'd take the four glocks. There might be others who could help if they were armed.

 

[EddieNFL]

Don't carry anything you dont want to loose to evidence.

The only firearms I would WANT to lose I would never think of carrying. If it brings me out on top I'm willing to risk losing it.

 

[kyletx1911]

The only firearms I would WANT to lose I would never think of carrying. If it brings me out on top I'm willing to risk losing it.

well put

 

[Old Shooter]

If you bought that $2,000 gun with any intent to carrry it, do it! First run enough ammo thru it so you are confident with it's reliability, get a good holster and let the games begin.

If you get into a gunfight and win, that $2,000 will have been the best investment you ever made, even if it is confiscated, marked, lost forever.

If you get into a gunfight with that $2,000 weapon and loose... you'll have other, more pressing problems to deal with, won't be giving that gun a second thought.

 

[MikePaiN]

I personally would never carry an overly expensive and especially a custom firearm. Sure with the right holster and care the gun can me protected. But what I think about is ever having to employ the weapon...When you boil it right down that is why you have a carry weapon.....that one time it has got to be put to use. 99% of the time it is stuffed in the dark reassesses of your body or night stand...until God forbid, that time comes to use it and who the hell knows what situation that might be, in the dirt, the car, scrambling for cover...no matter there is a good chance the gun is going to take some serious abuse. Then there's my real point...if ever you have to fire your weapon, killing or injuring a person, no matter what the situation that weapon of yours is going into police evidence lock up and it is going to be there a while...That's not the fate I want for my $2k+ baby....if my $300-$400 CW9 or PT709 have to go bye-bye I can live with that.

 

[Quack]

buy, carry and shoot what you want.

I carry my Kobra Carry and if i have to use it for defense, i'm prepared to do so.
It's been reliable since the first round, so i have no doubt that it'll serve me well.

anything mechanical is bound to have a failure. During a pistol class that i took, there were 2 of us shooting 1911's and the others (~8) were shooting Glock's and XD's. which gun had the problem? A Glock. somehow the rear slide plate slid down (just far enough) causing the gun to fail and he couldn't get the gun back in "action"

 

[mljdeckard]

If it saves your life, you won't worry about how much it cost you.

Having said that, no, I don't think you get a return investment past about $1000 or less in 1911s. That's about where the law of diminishing returns starts to take over.

 

[harmon rabb]

How much is your life worth? If you feel you shoot better with the custom, or that the custom is more reliable, why not carry it? (personally, I think the reliable argument is asinine, when you can buy a $500 glock that's every bit as reliable as the finest 1911 ever made).

If you actually have to shoot someone in self defense, losing that $3k gun will be the last issue in your mind.

I used to worry about "stopping power," capacity, and the like in a carry gun. Now I worry about how well I can shoot the thing above all else. I'd rather have 8 shots of 9mm than 8 shots of 45, if I can shoot the 9mm more accurately and bring it back on target more quickly. If I had a custom 1911 that I could shoot better than anything else, I wouldn't hesitate to carry it.

 

[WC145]

I used to worry about "stopping power," capacity, and the like in a carry gun. Now I worry about how well I can shoot the thing above all else. I'd rather have 8 shots of 9mm than 8 shots of 45, if I can shoot the 9mm more accurately and bring it back on target more quickly. If I had a custom 1911 that I could shoot better than anything else, I wouldn't hesitate to carry it.

That pretty much covers it right there. Good post.

 

[majohnson]

Worth it to carry a custom 1911

After almost 40 years of being around 1911, I have seen their popularity go up and down almost like a roller coaster. When Colt introduced the series 70 & 80, people claimed they were nothing but junk. I had both and shooting competitively, I would shot 500+ rounds weekly. As long as they were cleaned and oiled, I never had a problem.

Then the composite auto loader started being produced. Suddenly the 1911 was tossed aside. They where being sold for pennies, as everyone claimed the composite auto loader to be the ultimate handgun. As years go by, the problems of the composite showed their ugliness.

Interst 1911 has returned and there are a great number of companies producing them once again. With as many copies being built, there is a great deal of differance in quality. No matter what you purchase, shoot it alot and shoot it often. Don't short cut caring them or anything else you purchase. Its a tool, it is going to have marks, finish worn on the corners.

Shoot it often and enough so you develope mussle memory. This allows you to operate the controls without thinking about it.

 

[toocool]

I know that no one wants to hear this, but I will say it again. If you have to use your gun on the street, there is a very high probability that you will be confronted by police officers and ordered to "drop the gun, now!" If you hesitate because the street is concrete and the gun is expensive, I can almost guarantee you will no longer have to be concerned about damage to your gun or anything else in this world.

If the gun is not damaged before that, it will be taken from you when (not if) you are arrested. You will be thrown in a cell and the gun will be tagged and tossed on the concrete floor of the evidence room.

(And please skip the business about how you are a good guy and the police will just let you walk away from a shooting. Even if the case is clear cut self defense, the street cops won't make that decision; it is very unlikely that you are going to gun down someone on the street and not be arrested.)

First, having been in law enforcement and taken two armed subjects at gunpoint, I never ordered them to "drop the gun". It was "put the gun down, NOW!" and I preferred they set it down as gently as possible. I had no idea at the time whether or not the gun would fire if dropped, and didn't want to take the chance.

Secondly, when we did take control of the weapon(s), they were handled carefully, first to prevent accidental discharge, second to preserve any evidence that might be on them. We also had a very meticulous evidence handling procedure, because we understood that, in some cases the evidence would be returned to the subject, and the policy was to return it in as close to original condition as we got it...(yeah, we were relatively progressive for the '80s...)

Third, while I never had to disarm anyone after a shooting, other officers on my department did, and in an obvious, clear-cut case of lawful self defense, the subject was not necessarily arrested; transported to the P.D. to be interviewed, maybe, but on more than one occasion they were allowed to leave, pending disposition. And if it was ruled justifiable, the weapons were returned to the owners.

Arbitrarily saying that "you WILL be arrested" or "your weapon WILL BE mistreated/damaged" is a blanket fallacy. It may be true in some (if not most) jurisdictions, but it's not a certainty.