Your Choice In A 1911?

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bulltaco

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I am sold on the 45ACP round as the ideal pistol round for my wants and needs. I own a P220 and Glock 30 for said round and am very happy with them. Over the years, I've entertained the idea of purchasing a 1911 but never felt the need to follow through on the thought as I was/am happy with what I got. Now, I am lured by the thought, and revisting the works of Col. Cooper once again has re-kindled the desire for a 1911. I see that SIG and S&W now offer their versions of this grand old design and was wondering what you guys thought the best version of the 1911 was considering price and workmanship. I am particularly leaning towards a Kimber. Is there anything I should know before I begin my search?
 
I personally have 2 S&W 1911's, one full size and one commander. I recently sent the commander to Jess at Ontarget Custom Gunworks to be bobtailed, refinished and trigger job. Jess has a couple hand built models that will outlast the shooter. Take a look. I am very pleased with his work on my commander, which I should have back next week.

http://www.ontargetcgw.com/basefile/caspian-gi.htm
 
I like 1911s, but not for CCW...

...My Kimber Ultra Carry was flawless and very accurate, but I could not get comfortable with condition 1 carry, and if I was going to have to cock it when needed, I needed to carry something else. So I sold it and got a Taurus PT-145, and never looked back...
 
smith and wesson 1911

one of the most underrated 1911. Reasonably priced, accurte and reliable. All of them are good, my favorite is the government stainless with adjustable sights! Great gun!
 
I’m now on my 6th 1911, I’ve owned 4 Colts, a custom Colt, and I now have a Les Baer and a Gold Cup.

I would seriously give thought to saving a little longer and getting a Premier II Baer. For a semi custom gun they’re very reasonably priced at just a few hundred more than a comparable Kimber or Colt. A few months ago, Sporting Arms was selling them for around $1300.

Just a thought,

Chuck
 
I've heard mostly good stuff about the S&W 1911s. Never tried one myself.

As best I can tell, there's a lot of variation. I know of one reputable gunsmith who prefers Springfield Armory MilSpec over all others. I hear that Auto Ordnance and Rock Island Arms aren't quite so good.

To a certain extent, you get what you pay for.

I have a Kimber Ultra Carry that is my everyday carry gun. I typically have it in an IWB holster 12-16 hours per day. I always have it in Condition One. Once I figured out that I had a faulty magazine and eliminated it from further use, the gun has been flawless.

OTOH, I have a Kimber Pro Carry in 9mm that has a FTE about every 5 or 6 rounds. It's about to make it's second trip to the gunsmith.

IMHO, I think you'll be hard pressed to find a quality 1911 under $500. Lots of great choices between $600 and $800.

Bill
 
If it is not a Colt, it is a copy. :p
Colt series 70 custom
Colt 1991 parkerized
Colt 1991 stainless commander
Colt Officers Acp stainless with stag grips :D

I also have a Ruger P97DC
 
Take your pick

I have five 1911s and really enjoy shooting them, but wouldn't recommend any of them for CC. Too big and heavy. The Kimber is my top choice, with over 2000 rounds and no breakage. 99% are handloads, so there will be some FTF. My next choice is the Colt (Series 80), only boke the extractor once and is no big deal to replace. I also have a Para P14-45, bought it used and had to have re-worked by a pistolsmith before it would function properly. I don't shoot my 1911A1 (1943 Remington Rand) that much as it is completely stock.

I just bought a Charles Daly Ehanced Target. I haven't shot it that much, so can't really give much of a opinion on it. The only problem was with reloads, it would fail to feed the last round. I replaced the slide stop with one from Chip McCormick and that fixed the problem. Anyway, it sure is inexpensive compared to Kimber, Colt, etc. Nice fit and finish w/adjustable sigths for about 5 bills. :)
 
S&W, Kimber, Springfield

As a standard 1911 pistol goes I don't think you could go wrong with one of the above mentioned pistols. You probably won't go wrong with a customized version either. I carry primarily a Kimber ProCarryII plain jane during the day but will swap to a Custom TLE II at night on occasion. Lots of mfg's make good 1911's so explore your options and enjoy your final decission.

339313-R1-14-10A.gif

All Kimbers except one Springfield hiding in the crowd.

4470930-R1-023-10.jpg

From time to time I hunt with a 1911.


As for the safety issue. At first you just have to get use to it, but once you do, you'll wonder why you didn't. Cocked and locked. Condition 1.

By the way, I use to race Bulltaco's back while you were still in diapers.
 
I've had a full-size Kimber Classic Custom since right after they came out, still has the original polymer trigger before they switched to aluminum ones. Have put God knows how many rounds through it, only problems I've ever had were with a combination of a dirty gun, cheap mag, and one particular type of Winchester ammo: 230 gr ball loaded for the military, in a plain white box that didn't even say Winchester on it, just the WW on the headstamp. Had 3-4 failures to go fully into battery, a sharp tap on the rear of the slide fixed them. Otherwise 100% reliable & 10 ring at 15 yds accurate all day if I do my part. Have been lusting after an S&W scandium-framed commander for a while now. Have shot or know people who own just about every variant of 1911. Kimbers, Springfields, S&W's, Sig GSR all seem to be just fine (in .45, have heard of problems w/other chamberings, esp 9mm). Every Charles Daly I've seen had reliability problems & had to go back to the factory. If you want a solid 1911 w/o spending too much get one of the Springfield GI/Mil Specs. You can always use it as a platform for customizing later as you can afford to.
 
Springfield WWII or milspec

I like the 1911 style pistol in either full-size or commander size. I've seen new Springfield GI's in both sizes brand new for around $420 in the Seattle area. These guns are well made and provide a basic platform to build whatever custom gun you might want.

The .45ACP is a proven manstopper even with FMJ. Some say they are a bit large to carry but I think they're fine. I'm about 5'-8" 210 lbs and used to carry a Thompson by stuffing it in my waistband with a good belt. It was very comfortable. I've found that it's not really how big the gun is but how skinny and how flat it is. That's why I like the single stack. I'm saving for up for the Springfield. My neighbor has one and it's very reliable.
 
I have a Springfield Armory Loaded that has 3K rounds thru it with no problems. Only time it ever FTFed was with one bad magazine that I subsequently pitched.

I recommend it wholeheartedly. Unless you're a competitive pistolero with tens of thousands of rounds downrange behind you already, I'd save my money and avoid the Les Baers; just about any other 1911 will also be more accurate than you.
 
Does anybody make a Stainless model without front cocking serrations? I could get another Gov't Model Colt, I suppose, or a Springfield Stainless Mil-Spec. But is there anything else out there? I just don't like the front serrations.
 
As far as 1911's I can actually afford, the ones I like are Colt, Para, Springfield. If money were no object I would just get a RRA or Ed Brown.
 
Does anybody make a Stainless model without front cocking serrations?
Click to expand...

Baer will pretty much make you what you want. Lots of guys have ommitted the FCS.

On my stainless I added:

Serrated top of slide
Serrated rear of slide
Checkered under the trigger guard
Night sights

It didn't take any additional time, and really didn't cost too much extra. I kept the FCS as it was my 1st pistol to have them. I'm probably ordering a Stinger thgis summer and it will be without.

Chuck
 
Take a hard look at Springfield Armory 1911s

I have three 1911s - a Ted Yost 1* Elite hardchrome built on a Colt series 80 Government model, a Springfield Armory Champion (3.9" barrel) and a Springfield Armory TRP Operator.

The 1* Elite is a safe queen - just too nice to carry - so I have taken to carrying the TRP Operator. Yes, it is bigger and heavier than the Champion, but I just really like this gun. It is VERY accurate, extremely reliable and the fit & finish are outstanding.

You should be able to find a TRP Operator in the $1375-1400 price range (they list at $1689). IMO, $1400 or lower is a good price for this gun; I was lucky enough to find one on sale for $1200 new - what a deal!

The TRP is an awful alot of gun for the money - IMO, it is almost on equal foorting with the semi-custom 1911s (Wilson, Brown, Baer, Nighthawk) that sell for around $2000-2200. For what you get, the TRP is an absolute steal at $1400.

If the TRP is just too expensive, take a look at some of the other Springfield 1911's - you can get a solid, reliable, well built gun for $600-800 from Springfield - they offer alot of quality for the price.
 
Best gun I've ever owned.

1911sc1.jpg
 
bulltaco,

I have owned almost every brand of 1911 on the market at one time or another. After all that I decided to go the top end and be done with it. I decided to go Wilson Combat after really scrutinizing the quality of their work on a buddies Protector. I now own a CQB (5"), CQB Compact (4" with short grip), and my favorite a stainless Professional (4" standard length grip). There are other custom makers but I really like the Wilsons. They are worth the money.
 
I've got a Rock Island

Cost me $300 a couple years ago, and they're up around $325 around here, now. The only mod I've done was swap out the cocobolo wood grips for a set of cheap used rubber ones. I like all-black, and I like traction.

All these years, since ETS in 1980, I had lusted after a milspec 1911. I didn't want a Gold Cup, a Kimber, a 1991, or any of that stuff. Just a plain-jane 45. As it happened, the RIA was $100 cheaper than the Springfield milspec.

So, I have exactly what I wanted: a no-frills 1911, that I don't have to treat with kid gloves. My first brick of ammo was Wolf, and we know how nasty that stuff is. The gun performed flawlessly. It still groups better than my Ruger MK II .22. I'm gonna keep it for a long time.
 
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