Whats the deal with 1911's?

[IceBerg1163]

I love my 1911, best hang gun I have ever owned. I have fired several different types and there are some differences but they all have a similar feel to them.

I think every American should have one given to them when they are born.



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[slowmo]

I like the 45 acp and weather its a 1911 or sig you got a good gun as long as you did not get one of those Phillipino 1911 copys
A used sig 220 west german is going for 400-500 $ at the local gun shows and there is always an old marine here that is trading in his 1918 colt for a smith revolver cause he has 5 at home but they pull his pants down when he goes with the wife to the mall.

[northforest]

Same here.

At the academy I went to in Wyoming we had a bunch of 1911 guys in the class. EVERY ONE of their guns went down, malfunctioned continuously or just plain broke. We had quite a few Glocks and my HK USP .45, none of these guns had a problem. At all.

I took a handgun class earlier this year that was 5 days long with around 1000 rounds fired by each person. There were about 23 people in the class. A little less than half were carrying 1911’s of different manufacturer, size, and caliber. About 6 were using Glocks and the rest were a couple Sigs, a Beretta 92, S&W, HK USP, and a Springfield XD.

I was on and off the line reloading and sometimes we were separated at the shoot house but here’s what I saw.

-Everyone or almost everyone of the 1911 shooters had some sort of malfunction at some point during the week. Two or three had continual problems, one had something that forced him to his secondary 1911 and one guy had a breakage that was sent to the school gun smith to be fixed and I don't think it came back.

-The Beretta 92 and the Smith had two or three malfunctions.

-The XD had something go wrong with a magazine that caused it to malfunction once.

-The USP had sand on a dropped and then picked up magazine lock the pistol up so bad it had to be taken (maybe hot) to the gun smith. I think it was a decent amount of sand jamed into the gun during a speed reload. That was its only incident.

-I saw no one with a Glocks or Sigs have any trouble.

And the guy that won the accuracy shoot off was shooting a Glock.

I really dig 1911's, shoot them well, and they certainly are sexy. But from talking to people, what I’ve seen at the range, the gun school, and all the internet scuttlebutt… If I was going into harms way (and do sometimes), I’d want to be packing a Glock, Sig Sauer, or HK pistol. The XD is good and has a real nice grip too.

[Zamion]

Personaly i think the low capacity 1911 is a good gun but its deffintly over rated, 8 rounds vs 13 or 14 of the same caliber, personaly ill take the XD or H&k usp, over it any day. Not saying its a bad gun but its dated, the guts are not so infalible that the low capacity is justified, I have a CZ52 that holds as much ammo, is just as reliable but dog ugly , and fires a bullet faster usaly cheaper as well. but no one says that the CZ52 is the greatest weapons platform ever designed or even close. its also like 150 bucks for one vs 500+ for the 1911. Its a marketing scheme telling you its the pistol of a real man and fought real wars yadda yadda. If some one wants to give me one ill smile to and from the range super happy with it. but its not the end all be all of pistols.
if you sent just about any pistol to a good name weapons smith and spent a grand on it you could probaly get the same if not better performance.

the 1911 is the Iphone of pistols, there are better phones with more power more memory more apps and faster internet speeds out their but no matter what you say or show them the Iphone is still gonna be the best thing ever to the die hard fans.
by all means buy one but yeah its not the best gun ever.

this is not an attack on any one im just saying any gun in the right hands is just as or more deadly and functional.

[SatCong]

Still like my 1911 the best.

[Powder Hound]

...I think every American should have one given to them when they are born.

I'd go one better. Every person prior to buying a home or renting any dwelling should be required to own a pistol and/or a good long gun, even if the long gun is a .22.

I also endorse the idea of military service being required for every able bodied man, with modifications to the service for non-able bodied persons, and then permanent reserves thereafter along with home retention of your service rifle and BDUs. Conscientious objectors would be given the option of relocating to another country. You should not be allowed to enjoy the protection of the Constitution without shouldering your fair share of the responsibilities.

Cheers,

PH

[Legion489]

WOW! Most of those are 2010 posts! OK, just to throw some gas on the fire, I have owned quite a few 1911s. My take is as follows:

Colt - WAY over priced! Used to buy them in the mid-late 1970s for $200 dealer and bought them by the dozen.

Kimber - TRASH! Ask any decent pistolsmith (and I know/have met quite a few) and they ALL hate them! The one I got was a typical Kimber, junk mag (ALL kimber mags are), covered with tool marks inside and out, full of burrs and horrible off the charts trigger pull. Possibly they are better now, but I have yet to see either a working Lee LoadMaster or working Kimber mag when I can actually put eyes on it, no matter how many times I hear "Well I got one that works!" Maybe they do, but they can't show me one that does when I show up to see with my own eyes! Obviously no one at the factory test fired it as it wouldn't extract as the extractor hook wasn't even cut!

Philippine 1911s. Got a Shooters Arms (Century Arms) and guess what? Slip with name of everyone who worked on it. GREAT (as in custom grade) trigger pull! WORKED OUT OF THE BOX! Beat the hell out of the Kimber for 1/3 the price!

Taurus PT1911 - stainless .38 Super. Great gun! Beat the shit out of the Kimber at 1/2 the price, just by working out of the box! Very nice trigger pull.

Les Baer (just down the road, also Brownell's and SA just down the road) and a LOT of guns coming back due to "less than acceptable finish inside and out".

Bill Wilson - guy at the range showed up with a $2500 Bill Wilson and it DID NOT WORK! Would not feed ANY make/model/brand of ANY factory ammo, with ANY mag (Wilson mag and at least a dozen other major makes). Well "$2500 is low end for a custom gun!" SO?! The FIRST thing I expect of ANY gun is for it to work! Can NOT tell me anyone test fired this at the factory!

Told to quit for now.

[SatCong]

As of now I do have a Les Baer PII that's on barrel two and it's over 120,000 rounds .Still shoots good.

[Will-M1A]

For Individual EDC I carry a Springfield Range Officer Champion in .45 ACP. Cost me $650.00 2 years ago. But my GTW is a Gen 3 G19 with a Gemtech Barrel & Gemtech Multi-Mount can.

[progunner1957]

I've been looking to get a handgun and been noticing a common trend. 1911's are expensive, what gives? Better then other semi autos?

IMHO, the 1911 is a better design than any DA/SA, DA, DAO or striker fired auto pistol on the market.

The single action only with thumb safety design allows a skilled 1911 shooter to put that all important first bullet into an attacker quicker than any other design of autopistol. Carrying a 1911 in condition one (fully loaded magazine, loaded chamber, hammer fully cocked, thumb safety engaged) is 100% safe IF the firearm is not damaged or defective in any way and the shooter is trained and proficient with the 1911.

In terms of accuracy, 1911s lend themselves to fine tuning that will produce phenomenal accuracy. Les Baer 1911s have a standard accuracy guarantee of 3" groups at 50 yards. At defensive handgun use ranges, that will give you a one hole group if you are a good enough shot. It's nice to know that at 5-10 yards, I can put a .45 slug through a hostage taker's eye, if the need arises. Baer and Rock River both offer 1911s that will shoot 1.5" groups at 50 yards for those who want the ultimate in accuracy, short of going to a .22LR pistol like the ones used in the Olympics.

As Larry Vickers says, "Speed is fine; accuracy is final." Whoever lands the first telling shot almost always wins.

[Colorado Osprey]

For Individual EDC I carry a Springfield Range Officer Champion in .45 ACP. Cost me $650.00 2 years ago. But my GTW is a Gen 3 G19 with a Gemtech Barrel & Gemtech Multi-Mount can.

I had the same pistol when working in a small department as a LEO. We had to buy our own firearms. Great gun that Springer, I had a little smithing done to it and it would feed anything.
I think anyone who owns more than 2 firearms will own a 1911 at some point. I took it a step further and at one point had 11 of them.
I also left the job where I could carry the 1911 and was hired on a department which carried the Glock 22, 40 S&W.
That 1st day I took it to the range along with my old duty Springer and shot a box of 50 out of both the new Glock and the 1911.
Damn if my group size was not almost 1/2 the size of the Springer with that new Glock.
Now I know you can get 1911's that will shoot bug holes, but getting a tight fit also decreases reliability in a 1911 design... yes that was loose by design to be reliable, not accurate.

I have challenged many a person to the same challenge who shoot 1911's. If you give an honest try you will see the same results.

Within a year I was down to one 1911 and a gaggle of Glocks. Now, many years later I don't own one 1911, and I have one Glock in 10mm. My son now wants a 1911 and I will get him one.
I have no ill will towards those who like the 1911 or it's design. It works, but as a 109 year old design (the original was actually not the 1911 but the 1909 pistol,) there are better choices now.