1911's

[CountryGent]

Please feel free to post pics of your favorite.

I've really liked the RIA over the years.

 

[nammac]

I am a Springfield owner. I appreciate the maker for their quality, competitive pricing and world class customer service. I've owned Colt and Ruger 1911's in the past but sold them on. I wasn't unhappy with them but I seemed to be looking for something else.

I believe I have found what I was looking for. I have three SA .45 ACP handguns at the moment, two of which are patterned after the 1911.

A Trophy Match - Fantastic shooter, slick trigger, ball bearing slide to frame fitment, very accurate. Just a bit too heavy to use as a carry gun but this is a full featured 1911 with a lot of custom touches for less than a full custom price.

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A Champion Lightweight Operator - Just a 1/2" shorter than the Trophy Match and with less features, this one is my favorite to shoot. It does have a few custom touches added by SACS (Springfield Armory Custom Shop) but nothing to esoteric. It must be the length difference but I find initial sight picture and re-acquiring that picture after each round to be quicker than the TP.

View attachment 333910

The third SA is my carry piece, an XDS. With a 3.3" barrel, this striker fired .45 is a bit of a handful but the size, weight and hi-vis sights make it perfect for my carry needs:

View attachment 333911

Good luck with your search!

I second the XDs, great carry gun, more accurate then I can be, but it does buck a little. I put Diamond speed night sights on mine and have never looked back...

That XDs is one that will be a long term member of my collection...

 

[bbbass]

but it does buck a little.

I think in a gunfight you would never notice.

 

[mjbskwim]

I think in a gunfight you would never notice.

See now people say this stuff but I'll have to disagree. I could be way off here also. Doesn't happen often but maybe.
Same as saying you won't notice the recoil when in a defensive situation.
Maybe if you didn't train with that gun? Cause if you did and didn't like the 'buck' or bad recoil, I would think it would effect how you shoot the gun. Anticipating the recoil.
Just a thought for another thread,sorry
But this thread did make me remember that Armscorp makes a compact 10mm 1911

 

[bbbass]

See now people say this stuff but I'll have to disagree. I could be way off here also. Doesn't happen often but maybe.
Same as saying you won't notice the recoil when in a defensive situation.
Maybe if you didn't train with that gun? Cause if you did and didn't like the 'buck' or bad recoil, I would think it would effect how you shoot the gun. Anticipating the recoil.
Just a thought for another thread,sorry
But this thread did make me remember that Armscorp makes a compact 10mm 1911

Wellllll, I never been in a gunfight and I have always trained, sooooo really I dunno. Just a thought.

IMO a flinch is a mind failure. Could happen trained or not.

I can't see how you would be thinking about recoil unless you are in a slow motion gunfight. I can tell you tho that I have become quite sensitive to the recoil of my .45 due to arthritis but it is something I never ever ever notice while shooting a stage of IDPA. It is merely unpleasant afterwards when I notice the pain. But my scores are never different with 9mm than they are with .45. I just enjoy it more and it's cheaper to shoot.

 

[mjbskwim]

I'm not much recoil sensitive but I don't and wouldn't carry a 44mag for EDC. I know I don't like it so I don't own one.
But if you give someone who is a carry gun they don't like the kick,it very well could effect them as soon as they start to draw
But as I said this would take this thread off track
Hey! It hasn't happened yet on this one,let's go!

 

[jbett98]

Here's two of my favorite .45 acp 1911's
Top one is a 1968 Colt National Match (Pre Gold Cup) and the bottom is a Colt Officers.
The National Match is a dream to shoot and the Officers is a real handful but fun.

 

[bbbass]

I'm not much recoil sensitive but I don't and wouldn't carry a 44mag for EDC. I know I don't like it so I don't own one.
But if you give someone who is a carry gun they don't like the kick,it very well could effect them as soon as they start to draw.

IMO more people are victimized by a spray and pray instinct than they are a fear of recoil. Apparently some LEOs included. They always say you will revert to your training so what happens? Getting shot at must really cause an overstimulation of adrenalin. Again, not worried about recoil or a firearm you don't like at that point. Although there is not doubt you are better off with one you shoot well.

Man, I never had anyone "give" me a gun.

But yeah some of the weaker willed folks might react that way. IMO they are not going to score hits anyway!!! Reading about gunfights, it is not the fastest or the most accurate that generally wins the fight, it is the one that intends to. No other considerations matter. And that's the reason why I have thought about it, made my decision to live, to stop the BG, and I train in self-defense shooting.

We might just have to agree to disagree on this. Well off topic.

 

[nammac]

So we were talking about 1911's and quality... I picked up an ATI Commander late summer, got several hundred rounds through it. Not a single issue... As for the fitment, it's far and away the tightest factory, non customized 1911 I've ever experienced...

For 350.00, I can afford to have a National Match barrel and spherical bushing fitted, if necessary... But have yet to see the need...

She's a real butte Clark...

 

[orygun]

I've owned many over the years, from multiple makers. They all performed as intended.

I now find myself owning the fewest I've ever owned. I have a Series 70 Colt safe queen, and a Ruger commander-length Night Watchman. I've had guns costing a whole lot more, but none of them did anything this Ruger wont do. And if I had decided to keep only a Kimber, or another Colt, or even a Springfield, I could say the same thing about them.

WAYNO.

I'm in a similar position. Have owned a bunch from several manufacturers, but have three between the wife and me.
The one I "lean on", is a Dan Wesson. It's not nearly as pretty as it used to be because it gets packed around and banged into stuff. One of the best firearms I've ever owned.
I have a 50s Colt that I was going to sell, but shot it for the first time in years. It's been worked over a little and I can only say it gets a "hall pass" to stay in the safe because it is such a great, extremely accurate gun, even if I won't use it.
Then the wife's Ruger SR1911. If something happened to my Dan Wesson I'd probably buy a Ruger Commander and play with it a bit to make it more like the CBOB. Her Ruger has been flawless and has impressed quite a few shooters.

 

[11Charlie]

Tackling the 1911: The Ruger SR1911 Review - Guns & Ammo

Really good read for the ones that mentioned Ruger as there 1911 of choice. I think I'm gonna have to shoot one

 

[Pops1911]

I give +1 for the Ruger LW Commander or their SR1911. Great guns. Great enough that I use my Commander for my avatar. Solid, accurate and very friendly to the shooter. Asothers have said if you have the money you can get a 1911 for thou$and$. Ruger is under about $800 last time I looked.

 

[Kristina]

More pictures please!

 

[bbbass]

 

[bbbass]

 

[Mistman]

I will have to 2nd the Ruger. While I no longer have one they have proven themselves to be well put together and very reliable. I had no issue w/mine after a few thousand rounds. Ruger is a reputable maker. I wouldn't hesitate to choose one as my one and only. To me they are much like an off the shelf Colt, they might not be the best fitted 1911's but they'll go bang every time and hit where you point 'em.

The term 'fitted' is sort of a misnomer in the 1911 world. Everyone wants a tightly fitted 1911 but they were designed by JMB, and built by Colt (and many others during war time) to be a service pistol. One that would run dirty and could go back to the arsenal and have parts replaced off the shelf. The goal was for any gun to be able to use the parts off any other gun within the same model. A tightly fit gun would have failed in the field. I think that's where most of the 'pickiness' some 1911's display comes from, fitting parts together tighter than they were initially intended to make a better 'fit' gun. Today tight fitted guns are the norm and what we expect when we plunk down our cash. After you've been around 1911's for a while you'll figure some things out. Like why you can shoot a loose gun as well as a tight one. Most of us aren't able to shoot the difference between a commercial grade 1911 and a custom. If the slide to frame fit is loose but the barrel locks up tight will it shoot good? Probably. If the slide to frame fit is tight but the barrel isn't fit well will it? Probably not. Having said all that I do appreciate a well put together gun, tighter tolerances always seem better however if I feel a little slide to frame slop on a dry gun it doesn't even register unless it's severe. If I can push the barrel hood down on a gun in battery or move the muzzle a bit in the bushing I'll start to look at other things. Some are easily fixed, other may need some smithin'.

I have an opinion about external extractors also though I have heard great things about Smiths and Sigs. I'm not into them on a 1911, just a personal thing but it goes far enough away from the original design that I have a hard time putting them in the same category as the original. I still like them, just don't own one.

 

[WAYNO]

More pictures please!

Ruger Night Watchman, Daddy size and Junior size...




My departed Kimber...





A couple Springfields have come and gone. Shot well and operated perfectly. Just can't get "into" them.

And here's one I didn't mention. Great shooter and operated perfectly always.




LLama. Mr. Yuck.

 

[nammac]

More pictures please!

Norinco 1911 Government Model, Colt XSE Commander, Citadel Compact Another view of the Colt Commander XSE

 

[Medic!]

All nice guns.

 

[WAYNO]

And this poor thing. Sentenced to a life in the safe. It's only crime was being beautiful.

I can replace a new Ruger. This Colt, not so easily replaced.




This artifact was new at the same time the Colt was made. You can see how not being a safe queen has taken a toll.