Moving to include 45acp

[Char-Gar]

....A trap many fall into is the perceived "need" to build/own 1911's with sniper rifle tolerances. Once you pause for a minute and ask yourself "What is this thing actually FOR?", you get over that fairly quickly. -Bigslug


DING DING DING DING DING!!! We have a winner! OTOH it's amazing the accuracy that can be wrung out of a 1911 by a talented 'smith and an equally talented pistol shooter.

Methinks you have misconscrewed the intent of Bigslug post! The idea being that the 1911 is what it is, and often the dollars spent to tune it to a high degree of accuracy is not money well spent.

In my simple estimation a 1911 pistol is a companion pistol for the soldier, peace officer or brush popper, good for miscreants and anything with teeth and fangs that try to eat you. If can be pressed into service to add protein to the stew pot when needed. In it original configuration, it is a whale of allot of fun to shoot as well.

It got fixed up for target shooting back in the day when target shooting required the use of "The Service Pistol". Somewhere along the line, folks got the idea, that unless their 1911 wasn't turned up to high grade target/race gun accuracy, it just wan't good enough to own. This is utter and complete crapola.

Anyway, that is what I read into BigSlugs post. An unimproved "service grade" 45 Automatic (1911) is a wonderful friend in whom you can trust with your life and the life of those you love. Today these low end service grade 1911s come with much better sights and often a decent trigger pull out of the box. These are truly shinning times for Ol Slabsides.

[9.3X62AL]

Full agreement with both BigSlug and Char-Gar on the 1911-series pistols. I'm not sure which half of the equation I am more enamored with......the system itself, or its cartridge's abilities. A toss-up, I'd say. 104 years old, and still as popular as ever.

[Bonz]

and of course, something on the higher end of the 1911 line, the Kimber Super Carry Pro (4" barrel)

[Char-Gar]

and of course, something on the higher end of the 1911 line, the Kimber Super Carry Pro (4" barrel)

In have never seen one of those in the flesh..err metal..but I have thought those might be a darn nice carry pistols for the fellow with lots of money, but they are too rich for my blood.

[Char-Gar]

Full agreement with both BigSlug and Char-Gar on the 1911-series pistols. I'm not sure which half of the equation I am more enamored with......the system itself, or its cartridge's abilities. A toss-up, I'd say. 104 years old, and still as popular as ever.

That is pretty much my thinking on the matter. The pistol is a great design and the cartridge is an amazing thing. The cartridge is capable of fine accuracy and enough power to do what we 99.5% of what we want a handgun to do. That and the 38 Special are the best balanced and most useful rounds out there in the shooting cosmos. Throw in a 44 Magnum for the other 0.5% and I am done.

[Moonie]

We have several RIA 1911's in the family. I have a compact that I carry daily. All run great.

[Bigslug]

Anyway, that is what I read into BigSlugs post. An unimproved "service grade" 45 Automatic (1911) is a wonderful friend in whom you can trust with your life and the life of those you love. Today these low end service grade 1911s come with much better sights and often a decent trigger pull out of the box. These are truly shinning times for Ol Slabsides.

I suppose I can elaborate a little. It's been my experience that even frosty-bored GI guns with half the finish worn off them - so long as they haven't been Bubba'd - are capable of tighter groupings than 90% of the people that ever pick them up, and that many of the loudest complainers are sufficiently lacking in basic pistol fundamentals that the upgrades are more of a crutch for bad technique than anything else. No, a child of the '40's won't hang in an NRA Bullseye Pepsi Challenge against a Les Baer, but how many of us need it to? A dog food can at 25 yards is almost never a challenge for the gun. For most of the chores we put it to, I'd rather have a little looser gun that works.

[TXGunNut]

I may have not fully understood Bigslug but I think it was my post that was a little confuzzling. My duty gun for many years was a Series 70 1911 with most of the IPSC tricks of the day (late '70's), mainly to improve handling, reliability and target acquisition. Highlights were a trigger job, polished feed ramp, beveled mag well, S&W revolver sights, Gold Cup ejection port and an Armalloy finish. It has evolved a bit since then but it is no better than most of today's 1911's. Yes, the 1911 as issued in WWI is a fine piece of work but a 1970's era Colt was a kit, not a firearm suitable for carry. The early 1911's had tiny sights and the ejection port was a bit hard on brass but it was indeed a serviceable gun.
My old warhorse served me well, except when I made a foray into Bullseye shooting to improve my 25 and 50 yd PPC scores. I elected to shoot my IPSC gun, my PPC Open gun and a Ruger MKI in more than a few 2700 matches and sure enough, my PPC scores improved. I was shooting against and learning from some pretty salty shooters with equally salty pistols. As you may have noticed, a match barrel/bushing and slide fitting was not on my laundry list of upgrades. This old warhorse was built for speed and dependability, not accuracy. After awhile it held me back but I didn't care; I hadn't set out to be a BE shooter. A 1911 built for 2700 matches is a wonderful thing but it's not a carry gun. I don't think bad guys are much interested in alibi rules, lol.
Most of today's 1911's are much better than what was available in the early 80's, matter of fact I'm thinking a Ruger SR1911 may very well be my next 1911 if ya'll don't talk me into a RIA.
My apologies to the OP; it seems we have derailed, kidnapped and abused an excellent thread. I'd like to know how the selection process is going and as always I'm looking forward to a range report. I've carried a 1911 for some time but I haven't been shooting mine much lately. This thread is an excellent look into the 1911's available today.

[DougGuy]

I got the urge for a 5" Gubmint model with all WWII era appointments. I hauled some machinery from another state and earned a WWII Remington Rand slide and I found a complete Auto Ordnance frame on GB for right about $300 and couldn't turn it down. I wanted to build one exactly as a US GI armorer would, grab a slide, frame, barrel, a handful of internals and springs and assemble a working pistol.

The only two things I did during assembly besides check stuff for burrs and fitment, was to file and tune the extractor, and I throated the HS barrel so it would shoot cast. I hated even doing those things because would the battlefield armorer have done this or not? They might have bent the extractor so it was more or less correct but they wouldn't have filed and radiused it nor would they have throated a barrel. I also had to lap the slide to the frame as modern 1911s have seen improvements in frame dimensions as opposed to WWII era production. Okay so I can live with that much deviation from an as-issued GI .45 just like our boys would have got. It has a terrible trigger, but it is accurate, functions flawlessly and does not rattle too bad at all.





First 8 round string of fire for this pistol, fired two hand standing from about 10yds:



Happy 4th of July/Independence Day to all..

[oldfart1956]

Bill if you're going for the 1911 do shop around. Prices change and deals come up regularly. I've posted the Remington R1 at $399/TuarusPT1911 at $399/Citadels for an astounding $299/Rock Islands at Sarco now for $365 if memory serves. Check out the TISAS as well. Hickcock 45 was doing a 1000 round test on one of those on YouTube. Right now the market is flush with good affordable 1911's. Most of the problems with them seem to be magazine related and there's a load of different magazines out there. Note the difference between series70 and 80. I like the 70 series for simplicity but have 80 series as well. Finding better sights can be a challenge. Sight cuts run wild and no one seems to know for sure what fits what. The rest of the parts run puddy much standard. Better fit&finish costs a bit more as should be expected. Pick a good round nose 230gr. mold and gitter done. Audie...the Oldfart

[William Yanda]

Thanks all. Still looking. Shopped Bud's and saw the Police returns, S&W M&P45 for $379 delivered. Didn't look so attractive compared to new with the Retired Military discount. $130 difference between new and a "takes yer chances". So, as stated, still looking.

[betschet50]

I have a RIA that I bought for 450 and it's one of my favorites I here people saying there gun never jammed up with this gun it's the truth. I run reloads and factory ammo all round nose 200 to 230grn my pet lode is 230grn round nose with 4.7grn 700x I have ran thousands of these rounds thru it with good accuracy.

[robertbank]

Partially at the urging of my son, I am considering the purchase of a semi-auto in 45 ACP. I've been looking online and spent an hour at the lgs.
Offerings there ranged from the High Point to $1K+ guns. I'm thinking of looking again at an AMT @495. I don't need/wouldn't benefit from the high money gun. Would probably go for a new gun, possibly of offshore origin in the same price range. I understand that reloads may invalidate the manufacturers warranty.
Any thoughts?
Bill

Bill I love my 1911's but to be honest for the money the most accurate, reliable 45acp firing pistol I own is my CZ 97B. It weighs just over 40oz. has a larger grip than what some might find comfortable but for the money the gun is an amazing piece of kit. The only change I would consider would be better sights. Other than that the gun is capable of shooting with the best 1911's for a fraction of the price. It does have a large grip though and mine really prefer 230 gr RN cartridges. The gun should be able to be bought for around $600US or less.

For bush carry though I still carry a Norinco Gov't Model. It has never had a FTF with every bullet design run through her.

Take Care

Bob

[trickyasafox]

I'll second the notion of an EAA Witness. They are easy guns to field strip and pretty easy to disassemble. They are built well by the Italian company Tanfoglio however the possible issues with EAA customer service should not be over looked. EAA imports and does not have the best customer service if things break down.

Another vote for a Witness. I own a number of 'budget' 1911s- mainly RIAs and love them all. However for the money, the witness is nice. also it is one of the few witnesses that come in 10 round configuration, making them obtainable in NYS, which as indicated by your handle, is a concern.

[robertbank]

Another vote for a Witness. I own a number of 'budget' 1911s- mainly RIAs and love them all. However for the money, the witness is nice. also it is one of the few witnesses that come in 10 round configuration, making them obtainable in NYS, which as indicated by your handle, is a concern.

The EAA Witness is a clone of the CZ design. Customer service aside the gun has a solid reputation up here, though named and sold under the Tanfoglio name.

Take Care

Bob

[kysunfish]

XDm are nice if you want a higher capacity at a good price!

Or XD service model

[William Yanda]

I finally pulled the trigger.....on a used Girsan 1911 GS. With transfer and adding it to my pistol permit, I have under $400 invested. There are several features I like. The front strap and the spring housing are both ribbed. It is a metal frame, rather than plastic. And, the slide is dovetailed for the sights. I tried it with Winchester and Federal Ball ammo and experienced no difficulties. At 15 -20 yards, shooting at a paper plate with a 1 inch dot in the center, I could cover my first 8 shots with my hand. Bad guys look out. An additional magazine is on my to get list, maybe later better sights.
Thanks to all who responded, your input is appreciated.

[DougGuy]

Good for you William! I had the bug this month too I guess, in addition to the 5" WWII GI edition I posted earlier, I got the necessary components to replace a treasured old Commander I had built years ago that got away.

Haven't taken it out for the first string of fire but so far it's certainly ready to go..