Topic: in the market for a 1911

[Glock32]

One glaring omission from my collection is a M1911 type pistol. I have decided this finally needs to be remedied and I am going to get one for myself for Christmas!

I want a simple, GI-style 1911, and I'm pretty sure I am going to stick with the real deal Colt. So I've sort of narrowed things down to either the Colt 1991 Series or the Colt Series 70.  The primary difference between these is that the 1991 uses the more modern Series 80 operating system. A lot of the 1911 aficionados prefer the older Series 70 system though.

Any strong opinions on the world of 1911s? I want to stick with Colt because part of the appeal is that this is the iconic American pistol and I want one made entirely here.

[warpmine]

Be sure to get it in stainless so you don't regret not doing so.

[Libertas]

It's missing in my collection too, and I feel bad about that.  But I also want that little brother to my G21, the G30S...not sure I can swing both...

I like the idea of a Colt too, but you pay a premium for that brand.  And Colt actualy was outproduced by Remington Rand in WWII -

World War II and the years leading up to it created a great demand. During the war, about 1.9 million units were procured by the U.S. Government for all forces, production being undertaken by several manufacturers, including Remington Rand (900,000 produced), Colt (400,000), Ithaca Gun Company (400,000), Union Switch & Signal (50,000), and Singer (500). So many were produced that after 1945 the government did not order any new pistols, and simply used existing parts inventories to "arsenal refinish" guns when necessary. This pistol was favored by US military personnel.[15] Singer produced pistols in particular are highly prized collectibles, commanding high prices even in poor condition.[16]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M1911_pistol

One of my deceased uncles had an old spanish Llama, not sure what happened to it.

I'd like to test drive a Colt.

I'd like to test drive a Kimber - http://www.kimberamerica.com/1911/tactical-ii

And I'd like to test drive a Remington 1911r1 Enhanced stainless - http://www.1911r1.com/en/Products/Firearms/Model-1911-enhanced-stainless.aspx

[OldSailor]

My 1911 is a GI model, but it's an import by Rock Island Armory (made in the P.I.).  That said it's actually a better piece than the service models that I carried off and on in the Navy, it's not worn out and is far more accurate.  It also feels very good in my hand.

Ammo make hasn't been an issue, Remington and Russian go down equally well and for home defense I load with a hollowpoint round.  The sucker ain't gettin' back up.

The gunshow price was about 2/3rds of what the dealer wanted for the 1911A1 Colt though I freely admit that was about 8 years ago.  Last I heard RIA was still importing it and a Commander version.  Of course I recommend it.

There are two pieces I'd like to have, an M-1 carbine and get back the Lugar I had to sell many years ago because I needed money to leave with the Mrs when I deployed to the Med for the first time.  A 7.65mm civil model that I inherited from my grandfather, my understanding is it was a cops gun.  Damned if I know where Grampa got it from.

[Glock32]

Yeah I've heard some pretty good things about those RIA imports, and I think Auto-Ordnance has a pretty well regarded inexpensive 1911.  The military as far as I know didn't have any 1911s made after 1945, even decades later. They ordered so many during WWII they never needed additional stock. But that meant they were pretty well worn. My dad for years thought the 1911 was an old and inaccurate system because the one he shot in training at Great Lakes Naval was one of those.

[Libertas]

Yeah I've heard some pretty good things about those RIA imports, and I think Auto-Ordnance has a pretty well regarded inexpensive 1911.  The military as far as I know didn't have any 1911s made after 1945, even decades later. They ordered so many during WWII they never needed additional stock. But that meant they were pretty well worn. My dad for years thought the 1911 was an old and inaccurate system because the one he shot in training at Great Lakes Naval was one of those.

Heh!  You cannot base a good test on one shot with a heavily handled training pistol!

At least they probably had full 45's then...when I went through there they converted many to .22LR to save money...

I still remember the day...march into the range, split up into groups, given an empty/unchambered pistol, while the instructor is going slowly over the breakdown procedure I had mine disassembled already...he just glances at me wit that "oh, one of those guys" looks and continues on...I reasssemble and repeat the process once more while I am bored...then it's off to the range and a clip with 5 rounds...most guys having little experience really taking their time squeezing off each round...heck the charge on a .22LR barely strong enough to cycle the thing...I take mine and rack a round, flip the safety off and fire all 5 in about 2 seconds...all center mass hits...I forget how far away...I want to shoot another clip or two...nope, I'm done.

That's it?

Well, what I expect?  I didn't join the Marines!   

[OldSailor]

Yeah I've heard some pretty good things about those RIA imports, and I think Auto-Ordnance has a pretty well regarded inexpensive 1911.  The military as far as I know didn't have any 1911s made after 1945, even decades later. They ordered so many during WWII they never needed additional stock. But that meant they were pretty well worn. My dad for years thought the 1911 was an old and inaccurate system because the one he shot in training at Great Lakes Naval was one of those.

Heh!  You cannot base a good test on one shot with a heavily handled training pistol!

At least they probably had full 45's then...when I went through there they converted many to .22LR to save money...

I still remember the day...march into the range, split up into groups, given an empty/unchambered pistol, while the instructor is going slowly over the breakdown procedure I had mine disassembled already...he just glances at me wit that "oh, one of those guys" looks and continues on...I reasssemble and repeat the process once more while I am bored...then it's off to the range and a clip with 5 rounds...most guys having little experience really taking their time squeezing off each round...heck the charge on a .22LR barely strong enough to cycle the thing...I take mine and rack a round, flip the safety off and fire all 5 in about 2 seconds...all center mass hits...I forget how far away...I want to shoot another clip or two...nope, I'm done.

That's it?

Well, what I expect?  I didn't join the Marines!   

Heh.  I don't recall what pistol we used when I went through boot at Great Mistakes (don't think it was as big as a 1911,) but we also did rifle (.22).  My Dad had taught me to shoot at a very early age so a close group was no problem.  My Company Commander was a Gunners Mate 2nd Class, he took a look at my group and said something like "Cool."  I recall my pistol pattern was no where as good, that was the first time I'd ever handled one, though I managed to put all 5 somewhere on the paper.

[Libertas]

Yeah I've heard some pretty good things about those RIA imports, and I think Auto-Ordnance has a pretty well regarded inexpensive 1911.  The military as far as I know didn't have any 1911s made after 1945, even decades later. They ordered so many during WWII they never needed additional stock. But that meant they were pretty well worn. My dad for years thought the 1911 was an old and inaccurate system because the one he shot in training at Great Lakes Naval was one of those.

Heh!  You cannot base a good test on one shot with a heavily handled training pistol!

At least they probably had full 45's then...when I went through there they converted many to .22LR to save money...

I still remember the day...march into the range, split up into groups, given an empty/unchambered pistol, while the instructor is going slowly over the breakdown procedure I had mine disassembled already...he just glances at me wit that "oh, one of those guys" looks and continues on...I reasssemble and repeat the process once more while I am bored...then it's off to the range and a clip with 5 rounds...most guys having little experience really taking their time squeezing off each round...heck the charge on a .22LR barely strong enough to cycle the thing...I take mine and rack a round, flip the safety off and fire all 5 in about 2 seconds...all center mass hits...I forget how far away...I want to shoot another clip or two...nope, I'm done.

That's it?

Well, what I expect?  I didn't join the Marines!   

Heh.  I don't recall what pistol we used when I went through boot at Great Mistakes (don't think it was as big as a 1911,) but we also did rifle (.22).  My Dad had taught me to shoot at a very early age so a close group was no problem.  My Company Commander was a Gunners Mate 2nd Class, he took a look at my group and said something like "Cool."  I recall my pistol pattern was no where as good, that was the first time I'd ever handled one, though I managed to put all 5 somewhere on the paper.

I cannot say it was a legitimate 1911 but it was based upon that design, I clearly recall the breakdown and action being no different.

I didn't get to do rifle.

At sea during a "steel beach picnic" one deployment the Marines set up on the fantail and let folks step forward and fire some full-auto M-16 rounds.  Fired the standard NATO 5.56 but full-auto is full-auto!

[OldSailor]

I cannot say it was a legitimate 1911 but it was based upon that design, I clearly recall the breakdown and action being no different.

I didn't get to do rifle.

At sea during a "steel beach picnic" one deployment the Marines set up on the fantail and let folks step forward and fire some full-auto M-16 rounds.  Fired the standard NATO 5.56 but full-auto is full-auto!

My first ship was Caron (DD 970) and while I had qualified on and carried the 1911 by this point (I was a PO1) since the ship was nuclear weapon capable (ASROC depth charges) I was required to become a member of the ship's self defense force and qualify on the M14 and a 12ga pump shotgun.  Being a country boy served me well and so did Dad's instruction.  While it was a bit heavier than Dad's 30-30 deer rifle I had no problem with the M14.  And what farm boy never handled a shotgun?   

[Libertas]

I cannot say it was a legitimate 1911 but it was based upon that design, I clearly recall the breakdown and action being no different.

I didn't get to do rifle.

At sea during a "steel beach picnic" one deployment the Marines set up on the fantail and let folks step forward and fire some full-auto M-16 rounds.  Fired the standard NATO 5.56 but full-auto is full-auto!

My first ship was Caron (DD 970) and while I had qualified on and carried the 1911 by this point (I was a PO1) since the ship was nuclear weapon capable (ASROC depth charges) I was required to become a member of the ship's self defense force and qualify on the M14 and a 12ga pump shotgun.  Being a country boy served me well and so did Dad's instruction.  While it was a bit heavier than Dad's 30-30 deer rifle I had no problem with the M14.  And what farm boy never handled a shotgun?   

Nice.  Probably like country boys for that sort of thing...

 

M14 got the bigger NATO round, that'd put nice hole in Ivan!