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Who makes the BEST 1911s?

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1911a1
4K views 9 replies 6 participants last post by  vaguard 
#1 ·
I was looking at Ed Brown a few mins ago and then I was remembering looking at Kimber and Colt and asked myself the question: who does make the BEST 1911s?

Any expert opinions out there?

My usual standards are reliability, durability, accuracy, options and a dash of SHTF.
 
#2 ·
I haven't the foggiest as to whose is best, but I can say that I was nothing but pleased with my Springfield Armory clone. I miss that pistol. Perhaps I will be able to replace it someday.
 
#3 ·
Unalist,

Contrary to much said on the internet, the 1911 is a comparatively temperamental platform, and in our present market all manufacturers produce finished weapons in a disconcerting (to me) range of success. I feel part of the reason for this is because, ultimately, building a 1911-platform weapon system is an art. FWIW it has appeared to me that older Colts are more consistently reliable than almost any present offering.
 
#5 ·
Personally, I own a Colt M1991A1 (yes, that is the correct model) manufactured in the mid '90s. The quality is equal to a rack grade military weapon. I had to move the rear sight slightly to achieve point of aim/ point of impact. I am no great pistol shooter, but if I do my part a 4-6'' group at 25 yards is easily possible with my pistol. I purchased it so long ago that the price I paid wouldn't help you, plus it was about 15 years ago and quality control could have changed since then. You could look at them as having produced the gun for a 100 years now, so they should know a thing or two about the pistol. A friend and several other people I know have owned various Springfield Armory products, mostly their 1911 type pistols in various sizes. They seem to build 2 kinds of weapons, One that gives little trouble and shoots good groups or one that breaks on the first or second magazine or is picky with what ammo it will shoot. I would advise you try their weapons before you purchase them. The manufacturer that I have seen great M1911s from lately has been Kimber. I have shot 3 different pistols of theirs and I don't know how they build a pistol that feels that smooth and tight when you rack the slide, their triggers are great from the factory, and I didn't see the first malfunction from them. My brother in law, who is a pistol person (I am more of a rifle guy), always referred to 1911s as dinosaurs until he put his hands on a Kimber, now he owns one. I have always been a take it for a test drive/ shoot, touch it, feel it kind of person. I advise you to look at several manufacturers, go to a couple of gunshows and look at them. The two things I advise you to look at as accessories for any pistols are Crimson Trace Lasergrips, it seems when you point the pistol at somebody and that laser dazzles their eyes people tend to listen and comply, and a good holster, I love the Blackhawk Serpas.
 
#7 · (Edited)
Kimbers are have a great feel and out of the box fit and finish, I'd agree with GrumpySFC on that for sure. I would however avoid their aluminum models, and certainly avoid using steel follower magazines with aluminum frames. I speak from experience that at least when compared to the Sig I presently own, the Kimber I previously ran displayed substantially more wear in less (round count) time and required more maintenance to keep in the game; both were/are on aggressive firing schedules. The Kimber was ultimately thwarted by the slide and frame wearing off-axis and ultimately mating at an irregular angle instead of going through battery square; while a few factors, of which some indeed stemmed from user action, exacerbated this, 27,000 rounds (over the course of a single year, but still...) should not spell doom for a fully engineered 1911 platform weapon without lights or a suppressor.

12XLR8,

What the 50 GI does to the service life of the 1911 is still unknown; it most certainly will change the dynamics involved despite being within the same chamber pressure range. Further, much of the hype of the round is certainly misplaced: It offers less kinetic energy than a 10mm Auto or 357 Sig, while propelling all but the proprietary projectiles at velocities which are most likely less capable of balancing penetration and expansion in various mediums than 230 / 200 gr .45 caliber projectiles which are capable of penetrating well and expanding to decent diameters at +P loadings (albeit not equivalent to the claims made by the proprietary bullet in the 1200fps 50GI loading) whilst theoretically providing anywhere from equivalent to 200 more "ft lb" than the 50GI depending on the loads being compared.

Unalist,

Definitely interested in hearing what 1911 or other pistol you pick up, and what ultimately compelled you to the decision!
 
#8 ·
DaRkWoLf;
I am curious, how does a person afford to feed 27,000 rounds through a M1911 in a year? and how do you find time to shoot that much?

By my guesstimate if I shot 100 rounds a day, five days a week, 52 weeks in the year, that would be 26,000 in a year. 1000 more over that time might not be much, but that stills seems like a lot unless the gun is rented at a range every day and others shoot it that much. If I got the ammo for $20 for a box of 100 FMJ bullets, It'd still be $100 a week or if I reloaded it at $10/100, that would be $50 a week and $2600 over the course of a year, darn that is a lot more money than I can afford to shoot and buy new toys on top of that...
It just sounds a lot like Wilt Chamberlain's autobiography claiming to have sex with 20,000 women. No manufacturer's M1911 is going to survive that many rounds without needing a lot of work along the way. The barrel didn't get shot out along the way several times? I know the expected service life for the M16 family barrel is around 8,000 rounds and medium machineguns like the M60 and M240 had a expected barrel life of 10,000 to 15,000.
 
#9 ·
GrumpySFC,

What I can afford is what I can afford. In addition to my income (which was a lot better than it is now, sadly), my father was extremely generous with procuring gear, and funding me going to matches and training courses. I was also finished with school at 16 (I ran the 1911 from 15-16) and didn't want to go right into college. I'd guestimate that I shot on average 200 rounds / practice session; most of it was factory 230gr FMJ of various manufacture. Compared to what else I was running at the time, maintaining and feeding the 1911 was cheaper than my other weapons systems. Additionally, being in Miami, it was far easier to hop onto a pistol range when I felt like it than go to Markham Park (extremely restrictive 100yrd rifle range), or drive 6 hours to Manatee. Shooting was, and still is, one of my happy places; amongst other things, it's my version of a moving meditation.

The .45 ACP is a low pressure cartridge which is not overbore. If standard velocity loads are used it's useful barrel life should be extremely high. FWIW, it was still grouping consistently when it needed to be retired. One cannot compare any necked rifle round to a pistol round with any sort of validity, the life cycles just aren't in the same frame and stresses from the rifle rounds affect the throats in different ways. It is more likely for the frame to crack on a 9mm/.40SW/45ACP handgun than to need a rebarrel.
 
#10 ·
I have a Taurus PT 945 that is the most comfortable gun I own. Accuracy out of the box is just wonderful however with all of the safety features I wouldn't trust it... too much to break. The Kimber Ultra carry I have is super accurate and feels just about as good as the Taurus and I would tend to trust it a little more. I do however believe that the older colts would be the best in reliability and be as or better in accuracy. I am however a novice so take my thoughts with a grain of salt.
 
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