9mm 1911 platform guns. What's so special?

Alright fellas-- this isn't a caliber war. My question is-- why are guys buying 1911 style guns in 9mm? Why not a reliable Glock for a fraction of the price? I always saw the 1911 as a slim .45 gun, in comparison to the boxy thicker glock .45.

In addition, I thought shorter slides and smaller calibers were a recipe for firearm failure? Are 9mm 1911's as reliable in terms of function?

Are the less expensive manufacturers' offerings as reliable as Wilson Combat-- or are you pretty much obligated to spend big bucks if venturing into the 9mm 1911 arena?

Thanks

They shoot really soft. For me it was more of a collectors thing. I have a colt xse done by Mars armament and I wanted one in 9mm done by Steve as well. In cali my options are limited so I ended up getting a springfield in 9mm. Both are joys to shoot, but the 9mm is just super soft. The 9mm is finicky with ammo has to be factory or very well qc'd handloads. Mags for the most part wc, tripp, chip, and a dawson.

I would say out of the box the less expensive ones are as reliable as the ones around the WC price range, but then ymmv. I mean in general if you're really getting into 1911's your gonna spend big bucks. Nature of the game I guess.

9mm is the new hotness. Having "won" the caliber war, it is now legit to chamber 1911s for it.

Short slide 1911s were actually designed for smaller calibers in the first place, so that's a good combination. 5" slides might be fussy and not like all 9mm target ammo even though it is SAAMI spec - it's a lot of slide mass for 9mm to push around.

Let's hope you can get a reliable 9mm 1911 for less than a Wilson. People have reported reasonable reliability even in $400 ATI guns, so it really is more a question of getting an in spec gun, having your extractor working right and buying quality magazines. With a Commander size gun it should be no harder to find a reliable enough 9mm 1911 as it is to find a 5" .45 that works well. Do your homework before you buy.

In my own case I carried a Colt 1911 as a duty weapon for many years til my agency bought us all Glocks and made it mandatory to carry them. Because of logistics, cost, and modern ammo, 9mm is my preferred round. I recently bought a Springfield EMP 4 and was hesitant about it as it seems they either run great or not at all. Mine has been to the range 3 times and over 500 rounds without any issues. I paid about $1,000.00 for it. It's just a nice toy but with a holster, mag pouch, and another 4 mags to add to the 3 it came with it seemed like a fair deal to me. I simply like it. It's also a thin 9mm with a 10 round+1 capacity so it's got the potential to be a carry gun if I wanted it to.

Bought a Dan Wesson Specialist in 9MM because I'm fond of the 1911 platform, controls and ergonomics. Add to that the decreased cost of shooting 9MM and the decision was a no-brainer. The pistol ran very reliably and was silky smooth to shoot. I've got my Glocks for no frills shooting and EDC purposes, but the 9MM 1911 easily filled the role of cheap, fun, and enjoyable range shooting.

One of the few guns I regret selling ( I tend to swap out guns like dirty socks!) is a lightly customized series 70 Colt 9mm. It ran great and was delightfully accurate. Only reason it went away wa during the early days of New York's safe act they were telling us we were not going to be able to buy magazines over 7 rounds after a certain date, and couldn't bear to have a gun with only 6 mags that I could not replace if they went down. Later NY back pedaled on mag capacity and I later moved to a free state. A decently tuned 9mm 1911 is an absolute delight to shoot

I have a Dan Wesson PM-9 and after shooting Glocks, M&Ps and both steel (Colt) and polymer (Wilson Combat KZ-45) 1911 .45s in competition, the 9mm 1911 is the closest thing to cheating I've shot. I really want a DW Guardian 9mm for carry, I just can't justify the cost right now.

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Originally Posted by skorittnig

Are the less expensive manufacturers' offerings as reliable as Wilson Combat-- or are you pretty much obligated to spend big bucks if venturing into the 9mm 1911 arena?

Thanks

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Three of the "range crew" recently purchased Colt "Competition" 9mm's and one went with a Springfield "Range Officer".
They're a bit rough, have a buncha' MIM parts, but with a bit of tweaking all have run 100% with decent ammo.

So no, BIG BUCKS are not a requirement for a functional 9mm 1911.
Issues encountered were the usual; crap triggers, mushy or too stiff thumb safeties, ill fitted barrels (too long links to give illusion of proper barrel fitment), short chamber throats/leades. I think we replaced parts (hammer/sear) in one gun and re-worked the remainder.

I currently run three 9's; a modded, slick old 70 series Colt, a re-born "1991" Colt- with 70 series modifications (no FP safety parts/new sear/hammer/disconnect) and a Caspian slide and a (pretty much) stock Wilson.
My background was as a USPSA and NRA "Action Pistol" shooter, so I have a few decades of experience with the 1911 platform.
Back "in the day", there weren't many 1911 smiths. Keeping a gun running was up to the shooter if you couldn't wait for a year or afford a couple extra pistols.

Here's the 70 series Colt with a lot of work:

http://i.imgur.com/Brm1aTy.jpg?1

The reborn "1991" Colt:

http://i.imgur.com/acWcOdm.jpg?2

Wilson:

http://i.imgur.com/jVgDVU5.jpg?1

I run Metalform, 10 rd. mags or Dawsons rebranded Metalforms with metal base pad.
They are 100% in function and cheaper than most others. Tripp's mags are very good as well.
Range ammo is a 124 gr. JHP Precision Delta or HAP, with 4 gr. Titegroup, SPP, range brass and COAL of 1.145".
Seating bullets longer has proven a bit more reliable for gun/mag function. As said, I increase the leade on my barrels to accommodate the longer COAL.
Karts barrels are short chambered when received anyhow.

Here's a 50 yd. target from the bench.
I think this was from the "reborn 1991". All of the pistols will shoot 2" or under at 50 with my range load.

http://i.imgur.com/GkqOKdj.jpg

My 9mm Colt Commander is soft shooting and accurate. What's not to like? As for being "legit", 9MM 1911s have been around for years so that makes no sense along with the perpetuation of so-called "caliber wars". As my nieces used to say when they were young, "Save the drama for your mama."

As I get older and my arthritis starts to hurt more especially after high round counts I find shooting my 1911s' in 9MM and 38 Super to be a joy not to go home with hands hurting.