Reliable 1911 in 9mm?

[Skyyr]

I was reading awhile back and noted that the author of the article (about 1911's) said that 9mm 1911's are traditionally unreliable. Something about the 1911 being designed originally for the .45 ACP and that the design doesn't scale down well.

For a home-defense 1911 in 9mm, which models are worth considering? I know that 1911's in general are not out-of-the-box dead-nuts reliable - I own an H&K for that. I'm just curious if certain 9mm 1911's lend themselves to being better than others.

Thanks!

[SHIVAN]

Not sure if he still has it, but MAP was sporting a Wilson Combat 9mm in February. Might email or PM him and see what he thinks. It ran great on the steel while we were screwing around between evolutions.

[kyrin88]

why would you want a 1911 chambered in 9mm for home defense? Don't mean to go off topic, but I think a good old 12 gauge shotgun will do. My buddy has a para chambered in 9mm and it is a complete piece of shit, need i say more. Hope that was helpful..

[rljatl]

Why not a Browning P35 instead of a 1911?

[willowofwisp]

If I were to purchase a 9mm 1911 that i was gonna stake my life on it would only be a Wilson Combat, with that said i would prefer a browning hipower or my m&p

[Skyyr]

why would you want a 1911 chambered in 9mm for home defense? Don't mean to go off topic, but I think a good old 12 gauge shotgun will do. My buddy has a para chambered in 9mm and it is a complete piece of shit, need i say more. Hope that was helpful..

I'm not intending to use it for actual home defense - I have a AR-15 and an H&K for that. I was illustrating that, for whatever suggestions are made, it needs to be as reliable as a gun used for HD. Otherwise, if it isn't, I'm not interested.

I've never owned a 1911 and I like them, but I don't want to drop a grand or more on one, only to have it require custom work to run correctly (which is a common trait among most 1911's).

[SHIVAN]

I've never owned a 1911 and I like them, but I don't want to drop a grand or more on one, only to have it require custom work to run correctly (which is a common trait among most 1911's).

Stop furthering the gun shop myths. This may or may not be true of individual examples, but it is not "most", by a long shot. It may be some, it may be a lot, and it's way higher than Glock or H&K, but it's not most.

[stifled]

I'm not intending to use it for actual home defense - I have a AR-15 and an H&K for that. I was illustrating that, for whatever suggestions are made, it needs to be as reliable as a gun used for HD. Otherwise, if it isn't, I'm not interested.

I've never owned a 1911 and I like them, but I don't want to drop a grand or more on one, only to have it require custom work to run correctly (which is a common trait among most 1911's).

My S&W 1911 is as reliable as any of my guns, and I have only ever cleaned it and replaced the grips. I have about 700 rounds through it so I don't have a giant sample size, but it has eaten everything I've fed it. It required 0 adjustments or work. It's no custom gun, but I feel the $850 I paid for it is maybe a bit on the low side--I would have felt comfortable paying up to a couple hundred more given the performance of the gun.

Then there are 9mm 1911s. I've never read a review of one that didn't include mentions of improper function. A buddy of mine had a Para 1911 in 9mm that worked quite well, but judging by different reviews I've seen of it his is about the only one.

If you want a production 1911 for under a grand that will run out of the box, I'd suggest getting one in .45ACP from one of the better companies that makes them. You can get a Kimber, Colt, or Smith & Wesson production model for under $1000. You might get lucky for right around $1000 and find a custom gun someone needs to get rid of for some reason, but custom 1911s don't seem to go up for sale too often...

[Skyyr]

How good are the SA Loaded models?

[Shawn.L]

How good are the SA Loaded models?

I have one.
Its reliable enough for a practice gun to save on ammo or to take to a class but I wouldnt bet my life on it.

It had a few issues getting hung up on the disconector when I first got it, maybe one failure ever 200-300 rounds. After a while that issues seems to have worn in, I never took the time to look and see where the problem was. It may have one failure in 500-1000 now, of some sort or another. So its good enough for what it is, but not something Id walk around with.