Need help in choosing which pistol to get

[browningboy84]

I am having a hard time deciding what I want for my next handgun purchase. I have decided between an RIA 45 or a sig p250 .45 . I can get the Sig for about what I would pay for a good RIA. I could use some help on this one. Can yall give me some pros and cons? Also, any insight on this would be appreciated.

[Jim from Houston]

I wouldn't buy a P250...there are plenty of fairly unhappy P250 owners floating around out there...I know a couple of folks who've had P250s that needed 2 or 3 trips back to the factory to iron-out various issues - the most frequent complaint seems to be light strikes which are causing misfires. These particular people had the 9mm P250, but you have to think, if this platform has trouble with 9mm, is .45 going to be a great idea?

For similar money, you could get a Smith & Wesson M&P 45...I've heard nothing but happy people with rave reviews of those particular weapons...might be worth a look...

[Marcus L.]

The question is, what is this going to be used for? I take it this is for defensive purposes. The 1911 is not necessarily a viable defensive pistol unless you invest a considerable amount of money into it to ensure good reliability. The Springfield Professional is one of the best 1911s but will run you a couple of thousand dollars.

As Jim said, the Sig P250 is still problematic and I would not consider it a worthy defensive pistol. The DAO trigger and modular design really limits its trigger options which is the major weak point of it. If Sig could apply their legendary DA/SA trigger to the P250, then it might be a winner. At this point, Sig basically focused so much time and effort on a highly modular pistol design with a DAO trigger and forget to include ANYTHING that made Sigs so popular with LE and the military. Sig would have been much better off working with a striker fired system and refined it. As such, they have dropped the ball in the LE market which is quickly being filled by Glock, S&W, and H&K.

If the .45acp is your cup of tea, I would also agree with Jim. The M&P .45 is probably the best overall .45 pistol for the money right now. Its value exceeds its purchase price.

[Hellfire]

I understand the praise of the S&W. Great HG, but shoot the G30 before you buy.

[ROADKING]

G19 is all you will ever have to buy.

[crusader377]

I would have to respectfully disagree with an earlier post stating that the M1911 is not a viable self defense pistol. M1911 have seen more hard combat use than probably any other handgun in production today. M1911 have seen more combat use than the SIG, HK, and Glocks combined. I have a Springfield 1911 and it has been 100% reliable out of the box and I probably have 4-5,000 rounds through it. I think if you buy a M1911 from a quality mfg. you will be just fine for self-defense use.

[John_Wayne777]

I would have to respectfully disagree with an earlier post stating that the M1911 is not a viable self defense pistol. M1911 have seen more hard combat use than probably any other handgun in production today.


The problem with the "1911" is that there is no single 1911 built to any military standard anymore. There are a wide range of 1911 pattern guns out there, some produced by brilliant people with dedication and attention to detail, others that appear to have been put together by reasonably intelligent chimps.


I have a Springfield 1911 and it has been 100% reliable out of the box and I probably have 4-5,000 rounds through it.


I had a Springfield that wouldn't feed a single magazine of hardball without failures to go into battery, even when fed with Wilson 47D magazines. The safety plunger froze in place and the weapon went full auto on me before I finally rid myself of it. There is such a thing as the "Friday at 4:45 gun" from most companies that mass produce handguns.



I think if you buy a M1911 from a quality mfg. you will be just fine for self-defense use.

I'll share the advice of Larry Vickers here:

The 1911 is an enthusiast's handgun. It takes a great deal of specialized knowledge and a dedication to maintaining the 1911 to keep it in working order. Most people are unprepared to do this and would be better served with other weapons.

To directly quote Ken Hackathorn, the 1911 is the "King of combat handguns...and is also the King of Feedway Stoppages."

[crusader377]

John Wayne

Sorry to hear about your bad luck with your pistol. I have a question, What is the specialized mantainence that 1911 requires over other handguns? I maintain my 1911 the same way as other pistols which includes cleaning after every range session, keeping the pistol lubed, replace springs and other parts when needed, and I rotate out my magazines so I'm not using the same mags repeatedly. Besides that, what other maintenance should I be doing?

[blackscot]

I shot mostly 1911 during the 90's and early 2000's. Must have bought/sold/traded several dozen over those years. They were mostly Colts (which at the time was still the 1911), and were as loose-as-a-goose by current standards -- simply mired in that hateful slide/frame/barrel wobble.

And ya know what? They fed absolutely every single round I put through them -- mil-spec FMJ/ball, light loaded semi-wadcutters, several different high-velocity hollow-points, you name it.

I must be getting old, but I don't understand how/why 1911's are made these days. All that "precision" is just creating trouble.

I carry a Glock 19 nowadays, mostly because it is a lot easier to carry and shoot, but also because it is dead-nuts reliable. If you want to carry a 1911, get one of those ol' sloppy monsters and you'll be just fine.

[gtmtnbiker98]

It sounds like you are leaning towards a .45 and if so, I highly recommend either an M&P 45 or an HK45. Stay away from the P250, several issues and I can verify the "light primer" strike issue. I owned a P250 for a year and finally traded it towards an HK.

Classic "P" Series Sigs are fine, but the P250 is a sleeper. As for 1911s, I don't own one nor do I plan to.

[Business_Casual]

I shot mostly 1911 during the 90's and early 2000's. Must have bought/sold/traded several dozen over those years. They were mostly Colts (which at the time was still the 1911), and were as loose-as-a-goose by current standards -- simply mired in that hateful slide/frame/barrel wobble.

And ya know what? They fed absolutely every single round I put through them -- mil-spec FMJ/ball, light loaded semi-wadcutters, several different high-velocity hollow-points, you name it.

I must be getting old, but I don't understand how/why 1911's are made these days. All that "precision" is just creating trouble.

I carry a Glock 19 nowadays, mostly because it is a lot easier to carry and shoot, but also because it is dead-nuts reliable. If you want to carry a 1911, get one of those ol' sloppy monsters and you'll be just fine.

I'm sure I don't understand why being poorly fitted leads to reliability? Tight guns can run well, it is about correct geometry inside the gun and correctly fitted parts.

However, any advice to carry a G19 is good information.

M_P

[Gentoo]

I'm sure I don't understand why being poorly fitted leads to reliability? Tight guns can run well, it is about correct geometry inside the gun and correctly fitted parts.

However, any advice to carry a G19 is good information.

M_P

Because if there is a bit of play (I use the term loosely), there is less of a chance that something will bind up, or a slighlty out of spec part will cause an issue. If you can fit a part that is between .005 and .002, you have more margin for error.

The problem with ultra close tolerances is that you have no margin for error. So if a company is making parts with very close tolerances, (must be exactly .0035) they have to be very painstaking in the manufacture and assembly and willing to discard slighly out of spec parts. This increases the production costs dramatically to the point where with some companies compromises sometimes have to be made in the name of cost savings. So the .0035 part comes out at .0039 and rather than retooling it, it gets used in the hopes of it not becoming a problem.

[Business_Casual]

I'm not retarded, I understand manufacturing tolerances, thank you.

What I asked was how parts being poorly fitted led to reliability. Try re-reading it.

Any number of employees at Les Baer will have the same question.

M_P

[The Dumb Gun Collector]

Come on, let's all be nice.

[browningboy84]

Thanks for the info... I am down to 4 guns, 3 are almost tied. Glock 30, RIA compact, Springfield XD, and a Sig. I can get the RIA compact new for under $400. I am just gonna be sure I get a good one, cause my wife is about to start paramedic school, and I wont be able to do anymore gun buying for a year. tsk tsk tsk..... I am gonna go nuts!!!:D:cool: Looks like my reloading bench will get a lot of use this year.

[SSGN_Doc]

John Wayne

Sorry to hear about your bad luck with your pistol. I have a question, What is the specialized mantainence that 1911 requires over other handguns? I maintain my 1911 the same way as other pistols which includes cleaning after every range session, keeping the pistol lubed, replace springs and other parts when needed, and I rotate out my magazines so I'm not using the same mags repeatedly. Besides that, what other maintenance should I be doing?

The 1911 owner should have a very thourough understanding of how each and every part interacts with the others.

Among things that would be handy to know are correct techniques for extractor tuning and maintainence. Sometimes certain rounds can become feeing pproblems just because of case rim thickness variances. If you can tune your extractor to accomodate you may have increased the reliability of your pistol with several brands of ammo.

Hammer and sear fitting along with the relation to fiting with the disconnector and grip and thumb safety. When someone has fire control failures it can be hard to diagnose wht the problem is if you don't have a pretty intimate knowleged of the workings of these parts.

Understand barrel fitting and the mechanical timing required in it so that you can really inspect your pistol as it wears to see if you are getting excessive lug wear which may require fitting a different link or an entirely new barrel. This can be especially important on cheaper, mass produced 1911 pistols as they can wear prematurely due to less attention to barrel fitting, and the barrel is one of the more expensive parts to have to replace. If the wear goes too long it can cost you a barrel and a slide.

A 1911 buyer is best served by spending a bit extra on a pistol that has more fitting and atention performed in it's assembly, as the companies that build these usually stand behind their product as well.