What is the bare minimum acceptable 1911?

[Nowski87]

I would spend a about 150.00 more and look at Springfield Range Officer Operator.

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[chuckman]

My first 1911 was a Springfield Mil-Spec. Then over time, I added this, changed that, turned it into the 1911 I wanted. It wasn't reliable with certain mags, but with Wilson mags, it was totally, 100% reliable. You CAN do it at your budget but the 1911 has certain...challenges at that pricepoint. I like the TRP suggestion, used isn't a whole lot more than what you want to spend.

You don't need a Wilson to have a reliable 1911.

[officerX]

How does the Ruger SR1911 stack up?

[556BlackRifle]

A Colt is a great 1911 if you can find one at the right price. If you want some bells and whistles, Springfield has some nice offerings. I've seen RO's in the $700 range. Great guns for the money.

[556BlackRifle]

How does the Ruger SR1911 stack up?

No personal experience with the SR but one of my coworkers has one and he loves it.

[L-2]

I saw $600 as the upper cost limit.
The minimum acceptable 1911 is one which will reliably shoot through all the ammo a person would be carrying, given the use the original poster (OP) has provided. This might be 7 rounds, perhaps up to 25 rounds, if carrying one 7-round mag or three 8-round mags + one in the chamber.

With any 1911, one could get lucky and the gun will work immediately out of the box and get through this rather minimal ability to get through 25 rounds.

To answer Post #8, Springfield-Armory makes its own 1911 guns and they're not made and re-branded by anyone else. I do like the Springfield-Armory 1911 brand and the recommendation to buy one of those. Springfield also seems to have very good customer service should the gun not work reliably for any reason.

If the OP just wants some exposure to the 1911 platform in .45ACP, I can understand the want or desire. For carry, I wouldn't be planning to carry any gun without some amount of range time with that gun. Depending on the gun and me, it might take me 1,000 rounds to be proficient with a new platform. When I say "new", I mean no prior or extensive 1911 experience from before.

If the OP mainly wants the .45ACP caliber and limiting oneself to $600, I'd be choosing a different make & model, but that's a different question. Realize the $600 budget is just for the gun itself. Ammo and a holster will easily double the end-cost. If there is any problem with the 1911, then there will at least be costs in one's time to deal with the problem(s).

[LoboTBL]

The 1911 has been around for 115 years. Suffice to say it is probably the most modified, tweeked and tuned pistol model on the planet. Opinions are going to vary on what the standard of features is. The standard of performance is this: every mechanism of the pistol functions reliably. This means it goes bang when and only when it is supposed to, extracts and ejects every single time and feeds a new round into the chamber every single time until there is no ammo remaining. Slide locks back, mag drops free and is ready for a new one to be inserted. There are all manner of enhancements that can be added that make the aforementioned actions happen faster and/or smoother.

The TRP is a great pistol right out of the box because it has several of those enhancements installed and if you can find a used one that checks out at a grand or less it would not be a mistake or a waste of money to jump on it. The Springfield MilSpec doesn't have all those bells and whistles and also would not be a mistake and can be had at about what you are looking to spend. If you're near a range that has pistols to use for a fee, try a few different 1911s starting with a milspec, bare bones model and moving to a model with some enhancements and make a first hand comparison of what the differences are.

[daniel87]

A well worn somewhat rattling 1911 will be the most reliable
It will not be comp accurate, but it will be handgun range ("combat") accurate.



Like every time i hear some one say what is for gear or weapons, what do you want need or forsee its use to be. Let that guide you.

A "gi" spec is minimum, the more frame to slide play the less likely to jam. Accuracy goes down


For brands colt or springfield armory.

The springfield armory milspec is the cheapest i would trust.

Buy used but require detailed inspection, bring the tools and a flashlight to look it over.

Many guns are either really dirty or never oiled. (Imagine how your car would be if it had no oil or never had and oil change)

(quals:i built my own that is reliable, i've changed parts now with money and experience. Now i carry a sig 227.)





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[SLewis]

Springfield? Not sure of current production.
For a time some of the frames were sourced from Imbel, may still be.

Springfield Army stopped using Imbel forgings for their slides and frames around 2014. They are US sourced currently.

I would recommend the new Springfield Range Officer Operator. Everything you need, and nothing you don't for around $850

The Mil Spec is also a good choice, but you might want to make some modifications down the road.

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[JG007]

Isn't the loaded more of a self defense gun and the range ofc a competition gun?