What is the bare minimum acceptable 1911?

[Jewell]

I've been more than happy with my Ruger SR1911. I got it for around $650.

[al800]

I'll second this. My bedside gun is a Springfield 1911 loaded w/ night sights. It's not a particularly "beautiful" gun, and the factory grips leave a lot to be desired. The trigger is "meh" until broken in, and even then it's nothing extraordinary.

All that said, mine goes bang every time, and eats anything I throw at it. The only malfunctions I've seen were due to other folks shooting with limp wrists. I believe it was around $750 out the door 5 years ago. I would buy it again, but find one with a bottom rail for a light.

[general_purpose]

Hi gunbugbit, Tojours Pret!

[general_purpose]

Heh heh heh... You had to ask. The only way to can a can o worms, is with a bigger can.

[squid8286]

For a good "knock around" 1911, I love the Norincos that were imported from China in the early 90s. Everything in them is forged steel. They can vary in appearance from downright ugly to as pretty as a new Colt. I have four of them, and they vary in appearance on that scale. I replaced the barrel in two of them because of "generous" headspace. I fit an oversized firing pin stop to one because the extractor was clocking in it. Other than that, they have been fine pistols. If I get a scratch on one, it doesn't hurt as bad as scratching a Colt, either.

[MAUSER202]

I have just north of 40 years of experience with the 1911, including several years of carrying one for 16 hours a day. As a result of that, I've learned a few things:

• The 1911 is still a viable self-defense option IF you dedicate yourself to learning and mastering its peculiarities, especially the trigger system and ongoing maintenance.
• A $600 1911 is like a $600 car--it may be OK for a while, but you WILL have problems as time goes on. I'd recommend that you raise your budget to at least $1,000 and invest that money in the kind of 1911 that folks on this thread have recommended. Use that pistol to learn what you want to know about the 1911, but don't use it for serious purposes until you have a couple of thousand rounds downrange in it, and until you've taken a solid tactics class with it. At that point, you'll either be a full-on 1911 convert or you will have moved on to something else.
• Rotating between handgun types for serious use is a bad idea. It becomes a very bad idea when you include a 1911 in a mix of other non-1911 pistols. Stick to one action type for serious use. If you carry a striker-fired pistol concealed, then all of your serious handguns should be striker-fired. This is even more critical for the bedside pistol, since you'll probably go from a deep sleep to a massive adrenalin rush in a few seconds immediately before you have to use it to save your life. That's a bad time to realize that you have familiarity issues with your pistol.

Okie John

This is great advise. I just picked up my 1st 1911, an all original 1944 RR in about 92% finish. I picked it up for my WW2 pistol collection but had to shoot it once. I loved it and plan to get a modern Colt for a shooter. That being said I plan to stick with my striker fired carry weapons that I have years of experience with. I hear so many people talk about rotating through 3-5 different operating systems for carry with minimum to no practice/range time. I always say practice makes permanent.

[jmoore]

"Night stand, occasional carry......"

One man's opinion........ If I'm going to carry one gun (or have it as a nightstand HD weapon) for 360 days a year, and another carried only 5 days a year - I would hold them to the same quality/reliability level.

john

[ubet]

The Filipino, ria, armscor etc guns are worthless. I saw an armscor in a class in June, it couldn't make it through afull mag without going down. If you want a 1911 as a hd/sd gun, you need to look at spending some money. SA loaded would be the cheapest I'd consider.

Then you need to get it out and run it hard to make sure it'll run and not jam. 1911s aren't something you can just set down and forget about, they're an enthusiasts gun.

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[ubet]

You guys are funny. The bare minimum acceptable 1911 is whichever one feels the best in your hand, that you can handle proficiently and that you can shoot accurately with consistency. If that one happens to be from the used rack at the range from some small no name company, who cares as long as it works for you.

You will care when it jams and won't run. Your family will care if God forbid you need it and that no name gun goes down and gets you killed. That's who will care.

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[Arik]

You guys are funny. The bare minimum acceptable 1911 is whichever one feels the best in your hand, that you can handle proficiently and that you can shoot accurately with consistency. If that one happens to be from the used rack at the range from some small no name company, who cares as long as it works for you.

All 1911 feel the same. They have the same grip. It's either flat or arched main spring housing but the thickness and angle are the same.

"What feels best" is how people end up with Taurus, Lorcin, or other guns they can't shoot for shit or are unreliable. Case in point.....my dad. Bought a gun cause it felt good. Can't hit shit at 5 feet. A large part of that is practice, or lack of. But to practice you need a gun that can hold up and be reliable. Designing and building a reliable gun isn't as easy as designing a grip angle. At this point most are just copies anyway.

This is like when you ask advice on other boards and get an overwhelmingly positive reviews and most are along the lines of "I've owned it for 20 years and never had a problem". When asked how many rounds they've shot most are around 500 rounds. Owning and shooting are two different things. Or the ...carry a lot, shoot a little crowd

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