Thread: 1911 - Disappointed

Originally Posted by DamnStraight

Okay, which 1911 should I buy under $1500? There's the new topic!

Well, there is always Wilson Combat and Les Baer.
I would however look for a nice, used Colt, Springfield or STI. And use the rest of the amount for ammo and training.

The best "bang for the buck" in the upper end of 1911's I have found is the Springfield Range Officer. I've done a little extra to mine, but sure is fun to shoot & it can hang in with the high end boys all day long in the right hands.

I agree with Otto, however you hardly ever find a Ed Brown, Les Baer, Colt Gold Cup. Kimbers are becoming more and more available, but remember that they went through a growing phase too & had some reliability issues. Those were mostly recoil spring and extractor issues. My next 1911 will be the Master Carry Pro (4") most likely as I want one of those round butt pistols because the sharp point on the butt of my Kimber Ultra CDP II (3") is ruining most all my shirts. BTW, that lil pistol has run flawless no matter what I have thrown into it from winchester white box to the dirty old wolf.

Originally Posted by shooter74743

The best "bang for the buck" in the upper end of 1911's I have found is the Springfield Range Officer. I've done a little extra to mine, but sure is fun to shoot & it can hang in with the high end boys all day long in the right hands.

I agree with Otto, however you hardly ever find a Ed Brown, Les Baer, Colt Gold Cup. Kimbers are becoming more and more available, but remember that they went through a growing phase too & had some reliability issues. Those were mostly recoil spring and extractor issues. My next 1911 will be the Master Carry Pro (4") most likely as I want one of those round butt pistols because the sharp point on the butt of my Kimber Ultra CDP II (3") is ruining most all my shirts. BTW, that lil pistol has run flawless no matter what I have thrown into it from winchester white box to the dirty old wolf.

I had been using a holster that didnt cover the barrel and every single pair of jeans I owned had a hole where the end of my kimber would rub....swapped to a galco and it fixed that

I say go with ruger, it is way under that price range and a damn good weapon. I know, I know, it is not a high end gun with a name that you can brag about, but it has a lot of points about it I like. for one, it is 100 percent American made, 2) 100 percent stainless (except for those beautiful cocobolo grips) 3) it has been an integral plunger tube that you do not have to worry about the pin snapping on, 4) series 70 slide, if you have had a series 80 you will know why this is great 5) it eats any ammunition, over 3000 rounds with mine and not 1 ftf or fte 6) only the basic additions are on there, leaves a lot of room to expand into your personal taste, they did not put one upgrade on this from the original design that I do not believe that John Moses Browning himself would approve of (extended beaver tail, skeletonized trigger, skeletonized hammer, titanium firing pin, extended mag release, extended safety. as far as bang for the buck goes, that would have to be one of the most satisfying firearms purchases of my life, if not the most.
so that I do not sound like too much of a fan boy, I will say that the only thing I wish came from the factory was front strap checkering. anyways, that is my long winded vote I hope it helps.

Shot a buddies Ruger commander sized 1911 and it is a nice gun out of the box no doubt. Tried to talk him out of it...still don't have Ruger.

Just got the new Gun Tests, and they tested 2 used 1911s that they bought for $300 each. One is an ATI HGA FX45 (Commander Length) and the other is a Rock Island 1911, standard size. Both made in the Phillipines, but both shot well, no failures of any kind and were accurate enough for self defense purposes. I'd never buy either, but it's interesting to see what's out there that works, and could be had for under $500.

Originally Posted by Haroldg48

Just got the new Gun Tests, and they tested 2 useds 1911 that they bought for $300 each. One is an ATI HGA FX45 (Commander Length) and the other is a Rock Island 1911, standard size. Both made in the Phillipines, but both shot well, no failures of any kind and were accurate enough for self defense purposes. I'd never buy either, but it's interesting to see what's out there that works, and could be had for under $500.

My brother has a Charles daily (sp?) 1911 he got for 275 bucks and it shoots good and has never had a failure, tolerances are a bit lower is the only difference honestly on the cheaper ones that I can tell...slide has a little more wiggle room

Interesting and amazing there's guns out there for under. $300.

I have a Charles Daly and love it.

To the original poster, rarely have I seen a new 1911 that did not need the feed ramp polished. Run a finger nail the length of the ramp and see if you dont find a small hump. The hump will turn the round upward more than needed causing a FTF, FTE or just simply a "jam".

I have a Rock Island 1911. It is exactly what it's advertised as... A mil spec 1911. You could take it to war and it would work. No it's not the tightest group shooting gun I've ever heard of but at 15 yds I can shoot out a 4" circle of paper. For my C&E test the instructor had to have me shoot different parts of the target bc I just shot a big hole and kept sending them through that hole. Great pistol. Still my favorite platform.

That said my usual daily carry is the Glock 30. It's just smaller than the full sized 1911. One of these days I'm going to buy the parts and assemble from the frame up my own commander sized 1911.