Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Do you consider the 1911 obsolete for concealed carry

I don't know the ratio. I shot IDPA for a number of years with a G17 and then all the 1911 guys ribbed me and claimed I usually beat them because of the 9mm chambering and 10+1 capacity advantage. I had a good friend offer to let me load on his Dillon if I bought a 1911, so I bought a stock Colt and still won the club matches most of the time. Capacity limitations sideline the 1911 in high volume run and gun USPSA matches, but the 2011 shines there. It has been several years since I was really serious about competition, so guns may have changed a bit.

Always have been intrigued by the high capacity 2011's, just could never justify one for my own use. They are large pistols for sure. I don't think I could carry one concealed. Some I have seen carry the G20's IWB, I cannot.

" I will say, for a full sized pistol, nothing carries better in an IWB than a LW Commander...light & flat."

..which is why it is all I have carried daily since 1980....

Bob

Para had their hi-capacity model out years ago, anyone have/had one?

One interesting point about the 1911 is that it was essentially on its way out before the assault weapons ban went into place. Suddenly, it's popularity boomed in the civilian market. The thinking was, if I can't have a high capacity 9mm, and have to keep magazine capacity under 10, I'll be better served with nine rounds of .45 ACP than with eleven rounds of 9mm, and at that time .45 ACP was nearly synonymous with a 1911. Suddenly, everyone was making them with a whole array of optional features. It gave the design a real shot in the arm.

The STI Guardian in the photo is 15+1, 25-oz, and within a 1/10" or so of the box size of a Glock 19. Magazines can be had up to 26 rounds.

My thoughts on concealed carry of my 1911 EMP 4 ;

I'm carrying concealed, and no one knows I have a pistol on me until I pull it out.

Then it's a total surprise to the perp.

With 10 + 1 rounds, I'm not high capacity, but, the average number of shots fired in an armed confrontation are a lot less than 11 rounds

I can also pack extra mags, Two extra mags give me 31 rounds of firepower.

Virgil B.

The late, great Louis Awerbuck carried one frequently IIRC…..along with a Glock and a couple of other things…..for a little guy, he had to weigh 300 pounds when fully kitted out. A close friend of mine was so enamored with Louis that he acquired one……apparently Louis got one of the few that worked well.

In an article in Popular Mechanics about the M-17 (military version of the Sig 320) they make the following comment:

"The XM17 Modular Handgun System competition was crafted to take advantage of new handgun technologies invented since the M9 entered service in 1985. The gun was required to feature a MIL-STD-1913 Picatinny rail under the barrel for attaching lasers and lights. It would have a threaded barrel for a suppressor, ambidextrous controls for lefties, and a loaded chamber indicator. The modularity was in a requirement for swappable grip panels of different sizes, to accommodate hands of different sizes."

It sounds like their definition of "obsolete" is a vague antonym for "to take advantage of new handgun technologies." Therefore, to avoid obsolescence a handgun must have:
1. Picatinny rail
2. Barrel threaded for suppressor
3. Ambidextrous controls
4. Loaded chamber indicator
5. "Swappable grip panels" (different sized backstraps)

If one accepts Popular Mechanics' definition as the litmus test for obsolescence (I don't), then the 1911 fulfills (at least potentially with many models) 4/5 of the requirements, and "swappable backstraps" precludes almost every steel or metal alloy framed handgun that I can think of.

I don't think different sized backstraps is necessarily the definition. I think they intentionally left that a bit vague to see what they got, and swapping the entire grip frame turned out to be the one they were most interested in.

I get 5/5. The slot cut in the hood of some models is meant as a loaded chamber indicator.

My first dedicated steel gun was made from one of the original PO frame kits (back when PO only made frame kits). It was an aluminum frame that was a good deal less ergonomic than their later design. I ran it with no grips and skateboard tape wrapped around it. I will say, that aluminum frame held up very well, all the holes were drilled in the right place, and the original .38 Super magazine was one tough magazine. PO had a very good start if you ask me.

For CC for a civilian, I don't see that the 1911 is necessarily obsolete. There are a few scenarios I can think of where it wouldn't be a great choice, but that's about it. However, in military circles, I consider the 1911 quite obsolete. It's not that they're not capable on the battlefield, they are. On the battlefield you'll typically put 2-4 magazines through a 1911 at most; and it has proven come rain or shine, mud, muck, sand etc, it will be reliable for those 2-4 magazines. But modern training demands a LOT from a military handgun, and the 1911 has been found sorely lacking.

I think that also coincided with when CNC machining got cheap enough that small to mid-sized manufacturers could have CNC shops. Suddenly the 1911 was available from a number of suppliers. Features went up, price went down, and good ole fashioned competition made the 1911 market much more interesting. While the AWB may have given it a boost, I really think it was good old fashioned capitalism in motion that really drove (and still drives) the 1911 market. After all, if it was the AWB that did it, you'd expect that it would have curtained some with the sunset, but in fact it continued to expand exponentially.

Never mind "obsolete". I don't think I accept PM's definition of "new handgun technologies...".

Certain trends acquire a momentum, then continue along the momentum line long after the force driving it has disappeared.

What he said ^

In spades

1st handgun was a Ruger security six

1st handgun I fell in love with was a 1911 govt model colt 70 series

Few iterations over the years

.38 super

Para ordnance P-13. There's hi cap for you

Kimber pro carry

My lord there's just so much to love about a 1911

But bottom line a handgun is a tool

In high stress situation KISS

Technology changes the game. For a long time any serious defensive round started with a .4? For me personally

But youse bastids with your logic and common sense moved me into 9's a few years ago, plus the glock KABOOM possibilty

My oldest son still likes the 23 and 22's well actually think he prefers the spfd xd . Youngest is all about the 19

Guns are cool and I've always liked em but at the end of the day they're a tool

Handgun is the tool you choose cause it's impractical to carry a rifle

For me to have the same confidence in a 1911 vs the plastic I've got to spend twice the money and sans the para ordnance I've got less rounds on board

One of the things I like most about ugly glocks is it's impossible for me to see it as anything other than the bic lighters of handguns

Just like bic lighters they work, no reason not to have a few handy

I said this in another thread maybe a month ago. I was in Cabela's Gun library. The fella said that they are restricting buying plastic guns. Especially .40 S&W's.

Their national inventory on plastic guns is huge he said. All makes and models. Even 15% off did not move very many. They will buy your 1911.

I know----- price.

https://www.sportsmansoutdoorsuperstore.com/prodimages/39085-DEFAULT-l.jpg

I like this^^^^

That would have looked so much better with an internal extractor. But hey....you work with what you got.

[quote=viking]Para had their hi-capacity model out years ago, anyone have/had one?[/quote

Yep as a 1911 afficiando I thought at the time it was "the answer"

Handling characteristics change somewhat with the larger grip and weight of extra .45 rounds

Had a lil tuning done to it to aid reliability, who knows maybe that was just wasted money ?

It was a fairly limited relationship with it though I liked it, but didn't carry or handle as well ( in my hands anyway) as a conventional 1911

My wife was my motivation to get a glock, I was away for long periods of time and wanted hi cap, simplistic operation for her for the bedroom handgun safe that held it, two addtl mags, a surelight and a prepaid cell phone

As we began to train with it, I grew to like the ugly pos