Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns 1911 Talk, What you have and what you like.

I have a couple of S&W's - a full size target model and a scandium frame bobtail commander.

Wow!! Nice to see something a little different......should make a great hunting handgun!

A long-time favorite. AMU-accurized NM pistol.
Bob

I have several 1911's.......all now are full size got rid of all my commander's
Don't shoot my 45's much, Love my 38 Supers, but by far shoot my 9mm's the most.

Colt Government Mk. IV Series 70
Auto Ordnance 1911A1
Springfield Armory 1911A1
Norinco 1911A1
Colt 1991A1
IAI Javelina 10mm
Para Ordnance P14
Springfield Armory 1911A1
Auto Ordnance 1911A1
Colt Delta Elite 10mm
Colt 1991A1 Officer's
Colt 1991A1
Norinco 1911A1
Colt Government Mk.IV Series 70
Taurus 1911
Colt Government Series 80 38 Super
Taurus 1911 38 Super
Colt Commander
Colt Gold Cup National Match
Charles Daly 1911
Springfield Armory Loaded
Colt Gold Cup

List of 1911's I've owned over the years. None are listed twice. Some models I have owned more than one of.

I’ve two STIs and a Rock Island that have all been worked on, but they’re double stack guns.

I’ve learned that double stack guns are a lot of fun after you get the magazines worked out. And that it’s easier for me to go from a 2011 trigger to a striker fired gun than the other way around.

Double stack's are nice, especially where recoil is concerned since the wider grip spreads the recoil out more and the greater weight dampens it.

I was going to joke about laser sighting till you ruined by reference to the Terminator.

I currently have a 1961 Colt Government Model, an Ed Brown Kobra Carry, a Springfield Stainless Mil Spec, and a Springfield TRP.

My one and only 1911. A Colt Combat Commander in 45, been pushed to the edge with this gun but finally got it sorted out and I hate to say it but I love to shoot it.

Had an STI Trojan maybe? And a Kimber Pro Carry II in 9mm. Probably gonna pass on anymore 1911’s.

I had a Combat Commander I sold to get a SIG P220. I have a blued Remington R1 with VZ grips and a Dwyler Group Gripper that's fun to shoot. It's what High Brass wanted and wouldn't get for himself and wouldn't let anyone buy for him. I bought it in his memory.

I have a dozen or so 1911's in various configurations from bull barreled 4", 4.25" barrels w/bushings & 5" Gov't models.

For range work & regular practice, I strongly prefer a 5", all steel gun; for carrying, I will mainly only carry a 4" or 4.25" Commander sized gun, usually with a lightweight frame, for the comfort of the shorter barrel & lighter weight, especially when sitting for long periods.

Round / bobtailed butts do seem to print just a little less than a standard grip profile does; I see no real differences in shooting them.

I use a variety of holsters, depending on what I doing & which gun I might be carrying that day.

I get a little disgusted at the lack of knowledge & experience from those that knock or condemn 1911's as being unreliable & antiquated & not deserving of carrying these days in favor of the new versions of Gluck, etc., because you can only carry 9 rounds in the gun & mag at a time (8+1).

Each & every 1911 that I own is 100% tried & proven for 100% reliability, as in ZERO malfunctions within a round count cleaning cycle that is reasonable................actually I carry all my guns clean, no matter the type. Not very interested or care much that a Gluck will run 5K rounds with no cleaning.

Daily carry is not an endurance test of how long a gun can run w/o cleaning, but yes, I'll concede that because of design & tolerances, a 1911 will not tolerate the same round count cycle as well as many of the WunderGuns do..................just a non-issue for EDC purposes, IMO.

MM

Here are a few of what I have;

Wilson X-Tac


Colt Combat Commander


Christensen Custom with Titanium Frame


S&W with Scandium Frame


Dan Wesson 4.25" Guardian w/Brommeland Holster


Dan Wesson Guardian


Kimber TLE II (discount the target as it was shot for a particular match with weak hand & some odd body positions included )


S& W Gunsite PD w/ Scandium Frame

Of the four that I mentioned, I’ve carried all but the Mil Spec. My holster for them was a Milt Sparks VM II.
All four have been 100% reliable.

I only have two at present, a Custom Shop Colt 1991A1, and a Ruger SR-1911 Target. Over the years, I've had about 10 more, but for whatever reasons, after using them pretty hard, I moved them on to other users. I used to shoot IPSC/USPSA and worked them pretty hard I had one crack it's frame after possibly 100K, but it still worked and shot well when I sold it. Two LW Commanders, a Gold Cup ('70 Series, and a POS), an Essex frame and slide gun (a GOOD one), a Delta Elite, a .38 Super GM, a Springfield, and a Caspian I built myself. I had fun with them, only the Gold Cup gave me fits, breaking the collet bushiing, sights falling off, edges too damned sharp, etc.
I picked up the Custom Shop 1991 in the '90s, it had a beavertail, long trigger, throated, and some other niceties I wasn't expecting. I didn't know it was a Custom Shop gun until I saw the engraving under the Navidrex stocks. It's a pretty good gun, but no better, really, than this new Ruger I bought last fall.
I doubt I'll ever buy another 1911, if I do, though, it will be another LW Commander, which I think is the most useful of the bunch. Not as much fun to shoot, but a lot more fun to carry.

What I like:

There are plenty of great 1911's out there, but I like a pistol with provenance - I want to know where it came from. A foreign forging has far less appeal than an American forging no matter where the final machining is performed. That largely limits my preference to Colt and Smith & Wesson. There are other manufacturers that presently use American forgings, such as Wilson Combat, but I feel I need to keep my eye on them. When an American forging is selected the rest of the pistol falls into place.

My Sunday carry gun.
I'm down to 8 1911's, mostly target guns.

Blindshooter,

That is spectacular. I love 1911's, so all of the posted pics in this thread have been a treat for me, but yours is the bees knees!

A Christmas present from the best wife in the world.

That'd be a very fine wife, indeed. Congrats, on the wife, that is.

MM

John, Wilson gets a lot of bad press, but they are making some of the best pistols on the planet.

I've had a couple, have one right now & would have a lot more except for the cost which have skyrocketed in the last 5 years or so.

Their Compact line & their new EDC X9 are both fabulous carry pistols & I'd own each if they didn't cost so much.

Yes, the personal "custom" touches are limited to their offering but they are still very, very nice guns.

I've built enough 1911's to understand what it takes to get a really smooth slide to frame fit & feel & the one that I have right feel like it's on ball bearings.

If what they have suits your taste, just buy it......................I'm reasonably confident you'll like it.

MM

Seriously--congrats on the wife--and the gun!