Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns 1911 ranks

Posting this for a couple reasons.

1. I'm bored here in the house
2. Been spending a lot of time looking at 1911's online lately and outside of Ruger/SAA single actions, no other handgun photographs as nice.
3. There isn't a 1911 question on page 1 (my view) of this forum


So question is "What's your rank for a 1911 these days?" - Wilson/Brown/Nighthawk excluded - think sub 2k in price.

I know the opinion on Kimber has gone up and down - recently told that they're pretty good these days. People I like and trust have spoken very highly of Ruger, even put above Springfield.

My personal experiences have been with an early Colt govt model in 38 Super, Colt govt model about 2004?, and a Kimber before the "II" moniker came about. I currently do not have a 1911.

One of the guys in the gun club let me shoot his Ed Brown 9mm the last time we went to the range and I think that it has ruined me for life.

I asked this same question recently of a cousin who used to shoot competitively.

He said best bang for the buck was Dan Wesson.

I am in the process of testing his theory. .

1. Dan Wesson

2. Colt

3. All the off brands.

Assuming an under $2K street price.

The one's I've handled have been very nice for sure. I've not owned a 1911 in 15 years and the itch is starting again. Was a time where the answer was Colt or Springfield and then all else - If you weren't looking at Baer/Brown/Wilson.

Springfield has become Harley Davidson - million different models, no clear difference and they all sorta look the same.

Admit, I do love the look of those Wiley Clapp Commander but other than the Colt name - unsure if it's worth more $$ Than the Ruger Commander.

Springfield is hard to beat for the money!

And I’ve never had an ounce of trouble with the many Kimbers I’ve owned.

The Ruger 1911’s are probably great too. Ruger knows how to build guns that work well & keep right on working.

Best bang for you buck in high end 1911’s is Les Baer. Personally, I don’t think you can buy a better 1911 for your moneys value.

For under $2K the DW is really nicely put together. I just bought a Guardian in .38 Super and it is really finely fitted. A friend who just bought just a Les Baer, about the same gun but in 9mm with a steel frame, held mine and was shocked as it was as nicely put together as his for a grand less...

I've bought a couple new Colts in the last few years and the quality has been very good with all of them...

Kimber...the same...have been happy with all the ones I have bought but one...it was 15+ years ago and when it finally was sent back to the factory they destroyed it and sent a replacement.

I shoot with several people who have SAs and all are very happy...especially those with Range Officers...

I have a RIA 10mm that is as solid as a rock and shoots as well as the guns I have costing 3 times as much...

Hard to go wrong with a 1911 these days...

Bob

I'm a Springfield fan. I have two of them and both are 100% reliable. Back in the 1990s, I did buy one of their "Loaded" models, and it was a disaster from day one. Clearly had a lot wrong with it from the factory. It took a couple of send-backs to get it right, but once they got it right, it stayed right, and they were fast in getting it back, paying for both ways.

I also used to have a Les Baer. Great gun. Sold it only because I had so many 1911s that all worked great, and needed the money.

I have a 1961 Colt Government Model, too, that's 100% reliable, even with 230 grain hollow points. Completely stock, other than some nice aftermarket, double diamond, checkered walnut stocks to replace the original hard rubber ones (which are collector's items) that came on it. The hard rubber grips are put away, even though I've heard that if you store them off the gun they may shrink. Just don't like the looks of them on the gun.

I also have a nice Ed Brown Kobra Carry and (on the other end of the spectrum, LOL) a Turkish replica of a USGI 1911A1.

All my 1911s work. I have every confidence in all of them, although I've never tried defensive ammo with the Turkish gun, even though it seems to be made to work with hollow points.

Colt then Springfield here. Kimber has reportedly been spotty. Haven't used Ruger or Remingtons. Dan Wessons are reported to be very nice.

And just for fun, everyone needs one of these:

Turkey.

Link

[/quote]

I’m EXTREMELY impressed with mine!!!

I just saw one of those on GunBroker for $495 I think...looked pretty nice to me...

..nope...different gun...a SA....

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/862181762

You can usually find these for less than $399

Initially they were $299. Until folks figured how nice they are.
Still a bargain at any thing less than $400

For a period of about 4 years, I would zero my buddy's guns for him. He's legally blind but loves to shoot. Before Washington required all transfers to be papered through the Feds, he bought and sold 1911's regularly. He went through them like kleenex. The only way he could see to shoot was to put laser grips on them, which of course are adjusted using the smallest allen wrench known to mankind. That made me the guy who installed and zeroed his laser grips for him.

Jimmy (my friend) has fairly fine tastes in 1911's, but also traded in the blue collar group as well. He bought, and hence, I shot them all. Ed Brown, Wilson Combat, NIghthawks, Dan Wesson, Springfield, Kimber, Sig Sauer, Ruger etc. etc. Frankly, it was a lot of fun. Additionally, all the guys at my gun club swap guns and try each others' gats. So, I have been able to shoot a few different 1911's--several dozen at least. I have no clue if that's a lot or not, but it has allowed me to form some opinions.

In the sub-$2000 market, for looks and functionality, I would have to say Kimbers are my favorite. I know, I know, it's cool to hate Kimbers, and everybody knows an uncle's neighbor's barber whose son's dog-groomer had a Kimber that literally exploded on the range the first time it was shot. But...in my experience, Kimber 1911's work extremely well. I personally have owned 5 or 6 (I think) and currently own 4 of them. They run just fine and make nice jewelry when everyone is passing around their guns at the range. I carried a 4" alloy model ever day for a couple years. I'd trust my life to any of them.

The other brand I always liked was Ruger. Wow, talk about a meat and potatoes 1911 that you couldn't find fault with--here's your huckleberry. I've shot the 5" and the commander. A friend of mine still owns his 5" and loves it. It came from the factory with some really nice grips and a usable trigger. He bought it new for under $725. He uses a mish mash collection of mags and the gun doesn't care.

Brands I've not liked include Ed Brown and Colt. The Ed Brown was finicky about ammo and the trigger would have been fine if it were a sub-$1,000 gun, but I couldn't see any reason to pay Ed Brown prices for what it was. The Colt Gold Cup Trophy was a mechanical hairball from the start. My buddy sent it back to Colt twice before they got it sorted out. But...the Ed Brown and Colt were data samples of 1 each.

I've always been a Colt guy, but last fall I bought a Ruger Target SR-1911, and it surely is well done. I compared it to the SA Range Officer and liked it's sight picture a lot better, the rear sight notch is wider and thus better for my eyesight. The triggers were equally good, though the Ruger's was a fuzz better in the two individual pistols. I've owned one SA, and it was a nice pistol, but felt "funny" because the radius on the frontstrap was different than Colt's. Rugers match the Colt radius, and feel better to me.

I still have one Colt left, a Custom Shop 1991A1, and it's a good pistol, but the Ruger matches it 100% so far, with my Wilson and McCormick magazines. For the money, the Ruger would be hard to beat. I wish I could afford a Dan Wesson, but I cannot, and think the Ruger is at least as good as a new Colt. I like adjustable sights on my pistols, this Ruger beats the hell out of the Gold Cup '70 series gun I had in the '80s.

Neither of the two guns I now own would shoot with an old Colt GM gun I had built, but that smith has gone to his reward now, and I don't trust anyone else to work on one. I really like 1911s, and feel kinda nekkid with only two on hand, but these two will do.
I paid $800 for the Ruger, new. I'd buy one of those and spend the rest on ammo or components, and magazines. Lots of magazines.

Got one for $299.00 last month. Several hundred rounds through it. No failures.

I’m EXTREMELY impressed with mine!!![/quote]


I very much like that idea as 1911 #2 and some tools from Brownell's to play with...

My one and only handgun is a Sig 1911 Stainless Target the kids gave me for retirement. Since I planned on only shooting cast in it, I sent the barrel to Doug Guy for throating. Turns out the chamber wasn't concentric with the bore. Doug was able to take out most of the mis-alignment but there is enough left that I've not been able to shoot PC bullets in it. Lubed bullets work fine so I've not replaced the barrel yet. Got a couple thousand rounds through it with no failures other than a couple that weren't crimped correctly. It should of been sent back when it was new but I didn't know till after the work was done.

You can get a few models from Baer right at the $2K mark; under that, IMO, Dan Wesson is the best of the bunch by a goodly margin.

Fitting is very very good, triggers are outstanding, all fitting is very close, all sharp edges are all broken enough so as not to cut yourself in them, accuracy is as good as any. Finish is very, very nice.

After that, depending on specific model, IMO, is S&W, Colt, Springfield & Kimber with the 1st three about being a tossup............Sig makes decent stuff too, but some of the slide configurations are not 100% to typical 1911 design.

MM

I’m EXTREMELY impressed with mine!!![/quote]

I really like that.