Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns 1911 ranks

No idea. My gun suits me.

Of all the 1911s I have worked on there has not been a brand that really sticks out as better than another...
All this it pre Dan Wesson so can't speak for them..
I will say when cutting sights or a flattop and such...
The Colt steel was always the most consistent...
They used to rave about those cheap Norinkos to build off of ..I did one for myself to learn how to customize them...
The steel is the worst stringy crap out there..
The gun turned out great and is one of my favorite ones to shoot...

But the OP's question was about ranking available 1911's below $2K....................not which gun you have & like the best.

Just sayin'.....................entire thread has taken a sharp right from what his question was to what you have & like, not what might be "best" in that price range.

If you've only ever had & handled one, then that opinion doesn't go very far to addressing the question.

If you've had a dozen & comment accordingly, then that would carry a bit more credibility.

JMHO

MM

Here's my ranking in order and based upon the limited number of 1911s I've owned:

1. Newer production Colt Series 70 Gold Cup. These have been great, and I love the fit and finish and look. For me the hammer needs a little work not to bite on the traditional gun (x2, sold the first one when I bought a Wilson or Ed Brown, can't remember which. Regretted selling the Colt so sold the expensive gun and bought another Colt. The first gun was pretty much a one-ragged-hole gun at 25 yds).
2. Ruger 1911 (have had 4 or 5 of these and loved everyone. Have had 9mm, 10mms and 45s). Never have sold one, but have re-homed a couple to friends needing a good pistol.
3. Wilson It is a great gun but the top two meet my needs for less money (x1 that I can remember)
4. Ed Brown--fine guns, but I always thought the fit and finish was not nearly as good as Colt and a little more finicky than the Colt or Ruger (x1 or 2, can't remember).
5. Kimber--Purchased probably 15 years ago.Mine was blued with adjustable sites and a really beautiful pistol. Never could get it to function as well as I wanted but got frustrated and didn't try super hard. Newer ones may be better. At least as accurate as my first Colt mentioned above. Would probably try another if not for my Colts and Rugers (x1)

The Rugers, Wilson and Ed Brown all seemed the same regarding accuracy but the Rugers have been a little less ammo sensitive from a function standpoint and much cheaper. My expensive 1911s have come and gone. I would probably buy a Ruger if looking today.

I have always had Colt and a Rem Rand.

My good friend has a Wilson Custom Combat 45.
Got to shoot it some, it is the nicest thing I have ever handled/shot.== Damm!

Out of my price range tho

Also well out of the price range specified by the OP............................

MM

1. Les Baer and Dan Wesson for me are neck and neck for different reasons. LB makes a solid old school, no frills 1911. Old school bluing is nice, though not as nice as Colt used to do, and holster wear shows quickly. Arry mine quite a bit and it looks all the better with use. Not crazy about the fact that the buyer does the last 10% or so of the slide and bushing fitting by firing 500 rounds without cleaning. Also not a fan of the mags they ship with the gun or of 3 dot sights, but that’s just me. If the OP does decide on LB, i recommend checking with Crazy John in Coeur d’Alene.

DW is IMO the opposite - modern machinery does most of the work and very little hand fitting required. Solid guns though, with no MIM and high quality parts with tight tolerances. Tack drivers, just like the Baers and IME, Wilsons. I find the 20lpi front strap checkering bites my hand. I prefer the finer checkering of the LB. i much prefer the Heine (and later In-house Heine style) straight 8’s on the Wessons, second only to the wilson battlesight for my eyes. Both have thin grips standard, again a contrast of old school wood vs modern VZ’s. I like them both but prefer the wood as it doesn’t catch on my shirt as much when IWB.

3. Ruger SR1911 - inasmuch as i have been carrying and training with Wilsons, LB and DW’s for years, a Ruger 10mm is my “Perfect Packin’ Pistol,” to borrow from John Taffin. It is just indestructible, open carried in the snow, rain and sleet, usually on an El Paso Austin on my hip or, more recently, in a Diamond D chest rig when I am in the woods. The trigger was a little gritty but cleaned up easily some light stoning. Other than that, she is a tack driver, and comfortable to shoot even with heavy hardcast loads. The bull barrel and integrated titanium ramp are big pluses. I bought and sold one of the early .45 SR1911’s, but for me, the 10mm is a keeper.

I've owned and shot a bunch of different 1911's. If you are excluding Wilson/Brown/Nighthawk then Les Baer is a no brainer. They work very well, and are very accurate. You can find used ones under $2k pretty often. Baer's hard chrome finish is gorgeous; whoever does it for them does a remarkable job getting a nice luster on the hard chrome.

I just bought a Colt Special Combat Gov't in .38 Super, getting a pretty screamer deal on it, and the fit & finish is very nice. I have several other Colts, and they do a nice job. Colt will do parts in machined barstock, that other companies make in MIM, so that is a plus.

I think the Dan Wessons and Rugers are nice, but I've not owned any of them.

Just purchased a new Colt Competition stainless in .38 Super... Thing is tight...only sloppy part is the grip safety...has a little more play that I would like but it works...

https://forums.1911forum.com/showthread.php?t=1012612

This last Saturday I run a few rounds through my Sig, love it. I have a TLR 1 mounted on it, it’s a pleasure to shoot.

I guess I’m in the minority on the Les Baer love. I had one of the Commander size concept models- don’t remember which one. It looked nice, but I did not shoot it nearly as well as my Kimber CDP. I sold it and a Series 70 Combat Government to a buddy. Kept the Kimber to go along with a Ithaca rebuilt at Augusta and a Sistema. The Ithaca is special to me because my wife’s grandmother worked at the Augusta Arsenal.