Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Your favorite 1911, bar none ...

Got the exact same pistol a bit before you... quite a bit actually... and have a slightly lower round count. It shoots far better than I.

I have three .45;s two are Colts(trophy gold cup, combat elite) and a Kimber Lightweight. I like all three with no clearcut favorite.


Baer is at the top of the list for my next one.

For nostalgic purposes, I want a plain Jane, old school 1911, Colt or Springfield.

Rick: I have quite a few 1911s all Colts save one; A Nighthawk. That would be my choice. I'm sure all the ones you mentioned are functionally superb as are the Nighthawks, so aesthetics did it for me.. Just saw your post, VERY nice pistol. Congrats, amigo!

My Dan Wesson Bruin with Holosun 507c2 is very very hard to beat.

An update on the new Les Baer:

235 rounds fired today, all handloads.

Zero hiccups. Absolutely 100% functionality.

I am past the 500-round break-in now ... I think I’ll shoot it one more time before I break it down and perform first cleaning.

Very pleased right now!

Good to hear, man. Ol' Les builds a fine pistol.

You can never go wrong the a Baer! Mine was a lights out shooter. They are pretty much the tightest 1911s out there and are extremely accurate. Will serve you well for generations

I did not exactly follow the break in instructions. It involved to much high priced self defense ammo. Being a hand loader I did what I always do I loaded my own. Not one hiccup with everything I feed it. Concept V model. Hasbeen

Just finishing break-in with my LB Premier II and it is handling everything100%.

My first and still my favorite

Obviously a Colt Government Model, but what year?

Beautiful!

You did good. BAER’s 1.5” guns are amazing. Very tight. You will need to bear down on the bushing wrench to break it down. Love those pistols.

Good choice, Rick on buying a Les Baer.

Personal experience. Les Baer makes a solid, work gun. His 1911 tolerances are extremely tight and will need some breaking in. Depending on the model, some won’t have a lot of shaping to their edges or nice looking refinements, cut into the slide, that typically offer not much, other than eye appeal...They’re built for use, and a lot of it.

I liked his Thunder Ranch 1911 with front and rear slide serration. It’s a serviceable weapon that was designed for daily holster work. A very nice 1911 that once broken in, like good boots, will become a daily favorite to carry.

Wilson Combat makes a good 1911. Their line card for pistols has grown and diversified into other pistols besides the 1911’s. There’s a lot of name recognition built into the prices of their firearms - which isn’t bad, but they typically cost a little more than a Baer 1911. I think a lot of people buy them for the name recognition to show around the gun range. I own a couple of them. Both bought used, like new. I’ve put a few thousand rounds through both. They’re a nice weapon.

Nighthawk was started by former builders at Wilson. Their claim is one builder for one pistol, compared to Wilson Combat might have several builders working on the same pistol being built. I’ve never owned a Nighthawk built 1911. They’re typically a smidge more money than a Wilson build, depending on the model. Owners seem to like them. Many of the individuals who purchase a Wilson or Nighthawk tend to never really use the firearm to it’s potential. It’s almost like a prestige thing to own one. You’ll see a lot of both come up for sale used, but in like new condition.

One not mentioned, that is my personal favorite, is the STI Staccatto 2011. Double stack mag that holds 20+1 of 9mm. Excellent sight options depending on the model if an RMR with co-witness sights is your thing. Nice, smooth trigger, with good operating features and ambi-safety, and they run like a sewing machine.

Fantastic accuracy out of the box. It’s a smidge bulkier than a traditional 1911. But there’s a good selection of holster rigs available for them.

🦫

Turnbull Custom Commander. EXTREMELY accurate, fit and finish second to none.

Dat's what I'm talkin' 'bout.

Yes, very nice!

Where are your grips from, hikerbum? I'm waiting on a set of elk stags from Grashorns Gunworks that are going on a blued Les Baer.

Class cowboy, right there.

Skeen, you will not be disappointed with Patrick's work. I have a set of his elk stags on a 2.5" S&W Model 66-1. They fit like I had sent him the gun.