1911 Opinions

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Chris.Cal

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I'm thinking about buying one in the near future. Anyone own or shoot the Remington R1? Am I better off saving for something like the S&W? How hard are these to custom build with no experience and is that a cost effective option? I want it to plink at the range primarily, not looking to ccw this.
 
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I've had no problems with my AO 1911 and have a few hundred rounds through it. They are under $500. Very basic A1 type model.
 
Unless you reload, .45ACP makes for some relatively expensive plinking.


That said, a used Colt or S&W won't be much more than a new Remington, although the R1s are nice looking guns, and have so far received generally good reviews.
 
I can only speak to the SW 1911ss .45acp.

I did try several other 1911s before buying this one, my experience was that the SW was for me, based on what I like in a firearm.

Mine is a no frills, basic, well balanced, reliable, great trigger and excellent shooter.

This model is $750.00 and up.

Being a .45acp the ammo is expensive. I have 2,500-3,000 rounds through it with no issues.

1911 Stock Grips 2.jpg

So my vote would be save up and buy an SW.

Disclaimer I am Smith Wesson biased, almost all my guns are S&W.

I as well would love to build a 1911 some day :)
 
I'd also like to add: If you can, get yourself a model with a bobbed hammer and a beavertail. That way you won't ever have to clean blood off your gun [laugh]
 
Reloading is definitely in my future. My collection needs something that eats .45 ACP. I have always wanted a 1911 but was curious about remington r1 because I haven't seen anything cheaper. I've seen it as low as $625 brand new and figured there were a few corners that were cut. If that's the case I'll keep saving or buy used.
 
It is a good idea to figure out just what you want as far as accessories or modifications, and buy a pistol with this stuff installed by the factory. It will be a lot more expensive to have a gunsmith do this work later on.
 
I LOVE my 1911R1. Great gun for the money. In fact it is now the ONLY 1911 I own.
I have owned Colts, AO's and USGI's.
 
+1 on the s&w.

However I've shot the SiG and Kimber, all fired nicely. But if you're going to fire a lot through it, dont get an alluminum framed one.
 
I would suggest your start with a used government S&W as you are in MA. Colt, Springfield are safe bets - if you can find them in MA. Kimber has a bed rep for quality and longevity, I have little personal experience with them. Para, RIA - you get what you pay for. The Remington seems well received. The SIGs seem nice, having only handled one in a store.

Custom guns, even if you build it yourself, are not more economical. Some may disagree citing Essex frames and cheap Sarco parts, but I wouldnt even bother going that route. The tools you would need would add cost as well. Building one yourself that runs reliably is not that hard, building one that feels and performs like a custom gun on the other hand...
 
no matter what building is no bargin. Between tools and trips to the gun smith.......that said all my S&W run flawless. I have a off the shelf base model which will hold minute of paper plate @ 25yards and a smith and wesson PerformanceCenter model which will give great groups when I feel like trying. I plink with the base model with my cast bullets/reloads. problem being is its tough to find a colt or USGI model for the same money as a S&W. Theres 2 colt series 70s that I know of asking price is 1100.00 ea. ?
 
Love my 1911PD - although it was a bit more then your intended budget. .45 is still my favorite round...I do reload.
 
rogzballz said:
+1 on the s&w.

However I've shot the SiG and Kimber, all fired nicely. But if you're going to fire a lot through it, dont get an alluminum framed one.
Click to expand...

I didn't know they made an aluminum framed 1911. I own a couple of scandium framed 1911's and they seem to work great. Have you had a problem with an aluminum framed SW1911?
 
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The new S&W E-series is a nice looking gun. The S&W's that I've handled (but not shot) seemed quite nice -- very good barrel lockup, good fit of slide to frame, crisp trigger feel. I was at Greg Derr's last Saturday and he said that he very rarely has S&Ws in his shop that have problems and he considers them to be good guns.

I prefer the E-series to their older models, as the E-series does not have the Swartz-style firing pin safety.
 
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The best buy in terms lof features and price are the Dan Wesosn 1911's. I have them in 9mm, 40 S&W and 45 ACP. I do not believe they are generally availanble in MA. My next best choice would be the S&W with their lifetime warranty.
 
If I was buying a new 1911 I'd try to get my hands on an Dan Wesson or an S&W E-Series. On the low end I would look at the ATI, a RIA, or the R1 (which it looks like you're already investigating). The R1 I saw in person looked like a decent gun, and the owner had no issues with it.

-Mike
 
Lot's of good opinions running through here. At this point I am going to rule out custom building my own, maybe in the future. Though, nobody has mentioned any manufacturers to stay away from. I will go out on a limb assuming its due to the fact that the design has been tried and proven for a hundred years, and can be hard to screw up as long as the materials being used are decent?..? (Question/ Statement)
 
McSweeney said:
Lot's of good opinions running through here. At this point I am going to rule out custom building my own, maybe in the future. Though, nobody has mentioned any manufacturers to stay away from. I will go out on a limb assuming its due to the fact that the design has been tried and proven for a hundred years, and can be hard to screw up as long as the materials being used are decent?..? (Question/ Statement)
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No! Absolutely not.

There are plenty of 1911s with problems. To begin with, 1911s take more hand fitting and are generally (though not always) not as reliable as many more modern designs. Feedway stoppages are a common issue. Common causes of failures to feed include improperly tensioned extractors, rough breech faces, etc.

Kimber has had lots of problems with their Series II guns, having gone through at least three different designs for their external extractor. I don't recommend the Kimber II models.

Both Kimber and S&W's pre-E-series guns use a Swartz-style firing pin safety. If the safety isn't timed properly, you can get a failure to fire. Kimber seems to have had more issues with this than S&W, based on what I've read on the internet (clearly not an accurate statistical sampling, so take that for what it's worth).

ParaOrdnance has had quite a few issues and I strongly recommend that you stay away from them. My P14-45 had the hammer start to follow the slide, has many failures to feed near the end of a magazine, and the slide stop is starting to peen the slide stop notch on the slide. My experience with PO is not unique.

Sig's early 1911s had many issues.

There are many different aftermarket magazines with different designs, and some work better in individual guns than others.

Some good 1911 makers include: Colt, S&W, Wilson Combat, Springfield Armory, Ed Brown. The new Ruger 1911 looks quite nice, but I have no experience with it and it hasn't been around long enough to get a reputation for good or bad.
 
turbo38gn said:
I didn't know they made an aluminum framed 1911. I own a couple of scadmium framed 1911's and they seem to work great. Have you had a problem with an aluminum framed SW1911?
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Scandium framed S&Ws **ARE** aluminum.

Scandium is added to aluminum in minute quantities to make an alloy that is tougher than normal aluminum.
The proper term would be Aluminum-Scandium alloy.

As a point of reference, Scandium cost $125,000 / lb. So when I say they add a minute amount of Sc to Al, I mean MINUTE. But it doesn't take much for it to appreciably toughen Aluminum.

Don
 
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I recently bought a S&W1911 Scandium E-Series. Shoots really nice and feels great in the hand.



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Alloy framed bobtailed commander is the best trade off between size, weight, controllability, and concealability. In my humble opinion. Here's mine:

DSC_5873cropped.jpg
 
dcmdon said:
Alloy framed bobtailed commander is the best trade off between size, weight, controllability, and concealability. In my humble opinion. Here's mine:

DSC_5873cropped.jpg
Click to expand...

sweet looking gun bro!

PS i tried out the S&W 1911, not the e series, thing of beauty, i wonder how the recoil would be on the e series, since they are made out of aluminum and not steel

IF anyone can tell me about the Recoil on the new e series 1911 , that would be cool, or I plan on taking a drive to S&W and firing one at the range
 
jbize1 said:
PS i tried out the S&W 1911, not the e series, thing of beauty, i wonder how the recoil would be on the e series, since they are made out of aluminum and not steel

IF anyone can tell me about the Recoil on the new e series 1911 , that would be cool, or I plan on taking a drive to S&W and firing one at the range
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Not all E-series are aluminum. Some are made out of stainless steel: http://www.smith-wesson.com/webapp/...70151_757752_757751_ProductDisplayErrorView_Y

Certainly an aluminum-framed 1911 has more recoil than a steel-framed 1911. How much is really based on personal perception.
 
IMO buying an AL/Scandium framed gun for anything other than carry is just a dumb idea. If you shoot it at the range 99% and carry it 1%, a lightweight frame is just punishing you for no good reason.

-Mike
 

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