Soundwave
NES Member
I thought Derr was like double that?
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Best 1911's - Top Tier - Looking for recommendations
- Thread starter fencer
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I know a few guys that have $3k plus handguns that have had no problems as well.....but knowing 2 guys that own $3k boat anchors had me skeptical of spending that kind of cash on a handgun. For just under a grand I'm totally happy with the looks, performance, and reliability of my sig 1911.
And fwiw the makes I'm talking about are sti and Cajun gunworks.....neither of which have been mentioned on this thread as good reliability so......
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Soundwave
NES Member
I could be way off. But that's why I didn't bring him up earlier. His stuff is beautiful and local. Business end customs makes awesome stuff too. Lou was kind enough to answer some questions for me when I first started looking into 1911 customizing.
fencer
NES Member
I have heard a few horror stories, and just the terms on their pricing and general terms page are a little off putting. I also hate the idea that if you want a 1.5" gaurantee at 50 yards, they charge an additional $300. It's a $3000+ gun, but if you want it to be accurate you have to pay more.
They probably make great 1911's, but those things really just made me shake my head. Basically if you have another gunsmith even look at the gun, GFY. They put an awful lot of verbiage into telling you what to do if your gun sucks and why they will tell you to pound sand.
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They are all pretty tight.. The most recent one I purchased(new) isn't so bad. Prior to that I bought one slightly used(maybe a few hundred rounds) that is extremely tight. It would be interesting to know why the he'll they make them that way.
fencer
NES Member
To me, that would be a non starter.
At 4k+ I'd be looking at an SVI traditional.
Nighthawk is good. I'm more of a DW guy (specialist) (because price point) although honestly I enjoy shooting my springfield vickers masterclass the most. I also have a semi custom 1911 i picked up from a friend here that runs stellar, as well.
Yeah I thought Derr and Lou were significantly more than $4k. I remember Lou telling me what he clears for income just from building 1911’s each year (this was probably 2017ish?) After I did the math knowing how many 1911’s he builds each year it was a lot more than $4k
Double easily
Back in the day when I used to visit Deli ticket Emporium on the reg I would always run into people that liked the accuracy but they didn't really like the break in with those guns.
When I would shoot pins there would be guys that would flex with those things but it was kind of funny..... because then some dude with an SVI would show up and then their mouth would be shut. Less Beer* is a poverty gun comparatively so it dampened their boners a bit. Lol. FWIW the deadliest competitors ran basic shit, like smith 1911s. Some of those ran like sewing machines others were trash. The guy that mopped the floor with us? A pretty much bone stock old school Sig P220. By the numbers the P220 beat them all in reliability.
*one of the guys i shot pins with was Chinese. He had a thick accent. Great guy He had every 1911 you could buy but it was funny listening to him pronounce lb.
![[rofl]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/013.gif "ROFL [rofl]")
So that's what I call those guns because its burned into my brain.
It's the gun equivalent of heroin or something.
The design is fundamentally garbage* but I still have like 3 more 1911s on my "gun list"
*if you don't understand this statement, or are "triggered" by it, you haven't fired enough rounds through enough 1911s.
Tartakovsky
NES Member
Greg Derr aka Dr. 1911 or Lou from BEC will be able to build you the best 1911 you can get within your price range. Don’t let them deter you. They know these pistols better than anyone, shoot them as well and they are local. I live in Hanover and Greg is 15 minutes away. I can pop in on a Saturday morning and end up learning a lot from him in the process of building a 45.
Because well-heeled shooters with more money than sense don't understand the parameters around which the gun was designed. They began to equate "rattle" with "sloppiness" and, therefore, inaccuracy.
These custom builders are simply doing what the market demands.
There's a magic threshold at which most 1911s can be tuned just sloppy enough to be reliable but still tight enough to shoot tiny groups, but it sometimes takes an expensive smith to make that happen.
I've had jams in everything except for what people on here would call a POS, a S&W 1911. Cost me $800 10 years ago, its my most accurate handgun by far and has never given me a problem. My favorite gun hands down.
Lol most good builders wether they are a factory or a smith like Derr or Lou B. are not going to pull a Baer. That stuff us just insanity, and objectively excessively tight guns are usually fitted improperly. If the gun doesn't work properly* out of the box it's a failure, imo.
* there are vendors that occasionally ship junk magazines with their gun that's a whole other problem. All because they don't want a Wilson Combat marked/obvious product in the box with their gun.
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I indirectly arranged for a metallurgical analysis of a Baer gun in which the frame cracked longitudinally when a case head ruptured. The frame split so wide the mainspring fell on the floor with the retaining pin intact. The report came back with "All measurements consistend with 1141 hot rolled plate steel with no evidence of heat treating"; no evidence of deformation of manganese sulfide stringers; and a nice 200x photo of the nital etched surface of a polished sample. Regrettably, I no longer have the report.
The Greg Derr of an earlier era (Bob Javery, RIP) looked at the frame and told me it was incredibly soft.
But , Les did tell the owner he would stand by the gun. It was on the conference call in an extremely massive company's office listening to the conversation. Les said he really stood by his work, and would give him the premium accuracy version without the surcharge is he bought a replacement at full retail.
But, he does know how to make pretty guns.
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There was a shooter doing pin matches at local clubs a few decades ago with one of these crappy looking, accurate enough, 100% reliable single stack 45's. The gun was so ugly that everyone, including the owner, called it "the gas pipe" because the slide looked like one.
When you got to the firing line against him, you felt like you achieved something if you were able to clear your table first.
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The top builders know way more than we do about what makes a 1911 tick, and more importantly, how to build to the owners' specs.
A dedicated bullseye gun is probably not going to be anywhere close to what they do for a fail-safe carry piece. Two totally different uses that probably cancel each other out.
Talk to them and see what they say.
A dedicated bullseye gun is probably not going to be anywhere close to what they do for a fail-safe carry piece. Two totally different uses that probably cancel each other out.
Talk to them and see what they say.
1903Collector
NES Member
4.25" Performance center has been my EDC for a while now, have over 3K rounds thru it with not one malfunction, no bullshit either. It works and hits what I aim at.
Im not so sure if this is true
My oldest 1911 with the highest round count is a S&W 1911 bare bones model
I have done ZERO to this thing in 5000 rounds mostly 230 fmj ball . Only mags it did not like are the plastic ones.
My colt is 1980s vintage is rough and its never failed
I’ve been down this rabbit hole a couple times and it’s a bottomless pit.
I’ve owned nice guns from all but Nighthawk. Les Baer, Ed Brown, Wilson, and Rock River Arms all make (or have made) great 1911s that are reliable, beautiful and more accurate than the vast majority of shooters. I’ve also had a few full house custom guns made my Ned Christiansen, Stan Chen and Novak.
Like high end cars and motorcycles, they all go fast and look pretty
When I recovered from my 1911addiction, I gave each kid a Novak built gun, kept a RRA basic limited match and a couple colts and old Kimber’s. Sold/traded the rest.
I sleep better and no longer twitch when I’m in the presence of a nice 1911.
I’ve owned nice guns from all but Nighthawk. Les Baer, Ed Brown, Wilson, and Rock River Arms all make (or have made) great 1911s that are reliable, beautiful and more accurate than the vast majority of shooters. I’ve also had a few full house custom guns made my Ned Christiansen, Stan Chen and Novak.
Like high end cars and motorcycles, they all go fast and look pretty
When I recovered from my 1911addiction, I gave each kid a Novak built gun, kept a RRA basic limited match and a couple colts and old Kimber’s. Sold/traded the rest.
I sleep better and no longer twitch when I’m in the presence of a nice 1911.
Nomad3
NES Member
I look forward to shooting a top tier 1911 someday; and will no doubt be comparing it to my smith 1911 pro series govt in 9mm. It's been reliable, accurate, and a great trigger that, other than cosmetics, I would look for in a much more expensive 1911.
I question what you get in a $2k+ 1911 that you can't get for under $2k but if you got the money and it puts a smile on your face, it's worth it.
I question what you get in a $2k+ 1911 that you can't get for under $2k but if you got the money and it puts a smile on your face, it's worth it.
Soundwave
NES Member
I have family in Brentwood so I've looked into them as well. Ion bond finish is supposedly the best.
