Buying 1911

[Yelena]

OK, so I decided (surprise, surprise!) to buy 1911. What I'm looking for is a functional, reliable gun which can be used for fun and for defense. Price is not a huge issue. The saleperson from Competition Shooting Supplies, where I buy everything, advised me to think of Brazilian Taurus. Tonight, I had tried this gun. It is surprisingly accurate and handy. I liked it a lot. However,I'd like to ask for more opinions here. What whould you guys recommend?
Thanks!

 

[BOBKATT]

No Taurus. Get a SW or if you have the money find a Colt.

 

[copterdoctor]

My Kimber has been very reliable and is much more accurate than I am.

 

[noidlight]

+1 Smith & Wesson.

 

[Firetarr]

+1 for Kimber, you will not be sorry!

 

[jar]

I love my S&W. If I lived in freer state, I would've given Springfield a good long look also.

 

[Scrivener]

You are in RI. Consider Springfield and Valtro, depending upon your budget. I was very happy with my Springfield "Loaded" model.

 

[Underwhere]

There's a lot left to personal preference.

I love my S&W's. They are great shooters and just plain reliable. I've gotten great service with them.

The Kimber's I have are a tad more susceptible to rust and are also great shooters. I feel like in order for me to keep them in good condition I need to spend more effort on them.

 

[Hanwei]

S&W is great. Kimber is great. Colt is great.

I have/had one of each.

Regarding the rust thing... for what it's worth, both my S&W and Kimber developed some rust which I found quickly and got rid of quickly... no damage done (Kimber had rust on the outside of the barrel and my S&W had rust on the grip safety and hammer). Both were caused by my sweaty paws. I learned my lesson and always wear nitrile gloves when cleaning all of my guns... I also wipe each gun down completely with a silicone rag after handling them to get rid of any sweat or oils that cause rust.

I guess my point is... if you've got sweaty hands... any gun will have rust problems if you don't keep them clean all of the time.

So whatever 1911 you get... keep them clean!

 

[depicts]

I think what you're seeing here is a general distrust of Taurus guns. They have a great warranty, because that is the only way they can sell them.

Their 1911 looks good in the ads. You seem to get a lot of features for the money. People still don't like Taurus. There is a reason for this, and quality and dependability are two of the reasons.

Spend just a little more and get a Smith & Wesson or a Springfield or a Colt or even a Kimber if you want to spend that much.

A quality gun will make you happy forever. A bargain priced gun may not keep you as happy long term.

Bill

 

[SineMetu82]

I've got nothing but good things to say about my S&W 1911PD.

A friend of mine has a Taurus PT111(thats hardly been fired) that I found 2 cracks in the slide on! So we boxed it up and sent it back, that was at the end of Feb. Its almost July and he still has not got the thing back yet! IMHO, not only does Taurus's quality suck, the warrenty service does too(although they ARE fixing his gun for free, I just wonder if they are doing the machine work with a hand chisel)

Aside from my 1911PD and Remington 870P, the rest of my guns are between 40 and 67 years old. There aren't any cracks in the steel on them. Made in the good ol' USA. Taurus is made in Brazil. Seeing that Taurus have stress cracks after light use was the biggest endorsement for a more reputable gunmaker like S&W, Colt, etc. than anything else in my eyes.

 

[Bugs100]

I have a lot of 1911's and have 3 S&W's in that group. Out of all of them I like the S&W's the best. The one I use the most is my S&W pd.

 

[M1911]

I've got 3 Series I Kimbers that I like. But I would not buy a Series II Kimber -- I just do not trust the Schwartz style firing pin safety.

 

[Fsorrent]

+1 on the S&W 1911's!

 

[scooter]

You cant go wrong with SW or Kimber,both make me look good.

Well on paper anyway

 

[mark056]

Yelena,

Frankly, I don't know how anyone of us in the People's Republic of Massachusetts can offer objective advice regarding the Taurus since we have no direct access to them (unless we moved into the state with one). I know that since the 1980's Taurus produced some pretty decent revolvers. I had a friend who had one and it outshot my S&W 586. My dad had one of the Beretta clones in 9mm and he was happy with it. It seemed to me to be reasonably accurate and well made, and I never observed any problems with it. This may or may not be germain to the topic, but all Springfield Armory 1911's are manufactured in Brazil and then customized or refabricated in Illinois. For the PRM 1911 buyer, it appears that the S&W is the best one available new.

I own a Colt Series 80 and one of the Kahr made Auto Ordnance GI Models. The Colt is what it is, neither the best nor the worst to come out of Hartford and I have had some custom work done on it. The Auto Ordnance is a fun gun that I haven't put many rounds through, but it is strictly GI except for the Series 80 firing pin safety. (although originally advertised as having a traditional firing pin set-up, all GI models of fairly recent vintage have the Series 80 system). If I had a choice to purchase any 1911 I wanted from a non-custom maker I would lean very heavily towards the Kimber...but if cost were a factor, I might consider the Taurus simply because it may in the end offer the best value.

In this particular instance, although we all have opinions about Taurus firearms, only those who actually have hands-on experience with the Taurus 1911, should be the ones to render an opinion. There is opinion and then again there is informed opinion.

Cordially and respectfully,

Mark L.

 

[M1911]

In this particular instance, although we all have opinions about Taurus firearms, only those who actually have hands-on experience with the Taurus 1911, should be the ones to render an opinion. There is opinion and then again there is informed opinion.

I don't have any hands-on experience with Taurus. I do know that Four Seasons stopped carrying them due to quality control issues -- this was before the AG's silliness. I don't know if Taurus quality has improved since then. Also, this was long before Taurus started making 1911s.

 

[Mike1911]

I do know that Four Seasons stopped carrying them due to quality control issues -- this was before the AG's silliness. I don't know if Taurus quality has improved since then. Also, this was long before Taurus started making 1911s.

Very true as I had asked Carl about them a few years back.

Stick with a SW1911 and you won't go wrong.

 

[mark056]

Stick with a SW1911 and you won't go wrong.

Mike,

Is this based on your experience with other 1911's such as Colt, Spingfield and Kimber or is it merely based on the fact that a Smith and Wesson 1911 is about the best you can get in Massachusetts new, and therefore that's what you shoot?

I'm not knocking S&W 1911's; they are good guns from all reports, but when you have real freedom of choice and are not looking for a custom or semi-custom pistol (Les Baer, Ed Brown, Rock River etc. etc.) then I think both Kimber and Springfield Armory have to jump out as extremely viable options.

It may be in the end the S&W is the best choice compared to the others, but do you have the sufficient experience to say that unequivocally?

If someone from Mass asked the question as to what 1911 to get, then I would say S&W too, but Yelena lives in a free place where she actually has choices.

All the best,

Mark L.

 

[packingungal]

Yelena,

In this particular instance, although we all have opinions about Taurus firearms, only those who actually have hands-on experience with the Taurus 1911, should be the ones to render an opinion. There is opinion and then again there is informed opinion.

Cordially and respectfully,

Mark L.

I AM an owner of 2 Taurus guns - neither are 1911's. Both have performed very well, and I use them regularly. The last one is a dream to clean, has superb accuracy and quality is pretty darn fine. The first one is a PT111 and I use it regularly as well - a little harder to clean.

Personally, I do alot of reading and research, look at everything, try everything, listen to opinions - make my own decision. It's my money, it's my gun and it will be my fun. So, that is my recommendation.

 

[Timbob1]

Yelena,

I own one Taurus revolver, and have never had any problems with it. I have about five hundred rounds through it.
John at Competition usually has a decent supply of used 1911s from various manufacterers in stock, so you might be able to pick up a really nice used one that you could not tell from new.

Tim

 

[M1911]

One thing to consider when looking at 1911s is the profile of the front strap. The front-strap on the Kimber is very round, making the gun very comfortable in my hand. I have a Springfield Armory gun and the profile of the front-strap is much more square. This increases the grip circumference a bit and makes the gun a bit less comfortable than the Kimbers. My Colt Delta Elite front-strap seems to be in between the Kimber and the Springfield.

My Springfield also had a two-piece barrel. I believe Springfield still uses a two-piece barrel in some of their guns. It was very inaccurate. My 4" Kimber Compact was noticeable more accurate than my 5" Springfield. I have since had the barrel changed on the Springfield to a Kart barrel. You can tell if it has a two-piece barrel by looking at the front of the barrel hood. If it is a two-piece barrel, you will see a noticeable seam. I recommend against by a Springfield with a two-piece barrel. In my experience, the accuracy just wasn't there.

 

[drgrant]

Frankly, I don't know how anyone of us in the People's Republic of Massachusetts can offer objective advice regarding the Taurus since we have no direct access to them (unless we moved into the state with one).

Come on mark, you should know better than that. If I were a betting man I wouldn't put it past the member base here (MA or otherwise) to have had some experience with Taurus products, old AND new. Just because the AG wants something to be a certain way doesn't mean thats how it pans out in reality. Hell, I've had the opportunity to buy at least a half dozen of their guns in the past year or so. One was a PT111 that was basically
brand new in the box.

If I were a betting man I would not want to be betting against the MA NES member base in terms of saying that someone here hasn't owned, handled or fired a Taurus 1911, or other Taurus products. While the chances someone in MA owning one is lower, it's not outside of the realm of possibility.

-Mike

 

[mark056]

If I were a betting man I would not want to be betting against the MA NES member base in terms of saying that someone here hasn't owned, handled or fired a Taurus 1911, or other Taurus products. While the chances someone in MA owning one is lower, it's not outside of the realm of possibility.
-Mike

I indicated in my post that it was not outside the realm of possibility when I suggested that someone could move into the state with a Taurus 1911 and then sell it. There is no doubt that has happened. It's also true that there is a quantity of used Taurus products around the Great Commonwealth, however we are talking about a specific model in the Taurus line.
There was a time in the not so distant past when Smith and Wesson Model 66 was a piece of junk, but that didn't mean that they weren't producing other models that weren't junk.

Look, I know what Carl said about Taurus, it's even posted on the Four Seasons website, that's one dealer's opinion, and now that opinion is ten years old.

I know what Taurus was like in the 1960's and 1970's, they produced very rough copies of S&W K frame revolvers. Their fortunes changed when they got a contract to make Beretta 92's under license for the Brazilian government. There was even a brief period of time when the Bangor Punta Corp, the then owner of S&W also owned Taurus and apparently there was some technology transfer between S&W and Taurus, although the details of this remain somewhat murky. After the Bangor Punta period, a gentleman by the name of Dr. Carlos Murgel (sp?) took over Taurus and they began producing much better firearms. I haven't tracked Taurus for a long time, and my experience with their firearms was /has been limited to what I stated in a previous post.

One gentleman wrote that he did have experience with a Tauras 1911 and there were cracks in it, that's valuable information, but that is also only one example of the product. I certainly would factor that experience in if I were selecting a brand to purchase, however.

Mark L.


So Mike, let's hear from those Massachusetts shooters that have either fired or owned a 1911 Taurus. I'm waiting to read a post .

 

[Yelena]

Thanks everybody for advices and suggestions, it is very useful to hear from people with experience. What I really whould like to do is to actually try several different guns and then to choose what's best for me. Maybe I better speed up with the decision, since the "free place" where I live has chances of becoming not so free in the future
It's probably a sort of not too himble to ask for it... But if some 1911 owners would be so generous to let me try their guns on occasion? In exhcange, I can offer to try my stuff!
Thanks again!

 

[Moderator]

I've got a Colt Series 70 and a S&W, you are more than welcome to try them both. Where do you shoot?

 

[EddieCoyle]

Yelena,

It's too bad you can't make the shoot on the 4th. There will be dozens of 1911's for you to try in one place.

I've never owned a Taurus 1911 and never will. I've owned four Taurus guns at various times (one revolver, two auto pistols, and one pump action .22 rifle) and found them to be junk. I was lucky enough to get rid of the handguns without losing too much money.

I still have the rifle because my son likes to shoot it.

 

[JimB]

gun tests

so far what i've read in gun tests the Taurus gun come up short.

They didn't lable them junk but there are better guns out there.

One other thing you could do is go to the Smith and Wesson shooting
sports center. You can try several of them there.

JimB

 

[Yelena]

I've got a Colt Series 70 and a S&W, you are more than welcome to try them both. Where do you shoot?

I belong to Stoney Brook Rod and Gun club, they only have an indoor range where you can't use jacketed ammo, and guests can't fire anything but 0.22. Hope to have a chance to go to Angle Tree in Attleboro in a couple of weeks.
If you would be so generous to invite me as a guest to some place where I can try them, I'd be very thankful.
Thanks for the offer!

 

[weekendplinker]

Yelana, Being in RI, are you restricted by any 'state compliance' laws/rules? That would be my first step in narrowing the choices. Next, I would visit several gun shops & physically handle each brand. I personally tend to focus on weight (carry piece?), size (concealability), ammo capacity (more ammo=more weight), sights, grip size/type, magazine release/safety system (easily operated w/one hand?), slide to frame fit, & finish. You mentioned 4 key factors; function, reliability, relegated duty (defense) & fun. For me, function & reliability depend on the brands 'earned reputation' as well as regular cleaning/maintenance. As for defense, the .45 is a time-proven performer (especially with the right defensive load). As for 'fun', there's nothing as relaxing as some range time. Happy shooting!