1911 in 9mm or conversion

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spooker609

Retired Screen Name
I would like to get a 1911 , never owned one but woould like to. I have 2 questions. 1) Who makes the best 9mm version on the average working stiffs budget.? 2) is it possible to convert a .45 1911 to 9mm and back again, how difficult is it and what parts are required? The reason for wanting 9mm is that everything else I have is 9 and it would make ammo stock pileing easier :) plus it's cheaper and that allows more practice, I might also get a .22 conversion ?
 
Springfield Armory is your best bet. They make a fullsize stainless 9mm 1911 that looks darn nice. IIRC Kimber doesn't make a 9mm 1911. Colt used to make them, you might be able to find a good deal on one of those but they are alot less common.

As an aside, you can convert a 9x19mm 1911 to .38 Super or 9x23 Winchester fairly easily if you want to later.
 
2nd the Springfield. Nice package & easily converted to 38 super from what I've been told. I don't think you can convert from 9mm to 45 tho...You may wanna look at getting a 22lr conversion for it tho, that might be pretty cool :ccol:
 
Springfield makes the only production model 1911 9mm I know of. A friend of mine has one. It took some gunsmithing to get reliable feeding and it may take some magazine adjustment, but it is a good shooter. It has an integral ramp barrel so you would have to have a similar one, plus slide and internals to convert to .45
Colt made some with standard barrels. I have a 1991A1 and a .38 Super with 9mm barrel.
The STI Trojan 9mm gets good reports, but it is more expensive.

A .45 can be converted to 9mm with a whole upper, slide, barrel and all internals.
The change is not something you do at the range. The ejector must be changed out and it is held in by a small, tight pin. I have heard of leaving out the pin and just laying the ejector in its socket to be retained by the slide, but I don't know how well that would work.
Some say the frame feed ramps are different enough to make conversions impractical. Maybe so, but at one time Colt made a 9mm conversion kit themselves. I know of one .38 Super on a Gold Cup frame and a .45 on a .38 Super frame that work well. The 9mm is a little more trouble on the big 1911 but not too bad.
 
>>> Springfield makes the only production model 1911 9mm I know of.

...And a friend of mine has an older Colt M1911 pattern 9mm. Why so few? Because if you are going to shoot 9mm you have an incredible array of designs to chose from, from old "classics" like the Luger to "Middle-aged" designs like the Browning High Power, P-38 or CZ 75, to the modern polymer compacts. Why not get (or keep) a M1911 in .45 ACP and buy a pistol that will broaden your collection?
 
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