1911 MEU commercial version

C

corsair

New member
If I'm looking to purchase a commercial / civilian version of the 1911's that USMC MEU's were issued, what model and manufacture should I look at?

I realize that those modified basic weapons had Bar-Sto barrels, Houge grips, along with tuned triggers and adjustable sights. Who makes a production version of such a beast? I realize I can build a 1911 into something better than, but thats not what I'm interested in.
 
corsair,

Hi there. There is a commercial version of the MEU(SOC) 1911 being made. It's made be Iron Brigade Armory( www.ironbrigadearmory.com ), makers of the famous Chandler Sniper Rifle. The .45 is built by hand by Marine RTE 2112
Armorers to Retired Lt Col Norman Chandler's specifications. It's made on a Caspian slide and frame, BarSto barrel, 500 hr salt spray polymer finish, Novak night sights, Wilson mags, etc etc.
They don't advertise the pistol yet, buy they make it.
Dave
 
I have a 1911 Col. Chandler built for me(it was actually built before they decided to go ahead and make them a production piece). I can whole heartledly say it`s the best 1911 I have ever seen. I`ve shot the FBI 1911, Wilsons, Kimbers and it`s just as good or better than any of those pistols. They aren`t cheap, but just like his rifles... you will get what you pay for.

CS#158
 
Having seen pictures and read personal accounts of IBA 1911's I am impressed. The price is pretty impressive as well. But, as the responses have said well worth it.

Perhaps I should have phrased my question differently. I was looking for a piece that was more main-stream, factory production. I realize that the work on MEU 1911's is specialized in it's own right. Would Springfield's TRP, Kimber's Custom line or one of Wilson's products measure up? Comparitively at least?

Ultimately I'm going to get a mil-spec to send to IBA for the work, but for the sake of comparison and the public...
 
I don`t think there is a production 1911 so to speak that is similar to what a MEU(SOC) pistol is. As you mentioned they are hand built one at a time. There are alot of good pistols out there.. just need to find out what is right for what you want. The Springfield Mil-Spec is similar to one, and is a good foundation to start with. In chatting with Pat Rogers on other boards..he mentioned that alot of Force guys use personally owned Kimbers to train with on their workups before deployments, then they go with the issue pistol when they are on the cruise.

I think you`ll be happy with IBA`s work.. Tiny really likes doing pistols, and it doesn`t leave till he says it does. If ya talk to Jr tell him IBA Notrh sent ya.. he`ll know what ya mean..lol

Good Luck with it,
CS#158
 
corsair, you said,
"Would Springfield's TRP, Kimber's Custom line or one of Wilson's products measure up? "

IMO, expecting a factory pistol, even a Wilson, to measure up to a pistol hand made by Marine professional gunsmiths is unrealistic. These RTE guys know what they are doing.

Regarding the MEU(SOC) 1911, from what I've read, they only have one performance requirement....go bang! everytime, without fail. They don't have to look nice, don't have to have a fancy finish(they are parkerized), don't have 1" accuracy requirments, etc. All you have to do is look at www.1911forum.com and you'll see an occasional story about a Wilson, TRP, Kimber, etc failing somehow. But they all sure look nice and shoot tight groups. MEU(SOC) 1911s go Bang!

Pat Rogers, Gunsite instructor and Force Recon Marine, told a story on another board about his personal MEU(SOC) 1911, and it had 82,000 documented rounds through it. Also at a 5 week CQB school he taught, 21 Force Recon Marines put 15-20K rounds apiece through their MEU(SOC) 1911s, and they had 2 broken extractors(easy fix). I personally wouldn't expect a factory gun to do as well as these custom guns do. That doesn't mean the factory guns aren't nice, after all, how many of us are going to shoot as much as a Force Recon Marine? Very few of us. At the same course, 4 other Marines had M9s, and they went through seven M9 pistols, 6 lost to broken locking lugs, one with a broken safety. Beretta's (at least the one's in the military inventory) are not very durable apparently. I've learned alot just reading Mr Rogers' posts, I can't imagine how much I'd learn taking a class from him.

It's probably apparent that I find the idea of a pistol made like these IBA MEU(SOC) 1911s very appealing. It's supposed to be an improved version of the Marine issue piece, much like the Chandler Sniper Rifle is an improved issued M40 Sniper Rifle.

Dave
 
Thank you

Dave Williams, dsk and CS158, thanks for your imput. Seeing the parts in an MEU it appears that a factory would not be able to produce an equivalent in large quantities. Perhaps one could, but the costs and time to produce wouldn't seem economical. Therefore, an MEU 1911 is really a custom piece of work, which I'd like to own.

I've read a number of Pat Rogers responses to various questions on another forum and he's quite the fount of insightful information. A true resource.
 
corsair.. no problem

There is a few threads from a couple months back dealing with the MEU(SOC) 1911 on www.TacticalForums.com go to the Force Recon forum. Pat Rogers is a regular on there too( well noone has been there much lately.. but its understandable).

Hope I was able to help you out

CS#158
 
From the horse's mouth:

Since you folks know Pat Rogers, here's his comment to me when I asked him to look in on this thread:

The Kimber custom classic, Springfield Loaded, or the new Colt 1991A1 are all roughly similar to the MEU(SOC) pistols, at a lesser price. I recommended the Kimber to USMC as a training gun to save wear on the go to war set.
Click to expand...

Quite a testament to modern manufacturing methods, and also to manufacturers who have listened to what shooters want.
 
I wonder if Pat Rodgers would comment on the heavy duty effects on the Kimber, Springfield and Colt MIM parts. Also breakage rates and general performance of these firearms.
 
Sierra,

You must be the same jerk-off that got kicked off TF for running your mouth and basically Marine bashing. Just because you couldn`t hack it doesn`t give you the right to talk **** about the Corps. Go crawl back under your rock, before you end up over your head here as well.

Oh and by the way...in case you decide to check me out... my Scout/Sniper assn # is 148.

LIProgun...Gates of Fire.. great book

CS#158
 
Was Sierra's post edited to take out the apparently offensive parts, or did I miss something?

I think we may have a case of mistaken identity here.
 
buzz,

Could be a bad call on my part. There is a guy going by the same Screen Name on TF.. questioning the credibility of an individual, and it is someone who is a good friend of alot of the guys who post there. If this Sierra and the one who was booted from TF are not the same.. You have my sincere apolagies, If they are the same.. my comment stands.

CS#158
 
oh boy!

CS158, I remember that one. Holy sh**! Talkin' about stiring a hornets nest. Not a good place to question or pose to question the veracity and legitimacy of someone. Particularly in such community. Not a place to for candy a** questions.

I enjoy reading your insight along with Pat's, thanks for posting.
 
Chandlersniper158 - Lighten up dude. As a retired military officer with quite a bit of interservice work, I don't bash any military service. I don't know what you had for breakfast, or what you read into my post but obviously all cylinders were not firing. Pat Rodgers probably could provide insights on durability, accuracy and long term reliability on 1911 pattern guns which is simply not being provided by manufacturers. I think we all could benefit from those observations. As for you, check out lithium.
 
Sierra,

Go back and reread the posts after your initial post explaining why I stated what I did(perticurlary the one to buzz). Where I admitted where I could be wrong and apolagized. I couldn`t agree with you more on Pats knowledge and experience with the 1911 pistols, Go back and read.. I was the first one to bring his name up on this thread! He probably has forget more about them that the majority of this site knows collectively.

As for what I had for breakfast... a glass of Ice tea and a handful of peanut M&M`s on my way to the range... and I can definately assure you each and every one of my cylinders were firing when they were supposed to.

Have a nice evening...

CS#158
 
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