1911a1 and the 21st century?

C

CSAY

New member
Maybe it's because I'm holding on to a bygone era,but I can't get away from the 1911a1. I've gone in circles,when it
comes to handguns and always ended up right back at the 1911a1. Why? I shoot just about anything else better. In my
experience,I've had less problems with just about any other
pistol I've owned. IMO the 1911a1 is a pain in the posterior
to disassemble and it's just downright heavy. It's the 21st century and IMO technology has surpassed my sentimental favorite. So why do I insist on carrying this antique? I don't know,I just do! Is this prudent?
 
I've also wanted a 1911 style pistol at one point. I like the way it looks, the single stack, .45 caliber, that big hole at the end of the barrel, and the history behind it to name a few. However, when I tried handling one one, it wasn't what expected. I just don't feel comfortable with the grip safety. I think the gun has too many safeties. That's just me...
 
Well, I'd like a firing pin safety on a 1911. I mean one different from the plunger arrangement on some Colts and Para-Ordance 1911's.
Besides that, I'd choose a barrel like the P-35. Dealing with a bushing and the little spring by the slide stop isn't for everybody.
Besides that the design works. Of course, any design that has had as many changes and modifications as the 1911 better work.
Who can figure why we like what we like. Look at all those posts by Glock lovers who try to convert us all to "Glock perfection".
 
It's the opposite for me, I shoot the 1911 better then any other 'modern' handgun. In addition, it feels the best in my hand.

Field stripping a 1911 for cleaning should only take 1 minute or less.
 
I dreamed last night of my Caspian being featured in AH, as an example of a "finest-quality" custom 1911 carry gun.

I'm serious.
 
HK USP!! Same simple operation and even easier cleaning. Come to think about it, I think it's even easier to operate. The slide can be manipulated without disengaging the safety, and there's no grip safety. I had 5k rds through a USP compact .45 in all of 6 months, and it handled the (ab)use very well.
 
And where did HK get the USP from?
John Moses Browning. Take a look at most any USP dedicated page and it will tell you that it uses a Modified Browning Action. (like most modern pistols) The Slide Stop and Safety are similar (by design) to the 1911. HK did that for a reason. Most (yes, I said most) shooters find the 1911 very easy to handle... from the safety operation to the grip angle.
The 1911 is the Best pistol design ever. Those that have come after it may be different but they are not BETTER.
Glocks took pistol design in a new direction - but not neccessarily a better direction. The HK P7 is a departure as well... and its a great pistol indeed... but not BETTER.
The 1911 is the best there is.
 
I can't really understand anyone's irrational attraction to the 1911 design, either. If my gun jammed all the time, and was very finicky about magazines, recoil springs, extractor tension, and all the other things that people complain about on their 1911's, it would drive me crazy - and I certainly wouldn't trust my life to a gun like that.
 
RickB my 1911 is not finicky about anything. It fires everytime I pull the trigger. I think one of the factors that we see so many problems being reported about the 1911 is that there are just so damn many of the 1911's! There's never been a more duplicated design/handgun than the 1911. When you have that many of one thing out there, your more likely to hear the horror stories than not

George - In the HK catalog it is printed very specifically next to the .45 USP that IT IS a modified Browning design. Just to give more creedance to your statement.
 
JMB

Face it, if it wasn't for Browning, we'd all be shooting revolvers. Or maybe modified Borchart or Luger designs. JMB is the most important firearms inventor of all time, and no semi-auto pistol has truly broken from his general guidelines yet. I should stop now, before I write a novel.
 
here is one that would like to have a 1911, i am fond of single actions, nice triggers, but i have not been able to find a 1911 that fits my big old hand
some told me to look into a bigger after market grip
i want to see what a pa p14 feels like in my hand, it might fit better right off the bat, i would still get the single action trigger and a little more capacity
just need to find one to try out
until then my next one will be a cz 97b where i can get the best of both worlds
 
Man oh man I'm wanting a 1911 more than ever now.

I just sent in my payment for an Argentinian Colt 1927 and I was told that it may take...some time for it to get to me.

Waiting is the hardest part
 
I just wrote this in comment regarding the Browning High Power, but it applies just as well to the 1911...

People's responses to 1911s remind me of the old Harley Davidson ad from years ago.

"You ask me why I like my Harley? If I have to explain it to you, you wouldn't understand."

Just insert 1911 for Harley. If we have to explain it, well, you wouldn't understand...

Maybe I'll name my first born son "John Moses" (if my wife will let me...)
 
I think one reason is that it is very good at what it was designed to do (personal defense) and very good at things it wasn't designed to do (race guns, bullseye guns etc.). Let's face it, personal defense is no different today than it was in 1911. People are people.
One thing that has always puzzed me. I have owned a few 1911s, maybe 10-12. I currently own four. I have never had any problems other than worn out parts. I have shot many, many, many thousands of rounds from them. I have worn out magazines, extractors, ejectors, springs........ but the guns just keep on shooting when the part is replaced. Once upon a time I shot IPSC. I was shooting limited class with a stock out of the box series 70 Colt. In practice (practice was an average of 1500 rounds per week) I started having extractor problems; it needed a new one. I didn't have a new one. So, when I got off work the morning of the match, I went to a store and bought a new series 80. I shot the match with a gun that I had never fired before, never cleaned, never even had home without the slightest hitch. All these problems that I keep hearing about seem to keep eluding me. Surprisingly, ONE guy at the club I shot at, was shooting something other than a 1911. I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer but, when virtually everyone is shooting the same gun, that tells me something.
 
The 1911 used to be the example of how a automatic pistol could be reliable, now it's considered unreliable? I think people are building dedicated target pistols out of them then claiming their not a combat weapon (well it was before you got messing with it).

I've had three 1911's (2 1991 A1's and one Norinco clone) all functioned perfectly, never even had a failure to feed with any hollowpoints in the 1991A1'a (never tried them in the Norinco). None were match accurate, but all three went boom everytime I pulled the trigger. Kinda sounds like a Glock doesn't it.

Regards, Blue Duck
 
The guys who say the Colt Government Model is unreliable have either

1) never owned one
2) monkeyed with it trying to "improve" it
3) Owned an inferior copy and felt he had to justify it by knocking the original
 
Gotta chime in

and agree with Big G exactly.

I own three, a Colt Officer's and Commander and a Springfield Armory, Inc., Milspec 1911A1. The Officer's and the Commander each shoot into about an inch at fifteen yards. The 1911A1 is not quite as accurate but all are reliable. I haven't tried to improve them a bit, but I keep them clean and lubricated and I replace the springs as needed, especially the recoil and firing pin springs. Your mileage shouldn't vary.

Regards,

Ledbetter
 
Borrowing a line from a Star Wars movie, the 1911 is "an elegant weapon from a more civilized time". There is a history, and even a mystery to the Government . My 1911-a1 is accurate, reliable, adequately powerful, and easy for me to shoot and operate. In my book, that's a good defensive firearm.

There are more reports of 1911's failing because of two major reasons: 1) There have been approximately a bazillion of the blasted things made. Even if 1911's and Glocks had the same failure rate, by the simple fact that there are more 1911's, there will be more 1911 failures. If I test 10,000 Glocks and get one failure, and I test 1,000,000 1911's and get 100 failures, it doesn't mean the the 1911 is an inferior tool simply because it had more failures. 2) There are many cheap knock-offs of the GM. I can flip through my el-cheapo gun catalog and buy a 1911 for $150. If you built a SIG/HK/Glock for that price, you would have some failures too. There aren't companies out there producing cheap imitations of the other high quality guns, but there are companies producing low quality 1911's. I expect a $600 1911 to perform to the same standard of excellence as a $600 Glock. I do NOT expect a $150 1911 to perform as well as ANY $600 sidearm.

Disclaimer: I am not a Government researcher, and any statements presented are solely the production of the writers warped mind.
 
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