9mm 1911

R

RHarris

New member
Does anyone have any experience with 1911's chambered in 9mm? I'm interested due to the lower recoil and ammo cost.

Kimber has one listed in their catalog. Who else makes one? Are there major differences between the parts on them and .45 1911's other than the barrel and magazine? Can a .45 be easily converted to 9mm? Do the barrels have a left hand twist? How does one compare to a Browning Hipower? Are these things worth messing with?
 
I may be able to help with some of these questions. In 9mm I have a Colt's Combat Commander and a 1991A1 GM. They're a lot of gun for 9mm, but I like them. They recoil less than their .45 brothers. But as important to me, they're something a little out of the ordinary, and in general are just fun to shoot.

In addition to the barrel and mag, the 9mm slide (including the extractor) is different from the .45. The ejector is also different. In fact, 9mm 1911s are closer to guns set up for .38 Super than for .45. So, I think a 9mm to .45 conversion would be possible, but would involve the upper half of the pistol and then some.

Are 9mm 1911s worth the effort? It's a good question, but the answer may be kind of subjective. I find them interesting and fun pistols, and mine are keepers. But where 1911s are concerned, the more appropriate and certainly more traditional sub-.45 cartridge remains the .38 Super.

HTH.



[Edited by jimmy on 12-27-2000 at 10:52 AM]
 
Although Kimber lists them in their catalog, they are not producing any, apparently due to the demand for .40 and .45.
 
ParaOrdnance is manufacturing a LDA high capacity model.

I didn´t know if these pistols are at the gunshops.

alp-257
 
Conversion from 9mm to .38 Super requires a simple barrel and magazie swap, but conversion to .45 does require the complete top half PLUS the ejector in the frame.

I met one guy who used to leave the pin, that holds the ejector in place when the slide is off, out of the frame so he could swap that part out easily when changing calibers. He never had any problems, but...
 
Minor point, but

nobody mentioned recoil spring. Entire slide, incl. bbl bushing recoil spring, extractor, firing pin, ejector, mag.

I look at mine as a collector's item more than a shooter, although it works. There are at least 50 or 100 45s out there for one Colt 9mm Automatic. Figure it'll be worth something someday.
 
The 9mm 1911 are pretty rare but I've seen a several lately in stores and at the gun shows. At the Astrohall last month there was a brand new 1991A1 for right at $600.00. The same pistol was advertized in Shot Gun News for $399.00 new about a year ago. I believe the seller was Kreslers (sp?). Springfield in 9mm was $699.00 for a stainless Loaded model at Collectors here in Houston. I'm looking at the STI Trojan in 9mm. A little more expensive than the rest but it worth it due to the custom features. Saw the .45 and .45 Super models for $819.00 at the last gun show. Having said that, I'm going to take a serious look at the CZ SAO. What a beautiful pistol! JohnH
 
My wife is starting to shop for a 9mm (first pistol)

So far, my Kimber Ultra Carry .45 fits her hand the best (nearly perfect) but she wants to avoid the .45 for now. I'd love to find something with similar geometry to the Kimber but in 9mm.

-Jorah
 
I had a SA in 9mm for a brief period. Lots of problems. I bought a Kimber in .40 the other week. Much better gun than the SA. You can load the .40 down to a very light recoil level without any problems. Kimber will not be making a 9mm anytime soon. BTW the Kimber has a ramped barrel.
 
You gave three very good reasons for your selection and if those are the most important things that you are looking for, you will be right in going with the 1911. I always felt the 9mm was a waste in a 1911 because you have all of the weight and magazine room used for a cartridge that functions nicely on much more compact platforms. I am gathering the final parts to build my Springfield 9mm top end in, but in 9x23. This gives 1450fps with a 125 grain bullet and is more interesting to me (albeit, probably not really that much more effective ythan the 9x19 115 at 1300fps), but my reasons are totally different from yours. That doesn't make one of us wrong, sounds like we are both right. The 9x23 brass is very expensive compared to 9mm, but it lasts for a long time as it is reputed to be the strongest pistol case ever made. It also reportedly has less recoil than the 45acp. I would say to go for the 9x19mm, later you only need a bbl and slightly heavier recoil spring to have them both. Of the record, because I don't want to suggest it, but I would think that you could fire 9x19's in a 9x23 bbl but probbably lose some accuracy. Some people say that you can shoot 38Supers in a 9x23, but once again I am not recommending it as I don't have that much experience with them. I do know that you can shoot 9x19's in a 9x21 case as devised to make major an d get around the rules in IPSC a few years ago, but that is another story... Good luck, Jim
 
I could be wrong, but I think you can shoot 9x23 in a Super barrel but not visa versa. The 38 Super is a straight walled case and won't fit in the tappered 9x23 barrel. You probably could shoot the 9x19 in a 9x23 barrel but it would be risky in that the 9x19 would be held in place by the extractor only and not the case mouth as it should.

I've also heard that the early Springfield 9mm 1911 were plagued with problems but the newer ones are excellent due to their ramped barrels.

Bullmoose, keep us informed on your project, I'm really interested in the 9x23 1911. Thanks, JohnH
 
JohnH, the newer SAs, with the ramped barrel, would not feed the first round from the mag. The feed ramp angle was way too steep. SA has been replacing these defective barrels with a proper one at no charge.
 
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