Allure of the 1911

I'm also a huge fan of 1911, but I prefer 9mm. Another round or two and cheaper ammo. Currently trying to decide on a 4" model. I would LOVE an EMP with a 4" barrel.
 
I have lots of handguns that I might prefer over a 1911 platform for one reason or another, depending on what the intended use is for in the moment, but I have to concede that there is just something "magical" in the way a 1911 configured pistol "feels" in the hand, especially when it is chambered in .45 ACP. The 1911 is a pistol that fires a big bullet but is constructed in the way that a much smaller caliber pistol is, in terms of the way it "feels" to the hand. Add to that the usually superb sa trigger pull of a typical 1911 pistol and you have the makings of a "perfect pistol" for all encounters, be it for self-defense or target shooting and everything in-between.
 
Nothing fits better in my hands than a single stack 1911. Gorgeous piece of history that is still a good, dependable design today.
 
The allure I think is somewhat nostalgic, but also that they just look and feel good in the hand. Of course an all steel 1911 doesn't recoil much so it's easy to shoot and the 1911 is almost idiot proof in terms of being able to shoot one well. It points naturally and is relatively thin in the grip, and I've never shot one that wouldn't stack all .45 caliber bullets into essentially one ragged hole, so yeah I can understand the allure of the 1911.

I do prefer something a bit lighter with higher capacity for carry purposes but even still, I keep a 1911 in carry rotation. My only one currently is a SR1911 Lightweight Commander, but I've owned probably 12-15 1911's over the years.
 
A 1911 was the first handgun I ever fired (my basic training days).
A 1911 was the first handgun I ever owned. I liked to feel, how it operated, pointed & it's accuracy.
Fast forward a couple of decades & I'm able to invest more time & money into my love of firearms. I've got a couple of revolvers, some pocket guns & the ubiquitous GLOCK (two actually, a G19 for the wife & G21SF for me).
The glocks are are good guns, no doubt......But my 1911's (I have three, and yes, they're all 45ACP) are my Go To guns. The majority of the training I've had & seemingly endless hours of practice have been with my 1911's.
I'll sell or trade my Glock, revolvers & pocket guns but my 1911's will be with me until I'm horizontal & room temperature.
 
I've always liked the 1911, but I'm paying steadily more attention to it lately, now that my priority to-buy list mostly consists of rare to super-rare stuff that I could go months or years without seeing. I've picked up a couple of nice 1911s recently (a Baer and a Rock River Arms), and I'm going to submit a build to SVI/Infinity in the next couple of days for my first full-custom.

I think my growing interest in the 1911 has less to do with the design (which I do like) and more to do with the fact that it's largely what the most talented gunsmiths in the country are building. The 1911 is the core focus of master gunsmiths like Stan Chen, Paul Liebenberg, Ted Yost, et al. Ergo, if you want to own the very finest pistols currently produced in the U.S. -- and quite possibly the world -- you will be buying full-custom 1911s. And I imagine that owning and shooting these guns will probably make me like the 1911 design even more, naturally.
 
To all the 1911 aficionados out there:

Would you consider a 1911 in anything other than 45?
10mm? 9mm?

And why, or why not?
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I don't think so. My favorite caliber is 9mm, but a 1911 in anything but .45 just feels strange to me. Can't really explain it better than that. Perhaps I could abide one in .38 Super. Definitely not in 9mm, though.

For 10mm, I will probably eventually go with one of the 2011-style custom double-stacks from Infinity. I'd rather depart substantially from a true 1911 design (6" bull barrel, full-length dustcover, double stack, and so forth) for anything other than .45 (and maybe .38 Super at some point).
 
1911s

Ok, I'll admit it. 1911s are sexy. And they're slim. Really, they've been and will probably always be the supermodels of the large/medium frame pistols.

With that being said, I've shot a few 1911s (not a whole lot, admittedly), and don't see this allure. I prefer a well-made striker fired pistol for it's weight, out-of-box dependability, and increased capacity any day of the week.

If I had disposable income, I wouldn't hesitate to buy a 1911 (and modify it into the ground) in a heartbeat. But I don't, and that's why I'm now a firm believer in Austrian-made Tupperware.

(as an aside: if I had this disposable income, there would be a few things I'd buy prior to a 1911, and those would be a Springfield M1A, a Browning BLR lever action rifle, and maybe a decent AR of reasonable manufacture... long story short, a 1911 is going to have to wait quite a bit in terms of practicality!)
 
I remember when I figured out that the 1911 was "it" for me. As a kid I shot a couple Glocks, a Smith and Wesson steel frame gun (forget the model) and various revolvers, none of them very well. Then when I was about 14 I had the chance to shoot my friend's Grandfather's Colt Govt Model and was easily hitting water bottles at 25 yds. Bought my first 1911 (Taurus) straight out of boot camp in 2010, replaced it with a Springfield Operator after deployment, and replaced that with my Colt Rail Gun.

Like the OP I find myself comparing every gun I pick up or shoot to my 1911. Some guns may beat it in individual aspects like muzzle flip or capacity but I don't think there is truly a single handgun available that can best a 1911 in every category or, for me, in terms of overall feel and shootability (is that a word?)
 
They do shoot softly, but I still have no interest in owning one. I've got more than enough soft-shooting nines that I enjoy shooting as much or more.
 
They do shoot softly, but I still have no interest in owning one. I've got more than enough soft-shooting nines that I enjoy shooting as much or more.
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Used to be my opinion exactly. I live in Austin and you are most welcome to meet me at a local range and try mine if you like.
 
I appreciate the offer, but I've already fired a few belonging to other folks. Like I said, I find them pleasant to shoot, but they don't move me enough to want to buy one.
 
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