Why do people swear by 1911's?

My first 1911 after my days in the military is/was a colt 1991A1. As with all 1911s, a good smooth trigger. It eats any ammo you choose accurately. Great grip feel. Somewhat heavy. Strangely, it is not as heavy as my XD in .45 when fully loaded. The .45ACP round works quite well for SD. One thing you will find with a good 1911 is the longer you use it the better the trigger gets. Yes It is my favorite for carry.
 
big men

Jeff Cooper claimed quite the opposite regards recoil with the 1911/.45. His position was that the recoil was tolerable and controllable by anybody wanting to take the time to learn to shoot the pistol.

Don't believe me,............ I have a VCR tape of Cooper shooting the pistol held between his thumb and forefinger, attempting to dispel the myth of "it kicks too hard", and encouraging shooters of the era to adopt the cartridge and pistol, which he did constantly.

Endorse the .45/1911, yes, certainly. Overrate the .45acp stopping ability and deride other calibers, yes again. For "big men only", never.
 
I can only offer these comments....

- Compared to most "Modern" semi-auto pistols, take-down and reassembly of the 1911 is more complex and time consuming. BUT, after practice, it gets easier and faster.

- They are the tinker-toys of semi-autos and can be easily upgraded.

- Ergonomics are superb and can be customized to your specifics.

- Soft shooters even with hot ammo.

- They work. More specifically, mine works. And I mean 100% of the time. JHP, JSP, FMJ, factory ammo, good reloads, lousy reloads. My unmodified Para GI isn't pretty or fancy, but it goes boom when I pull the trigger.
 
My grandfather had a 1911 and a 12 gage sxs. My father had a 1911 and a 12 gage sxs. I have a 1911 and a 12 gage sxs, among others.

It shoots a 45 caliber bullet reliably, accurately and in a controllable fashion. It is flat enough to conceal, most of the time.
 
I'm a revolver guy.

And no gun - NO GUN - feels better in my hand than a 1911. They are so natural and easy to shoot. They are special. I have three 1911's.

If that wasn't enough (it is), as a handloader of ammunition, the 45 ACP round is fun and easy to craft.

What a fantastic gun! I really have no desire to shoot any other semi-auto.

Thank you John Moses Browning.
 
History, tradition. In my case, they fit my hand fine. Round has a proven record of stopping power. Any problems with "inaccuracy" are due to lack of training and practice on the part of the shooter.
 
To sum it up, 1911s are easy to shoot well by just about anyone. My pint-sized wife can shoot any 1911 in the house and so can a big moose like myself. Her hand is tiny, I wear a 2XL sized men's glove. By some black magic known only to John Moses Browning and lost since his passing, the same grip is comfy for both and makes us look like we might know what we are about at the range.

Freaky. That JMB knew what he was doing.

After working with my wife, kids, and other smallish-sized humans, I have been won over to the 1911 as a fine starting centerfire pistol...if you chamber it in 9mm. .45ACP is not nasty recoil, but 9mm in an all-steel GM 1911 is a quite mild.
 
I've sworn more at them than by them. I've had more malfunctions from 1911's than everything else combined. But for nostalgic reasons I've had many over the years. I gave both of my kids one when they moved out and still have 2 of my own.

But the legend of the 1911 is more mythology than fact. Much of what Cooper wrote about both the 1911 and 45 ACP was fiction, but at least 2 generations of shooters were heavily influenced by what he wrote.

For many types of competition a 1911 is still as good as it gets. But as a viable gun for LE, HD, and military use it was passed by 70 years ago
 
First question should be "Have you ever fired a nice 1911?". If you have, that should end the questions.
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That's exactly what did it for me over 30 years ago. A fiend of mine was visiting and brought his Clark Custom Combat conversion on his Colt 1911. He let me shoot it and I was shooting more accurately then I had with any other handgun I had ever fired!

My current 1911 is a stock Springfield Range Officer and I shoot it far better than any of my Sig , Glock or Smith semi-autos.
 
Mankind crawled through muck for centuries. Unsure of himself. Not able to fight out even a small niche to call his own. Stronger men stepped on weaker ones, only to be cut down by even stronger men as they reached pointlessly for a better life.


Females hampered by the burden of childbearing found themselves at the mercy of cruel men bent on pleasure seeking and abuse. Oh we tried and tried. Different systems, new religions, over and over again, but always our bestial nature ripped happiness from our screaming bloodied fingers.


Then a quiet man came. He thought in a different way and he gave us a gift. The gift is perfect in everyway. Efficient, beautiful, not costly. It changed the world. The gift.... a 1911. The Man ....John Moses Browning. There had been fakers before and there will no doubt be pretenders in the future. Only one given by a small quiet man will stand the test of time.


Because of him and his perfect invention a small man in the right need no longer fear a larger bully. A woman may guard her virtue in a manner so deadly as to give any man pause . Because of the 1911 we can bath ourselves in the glory of Civilization. That is as long as we never forget the quiet man and his gift.


Hang your pretty guns on the wall as a testament to technology and plastic. Praise them now for they will be short lived and bring only false hope. Sleep with your 1911 and seven round balls, messengers of righteousness and death.


We face a new demon today. It is a great pretender. The multiculturally headed beast tells us to forget John and his gift. Softly it lulls us to sleep. Its tells us to trigger lock and castrate our 1911 for the sake of the children. It comes in the guise of reasonable men seeking fairness for all. But we scream back and brandish or heritage! Politicians blink in the glare of cleansing sun light glancing off the polished gun metal of millions of 1911s.
 
For many types of competition a 1911 is still as good as it gets. But as a viable gun for LE, HD, and military use it was passed by 70 years ago
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Not everyone swears by the 1911. I like looking at them. I like reading about them. I like the history behind them.

But then I shoot them and I'm like... nah.

I've owned like 6-7 of them, most of them costing well over $1000 (not a brag, just want to explain that I've tried "good" 1911s). I still own... 0 of them.

I don't need:
- The weight
- The limited capacity
- The 45 ACP cartridge (gasp, I said it) (and yes, I know it comes in other cartridges)
- The dodgy reliability

They're awesome eye candy, and will I buy another someday? Yeah, probably won't be able to help myself... but I certainly don't swear by them.
 
The 1911 has great ergos, good sight radius, a slim profile that lets a big pistol conceal well, and the trigger is still the gold standard that other pistol triggers are measured against over a century later.

It has its drawbacks of course - limited capacity, less reliability than modern pistols, and a poor service life compared to modern pistols. The fact that many professionals still choose it despite that says a lot about its good qualities.
 
Others have talked about the trigger, recoil management, ergonomics, etc. But, a commander-sized or smaller 1911 also makes an excellent concealed carry weapon under a jacket or even a t-shirt because of its thinness.

I would not call the reliability of 1911s "dodgy." I would say that with all the different manufacturers of 1911s and the large number of after-market makers of parts, that sometimes somebody gets a pistol that needs tweaking. Maybe the extractor needs tuned or something of that nature. Most manufacturers these days have excellent service and many pick up the postage cost. I always consider service when buying any gun.

I'm a big fan of 1911s, but handguns are not a "one size fits all" device.
 
The 1911 is a work of art much like great paintings it will live forever, accurate, easy to shoot, easy to work on, like a good wife impossible to replace.
 
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