Recommendations for 1911 (under $1000)

[68Charger]

I second a S&W 1911. You can get various models under 1,000. Including their E series. Prolly cheaper at gun shows or private sales.

[armanius]

Some comments on other suggestions by people:

Colts are not "finished" nicely. The ones I've handled have lots of sharp edges. No blending. Read some reviews.

I will not buy any more 1911s with any firing pin safeties (Series 80, Swartz, etc.). I had one fail at a local IDPA match. Not recoverable. No more. I only own two, an early S&W PC1911 that is an awesome shooter and a S&W Rolling Thunder Commemorative 1911 that's too pretty to shoot. I only shoot the PC1911 at steel matches or local IDPA matches maybe once a year. Everything else I own is standard JMB pattern, and I own a few.

Taurus, Remington, Kimber, most S&W, Sig all use some sort of firing pin safety.

This "problem" is easily solved by strong firing pin springs and titanium or lightweight firing pins. NONE of the premier 1911 makers use them. NONE. STI and Springfield don't use them either.

Just my .02 worth.

James

What is this firing pin safety issue?

[Wes]

Don't google it whatever you do, just spent an hour talking myself out of the pistol I have been wanting. Following along to hear more general 1911 opinions for options on this price range tho.

[Jumping Frog]

I'll jump on the Springfield Armory bandwagon. Last time I bought a "Loaded" model with night sights, it was under $750 shipped through my FFL.

One reason for Springfield over Ruger, the low end STI's, and many of the other 1911's under $1,000 is Springfield Armory's has a forged receiver and slide, where other people are using cast.

[chuck j]

I agree with Jumping Frog .

[extremist]

What is this firing pin safety issue?

The firing pin safety was introduced in 1911s to prevent the gun from slam firing should it be dropped on it's muzzle. Almost all modern handguns incorporate some sort of firing pin/drop safety to prevent this from happening. Easy to incorporate into those trigger mechanisms without affecting trigger pull or function.

Yet the 1911 design managed to work fine up until the 80's when the lawyers got involved at Colt and required some sort of firing pin/drop safety be incorporated.

Here's some pics from the new Colt M45CQB pistol Series 80 safety from GunBlast's review:




Previously spec'd "Special Forces" 1911 pistols like the Kimber issued to Marine Force Recon did not have one nor did the Kimbers purchased by SIS in LA and later issued for civilian purchases didn't have the Series II FPS. http://www.survivalmonkey.com/threads/o ... icqb.3268/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The problem with doing it on a 1911 is that it usually affects the trigger pull and to do it with a grip safety requires some sort of lever mechanism to activate it. You can google "swartz safety" and "Series 80 safety" for more info. The Colt Series 80 mechanism is quite complicated and is a major pain to disassemble and reassemble correctly.

Regards,
James

[KinnyLee]

Yet the 1911 design managed to work fine up until the 80's when the lawyers got involved at Colt and required some sort of firing pin/drop safety be incorporated.


Previously spec'd "Special Forces" 1911 pistols like the Kimber issued to Marine Force Recon did not have one nor did the Kimbers purchased by SIS in LA and later issued for civilian purchases didn't have the Series II FPS. http://www.survivalmonkey.com/threads/o ... icqb.3268/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The problem with doing it on a 1911 is that it usually affects the trigger pull and to do it with a grip safety requires some sort of lever mechanism to activate it. You can google "swartz safety" and "Series 80 safety" for more info. The Colt Series 80 mechanism is quite complicated and is a major pain to disassemble and reassemble correctly.

The only Kimber that is true 70's series design is the Super Carry series. I'm not a big fan of FPS either as it is more things to break. It's all about KISS. Also all Springfields are 70's series design except for that pesky lock on the main spring housing. LOL

[The Annoyed Man]

My SA Loaded (and all other SA 1911s as far as I know) is the original 1911A1 design except for the straight mainspring housing and do not have the firing pin device. Instead, they use a titanium firing pin. The pin is too light to overcome the firing pin spring inertia if the pistol is dropped muzzle down.....so no firing pin device is necessary. One less thing to break. And as long as the mainspring doesn't break so that the hammer strikes the firing pin with sufficient force, that titanium firing pin with strike the primer with enough force to ignite it every single time. I have never experienced a light primer strike in my SA.

Regarding firing pin safety devices: I do have to say though that when I owned my Kimber, it had a great trigger, and I am unable to tell the difference between the OEM trigger on my old Kimber, with its firing pin safety, and the smoothed and lightened trigger on my Springfield, with no firing pin device at all. Both have a nice crisp let-off at about 4-4.5 lb of pull, and there is no practical difference between the two. I think that all the hyperventilation about how "terrible" a firing pin safety makes the trigger feel, it is exactly that—hyperventilation. In the real world, particularly that subset of the real world known as "active shooter scenario," literally nobody can tell the difference. In my mind, the only real issue with a firing pin safety in a 1911 pistol is that it has the potential, however small, to fail in such a way as to disable the gun. That never really bothered me, but it might bother some. (In other designs which cannot "cock and lock," all bets are off and I would not carry one that did not have such a device.)

My 2¢. YMMV.

[KinnyLee]

Regarding firing pin safety devices: I do have to say though that when I owned my Kimber, it had a great trigger, and I am unable to tell the difference between the OEM trigger on my old Kimber, with its firing pin safety, and the smoothed and lightened trigger on my Springfield, with no firing pin device at all. Both have a nice crisp let-off at about 4-4.5 lb of pull, and there is no practical difference between the two. I think that all the hyperventilation about how "terrible" a firing pin safety makes the trigger feel, it is exactly that—hyperventilation. In the real world, particularly that subset of the real world known as "active shooter scenario," literally nobody can tell the difference. In my mind, the only real issue with a firing pin safety in a 1911 pistol is that it has the potential, however small, to fail in such a way as to disable the gun. That never really bothered me, but it might bother some. (In other designs which cannot "cock and lock," all bets are off and I would not carry one that did not have such a device.)

My 2¢. YMMV.

Actually the Swartz safety does not affect the trigger at all because it is a grip safety activated device. The 80's series on Colt, Sigs, Remington, etc.. are trigger actived safety that will affect the quality of the trigger. A competent 1911 can remedy that with little issue. The problem with Swartz safety is when the operator putting the slide and frame back together while activating the grip safety. Not knowing, many will damage the plunger that will activate the FPS on the slide. This or the user not depressing the grip safety enough will induce a type 1 malfunction which gives you a click instead of a bang. Also, if you can eliminate that one in a million chance of it malfunctioning on you because of the FPS, wouldn't you?

[armanius]

Thanks for all the info everyone.

Looks like the Springfield 1911's got the most accolades. Strangely, most gun forums seem to dislike Springfield's striker fire XD and XDM pistols.

[The Annoyed Man]

Thanks for all the info everyone.

Looks like the Springfield 1911's got the most accolades. Strangely, most gun forums seem to dislike Springfield's striker fire XD and XDM pistols.

I own a 5" 1911 for carry use. My EDC gun is an XD(m). I like it a lot, and it compares very favorably with my 1911. They are very different guns, with different strengths and weaknesses, but they are both good guns. They are both reliable, and the XD(m) is actually a little bit more accurate than a 1911. So, at least for me, it isn't true that I dislike the striker fired gun. Both of them are excellent products. The biggest complaints I've seen against the XD/XD(m) pistols is that they are Croatian made and not U.S. made, so some people worry about parts availability in the Zombie Apocalypse. But if that happens, my Ruger .22 pistol will be more valuable.

[armanius]

Yes, the Croatia thing seems to ALWAYS come up!

[The Annoyed Man]

Yes, the Croatia thing seems to ALWAYS come up!

It doesn't bother me. My SA 1911's frame was made at the Imbel factory in Brazil. My S&W M&P45 is assembled in the U.S., but the parts are made in Croatia. Some of the most highly sought after Glocks are made in Austria. My H&K was made in Germany. Both my wife's and my Over & Under shotguns were made in Turkey. My pump action was made in China. Etc., etc., etc. The Croatians have a long gun-making history. No reason to doubt the quality of the gun. It's true that in a global melt down there might be a burp in the parts supply chain. But in the end, you can get almost any American made part for a Glock that you want, including new frames. No reason not to expect that the XD/XD(m)s and the M&Ps won't some day be the same way. And if not, well I still own two 1911s and a Ruger .22 (and a Colt Government .380, and three revolvers, and 3 American-made Kahrs, etc.). We'll get by somehow.

[oilfield_trash]

I bought a Springfield Armory Range Officer about a month ago and love it. $800 at Academy. I was looking for the Ruger but every forum I've looked at say the RO was the better choice.