1911
 

Hi all,

I would like to know what you guys who are into 1911's (padre) think about current production 45's.
I am torn between a kimber custom II , a springfield range officer , and a remington A1 and I cant afford all three!
Are there others out there that arent on my radar?
hi cap would be cool I think

thanks

I don't claim to be knowledgeable about 45's...but why are you not considering a Colt??? :confused:

Those are for shooting fun. No need to buy all of them at the same time. Buy one, play it and it could be sold later. Then buy the next one, and so on.... some local ranges have modern .45 for rental, that's even better, you can try and jump directly to the one that fits you, at minimal cost.

The three you mentioned are all good choices , i myself think the kimbers are over priced . The springfields are a good value as well as the remington's. I think it just comes down to personel choice, i have been carring and using 1911's for over forty years , it is a proven platform , 100 years of proven service and reliabilty, you have chosen well , this is my springfield hi cap .45 , i trust it.

http://ithacagun.com/1911.html

I'm not really a 1911 guy, but I like the looks of this one.

I bought a used Springfield MicroCompact(has all the bells and whistles) a few years ago and really like it. I've not had any issues with it and it carries well.

Steve

I have fired one of the new Ithaca 1911 a1"s they are quality

I have the Remington 1911 and really like this gun. Have had several different models but this is my favorite.

I have the Springfield Armory GI 45 (in my avatar pic) and have enjoyed it for many years.

I waited over a year for my local dealer to obtain a 1911-2011 Commemorative for me. But it was worth the wait...it is a beauty.

Ron, that Colt Commemorative is indeed a beauty, sure would like to add one to my collection. Congratulations on your purchase.

Lon

I have been a 1911 guy for many years. Over the years I have accumulated Colts, Kimbers, and Springfield Armory guns. More Colts than the others, but all of what I own run 100%, and they go to the range(all but one) on a regular basis. SA have an amazing customer service, and I am told that Colt has improved theirs a lot. I have never need to try Kimber CS, so I can not comment.

Once I had a Colt 1991A1 acquired NIB, made of stainless steel but not shiny, the finish was satin grey. I heard standard 1911 holding 7 rounds, but I could put 8 rounds into that gun's magazine. It's super accurate and reliable. Regarding reliability, I did not have strong feeling because Glock, SIG, S&W, Walther, Browning etc that I had were equally reliable in range environment. But it's definitely more accurate than 9m/m.

Of all the firearms i own and alot are 1911 or 1911 a1's this Remngton Rand issued in 1944 holds the providece like no other. This pistol was built from the original parts "except the frame" from my issue sidearm, a few years ago after many years of searching i found a frame on a mismatched rand/colt and the serial numbers were only two off of my original pistol. so what you see is it nearly restored with only the frame not being original to the rest of the gun. This gun to me holds more personel meaning to me than perhaps any i own. it slept with me, rode in helicopters on apc's and in places i really do not want to remember. It never failed once to defend me or those around me , and i have no doubt that it still could, One of the senior armours who trained me , showed me the first luger i ever saw and i remember it well , and how well it balenced. I asked him where he got it and he said in holand, that the german was still trying to get it out of the holster when he met "ole slab sides" This is a luger forum and i respect that and i own three, but nothing will ever hold the place that this Rand does and most of my 1911's , much respect Padre:)

beautiful , thats a darn near priceless pistol right there.

Commerative 1911's
 

My son, John, just picked up his Kimber Custom II 1911's and they are gorgeous. I'll post some better pics when he comes back home in a couple of weeks. I'm already drooling.

-ML

I own a M1927 Sistema Colt(1961 vintage I think)..a 1990's Springfield Armory 'Milspec' 1911A1...and a new last year Remington 1911R1...all are good pistols.

I've owned other 1911 brandname guns in the past that were not worth taking home! These were not Colts..but other brandname guns.

If you buy a Remington 1911..look at several in person if possible..quality seems to vary on these. My Remington is a great pistol..however I've seen some pics online of new Remingtons that were not too well made!

I agree ,there are some 1911's out there are really not good, just put together clones. Take a good look at the fit. Springfield armory started to use alot of Imbel brazian frames , heat treating was not good on some , now i understand the entire pistol is being made by imbel on some models. Watch out for those. All 1911's NEED TO BE TUNED AND FITTED , but you must have a good frame and parts to start with. Just because it is a 1911 and .45 acp caliber does not make it a great pistol. the one in the picture is a Colt national match slide and barrel, internal parts are wilson and the frame is essex and hours of tuning and work before i was satisfied enoughe to put my name behind it. It shot bianchi cup three times and then was returned to me rebuild and then given to me . This pistol has seen thousands of rounds over the years . I doubt i could count the number of rounds that has been shot with it, and it is still as good as ever, not many platforms can say that. To have a quality 1911 you must first have quality parts and then they have to be fitted and tuned ,either you pay for it up front or you find a good 1911 smith or armor and pay for it later , Padre

Agreed. In the 80's, I wanted a stainless 45. I found a stainless AMT 45 at a gun show, used, with mag; $265 OTD. I fired about 20 rounds through it; all 20 cases were bulged...The chamber was not only oversize, but off center...I traded it in later for something, and later bought a new stainless Colt Gold Cup...That cost $600+ and was really nice...Except for the plastic mainspring housing!!! That went in the trash... :mad:

Postino
Its a small world. The first gun that I bought by myself was a Arcadia Machine & Tool AKA AMT Hardballer .45. Bought it slightly used from a policeman. One of the first ones made. Had a few feeding problems,so did some ramp work under my dads watchful eye. Put a buffer in it and found some correct stainless steel grease for it. After all these years it still shoots great. The only thing that has ever failed is the original extractor. Bought a new Wilson Combat extractor,did some fitting,all fixed. I still love shooting it.
Bob

Bob, that was one of the biggest disappointments of my life (up to then). It had micrometer rear sight (modeled after the Bo-Mar) sunk/low mounted in the slide; Gold-Cup style front sight; skeletonized trigger; and a nice satin finish on all surfaces except the flats/sides. They were 'brushed'. I used LSA on it, and it functioned fine...except for that chamber... :(

I should have kept it and worked on it, but like I said, I was disappointed...

(There is a long angry story about how I ended up with that AMT 45, but now is not the time for that)...

the amt hardballer was a good concept at the time , but all were somewhat finicky and problomatic the quirks could be worked out but at the time quality parts were hard to come by, glad you hung on to yours and made a few changes. Colt 1911's in the 80's and 90's were allso quirky and pricey, why they lost the market to better built 1911's .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUJfkaczxlI

All this 1911 talk and about the Hardballer made me want to post this:)

Postino
Sorry your AMT experience was not so good. :( I just recently talked to a buddy who bought a AMT about the same time I did back in the 70's.He is one of those gun friends who can only talk about guns.:confused: He used to shot his AMT alot as well,but he never installed a buffer and used to shot hardball thru it.He told me the slide had cracked on it!:eek: He mumbled about how he should have followed my advise.:evilgrin: So maybe you made a good decision.:)
Over the years I have looked at lots of AMT Longslides like in the "Terminator" movie. Cool gun,but always thought it looked unbalanced.
That clip made me wistful for the good old days. I used to patronize B & B Sales( a huge gun store) in the San Fernando Valley in So Cal. Its now closed.I remember when they had a sale on Semi-Auto rifles. H & K ,CETME,Valmet,AR-15,FN FAL,SIG, Poly Tech AK all on sale for $500.00.Those where the days!:crying:
Bob

Bob, I liked the looks but spending more on the AMT to get it up to the level of an off-the-shelf Colt didn't interest me, at the time. My buddy and I were shooting Winchester 52C's with Redfield Olympic sights and S&W Model 41's with the long barrel and we liked the out-of-the-box accuracy of those two. Buying something with what appeared to be close copies of the Gold Cup features and having any kind of problem was a real turn off. (Used condition notwithstanding).

The stainless Gold Cup was nice, but I could not get to like the Series 80 barrel bushing. Why Colt discontinued the collet bushing of the Series 70 is still a mystery to me. Both the Colt autos I have now are Series 70's [45 Gold Cup & 38 Super Gov't Model], and shoot much better than I can.

I understand Colt made a limited number of 38 Super Gold Cups...that would interest me... ;)

Which one is more accurate, "National Match" or "Gold Cup" ?? If use Kimber as a reference gun, how do they compare with Kimber, in performance?

My 2 favorite 1911s are a Les Baer Premier II with a 1/2" at 50 yard guarrantee built by Les himself before passing and a Kimber Raptor II, neither of which I have ever had to sink a penny into.
My best recent purchase was a gunshop walk-in Colt 1911 made in 1918 someone had really hammered on. It was finished in BBQ grill paint. Even Thor passed on trying to restore it because of pitting in the slide grooves and elsewhere and the removal by some genius of all the US property marks. Nevertheless, I got it for $250, sold the original grips for $80, plus a pair of bakelite GI grips and sent it off to a friend for Parkerizing free of charge. With a small investment in some parts I now have a reasonably decent looking Colt 1911 I have $210 into.

I must agree, for fine shooting there is nothing
better than a Baer ....

Also a very good workmanship .

best

Otto

Someone else here probably knows the history of the National Match and Gold Cup 45's...I don't...

But all the NMGC's I have seen have both names...I'm pretty sure they didn't, in the past, but when & why they were combined is a mystery to me...

This is a repeat post for me... but since 1911's are the discussion topic, and I haven't seen one mentioned,

...Padre, I have a twin to your Remington Rand, but here is my personal favorite:

http://www.lugerforum.com/images/seecamp1.jpg

http://www.lugerforum.com/images/seecamp2.jpg

This is a Steel Framed Colt Combat Commander personally converted for me to true double-action by Lewis W. Seecamp Sr. in 1976.

Mine was probably one of the first guns he converted for sale.

This is my carry gun. She isn't a lightweight, but she will last for the long haul. If you ever see one... I recommend you buy it. The Seecamp double-action conversion was only done on the Steel version of the 1911A1 frame in either standard or Commander length.

It is a pretty unique conversion. I doubt he converted more than 50 or so. At some point the patent was sold to a company in New Jersey whose name I can't seem to remember and they attempted to market the gun in both blue and stainless, but I have no idea how successful they were or if they got past the prototype stage. Perhaps someone with a grounding on one of the 1911 websites might read this and fill us both in.

The conversion creatively hangs a mechanism similar in nature to the P-38 into machine cuts made into the right side of the frame and the double action trigger is added. The gun functions in both single and double action modes and in the event of a combat type loss of one of the double action parts, they can be readily removed and the gun returns to single action.

I would guess that the weight of the double action pull is similar to the P-38 but I have never measured it. The trigger is wide and smooth like a S&W combat revolver trigger and is a joy to use...

Lewis Seecamp's designs are still produced in smaller calibers, but this is the gun conversion that put him on the map. I had the conversion done shortly after an article appeared in one of the Gun magazines in the same year about his accomplishment.

:bigbye: -John

Outstanding, Seecamp got it right. Colt tried it in the nineties with the double eagle, didn't work for me as well as alot of others.
i have only seen two other seecamp 1911 conversions , both looked to be well done, have never fired one. You have your self a fine one and i tip my cover to you sir.

I just have an old RR GI mix-master. Cheap, but effective.

Looks good to me! :thumbup:

I've always wondered...What did the Germans (of either war) think of the M1911[A1]??? Was it a desirable souvenir??? Did they seek them out, look for rare mfgs, send them home to friends/relatives??? :confused:

Is there, even now, a web site in Germany where they discuss captured M1911's and argue about their authenticity, look for original owners manuals, and even holsters???

(Do they argue about the rumored and rare Russian Contract M1911A1's, with the rare slide crest???) :p

I know your question is tongue-in-cheek but I imagine there's still more than a few US weapons in Germany and Russia, although I imagine, like in the UK, the gun laws in those countries restrict the casual collector much more than in this country.

There is a pic of one with the sideplate removed & drawbar resting on the slide in Nonte's book Pistolsmithing...Not too clear (B&W pic)...I remember reading about the conversion, and Nonte states that the conversion only cost $100 (book is dated 1974)...

My inflation calculator says that is $466.16 in todays dollars... :D

Anybody got a good pic of one with the sidecover removed???

Ah! Here's one...Hmmmm...That's from an auction -

http://www.gunauction.com/buy/842330...-commander-.45

Went for $950... :eek:

[QUOTE=postino;216585]I've always wondered...What did the Germans (of either war) think of the M1911[A1]??? Was it a desirable souvenir??? Did they seek them out, look for rare mfgs, send them home to friends/relatives???

Several personal accounts I have read indicate that the Germans where VERY impressed by the .45, but by the pistol, not necessarily the TSMG or M3 Greasegun.

When prisoners or displaced persons after the war needed to be introduced to the muzzle of a 1911, they would smile and say, "grosse" and become immediately compliant. The Germans were very impressed by the caliber in a pistol, but found the Thompson heavy and cumbersome, versus their own SMG or STG offerings.
The TSMG was a prized souvenir mostly in North Africa, where the Germans were almost 100% motorized and did not have to carry them around. These were captured British 1921-28 Thompsons, with the vertical foregrip and the drum magazines. Germans loved this version in part because they were fascinated by the US gangster era, thanks to Hollywood films. They had little or no emotional connection to the standard GI 1928, M1 or M1A1 TSMG.

Unless it was very sudden, Les Baer is not dead. I spoke with him at the NRA convention in St. Louis a couple of months ago. We talked both guns and race cars. He is a Ford guy and my avatar shows a picture of my Chevy. Don't forget to add Ed Brown's guns into the mix. Joe

I still own the first 1911A1 I ever shot. It was my God-father's fathers during the Second World War. My grandfather bought it from him with the understanding that when he passed on I would receive it, so now she sits in my gun safe, waiting for my son to be old enough to shoot her too.

I'll try to post images of my 1911A1 later, it still has the rack number on it by the lanyard loop.

Update- Padre if you could weigh in here as well as anyone else who feels like it , thankyou

So I decided on a hi cap springfield but they arent available this year according to springfield


So I thought I would buy a range officer for the adjustable sight feature ( and cool grips ) and then I ran into the bushingless bull barrel feature.

How do you guys feel about this?