Zant's recent post about the grip safety got me thinking a lot about John Browning's design. Probably safe to say that at 104 and counting, the 1911 is the longest running design that's still available and is still intended for heavy use. (Of course you can still get SAA's and other old designs, but I'm talking about popular duty-rated weapons, not collectibles or sentimental hobby stuff. No offense to you cowboy action shooters).
So why do you love or hate em?
I love them. My introduction to the M1911 was at Camp Pendleton, and I was pretty much hooked immediately. I didn't have a lot of handgun experience before I enlisted, a Ruger Single Six was about it. The 1911 immediately impressed me with it's substantial feel, the power of the .45, and the way it fit and pointed. I hated turning mine in when the Marines switched to Beretta M9s in '86.
The fact that the U.S. Military issued the M1911 for 75 years is testimony to it's design and functionality, and I doubt that any weapon will ever match that longevity in the U.S Military.
IMO the 1911 has best trigger in any handgun.
The cool factor to me is still off the charts, military mystique oozes out of them, The 1911 is the semi-auto against which I judge all others.
All that said, they are heavy, have low capacity magazines, can be very finicky if you stray away from factory ball ammo, and are harder to strip and reassemble than many newer designs.
So what about you all, love or hate and why? Would the 1911 sell if it was designed today? It's heavy and as designed only holds 7+1 rounds....
I love the 1911,the BEST thing about a 1911 is after you shoot one a lot,it becomes an extension of your arm.I've strayed lately to the False god of Polymer,the Glock 23...why?..firepower plain and simple,with 3 barrels/3 caliber options...and serious firepower.....so I cleaned/oiled my carry 1911 the other day and put on my favorite shoulder holster and thought how good it felt.The 1911/mags balance perfectly,try carrying 2 spare 33rdG mags,awkward.The perfect fighting handgun.....and I hereby concede on the grip safety,a gentleman would claim "temporary intoxication".
I love mine, the weight isn't really a problem( it feels like a real gun in my hand not a toy). It is not made if plastic, 100% real steel. It is the most natural pointing handgun I have ever owned. As for as the 8 round capacity, that's 8 dead bad guys, the 45 acp has been a proven manstopper for over century.
I love the 1911 because our family has had one since 1914.
It has never failed to feed or function and is made of steel.
When you hold it , you know it will not let you down.
It is the silent watch dog of the family , until it decides to bark.
The first pistol I ever fired was my grand father's 1911, been in love with them ever since, second pistol I ever fired was his Smith & Wesson .38 after I emptied the mag on the '11, it was kind of anticlimactic after shooting the 1911.
My first handgun was a Ruger Black Hawk in .44 magnum, about 40 years ago. The beast took me three years to learn to shoot. I probably started out with to much gun! A friend had a .45, and I loved shooting that gun! It just pointed naturally, and I was quite able to hit what I shot at. The recoil was light in comparison to the .44 mag. I got started looking into buying one for myself. And ran across a man named Jim Clark. I found myself hanging out in his shop as much as I could, wishing I had the money for a Colt .45, about $800 - $1000. Back in those days that was a lot of money, and getting Clark to custom make you one of his pistols was another $800 - 1000 dollars! I hung in there, and finally Jim told me to go buy a Norinco .45, and bring it to him. A month, and $900 later, and I was a proud owner of a Jim Clark custom .45! I've been carrying that same pistol for over 24 years now. It shoots anything, and everything I've ever put in it, form factory to home made cast bullets. If you have a .45 that is finicky about what you feed it, get it on down to your local gun smith, he can solve your problem. As to the limited 8 rounds the gun can carry, all I have to say is that if 8 rounds of .45 isn't enough, you are probably doing something wrong, and a higher capacity pistol probably won't help you out either!
The Ruger Blackhawk 44mag is the hardest pistol to shoot I have ever shot too. Maybe it is the higher center of gravity. I have a Ruger Redhawk 44mag that is much easier to shoot than the Blackhawk.
And then we come to the Norinco 1911. I love those pistols! I've owned 3. I gave each of my 2 sons one and I kept one. It was a good shooter. And with a little trigger work and a tighter fitting barrel link it was a GREAT shooter! I keep saying "WAS" because it is another 1911 I lost to a thief. How I wish I still had it!
Back to the original thread. The 1911 is my all around favorite firearm. Like everyone has said so far, it just fits like it is part of your hand. It has the stopping power to do almost any job you need it for. It is easy to maintain. Parts are everywhere just like a small block Chevy. And it is FUN to shoot!
I can't say that I either love or hate a 1911, since I've never had any interest in owning a .45 of any sort. I do know that I've never held a Browning design that wasn't noticeably better made and designed than any competitor's product, so the odds are good that I'd love the 1911 if ever I held one.
The closest I've come was a couple weeks ago, when I finally found a shop that had a 1911-380 in stock. I just had to hold it, and true to all of my previous experiences with Browning products, it was a joy to hold and point. If I had money to burn I'd have that baby in my safe in a heartbeat, but that's the problem. I already have a Sig P238 and for conceal-ability, the Sig is a far better choice, even though it's not as good a design. The Browning is considerably larger, making it too hard for me to conceal, but it's a much nicer gun. Neither is worth the price charged for an under-powered gun, but having already spent too much on the Sig, it would be silly to spend far too much on another one.
Maybe someday I'll have an interest in a .45, and when that day comes I'll certainly look first to the 1911, but for now it's just too big a gun for me to conceal. Count me as 'sitting on the fence' on this question, and I'll let y'all know if I ever fall over to one side or the other.
If you want to you can conceal just about anything. Heck, I've seen magicians make elephants disappear! Would you believe that I have a full sized 1911 on me in this photo?
John Moses Browning was the greatest firearm designer of all time. His list of successes is seemingly numberless. I don't know that the 1911 was his crowning achievement but it has to be near the top.
It works, plain and simple. The 45 cartridge, also his design, is so far superior to anything else in a self defense handgun as to require no explanation. I have never bought into the concept that one needed 12 to 15 rounds in a defense handgun. Certainly scenarios can be brought up where one might need more than 8 rounds but they're long on scenario and short on reality. I routinely carry a S&W 696 that holds 5 rounds of 44 Spl. and don't feel the least undergunned. It is always, ultimately the mind of the user that makes a weapon effective.
As others have stated I like the feel, the weight, the steel and I prefer checkered walnut grips.
Would it sell if introduced today, in this day of plastic, polymer, double stack and less effetive cartridges? xpect it would but I don't believe it would ever attain the popularity or hold the respect that it does now. It would not carry the cachet' or have the history so many are ignorant of. True, the 1911 aficionado's are aware of it but most look upon it as a dinosaur, a relic of history and don't believe it has the "cool factor" of what today I see as some of the most ugly handguns ever manufactured.
I like them, but every time I went to a gunstore and/or gun shop to buy one, I always found a better weapon for the money. Most of the weapons I have purchased instead of the 1911 have doubled or tripled in price. 1911's have always been high priced (was worse years ago) and the increase of valve would have been minimal if I had purchased one back then. I am very close on either a Sig Sauer or Remington R1 Enhanced 1911...I am looking! Cmax
MY Pop-Pop put one in my hand when I was 14.
He said sense I was a big boy (6' and 185lbs) that has shot a number of hand guns by then I needed to feel what a "Real mans gun" felt like.
I never looked back.
I carried one in the USMC and as soon as I got out I got his and have had one in my hand ever sense.
Only having 8 rounds in the mag and one in the chamber which makes 9 .45 cal "Stoppers" is fine with me because you can drop a mag and throw one in quick. If you need too.
Again "If you need too"
But a .45 will stop anybody even a hopped up fool.
Mike
Have you thought about once fired brass? You can usually get it for about half the price of new. Right now I have over 1,000 rounds of brass ready to load, but if I found some more brass in the store, I would buy it in a heartbeat! At Bass Pro the other day they had Hornady brass, .45ACP, new in a box, 100 pieces, for $50! I passed, and I do believe that's the first time I've ever passed on .45 brass. And yes it does cost more to reload when compared to 9mm, or even .38. More of everything! More brass to form the cartridge. More powder to push the bullet. More lead to create the bigger bullet. And a bigger primer due to all the space inside the much bigger bullet! But I'll pay it! I don't even own a 9mm anything!
When mine was brand new just out of the box I fired 3 rounds with it at 20 yards. The first shot was a flyer (lower left) as I walked up to the target seeing it I said "hmmmm". I went back to the porch and fired two more. My next utterance was "thats good enough"
1911s are beautiful to look at, mine has the best trigger I've ever pulled. It is all steel, it was made to last my and my descendants life times. It is the best hand gun I have ever owned or shot.
I think the trigger on a .45 might be what I fell in love with. Aside from the fact that this pistol points right now in my hands. Only a SA revolver has the same kind of trigger pull, once it's cocked. No other pistol made has a trigger anywhere near what you can have on a .45. How about a 1911 pistol that has a reliable 2½ pound trigger pull that brakes clean and with no hammer follow. It can be had! Try that with anything else out there. My trigger has no creep, none. And let off is short for the trigger reset. You just can't have this kind of trigger with any other hand gun!
I've bought once fired when it's available at the right price. It's just 'painful' when I have thousands of 9's none of which I had to pay for as it is all range pick-up.
Of course I also have to buy brass for 44 & 38 as I don't find those laying around the range either...if only.
A 1911 is IMHO the best looking, best feeling in the hand, best shooting, and most copied pistol in the world. Speaking of which, I'll bet that regardless of the country you are in, you can probably find parts for it. The only pistols that I like almost as much is a Broomhandle Mauser and a Sig-Sauer P220.
Second the earlier post about being easy to shoot well.
Every time I pick one of mine up, I like it more.
Easy is the key word. I can be even more accurate with my 226, but I really have to try. With the 1911, you can just casually put up nice groups. It's hard to explain. If I focus real hard, I don't hit any extra bulls with it. If I shoot fast or really carelessly, I don't really shoot any worse. It's just easy to shoot.
My wife bought me a beautiful colt gold cup back in the early 80's. I took it back the next day and picked up a 9mm instead. I wish I had known there were single stacks at the time, I might have kept it. My hands are way to small for a double stack. Love-Hate? Donno. Haven't spent enough time with one. Maybe one of these days.
I have my share of 1911's. They will probably be part of my children & grandchildrens inheritance. I've seen how people react in stressful situations & I can't trust my muscle memory to manipulate safeties when my life is threatened. Until something better comes along, my EDC will still be a Glock. Moses & Gaston were cut from the same cloth.
They are the originals. Therefore they are the greatest.
I know the SAA are older, but for me the 1911 was the classic original.
Not the first I ever shot. That was a Colt police .38.
But still the 1911 is a classic.
dc
I didn't see any disparaging comments about the 1911 in any of the previous posts. It's hard to find fault with near perfection. As some of the previous posts stated, it becomes an extension of your arm. The grip angle is in my estimation perfect, as is it's smaller younger brother the Browning High-Power. The only thing I might find fault with is magazine capacity, in it's original form it only holds seven rounds. A lot in a world accustomed to five and six shot revolvers. With todays high-cap models this minor inconvenience is eliminated. (My 1911s, the .45 has 8 rd. mags., the .40 15&16 rd. mags.)
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