I WANT A 1911 AS RELIABLE AS GLOCK! WHICH BRAND?

[bushytail man]

I am tired of 1911s that don't run. I want to buy a 1911 that runs, not one that has to be sent to Colt's Custon or the Springfield Custom, one that works, now!

Which brand am I going to have the best chance with? STIs are favored by the competition crowd, do they run? Had Colt's and others, whose should I try? Thanks.

PS Either 45 or 9mm, no 40s.

[DWFAN]

My Dan Wesson's run. The .45's run with Wilson and Tripp mags 100%. The 9mm's run with Tripp and Metalform mags. The only issues I've had can be attributed to ammo.

[Trent1k1]

I bought an STI Trojan in 45. The only change I made was to put a fiber optic front sight on, and reduce the recoil spring to 13 lbs. 14,000 rounds, and 1 FTF (didn't chamber check/gauge the round). At least 12,000 of the rounds were shot in competition, which means jamming mags in, and firing as quickly as I could. Not slow and steady at a range punching holes in paper.

I have not worked the trigger at all, and my shooting buddies give me a hard time about a somewhat crunchy trigger that breaks about 3.5 lbs, HOWEVER, did I mention that my gun goes bang every time I pull the trigger?

Hope this helps as I have no personal experience with 1911's in 9 or 40.

[lee blackman]

S&W and Sig make nice 1911 type handguns. And you won't ever have to worry about tuning an extractor....

[Noximus03]

My Spartan 9 has never let me down at all. Tripps, Wilson's, and Metalforms all have run 100% for me through about 10k. I agree with DWFAN, whatever running issues I've had with it have been ammo related.

Edited May 8, 2013 by Noximus03

[hiker88]

sorry but I can't help it

%5BIMG%5Dhttp://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/x444/bluedragon67/2j47wud.jpg

Edited May 8, 2013 by hiker88

[98sr20ve]

People I know with Ed Browns and Wilson Combats all have guns that work. They are magazine sensative. What I mean is you can't just use any magazine type. Test them before you buy a entire batch. I know this is going to sound really odd but watch the two videos about 1911's in the "Why 1911's suck" link below. First video is all macho crap but the same guy goes to Wilson Combat and the marketing director basically confirms that "stacking tollerances" are a issue with 1911's. To me that explains why it's so hit or miss as to which 1911 runs perfectly and why another from the same non-custom manufacture does not. It's just how the parts stacked up.

[frag316]

[edit]

To the original post--my first competition 1911 was an STI Trojan 5.0 in .45 ACP. I've had no problems with that gun that I didn't induce by doing my own gunsmithing or using non-chamber-checked ammo. I bought it in 2004 and shot it in Single Stack every year until I got my current primary competition gun.

I commissioned a Predator Tactical Iron Shrike in May or so of last year and got it not too long ago. I've been shooting it exclusively in competition since March. I didn't clean it until this past Monday to see how it would run, and it's been flawless when I feed it good ammo (I had a crimp issue with a new load). I ran that gun thru about 500 rounds without cleaning it and it ran like the machine it is. And there's a lot to be said for a custom pistol. The difference in quality between my factory STI and my Iron Shrike is huge. The STI is a great gun, but it's factory. The Iron Shrike is custom and you can tell the difference.

Do yourself a favor and make the investment now.

Edited May 9, 2013 by Flexmoney

[2mikes]

Les Baer gets my vote.

[Steve RA]

Taurus PT-1911 - Got one and fired it about 800 times before cleaning, never bobbled. Lot of bad press but if you get a good one it will run quite well.

[gearguywb]

It's not about the gun. It is about the complete package. Gun, ammo, magazines, shooter.

The best gun in the world will not run correctly without the right mags and ammo, etc.

Find one you are comfortable with, buy good quality magazines, select appropriate ammo (or load), and start fine tuning.

[Classic_jon]

I have found out the hard way that 1911's are very mag dependent and that if you get a good quality 1911 from any manufacturer and the mag malfunctions then the 1911 in question will malfunction. My Springfield Range Officer has run with no issues that were not induced by the mags since I received it. I bought some used 47D mags from a friend and found out why they malfed in his 1911... the springs were bad.... I replaced the springs and then found out he had beaten up the sides of the mags and that was causing them to not drop free. i spen several hours and time with a vice and a rubber mallet and knocked them back into shape but I know that over time they will go out of spec again because they were out of spec at one point. I bought three Wilson ETM mags and had Zero issues out of the mags since going to the Wilson ETM's

I have no complaints about my Springfield RO at all and the gun itself has functioned flawlessly.

[ParaGunner]

I've heard great things about Para lately with their new guns and customer service is top notch now.

[GuildSF4]

The 1911 pistol was designed to run with hardball, and most manufactures new pistols will run with hardball right out of the box most will still run with TC bullets. Now if you want to run semi-wadcutters you may need some work in the feed ramp (classicly called throating).

The most common cause of feeding issues is the magazines, get good quality ones.

Some will have decent triggers out of the box, many won't.

The best reports (non-custom) I have from talking to people concerning ones that will feed reliably have been Kimber, Springfield RO, Ruger, STI Trojan, Para no particular order.

A custom one should be very good but will cost more as will Ed Browns, Wilson, Les Baer...

[bountyhunter]

"I WANT A 1911 AS RELIABLE AS GLOCK! WHICH BRAND?"

I'm not sure it's possible to build a 1911 as crappy as a Glock, but my STI Trojan 9mm has fired so many thousands of rounds without a burp I could not even count it.

My Para 1640 was a nightmare from day one, total piece of crap.

[jester121]

I know better than to respond to this thread a day before I leave for SS Nats.

[Noximus03]

"I WANT A 1911 AS RELIABLE AS GLOCK! WHICH BRAND?"I'm not sure it's possible to build a 1911 as crappy as a Glock.

Well, that took longer than I thought it would....

[oak hill]

Lots of good 1911's out there! Just a matter of how much you wish to spend.

[Z-man]

As has been said previously, you have to remember that the reliability is a product of gun, ammo, and mags. I just finished shootin the glocks only match in Idaho and saw a LOT of Glock malfunctions. Most were a result of bad reloaded ammo (out of spec) or garage gunsmithing. Mags are less of an issue because there is only one magazine available for glocks were 1911's have a lot of different mags with different specs. I've got a springer loaded and a les baer that run every bit as good as my glocks. As long as the mags and ammo are good they are set. The problem (for both glocks and 1911s) is the user making modifications. Both guns will require maintenance and will have parts break. The 1911 just has more parts and accessories available so specifications can vary.

[ParaGunner]

I've also seen plenty of unreliable glocks .

[Mikethor]

I have a colt gold cup and a sig sauer tacops, the sig for me wins hands down - eats and feeds everything plus the sig mags are fantastic. Depends what you want it for as my sig cannot be used for ipsc ss classic due to the rail on it.

Like all pistols they benefit from a decent trigger job. Plus the tacops came with four yes four magazines!

[RammerJammer]

First of all do not watch any video with yeager in it... no matter what he says. Second ignore yeager. C: if Yeager says something do the opposite. Glocks are a lot like AKs, very simple with very loose tolerances. 1911s tend to have very tight tolerances, the more expensive the tighter. All that means is that you have to have perfect or near perfect ammo and magazines because there is no slop to allow out of spec ammo etc. If you feed it well and take care of your magazines most 1911s will not let you down. If you use banged up mags and long out of spc ammo your Glock will choke.

[donnyglock]

Factory 1911s are a crap shoot plain and simple. Most competition shooters get to know the 1911 and can tweek them if they have to.

[ronzrx]

Kimber gets my vote. I have a Eclipse target & a team match 2 both guns run great out of the box

[Mikethor]

The big question is how much are you willing to spend ? There is plenty of 1911's out there I would like to buy but I simply cannot afford to buy them. Plenty of the cheaper ones can be made to run very well with a good gunsmith and good magazines.