to weigh in on the "M1911A1 vs. whatever-else-ya-got" debate.
Say Uncle links to an article claiming that 1911s are good business for gunsmiths. It's probably true. But ...
It's a proven & well-tested platform. It has a 100-year record as an effective sidearm. Many have complained about the reliability (?), the problems ... oh, they have problems galore, to hear them tell it. Failure to feed, failure to eject, poorly-designed magazines (I don't get that one at all), and the litany goes on and on.
But here's the deal ... for me, at least. My daily carry is a 1911A1 clone. It has jammed once - a stovepipe - when I was breaking it in, at the range, and not since. Not a single time.
I have magazines from multiple manufacturers, and the only problem I've ever experienced is that the S&W mag doesn't feed hollow-points in my pistol. They catch on the bottom of the polished feeding ramp, so I'm guessing it's a quirk of the angle of the follower rather than some horrible design flaw inherent in the platform.
But I've had no other issues. NONE. It does what I ask it to do, without any fuss or bother. I recently added Crimson Trace grips, because I wanted to. It had nothing to do with sights, or grip problems, nor anything else other than that I wanted the laser added for low-light targets.
By the way, mine is a Taurus PT1911. You know, the one the so-called knowledgeable opinionators love to hate. Granted, YMMV. But I've had no problems, and see no reason not to continue carrying it.
Carry on.
URGENT CALL TO REPENTANCE: All the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the Lord. And all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before Thee. For the Kingdom is the Lord’s and He rules among the nations. (Psalm 22:27-28)
11 comments:
My first was a circa 1943 1911a1 inspected mark GHD damn good gun my next was a 1970s Gold Cup and my last
was a Circa 1916 Commercial 1911 with
a C Prefix and the only time any of them jammed was when i screwed up the reloading and also had .22 conversion Unit and a .41 avenger barrel,now in the UK we can not have pistols.
I guess I think "if you're going to carry a weapon, it's one of the least obnoxious ones to carry."
:)
If it works for you, so be it!
Whenever I first touch mine off at a range, I exclaim, "God Bless John Moses Browning!", sometimes to the consternation of fellow shooters. Incidentally, I've owned 4 different flavors of 1911, all good-of-type.
Recently read an article where the author has fired well over 100,000 rounds in the last year over multiple platforms. All handguns experienced some malfunctions. The one that experienced the most malfunctions, a Gen. 4 Glock. IMO 90% of all malfunctions in any platform can be traced to two things. Operator error and magazine issues,in that order.
I have wanted to try some variety of 1911's to see if some were more 'shootable' than others. The one classic one I fired was very uncomfortable, yet I can shoot an XD in .45 with no problems. As to the "problematic nature mystique" that 1911's currently have in the gun world I think it's due to a few things.
1. Slavish devotion of a lot of the 1911 community generates it's own negative feedback. Much like the MAC community and, well, everyone else...
2. They've been modded so much that you tend to have a much more noticeable failure profile than other guns. Every match I've ever participated in has had 2 kinds of 'common' failures. 1911's that someone has 'tweaked' and reloads (or custom loads) or a combination. I honestly think that the fact that you can literally change something about nearly every part of the gun just begs for malfunctions. I think AR's and Glocks are going to eventually get there too. They just haven't been around for 100 years yet!
friends:
2 dead stock 1911's, one a colt commander in .45 acp, and the other a gold cup in caliber 9x23mm winchester. (souped up .38 super, in essence.)
none has ever malfunctioned. the rounds chamber, the thing goes off when the trigger is pulled and not before, and the next round is fed.
what's not to like?
i did a very little practical pistol stuff, which i thought silly & ridiculous in the extreme, ... , what, i am going to fight it out with five armed assailants, are you kidding me?, ... , and while my little guns just chugged along, the modified guns were prone to all kinds of failures, usually as a direct result of mods to the basic platform.
i have never so much as polished a feed ramp.
what's the point? i am smarter than john moses browning, for heaven's sake? laughing.
buy a dead stocker, shoot a couple hundred rounds of hardball through it, and then find out if it will shoot the exotic stuff. if not, go with the hardball.
john jay
milton freewater, oregon usa
p.s. i also own an xd-9 compact. great little gun. and, i had open heart a couple years ago. after the surgery, i could not operate the slide on the xd-9, springs were too stiff. for a long time.
when i started shooting, i could manipulate the controls on the 1911, and i could operate the slide and the magazine release. and, my 9x23mm has a double set of springs, the .45 are much easier.
hey, ease of operation and getting the old dear to bear on target, something to consider. plus, it shoots where you point it. another bequest from john moses browning, who was a crack shot. along with brother ed, and his other brothers.
A Taurus huh, you know how they are, I've been on the same boards. I have been carrying two, the steel frame on duty and the aluminum frame(a later addition) off duty and have had no problems with either that weren't magazine related.
The gunboards are a lot like the magazines (paper ones), you have to take everything on there with a grain of salt.
I tracked the real-world performance of Glocks and 1911s (full size) and the reliability of 1911s was poor. 72 1911s reviewed in Gun Tests magazine, and 14 were unreliable (and one fell apart). And the unreliability was not limited to cheap guns. Wilson, Springfield and Kimber all had problems.
http://www.yankeegunnuts.com/2010/12/28/quality-1911-glock-taurus/
If you get lucky and find a 1911 that reliably shoots hollowpoints without needing work, more power to you. Buy a Powerball ticket, since you clearly have the stars aligned in your favor.
But too many people have had to waste too much time, money and hassles to get their 1911 to work. And why is it that you have to use Wilson mags to make most 1911s run?
I have been really amazed at the recent remarks against the 1911. Some by really big dog trainers of fame and some by forum members who have had trouble with them.
My Kimber has never hiccuped in all the years I have had it. Admittedly, I don't shoot that often but have shot a few hundred rounds through it. I carried it last night on my dog walk and I know it will do what I need it to do when I need it.
Before I bought it, it was that or a Glock 21 in consideration and I went with the Kimber. I am happy with the choice I made.
I guess that I need to start buying lotto tix then. I've been shooting a stock Norinco 1911 clone since the late 80's and have never had a problem with it. Hard ball, hollow point or semiwadcutter. Jacketed or lead. It just cranks them out without any hiccups at all. The last 1000 or so rounds have been 200 grain semiwadcutters that I handload.
Of course, I used to shoot lead reloads through a Glock 17 on a regular basis, too and never had a problem either.
I too own a Taurus PT1911, and (so far) I have had absolutely no problems, no failures. I pull the trigger, it goes bang. Period.
I currently rotate this with a Taurus 689 (.357 revolver) as my daily carry tools. Yes, I do trust my life with it.
No, I do not get into any gun/caliber debates because your firearm is as much a personal choice as anything else, like whether you prefer Coke or Pepsi, and any heated debate is a fantastic waste of time and energy.
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