On the 1911
You know I’m a fan of the black plastic people poppers in the S&W and Glock variety. And I just don’t really think the 1911 is a good carry gun. I’m not a fan because it has less capacity, is heavy, and I’ve seen too many of them go tango uniform. But I think this is absolutely correct: The Best 1911?
December 11th, 2017 at 6:51 pm
I shot a Colt 1911 in competition for decades and although I’ve soured on Caleb in recent years, with his short ratings I largely agree.
December 11th, 2017 at 7:08 pm
“Smith and Wesson– Agreed. These are generally good pistols. But I’ve seen enough problems with them to put them a step below the Colts and Springfields.”
I got one of the craptacular ones. I haven’t worked up enough giveadamn to test out S&W’s customer service.
I really wish I had just gone with a straight up .gov pattern with my 1911 purchase.
December 11th, 2017 at 7:34 pm
If you are looking for a modern interpretation of a 100+ year old design that is stylish AND reliable, please look at the Ruger Blackhawk.
December 12th, 2017 at 9:09 am
“If you are looking for a modern interpretation of a 100+ year old design that is stylish AND reliable, please look at the Ruger Blackhawk.”
HL my friend you have won the Internet!
December 12th, 2017 at 4:33 pm
The caveat for Colt? Stay away from ones built from the mid 80’s to mid 90’s. Colt was feuding with their Labor Union, and the guns were junk. You can make them work, but if you aren’t a passable gunsmith, you will be by the time you get it figured out. Or, you will be paying a gunsmith to curse at the bad workmanship from the factory.
Colt never recovered from that strike. They have a company history of a bad management culture since Sam Colt himself.
BTW, Colt was lying when they claimed that they test fire them. A friend bought one that wasn’t completely machined in some area. A factory trained armorer told me that the bean-counters wouldn’t let Colt reject any from the production line. Their reasoning was that 99% of the bad ones would not get returned for warrantee claims in time, so they were golden. They estimated that most would end up in a nightstand drawer, never fired.
Of the six autos I bought before 2000, 5 were bad. One (the first) was fixed at a regional repair center. Well done. The last one (not a 1911) went back to the factory. It came back still not functional. They didn’t have the parts, or the skill to fix the bad part(s), apparently. Or any sort of QC regarding claims returns.
December 12th, 2017 at 5:10 pm
On his comments on Para – they’ve been through a handful of buyouts and at least 2, maybe 3 factory moves. Every time they changed factories, quality suffered, then slowly came back – except the one owner that didn’t care, where they got worse instead of better after the move.
It very much depends on when a particular Para was made.
On his comments on Wilson (and I’ve seen similar with Nighthawk and Les Baer in other forums) – the milspec 1911 was sloppy loose at the bushing so as to NOT fail to go into battery when dirty. If you “accurize” them it generally involves (at least) a new bushing hand fitted to barrel and slide – and they get much less forgiving of a lack of regular maintenance. If you want 2″ at 50 yards, buy a Baer. If you want 600 rounds a day at a dusty training range, don’t bring your Baer – or take it apart every couple of boxes and wipe it down!
December 13th, 2017 at 5:08 pm
My Springfield has been rock solid. I carried it for years, though I’ve switched to a Glock 26 in the summer and a 19 in the winter for capacity reasons. I still wouldn’t begrudge anybody who carried one though.