Would you trust your life to a 1911?

[tahunua001]

the reliability of the 1911 has not just recently been called into question. it's been questioned ever since glocks uber bullet count torture test was conducted and the military replaced it with the M9(good choice to replace but bad gun to replace it with IMHO). the 1911 was a thing of beauty back in 1914 when many of the people issued them had never seen a gun that could fire more than 6 rounds and you didn't even have to cock the hammer after every shot. now they are more expensive than plastic guns, require much more custom fittings, many of the repairs have to be done at the factory or by an experienced gunsmith, they have the worst ammo capacity of any other semi auto handgun(unless you start getting into the pocket 45 genre), a lot of them can't feed hollow points, and they generally have to be cleaned and drowned in lube after every couple hundred rounds or they become jammomatics.

now with all that said, despite needing a good modernization to compete with the modern handguns out there, I would still trust my life to a 1911. your concealed carry/home defense gun should always be cleaned to begin with so the fouling issues should be no brainer. 45 ball ammo is plenty deadly to bad guy rifling through the knick knacks. in a self defense situation you are only going to get 1 or 2 good shots off with probably a 4 shot max so the 7 or 8 round capacity of a 1911 is more than enough.

so for a front lines fighter, no the 1911 is not the latest and greatest and far from the best choice but for a nightstand gun or concealed carry(for the guys who have figured out how) they are just fine.

[WVsig]

I put no stock at all in anything Larry Vickers has to say.

In my opinion he changes horses faster then the Pony Express.

Can I get an AMEN!!!

[tahunua001]

Amen,
usually when someone quotes larry vickers I make sure to add whatever they are toting to my never buy list

[presspics]

I would and have trusted a 1911. As long as I get to go through it and make sure everything is properly tuned and undamaged...I LOVE the 1911!! Never had a problem with one that I couldn't fix.

[skoro]

Yep.

Carried one about a century ago when I was in the military.

They're good.

[Coltman 77]

Kreyzhorse:

I've never had a single FTF or FTE with my Springfield TRP 1911. The gun is reliable and more accurate than I am and have no issue trusting my life to it. It has handled every type of ammo I've fed it without fail.

Glad to read that, the TRP is a fine handgun.

Exactly how many total rounds have you put through it?

What types of fmj and jhp ammo will it feed flawlessly, if you don't mind my asking?

[Merad]

I imagine many will disagree with me, but I feel like a lot of what is being done with 1911s today is waaay beyond the original design intentions. Feeding JHP rounds, using 3.5" barrels, made into precision target pistols with ultra tight tolerances, etc...

There's nothing wrong with any of that, but reliability can suffer as a trade-off. Sure you can find 1911s that can be tested and proven reliable, but any random 1911 has to be considered a question mark.

As someone else said, if I have to choose a "strange" gun then my first choice will be a Glock.

[Blue Duck]

I have been shooting 1911's for over 30yrs, and I shot competition a lot in the 80's and 90's with the 1911. I have owned several 1911's, and the ones that I own, yes I would trust my life to them, about as much as any other gun.

My 1911's are all reliable, and will shoot hundreds of rounds without a failure if the ammo is good, and in competition, and practice, my 1911's would shoot for hundreds of rounds between cleanings. There is something to be said for a slightly loose slide if you don't clean a gun, much and shoot grungy handloads which I did a lot.

However, I have also seen several 1911's that were not reliable, but there was usually a reason that could be found, like a bad or poorly adjusted extractor, or on ocasion the feed ramp was rough or the chamber need a bit of a throat job. Sometimes springs were not right, but many times the problem was that someone had changed out some parts and did a poor job of installation, or the gun had a cheap or bad magazine.

Another problem is the factories have been trying to fix problems with the 1911 that never needed fixing, which led to stupid modifications like series 80 firing pin safetys, and the Kimber version, espacally the Kimber version, and to compound it they have too many MIM parts and some do break with use.

But a good 1911 that's right is a wonderful piece of machinery, and very reliable. I have carried one a lot for CCW, and my favorite for carry is a Springfield 4 inch lightweight GI model, however, I had to get rid of that darned lockable mainspring housing, now it's my favorite carry gun.

I also own a few Glocks and they have been very reliable, but I have shot some other people's Glocks that were very dirty and had them jam, so my thought is, know your gun. However, if I had to pick a new handgun off of the rack, load it, trust my life to it, I would probably choose a Glock 17 or 22 over an untested 1911.

A good revolver can usually be trusted, but I have seen plenty of malfuctions with revolvers too, they are not foolproof, and many times I have seen one come from the factory with a defect of somekind that rendered them unreliable, until fixed. Plus, it only takes one grain of powder under the extractor of a revolver to lock it up sometimes, I have seen it happen.

Last word, I am not and have never been much of a plastic gun fan, but do own a few Glocks, because my experiences have been about the best with them out of the box, compared to even Ruger Singleaction revolvers, believe it or not. It's not really the design, as much as quality control.

[10mm4ever]

Absolutely. I think the closer you get to a true mil spec, the better. My old Remington rand has never skipped a beat and it's all milled/forged steel and scary accurate!

[hogwiley]

I wouldnt use a 1911 as a carry pistol simply because there are lighter, more concealable, more reliable, higher capacity, user friendly options out there that are a LOT cheaper.

They may not be as pretty or fun to shoot, but they are more effective and easier to carry.

[Blue Duck]

I still carry my Springfield Lightweight 4 inch gun 1911, because for me, I have found it to be easier to carry then the fatter Glocks, or even a small revolver, however sometimes I will go to a .380 auto, when I just can't or don't want to carry anything bigger, but I don't want to carry a 5 inch steel 1911 because it's too heavy, however even a big 5 inch 1911 can be concealed pretty easy, because they are not that thick, compared to many Johnny come lately guns.

There's a lot of new guns out there, that may be really good, but I am also a little scared of them as I see several that are not very reliable, and I don't have much luck sending stuff back to the factory. I may have to try a small 9mm one of these days, but just haven't gotten arround to it.

[Wyosmith]

Yes I would!
Yes I have, and I would again.

[Stringfellow]

I think we should give Colt some more time to work out the kinks in the design before we rush to judgment.

[marklyftogt]

Give me a S&W revolver instead anytime. You absolutely know it is going to work. That said...the 1911 is an awesome gun.

[sonick808]

as long as I'd put the carry cartridge through the carry pistol in advance, then absolutely yes. This goes for any carry pistol design of course.

[sonick808]

I dunno about revolvers being foolproof, it only takes a small mistake in the elevator/cylinder stop not disengaging, or dropping below the frame and going askew and jamming, or the hand slipping, or or or..

OK yeah they're still probably more reliable, but not infallible

[Hunter Customs]

I think we should give Colt some more time to work out the kinks in the design before we rush to judgment.

The design is not the problem, any faults the 1911 has today is in the manufacturing.

Best Regards
Bob Hunter

[Aguila Blanca]

The design is not the problem, any faults the 1911 has today is in the manufacturing.

Best Regards
Bob Hunter

Bob is entirely correct. To be more specific, the problem today is people and companies who think they can outsmart John Moses Browning and Colt, who spent years designing the M1911 before it was finally accepted by the Ordnance Department. Anyone who thinks the 1911 is unreliable by design should read the history of the design, and especially the criteria of the final acceptance test. 6,000 rounds with no failures. Dunked in mud, wiped off, and fired -- no failures. Frozen in ice and fired -- no failures.

Case in point: SIG Arms. When SIG decided to throw their corporate hat into the 1911 ring, they proudly (arrogantly?) announced that THEY were going to revolutionize the production of 1911s; they were going to make them better than anyone else had ever made them before. They were so cocky about it that they named their first 1911s "Revolution."

So how well did they succeed in outsmarting John Moses Browning? They did so well that less than a year after starting sales they completely shut down production for over six months while they completely retooled their production setup. They cancelled contracts with major parts suppliers, and blamed them for the problems. Curiously, the frames and slides were originally supplied by Caspian Arms, made to SIG's specifications. Caspian went on to sell the left-over production as slide & frame kits, and I have not heard of anybody who built a pistol from one of these sets having problems. Similarly, the original barrels were from Storm Lake, again made to SIG's specifications. Storm lake sold off the left-over SIG barrels to EGW in Pennsylvania, who sold them to individual buyers. Again, the people who used those barrels in their own project guns do not appear (with one known exception, which was entirely due to an amateur builder's failure to fit the barrel to the frame properly) to have encountered problems.

Meanwhile, SIG still had problems, and had to revamp their production yet again. The 1911s SIG is selling today are either their third or fourth generation, and only now are they achieving a level of reliability that you can buy in a Rock Island for $500.

Color me silly, but I think it's downright dumb to for anyone to presume that they can outsmart an acknowledged genius.

[rab]

Hmmmm. I don't know. Lets see. Two World Wars, Korea, Nam, Lebanon, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador and I'm sure there must have been a few for Sandbox I & II. Oh, and most of the world stole/copied some. Let alone being the most recognizable of any weapon! When other top-notch companies(H&K SIG, etc..) divert time and materials, away from their top shelf, traditional products, I mean real winners, just to get into the 1911 market, there isn't much left to say. American made. Just like a Harley! That old, clunky, slow dinosaur is still here, and doing it's duty in the face of computer printed, molded, plastic guns.
Only after it proves to be good gun at the range.....
Then I'll trust it.

[NJgunowner]

My Delta Elite is one of my night stand guns. I don't leave in there often though, I'm afraid if I had to use it the cops here in NJ would confiscate it for god knows how long for the "investigation". I'm way to fond of it to let that happen, so my P226 gets the majority of duty there.

Both my 1911's (delta, Sprinfield loaded) run perfectly.

[Burner]

(H&K SIG, etc..) divert time and materials, away from their top shelf, traditional products, I mean real winners, just to get into the 1911 market

Yes... the famous HK 1911...

[surjimmy]

I didn't read all the post here, so if this was said before.....Well it's worth saying again......100's of 1,000's of dead Comies can't be wrong.

[RickB]

If you were to put a dozen high end 1911's that I'd never shot on a table in front of me along with an untested Glock, and told me I had 5 seconds to pick one to defend myself with before someone came through the door shooting at me, I'd pick the Glock.

If you were to put "my" 1911's on a table along with an untested Glock, I'd pick up one of "my" 1911's that have proven they will work.

I'd take MY 1911(s) over a table-full of anything. I don't think it's necessarity the case that "high end" 1911s are more reliable than mill-run examples from some manufacturers. I've shot a few Glocks, and there's no magic there, but every Glock is made by Glock, while a lot of "1911s" are made in Bubba's garage. If that "Glock" were made out of recycled pop bottles in a third-world auto repair shop, would you have confidence in it, just because it looked like a Glock?

[Hardcase]

I wouldn't trust my life to "any" gun. I'd trust my life to "my" gun. My go-to gun happens to be a completely stock Springfield Milspec 1911, but I have complete faith in several others to be completely reliable in a life or death situation.

[orionengnr]

Would I? Yes.
Do I? Every day.