Trying to get a 1911...

[Nightcrawler]

*sigh*

Okay, I'm left handed. On a 1911, I need an ambi saftey. Now, the cheapo-repo 1911s have ambi safties standard, but I want a good one.

Do the good ones come with ambi safties? Oh hell no, not unless you want to pay $300+ extra for a "custom shop" model. (YES, I'm talking to YOU, Springfield and Kimber.) Now, after a little poking, I found that I like the spur hammer better than the rounded hammer. That made the choice easy.

Springfield Mil-Spec. It's not really mil-spec, mind you, with its high viz sights and Infernal Locking System, but it has a spur hammer, is parkerized, and is Springfield's most inexpensive model.

Of course, it's not ready to go out of the box. I need to send it to a 'smith, a good one, for an ambi saftey installation. I figure while I'm at it I'll get a reliability package and and a refinish.

Now, who to send it to? I've been looking at Arizona Response Systems (http://www.arizonaresponsesystems.com/) or Gemini Customs (http://www.geminicustoms.com/). I'm going to get the mainspring housing replaced and be rid of the nonsensical locking system as well.

Any other advice? (Note: "Get a Glock" is not the type of advice I'm looking for, okay?)

[dsk]

Either a Springfield Mil-Spec or a Colt M1991A1. An ambi safety should cost too much to install. Any gunsmith who can't install it doesn't deserve his job. The reason why most don't come with them is because they aren't all they're cracked up to be. If you are a lefty they are an asset, but otherwise they're just hanging there waiting to be bumped and disengaged.

[Borf]

Silly question, and one I've never investigated (being a right hander); but are there many companies that make dedicated left hand safeties as oposed to ambi? If the gun is being modded to be what *you* need it to be, it doesn't make much sense to introduce an extra way for things to go wrong (twice as much area to snag, etc.).

[Nightcrawler]

Well, I prefer the ambi saftey over an either-side only one. I like a gun I can use with either hand, you see.

The Colt 1991 retails for about $200 more than the Mil-Spec, and has M1991A1(tm) on the slide in block letters. I mean, I'd like to have a genuine Colt, but I hear about QC problems, plastic parts, and I wonder if it's worth the extra money.

Besides, I like the parkerized finish better than blue. Lower maintenance, all business.

I'm willing to be talked into a Colt, though, if I'm mistaken about any of the concerns I listed.

I understand why they don't put ambi safteys on all of their models, but you think the 1911 makers would take a clue from CZ-USA and their CZ-85 (just like a 75 but with an ambi saftey) and make one "ambi" model among their basic line, instead of asking me to buy a $1400 "custom" model which is, basically, a trumped up target pistol as opposed to a simple, reliable weapon. I'm not a big fan of slapping tons of bells and whistles on my guns as a rule (don't like paying for things I don't need) and I don't feel I need adjustable sights, match grade barrels, or front slide serrations (yech) on a 1911.