Full size 1911

[rexherring]

Looking to add to my handguns and was wondering if there is anyone who has a Para Ordinance, Rock Island, Taurus or Bersa 1911 and what's your take on them? I'm looking for full size 5 inch 1911's without breaking the $600 mark.

[rintinglen]

I have a 5" Rock Island, but have not shot it much. It functions OK, but is not very accurate. The trigger could stand some work, and it is a little loose, but it goes bang every time so far.
I think a better barrel would help, but I got it for 450 bucks and don't want to tie up a bunch of money in a plinker.

[littlejack]

rexherring:
I have the Taurus PT 1911. It shoots like a house afire. I bought it about 4 years ago. 600.00 out the door. I wanted a good 1911, for my first one, and it sure fits the bill. I carry it sometimes in my woods travels, and I feel very secure with it on my side.
Jack

[saz]

I have a 5" Rock Island and it is great. Feeds almost everything you feed it. It prefers RN type profiles though. Can't beat it for the money though.

[David2011]

Just my opinion, but if you can find a Springfield Armory in that price range, even if used, I think you would be very happy. I sold one of their Parkerized 5" "Loaded" models (PX9109LP) a few years ago and still regret it. Unlike some brands, their internal parts are the same quality as the parts you can see. Upgrading parts can get costly. It's better to buy quality the first time.

David

[x101airborne]

My first 1911 was a Rock Island. I wanted to learn 1911's, and that was a perfect platform.
My friend bought a Taurus and it is one of the most accurate 1911's I have ever shot. It will shoot right along my Kimber. I would go with the Taurus for the money. IF you are disappointed, I would buy it from you. I like them that much.

[bobthenailer]

I have a few brands of 1911 pistols , i can recomend the following brands , Colt , Para Ordance ,
Springfield Armory & Caspian, the others i have no experince with.
I would recomend to buy it only once! think ahead and get all the features you want the first time, even if you have to spend a little more, it will be worth it in the long run .
Good luck in your search !

[Silver Jack Hammer]

Colt fan here, gotta say that Springfield Mil Spec is a better gun than the Colt, about half the price. I own 3 Colt 1911's but the Springfield Mil Spec is the way to go. We have a 1911 'smith in the area, he doesn't speak very well of the Para or the Kimber. That Mil Spec is his first choice. It's also a good platform to build on as you go if you wish to.

[captaint]

The Remington 1911 and the Ruger 1911 can both be had for under 600 bux.. I, personally like the looks of the Remington better, just me... enjoy Mike PS The Remington can also be had in satin nickle - which I thought was really nice.. And I don't like nickle guns...

[scattershot]

I have a Rock Island tactical, and I would recommend it to anyone. For $450.00, I got an accurate pistol with better than average sights, and a good trigger. I also have a Colt 1911, a Ruger, and had a Kimber. I sold the Kimber and kept the Rock, if that tells you anything. My Ruger was a shade over $600.00, but is a fine pistol, if you can find one.

[kyle623]

I have a taurus pt1911 SS shoots great and eats swc's too, not a big fan of the blue taurus, seems kind of a thin finish on them. but the stainless has performed flawlessly. and is supposed to have all the bells and whistles of a much higher priced model. i know the trigger and accuracy on mine is great. the rock islands are good starter guns as well and be upgraded nicely.

[kweidner]

I have shot and worked on all of them. I own a Springfield it is my SOLE 1911 now. I sold the Kimber. The Taurus's that I have worked on seemed to eat anything and shot better than the other inexpensive ones but I would save the bank and do it once. Just my philosophy. +1 on the stainless. Around here on a carry weapon I would consider nothing else. I do have a blued SBH but it gets wiped down every time I carry it.

[Moonie]

I've owned Springfield, Kimber, Taurus and RIA. Any quality 1911 will do you well. We currently have 3 RIA's in the family, I own a PT-1911 Taurus and a RIA compact (carry gun). All my 1911's have been flawless. My sons RIA was used and after an extractor swap it has been flawless.

[double00]

I bought a remington R1 a few months ago and love it. Trigger pull is excellent right out of the box.

[jp99]

I'd say the Springfield is probably the best of them, however I have been rather happy with my Rock Island Armory in the officer model. Yes it has jammed once, I attribute that to shooting too any rounds loaded with bullseye. Other than that it has kept up with any other 1911 I've shot beside it and it typically is more reliable, sometimes a little less accurate but usually just as accurate.

Regards,

JP99

[Bullet Caster]

I've got a Norinco that I bought nearly 30 years ago. Will feed and chamber anything I give it and it is fairly accurate. I know you guys don't like Norinco's but at the time, just out of the Marine Corps with little $$ for a new gun, I opted for the Norinco over any other at the time. I really wanted a Colt but just couldn't afford it.

I still have that Norinco and enjoy shooting it (oops it went to the bottom of the lake, too). Lol. BC

[MtGun44]

I'd take a Rem or Ruger 1911 over the others, especially the Taurus.

Bill

[csmopar]

I have a Taurus pt1911, I love it. Ive had no problems what so ever with it. The only complaint I really have is with the typ of sights, its more of a personal preferance, but I have grown to not like the 8 dot sights it comes with.

Mine loves 230 gr JHP and 200 gr SWCs, very very consistent with those type of bullets and very accurate. If 500-600 is your price range, Taurus would be a good fit, but only the 1911 series. I cannot say with the same vote of confidence in any other Taurus model as I have had trouble with their polymer guns.

[3006guns]

I had an original Colt 1911 but gave it to my son after buying a Rock Island. The R.I. is tight, well fitted and accurate although it shoots a bit low. I'll correct that with some new sighting equipment in the future but for a reliable gun right out of the box I don't think you can beat them for the price.

[skeet1]

A few years ago I bought a Charles Daily 1911 and I have not been sorry with the purchase. It is made in the Philippines like some other brands are and the finish is certainly not as good as a Colt or Kimber but I believe that it will shoot right along with them. In fact I have owned several Colts before and this gun will probably equal them in the accuracy department. The best part of the Charles Daily is that it cost about 1/2 as much.

[rexherring]

Thanx for all the response. As usual, a lot of different choices. I'll probably just have to pick them up and go for features, warranty, availability and feel. A local store here has most of the ones mentioned.

[MtGun44]

I completely rebuilt a Taurus 1911 for a friend. Almost all small parts were replaced with Ed Brown
parts, and now it runs well. Before it jammed and the hammer followed after est 500-600
rds from new. He bought it for $200, so it was worth fixing. He knew the original purchaser
and the original owner was quite disgusted and sold it for low. Very many internal small
parts were redesigned by Taurus to minimize the amount of hand fitting required to make a gun
that will work, the redesign was not always in a good way, IMO. The frame, slide and barrel
are good quality items with decent metal and decent tolerances, but IMO the small parts are
sloppily made and carefully redesigned to allow them to work with sloppy tolerances. An
example is the trigger. The bow has been redone with 4 little 'tips' sheared partially out of the
parent metal so that they are the only part that touches the frame and the trigger doesn't
have to fit the groove well to make it feel OK, they are sort of little leaf springs to take up
the sloppy fit. Lots of other examples. Hammer and sear were not worth reworking,IMO, with
that stupid lock built in, and already following badly at a small number of rounds. In my view
Taurus evaluated the 1911 design as requiring too tight of tolerances to keep the price low
and profits up, so they decide to redesign lots of internal parts where they could not be seen
to make them cheaper and wider tolerances to be OK without hand fitting. A way to go, and
I can see what the engineers were thinking (I am a designer and structural engineer) when
I looked at the modified parts.

If you plan on shooting a couple thousand rounds EVER, I think the Taurus 1911 may be OK,
probably. I have several 1911s that are way above 100,000 rounds and going strong, and
several that are way north of 40K and doing just fine.

I'm sure that the Taurus fans will tell you I am full of it, but I don't care. This is what I saw
with the only Taurus 1911 that I have ever dealt with in any detail.

Bill

[DrCaveman]

Check out STI Spartan. I haven't owned any of the others but it is dang sweet to me.
Look used, it should fit in your budget.

[Houndog]

I've got a Para Ordinance and after I threw away everything but the frame, barrel, slide and sights and replaced everything else with Cylinder & Slide parts I've got a reliable 45. It was ROUGH when I bought it and the price paid reflected that.

[keyhole]

my 2 cents...

I have several full size 1911 types- Colt Series 70 Gold Cup, Para Ordnance P14, Kimbers, Sig Sauer. About 3 years ago I wanted to get a basic, fixed sight 1911 type without spending $1000. Compared the Para Ordnance "GI Expert" to Springfield Armory Mil-Spec. I ended up buying the Para due to its better trigger pull. Even though it has the Series 80 type firing pin, of the two examples I tried it had a better trigger than the SA. I did not expect the Para to have the better trigger but it did. Two other guns may have totally different results.
The GI Expert was $470 new. Came with 2 mags. I have fired about 1000 rounds through it. It feeds everything-Cast RN, Lyman 452460 SWC, Saeco 185 SWC without problems. It is as accurate as any of the other .45 pistols I have. Only negative is the Durokote finish is not very durable, despite the name. It has rubbed off on the corners and some high spots, even though it has never been holstered. The GI Expert exceeded my expectations, especially considering the price.