Good 1911 .45

[yman]

Hey, Guys I am looking for a good bare bones 1911 style .45. Anyone got any suggestions or better yet experience. Reliability is most important, I dont really care about looks, I would like to be able to hit the side of the preferbiale barn with it. I shoot a custom .45 that I bought some years ago and love it but I am looking for a knock about gun. My good friend that built the custom .45 passed away in case your wondering why I dont get one from him. I dont know much about them execpt I really like shooting a 1911. Thanks

[EDK]

My ex-marine step son has a Springfield Armory and likes it.

I would get a Kimber, but I had two highly customized Colts back in the 70 & 80s, and then 2 Novak customized 645 Smith & Wessons in the late 80s. Somewhat like your custom gun; ruins you for box stock! You can get a high level gun from Kimber for around $1,000.

Not what you're looking for, but have you tried a S&W 45 ACP revolver? They are the best kept secret in handgunning.

:cbpour: :redneck: :Fire:

[Dale53]

The S&W 625-8 has about become my favorite handgun. Man, do I love shooting that. No bending over to pick up brass, "x" ring (or better) accuracy. .45 ACP is the NUTS! Love it!!

Dale53

[crabo]

STI Spartan or the Trojan if the bidget will support it.

Crabo

[Lloyd Smale]

ill go with crabo. Ive got a trojan and its a great gun. If i wanted or had to recomend a inexpenive good 1911 id go with the spartan. Its got as many bells and whistles as the new tauras does and has a company that actually backs up there warantee. i dont think you could find more 1911 for the money.

[KYCaster]

I agree with Crabo, the Spartan is probably the best 1911 value going right now. A couple of the guys in the local IPSC clubs are useing them and they work well right out of the box.

Also check out Armscor. I haven't heard much about them lately, but I've been impressed with the ones I've handled.....and they make the frame/slide/barrel for the Spartan. STI sends them the internal parts and they assemble them in the Philippines.

Jerry

[NSP64]

Bought me a High Standard 1911. Parkerized finish plane jane, wood panels Brand new $409.00:drinks: They had a new one and a used one that looked new but had a hard case, 4 mags, Hogue rubber, for $300.00.( I bought the $300. one). Using Hardball ammo I can keep all 7 on a fullsize target offhand at 100 yrds:-D

[trickyasafox]

I have a springfield armory mil-spec. I don't have much 1911 experience but it has been a pleasure to shoot for 2k of rounds so far. I'd say get the mil-spec over the GI if you go with Springfield. the 3 dot sights were worth it in my opinion.

[22cf45]

I will agree with trickyasafox, buy the Springfield mil-spec. I think you can pick one up in the neighborhood of $400. The Springfield is very well built, the parts are good and the holes are in the right places.

If I were to build another pistol, the Springfield is one that I would choose (along with Caspian) as the basis. Kimbers are nice pistols but pricey. You stated that you have an accurized 45 and you are looking for a knock around pistol, the mil-spec will fit that bill. No, it won't be competition grade gun without a lot of work, but neither is the Kimber and it starts at a much higher price.
Phil

[AlaskaMike]

I bought a Springfield mil-spec in 2006 and have put a couple thousand rounds through it. For a good, solid basic 1911 I don't think it can be beat. I fully agree with Trickyasafox about the sights--they beat the heck out of the GI ones.

About my only gripe was that it shot very low for me--given a 6 o'clock hold on the target at 15 yards, it'd hit 4 - 5 inches low. On a hunch I replaced the stock 16 lb. recoil spring with an 18 (or maybe 18.5, I dunno) pound spring, and that raised the point of impact to where it's only about 1 - 1.5" low at 15 yards. I thought about filing down the front sight, but I wanted to try the spring first. I may take a bit off the front sight rather than go to a spring stronger than 18 lbs.

Mike

[218bee]

Don't own any 45 autos anymore but the best one I've ever owned was a Sig P220. Very well put together and very accurate, oh yeah this is not a 1911, ok, I wonder if anyone out there has any experience with the newer Taurus 1911 clone, I believe it would be low cost but don't know anything about them but I bet someone here does

[slughammer]

For a 45 I can NOT recommend the Trojan. Two friends got them and while one has only shot it limited amounts, the other has shot his a bunch and had nothing but feeding problems. He has used both Wilson and CMC magazines, lots of problems with 230 factory ball and others. I think the Trojan with the fully ramped barrel is a great idea for a 9mm or 40sw, but for 45 acp, the standard barrel is a better idea. The gun does shoot HG 68's just fine, but my friend does not shoot lead; only has time to shoot and load jacketed.

I would recommend the Kimber, three folks I know have them and they all work very well.

[Char-Gar]

I bought a Springfield USGI and it was good enough pistol, but accuracy was not up to snuff. I put a Colt barrel in and accuray was cut in half. I then bought a Norinco 1911A1 because it was cheap ($260.00), but I liked it so much, I swaped the Springer for another.

They are truly well made, reliable, and accurate pistols. The frames are forged and the slides are milled out of one piece of bar stock. Heat treament is great for long life. Barrels are chrome plated inside and out. The sights are the pits, but I changed them out.

Folks seem to gag at the thought of a 1911A1 made in China, but if you can get past that, they are fine pistols for bargan basement prices.

[quasi]

yes Norinco 1911's are a great deal, and are made of 5000 series steel. They are very hard on H.S.S cutters! New 5" gm are $325.00 here, commanders $350.00. All fordged parts, no mimed or cast parts. They are not the best finished 1911 out there but I guarantee they are the toughest!

[HCL]

Have had a Springfield for many years, very reliable. Not the most accurate 45 I have shot but at 25yrds it gets the job done. Could not even guess how many rounds have gone though it and still functioning like new.
Mike

[Hunter]

The Colt 1991 is a great pistol to start in the Government Model world.
They are well made pistols with quality material.

[Lloyd Smale]

thats odd. My trojan is a 9mm so my only comments will refer to the two .45s ive shot and both ran flawlusly. Have they sent them back to the factory for a look? Sti has one of the best warantee depts going and id bet theyd fix what ails those guns. Theres a pile of guys that use sti 45s in competition and if they werent reliable they sure wouldnt use them for that. Also a trojan and a spartan are about identical in construction and ive heard nothing but good about the spartans and ive run two myself and they both worked a 100 percent with factory and cast reloads.
For a 45 I can NOT recommend the Trojan. Two friends got them and while one has only shot it limited amounts, the other has shot his a bunch and had nothing but feeding problems. He has used both Wilson and CMC magazines, lots of problems with 230 factory ball and others. I think the Trojan with the fully ramped barrel is a great idea for a 9mm or 40sw, but for 45 acp, the standard barrel is a better idea. The gun does shoot HG 68's just fine, but my friend does not shoot lead; only has time to shoot and load jacketed.

I would recommend the Kimber, three folks I know have them and they all work very well.

[eljefe]

For a plain jane 1911 it is hard to beat the Rock Island by Armscor. I have shot several, and they are a good shooting gun that is very inexpensive. They also make a 38 super that I have been drooling over for months.

[Poohgyrr]

We bought a new Colt 1991 5" GM back when they had the "old roll marks" and it has not given us one single problem. A really good basic 5" steel 1911/45. People that buy these around here keep them; I haven't seen any used ones for sale.

[slughammer]

thats odd. My trojan is a 9mm so my only comments will refer to the two .45s ive shot and both ran flawlusly. Have they sent them back to the factory for a look? Sti has one of the best warantee depts going and id bet theyd fix what ails those guns. Theres a pile of guys that use sti 45s in competition and if they werent reliable they sure wouldnt use them for that. Also a trojan and a spartan are about identical in construction and ive heard nothing but good about the spartans and ive run two myself and they both worked a 100 percent with factory and cast reloads.

The one gun has only been shot limited amounts. Not enough to give a report of feeding issues or not. The second gun has been used with all sorts of 230 ball ammo; factory American Eagle, Remington, Remanufactured ammo and reloads from the SDB I talked him into buying. He actually had a problem with slide stops and has (2) different ones fit to go with the magazines he is using. He started off with 1/2 dozen CMC mags, three of us have them and they never cause a problem. Because of the feeding problems he went out and bought 1/2 dozen Wilson magazines. Well at the range, feeding was better, but with 230 ball in the Wilson Magazines the gun would spit the slide stop out and the slide would go down the range :shock: So he liked the feeding, but was mildly concerned about loosing the slide at random intervals :-) He ended up working on the slide stop to clear the nose of the ball ammo, but then that slide stop jams up the CMC mags so he has two slide stops. This story goes on and on and on.

While I have sent a 1911 back for accuracy issues, I think that sending them back for feeding problems runs into a circle of $$ spent at the post office. When do you start and how do you decide to stop. I had this gun at my house for a few months, I probably shot 3-400 rounds of his ammo and another 200 of my own, and not a problem. No doubt if he sent it to STI the same thing would happen. (AND no, he is not limp wristing it, the guy can crush walnuts with his hands).

Last I talked to him I told him the gun had been cursed by a woman. :evil: