Her first 45 ACP 1911

[PbHurler]

Gentlemen (& Ladies),

A friend of mine's wife wants to buy a 1911 in 45 ACP. She has narrowed it (aesthetically) to a 5", stainless, wood grips.

They've eyeballed a Springfield Mil spec stainless and a Remington R1 stainless.

They'd like to keep the budget < $1,000. They'd go a little higher if it was worth it.

They both are active (accomplished) shooters/hunters so they are not unfamiliar with arms.

Any recommendations you may have as to a decent 1911, or those to steer away from that I could pass on to them would be appreciated.

TIA

[tazman]

Springfield Armory Range Officer stainless.
They are excellent pistols. They can be purchased for a bit less than $1000.

[robbyPGP2014]

Ditto on the Springfield RO

[Dan Cash]

The Springfield guns tend to be thicker, front to back, in the frame than a true 1911 which I find very uncomfortable and awkward. Don't know about the Remington but Kimber and Ruger make superlative out of the box guns.

[osteodoc08]

Basic Kimber target stainless

[Groo]

Groo here
Rock Island if a steel frame .
This will allow you money to modify as needed till you find what she likes,,, then get as "Good" one.

[DougGuy]

Springfield or Ruger

[Cougar Hunter]

Colt Competition Model

[PbHurler]

Thank you all for the responses; I'll be passing these along.

[Crash_Corrigan]

Get her a Taurus 1911 and spend less than $500 on it. Then buy her a decent Smith & Wesson .38 Revolver with a 4" barrel. I would not get a J frame as heavy use will loosen it up too much. However a decent Model 10, 13 or 15 will be a joy to own and shoot.:grin:250418250419250420250421

I have a Taurus that I bought 8 years ago and that has digested over 6,000 rounds of pretty much only reloaded cast boolits and it has yet to malfunction one time. At 5,000 rounds I decided to replace the mainspring. It was still working but I want reliability as I do carry this on occasion.

The finish was worn badly by the 3rd year so I had it reblued by the late Ray Lynn a local gunnie who also customized a 1929 Mauser 98/22 into a thumbhole 6.5x55MM Sweede. see photos. Dog is Sgt Rambo. Rev is my NYCPD issue Smith 10 4" and rifle is the Sweede.

[BNE]

I vote for any Kimber.

Have them go to a store that has all of the above and dry fire them. Some gritty triggers never get better. And yes, I’ll wait and pay more for a gun with a better trigger.

[Plate plinker]

For a little higher a Dan Wesson. Some rather experienced 1911 guys tell me they are really well done.

[samari46]

A S&W model 10 is a great revolver and a model 15 is even better with the adjustable sights. If at all possible get the model 15. And as far as a 1911A1 is concerned the one I have was built on Springfield Armory on their NM frame has a Knowlin barrel,STI sights and has digested many thousands of store bought hard cast 230 grain bullets. Bought this years back when I started shooting steel plate matches. Prior to that I was shooting a 1943 Ithaca 1911A1. Even then I had problems with the issue sights. Which is why I got the SA 1911A1. Luckily all the goodies had been installed prior to me buying it. Frank

[samari46]

Crash Corrigan, ah another fellow New Yorker done gone and left home.I used to work for Con Ed and after 33 years decided to call it quit and pack it in. But I went south to Louisiana. Been down here going on 24years. How's that old saying about New Yorkers go?. Half are wanting to get out and half are getting out. Frank

[skeettx]

This is perfect for her :)

https://www.gunbroker.com/All/search?Keywords=PI9124L

[charlie b]

If they are experienced shooters then just let them go to some local shops and look at what is offered. Even better would be a shop with a range where you can try different pistols.

My wife lovers her colt light commander, but, it is not shot a lot. She chose some grips for it that she liked and we installed those. The message here is that the nice thing about a 1911 is you can change the grip to just about whatever you want. So if a nice pistol is found at a good price, but has the wrong grips, replacements are fairly inexpensive.

[WinchesterM1]

Yeah my Remington has crap plastic grips so I got some European red stag grips

250512

[oldhenry]

Out of the box my Ruger SR1911 had a great trigger, good sights & flawless operation: all for less than $1,000. I tried the trigger on other higher priced brands & knew they would require a trigger job.

[CASTER OF LEAD]

My vote is for the Ruger SR1911. I own one with a 5" bbl, and it will eat most anything I feed it. Good sights ,and a very good trigger out of the box. Just my .02 - Caster

[Tom W.]

Ruger.....