1911's

[bluewraith]

No problems with my Para GI Expert 1911 here..

 

[bman1962]

I have a springfield range officer that i truly love and would recommend to anyone. It feels great and the adjustable sights help alot

Ditto here! Ask my wife and she will tell you how much she loves her Kimber!

For the price difference I vote for SA

 

[barrelmaker_2002]

Value 1911 I consistently reccomend are the:

Kimber Custom II
Rock Island Tactical
Citadel
STI Spartan

If it were my money, it would be the Spartan, first last and always.

 

[88E30M50]

I voted RIA. I have an RIA compact, a pair of Kimbers, a Springfield and 1 1/2 Sigs (one is a P238) and the RIA has performed as well as any of them and better than some. For the $450ish I paid for it, I got an 11 degree crowned bull barrel, an extended beavertail grip safety, ring hammer and a full length guide rod. That's not a bad setup for a low end pistol and the gun has been very reliable. Is it my favorite? No, but it sure was the best bang for the buck.

 

[Titanium Man]

Ruger??? Remington??? Taurus???


http://www.taurususa.com/product-details.cfm?id=835&category=Pistol&toggle=tp&breadcrumbseries=19

http://ruger.com/products/sr1911/models.html

http://www.1911r1.com/Products/Firearms/Model-1911r1-Stainless.aspx

 

[threedhuntr]

No love for Para Ordinance?

^^^^ This ^^^^

 

[Spazstick87]

I think les baer is by far the best one but it is a bit more expensive. I also think rra has really good ones but its a shame they stopped selling them.

 

[Claddagh]

While I've owned a few other makes of 1911 and some non-1911 .45s, I consider the two stainless "Loaded" Springfields I've purchased versions to have been the most "cost effective" 1911s I have. OMMV, but I've been satisfied enough with them not to have traded or sold them off for anything different.

My Champion came with Novak tritiums, bushingless "bull" barrel, Beavertail grip safety, ambi thumb safety, "Commader" hammer. etc. already aboard. Paid about $650 OTD for it from Bradi's several years back. I compared it, side-by-side, with a Kimber Pro Carry they had with many of the same features which was priced approximately $90 more but lacked the tritiums and ambi thumb safety. Fit and finish levels were very closely comparable so, being a southpaw, I opted for the Springer.

I took it to the Chapman Academy for a five-day class and ran very nearly 2300 rds of assorted 230 gr. ammo through it. No malfs, other than those set up for clearance/immediate action drills, it always hit where I pointed it and was only cleaned after each day's shooting had been completed. Still my primary CCW and still runs great.

Bought the full-sized stainless "Loaded" primarily for its price and features. Paid $485 for it with standard Novaks, ambi thumb safety, etc. It came with very good levels of fit and finish and has always run with whatever was put in the mag. I ditched the one-piece FLGR for a standard set up with no changes in accuracy or functional reliability. I did add an inexpensive ($49, IIRC) Champion-brand adjustable rear in order to better regulate it for my 200 gr. LSWC practice/plinking reloads. It was a drop-in, and took about 10 minutes to do. It also hosts my old Ciener .22 LR conversion unit and runs just fine with it.

There are lots more options in the same price range now than there used to be when I bought these, but since mine "ain't broke and already been paid for" I haven't had much incentive to check them out.

P.S.: While kind of OT, IMHO the absolute "Best Buy for the $" I've ever gotten in a .45 ACP pistol would have to be my CZ 97B. OTB, it was every bit as accurate as the "lower end" Les Baer I paid more than 3X as much for (and that's even after I add the money I later spent to have Neil Keller install an EAA ambi thumb safety and do a basic Duty/Reliability tune on the CZ!) and waited nine months to get.

 

[gregkl]

I consider the two stainless "Loaded" Springfields I've purchased versions to have been the most "cost effective" 1911s I have. OMMV, but I've been satisfied enough with them not to have traded or sold them off for anything different.

My Champion came with Novak tritiums, bushingless "bull" barrel, Beavertail grip safety, ambi thumb safety, "Commader" hammer. etc. already aboard. Paid about $650 OTD for it from Bradi's several years back. I compared it, side-by-side, with a Kimber Pro Carry they had with many of the same features which was priced approximately $90 more but lacked the tritiums and ambi thumb safety. Fit and finish levels were very closely comparable so, being a southpaw, I opted for the Springer.

I just bought a "Loaded" 4". I like it, but I really think it needs a good dehorning. The thumb safety in particular is rough. And the slide in general seems to have a lot of sharp edges, including the serrations. Have you done anything to yours in this regard? I also need different sights. My older eyes just can't pick up the front blade fast enough with those tritrium sights.

 

[rilesss]

What about the ruler 1911'it looks like a nice gun

NOBAMA

 

[gregkl]

What about the ruler 1911'it looks like a nice gun

NOBAMA

Not familiar with a "ruler".

 

[Claddagh]

gregkl: Can sympathize about the sight problem. Since I had to go to "progressive" bifocals, I have the same sort of problems sometime, especially getting my sight picture acquisition time slowed down by having to adjust my head position for best focus.

A Para C7.45 LDA (OM-sized) I once had came to me with XS 24/7 Big Dots installed on it. They are exceptionally quick to acquire a good fix on and deliver good COM/head hits with fast out to about 20 yds or so. The only reason that I let it go was that somebody else offered me a pile more $ for it than I had in it.
I plan to send the slide off my Champion out to XS and have a set installed on it when the tritium on my originals gets a bit dimmer. Sort of pricey perhaps, bit about the same as a set of stock replacements would run.

I just knocked the sharp edges down a bit with a set of ceramic 'stones' and it worked out well enough to suit me. Not a true "dehorning", but I already had the set and I didn't have to shell out about $50-75 to a 'smith to do one. The round rod happened to fit the slide serrations just right and it didn't take a lot of work to get them 'ouchless' without compromising their usefullness at all.

IME, the all-stainless 4" Champion, while a bit heavy for some tastes, seems to work just a tad better for me as a daily CCW than my full-sized GMs. It just 'feels' better with a more neutral balance and the weight centered in my hand. I've come to trust it and plan on sticking with it for a while yet.

 

[Bluedragon]

I have had Colt's, and fired Taurus, Springfield, and Rock Island Armory. Of the one's I have played with I say Springfield Armory.

 

[gregkl]

I have had Colt's, and fired Taurus, Springfield, and Rock Island Armory. Of the one's I have played with I say Springfield Armory.

I may have said it before, but I like your avatar...

 

[gregkl]

gregkl: Can sympathize about the sight problem. Since I had to go to "progressive" bifocals, I have the same sort of problems sometime, especially getting my sight picture acquisition time slowed down by having to adjust my head position for best focus.

A Para C7.45 LDA (OM-sized) I once had came to me with XS 24/7 Big Dots installed on it. They are exceptionally quick to acquire a good fix on and deliver good COM/head hits with fast out to about 20 yds or so. The only reason that I let it go was that somebody else offered me a pile more $ for it than I had in it.
I plan to send the slide off my Champion out to XS and have a set installed on it when the tritium on my originals gets a bit dimmer. Sort of pricey perhaps, bit about the same as a set of stock replacements would run.

I just knocked the sharp edges down a bit with a set of ceramic 'stones' and it worked out well enough to suit me. Not a true "dehorning", but I already had the set and I didn't have to shell out about $50-75 to a 'smith to do one. The round rod happened to fit the slide serrations just right and it didn't take a lot of work to get them 'ouchless' without compromising their usefullness at all.

IME, the all-stainless 4" Champion, while a bit heavy for some tastes, seems to work just a tad better for me as a daily CCW than my full-sized GMs. It just 'feels' better with a more neutral balance and the weight centered in my hand. I've come to trust it and plan on sticking with it for a while yet.

I have a set of stones and bought them to do the work on the pistol. Good to hear it worked well for you. I haven't quite decided how far I want to go with the de-horn. All the way to "melt"? Somewhere in between I suppose.

It is kind of heavy, but I like the balance and feel better than the 5" version. Plus my S&W 617, 4" barrel is much more muzzle heavy than the 1911 is! The 1911 feels good in my hand. My wife was surprised at the weight the first time she picked it up.

 

[OLDSMITH]

Of the ones I own or have owend, the RIA seemes like a good value. My springfields are a little rough around the edges, but still very good. My 1st choice handgun is my Kimber series 1. Like it was made to fit my hand.

 

[pops66goat]

I say none of the above. Go buy your own custom parts and build one yourself! I did and used all high quality stainless steel custom matched parts, RIA frame, I got a slide with novak sights from ebay, all together spent about 600 bucks, and about 10 hours including learning how to do it online. Shoots better than any Kimber I ever shot!

 

[Cedar Creek]

The R I A's are great guns for the money.I have owned several and they all shot very well and functioned perfectly.That said,I carry a Kimber super carry and shoot a Springfield Operator for competition

 

[mac45]

Most bang for the buck?
Rock Island...hands down.
That's not to say there aren't nicer ones out there.
My Colt's are prettier. The STI has the best trigger of the bunch, but the best value has been the RI, (and that includes the cost of replacing the crappy mag it came with).