Which 1911 to buy??

[churchmouse]

CM, what is your opinion of the Ruger? From what I've read, they are towards the top of the list in that price range ($650-700ish). I've got two Taurus 1911's (.45, obviously, and a little brother 9mm), and I honestly have few complaints. I'm getting the itch for a slightly nicer 1911 though, but not quite ready to spend Ed Brown, Les Baer, or Wilson money.

I have owned a few Rugers and have one right now. SR1911 Comander. It was a decent gun when I bought it.
Now it is pretty slick.
For the price point they are good guns. WTBurnett here on the Forum has a Gov. Model and it has a very nice out of the box trigger. Very nice. Reliable and accurate.

This is my EDC but it is no where near stock.

 

[Gluemanz28]

I have owned a few Rugers and have one right now. SR1911 Comander. It was a decent gun when I bought it.
Now it is pretty slick.
For the price point they are good guns. WTBurnett here on the Forum has a Gov. Model and it has a very nice out of the box trigger. Very nice. Reliable and accurate.

This is my EDC but it is no where near stock.

That is just simply beautiful. Is that the gun that Allen customized the barrel for the comp?

 

[jagee]

I have owned a few Rugers and have one right now. SR1911 Comander. It was a decent gun when I bought it.
Now it is pretty slick.
For the price point they are good guns. WTBurnett here on the Forum has a Gov. Model and it has a very nice out of the box trigger. Very nice. Reliable and accurate.

This is my EDC but it is no where near stock.

I shot that one. It's nice...not worthy like my TRP, though

 

[RustyHornet]

I have owned a few Rugers and have one right now. SR1911 Comander. It was a decent gun when I bought it.
Now it is pretty slick.
For the price point they are good guns. WTBurnett here on the Forum has a Gov. Model and it has a very nice out of the box trigger. Very nice. Reliable and accurate.

This is my EDC but it is no where near stock.

Show off..... I like my Ruger.

 

[churchmouse]

That is just simply beautiful. Is that the gun that Allen customized the barrel for the comp?

Yes it is.
No one makes a Commander length Comped barrel. I had the Clark comp. from another project. Allen suggested a 6" Clark barrel and fit it up. He has the tooling and the machinist skills so he took it from there. Cut the barrel down and cut the 40 in 1" threads. Fit it up. I did the ignition controls.

 

[churchmouse]

I shot that one. It's nice...not worthy like my TRP, though

.....Killing me "J" man.....killing me.

The TRP is a sweety.

 

[churchmouse]

Show off..... I like my Ruger.

I have been mulling over doing the roll mark removal like you did but way to many projects right now.
I like what you did there. Less is definitely more.

 

[RustyHornet]

I have been mulling over doing the roll mark removal like you did but way to many projects right now.
I like what you did there. Less is definitely more.

I'm big on keeping it simple. Even after all the work I've put into that Ruger, I still love my stock except for sights Springer RO more.... Although I would like to hot rod it this year.

 

[churchmouse]

I'm big on keeping it simple. Even after all the work I've put into that Ruger, I still love my stock except for sights Springer RO more.... Although I would like to hot rod it this year.

I keep pulling up that pic......I seriously hate you right now.

You need to PM me with your process............

 

[RustyHornet]

I keep pulling up that pic......I seriously hate you right now.

You need to PM me with your process............

What else is new?

 

[churchmouse]

What else is new?

The process man.....just give me the process.........

 

[Dean C.]

For the below or at $1000 price point I suggest a Springfield Armory Loaded or Range Officer 1911. They offer the best bang for the buck that I know of currently, street price is around $850 or so and I would just spend the extra on mags and ammo myself. Currently have a Springfield MC Operator that I "TRPerized" for my own personal liking its a sweet gun.

If you really want a 100% good to go 1911 out of the box my favorite maker is Dan Wesson and stainless models can be had for around the $1400 mark, the Valor and VBOB series are some of the nicest 1911's currently made stacking up against guns twice their cost easily.

Stay the hell away from Colt and Kimber they are under equipped and over prices relying on marketing and name recognition at this point. I explain Kimber as the 1911 brand for people who don't know anything about 1911's and just want a "pretty" gun. At least Kimber has the common decency to make their 1911's look nice Colts look terrible and have poor QC and Fit and Finish at best IMHO based off the ones I have handled.

 

[Bcody23]

Also, is this your first handgun or is it adding to a collection?

Not my 1st hand gun just my 1st 1911

 

[churchmouse]

Not my 1st hand gun just my 1st 1911

I would suggest this to you.
There are any number of folks on Ingo that might let you fondle/shoot their 1911's.
I would consider this but none of mine except the Springer Champion are out of the box stock. They would not give you a good base line to compare. This and my complete lack of time to shoot my guns is another reason.

 

[asevans]

All of my Colts shoot great right out of box. Look just fine. If you want a traditional 1911 go Colt. If you want tacticool go something else.

 

[churchmouse]

All of my Colts shoot great right out of box. Look just fine. If you want a traditional 1911 go Colt. If you want tacticool go something else.

Never said the Colts would not shoot. They will.


They are just overpriced for what you get.

No knock on your choice of 1911 just discussing what I see.

 

[Expat]

Never said the Colts would not shoot. They will.


They are just overpriced for what you get.

No knock on your choice of 1911 just discussing what I see.

I have a Wiley Clapp LW Commander. It is a great pistol. Shoots great, looks great, but it was much more expensive (at the time I bought it) than it should have been.

I have a XSE Series 70 Government model. The edges can literally cut the **** out of you if you aren't careful. The ejection port is too tight. It damages all your brass, it throws the brass back at your face. But it runs fine and is dependable. But for a bare bones 1911 it wasn't cheap.

 

[wtburnette]

I have owned a few Rugers and have one right now. SR1911 Comander. It was a decent gun when I bought it.
Now it is pretty slick.
For the price point they are good guns. WTBurnett here on the Forum has a Gov. Model and it has a very nice out of the box trigger. Very nice. Reliable and accurate.

This is my EDC but it is no where near stock.

I endorse this message

The Ruger SR1911 was my first 1911 and I love it. I paid $600 for it a bit over a year ago. They now run about $650 if you shop around. Here it is bone stock after having been to the range for the first time:

I haven't done anything to it except add nice grips and I think it's great for the money:

The second 1911 I bought was a Springfield SS Loaded and it's a beauty as well. A bit more than the Ruger, but the fit and finish is a bit better, though my Ruger had a better out of box trigger, so I had churchmouse put in an upgraded trigger in the Loaded. Here are the two side by side:

I also have a Sig Sauer TacOps 1911, which I shoot better than any of my other guns and a DW CCO, which is my carry gun. I would say that either the Loaded or the Ruger SR1911 would be good starter 1911's. If you want something a little nicer, a used Dan Wesson would be a great buy. If you want the best without going over $1500, a stainless DW Valor or VBOB, as mentioned, are the best production 1911's you can buy. Good luck and enjoy learning everything you can about 1911's!

 

[Leadeye]

Old Colts need to be represented here. History that you can still shoot but not as accurately as the modern guns.

 

[Jake226]

Sig makes some nice 1911s as does S&W in that $1000 area. Colt makes a solid and dependable pistol. But IMO, the fit and finish and added features aren't there for their price range. You are paying a bonus for the name, but that also carries through on your resale value as well, so you aren't really getting hurt.

Im with Expat on this one. I've had great luck with smith's 1911's. Smith and sig both have an external extractor so that might deter you if you want a "pure" 1911. But both companies provide good bang for your buck. Sigs customer service is great too. Never had to mess with Smith's CS. A lot of people rep Springfield but I had a lot of trouble with a loaded champion model...that's the only one I've ever owned or shot.