I haven’t watched the whole thing yet, but it looks pretty comprehensive, even including a look at modern manufacturing.
Do I miss my 1911 (pictured left)? No.. but that’s only because it pissed me off by rusting. I’ll buy one again someday if I get word of a 1911 that I don’t have to baby.
Thoughts on the 1911?
Comments
40 responses to “Colt 1911 – One Hundred Years Of Service”
I guess I’m unAmerican because I too don’t like the gun. It’s pretty and modeled after a real gun (Browning’s 1911), but it serves no functional purpose for me. I’d take a glock 21 or M&P 45 over 30 of these pretty ladies.
It’s modeled after a real gun? The round it fires is called 45 AUTO COLT PISTOL.
Best looking handgun ever made. Way ahead of its time. However, in today’s world it’s no longer up to par when compared to other combat handguns. I’d take a Glock 17 or M&P 9mm over my 1911 again. Hell, I’d take a Glock 21SF before I buy another 1911.
Why glocks aren’t cuttin’ it :
A : Shows people you are weak / a noob.
B : not a precision instrument, doesn’t point, break as naturally or fire lead as accurately as a good 1911.
c : chunky, no good for cc, except the slimline .45 7-rounder, actin’ all innovative because it’s thin.
D : learn to reload, If you can’t get to safety with 8-9 rounds, you suck !
that bein’ said, i will buy a glock 30 soon, because they are easy, rugged, and common. after that, a wilson kz45 polymer 1911 !
:D :D
and a marlin stainless 45-70
but i digress.
.. ..
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It’s funny how you said the glock doesn’t “point” and shortly thereafter you said if you can’t get to safety with 8-9 rounds you suck. It’s ok to have some sand in your vagina because the gun doesn’t “point” but there’s no excuse for needing more than 9 rounds. lol Seriously though, it’s baffling that people still use that BS about glocks not pointing when in fact, it’s a more sturdy, more supportive design for your hand. When you punch someone and your hand is “naturally” in a 1911 grip angle, you can break your wrist.
Sarcasm aside; Hands down, the G21 would serve military needs as a side arm far better than the beretta or 1911. Safeties get people killed more than they save people. And yes, ammo capacity does matter in combat. The weight : capacity ratio of Glocks are superior. ANd hey, you can feed glocks ANY ammo and it’ll cycle fine all day (can’t say that about the picky 1911s). If you need to CC then there’s the 30 or 36.
Thanks for making me sound like a glock fanboi, which I’m not. lol
A: bullshit
B: yeah that’s why all those people use glocks in competition, they are inaccurate.
C: I’m not a Block fan but people get waaayyy to obsessed with not printing. Unless you carry in places where it is illegal, who gives a shit if you print a bit?! Also, the 1911 is not exactly a lightweight supermodel.
D: riiiight! Because bad guys only ever attack 1-2 at a time and anyone who has shot a handgun more than once will never miss! That’s why the poor downtrodden 1911 guys had to creat their own division in idpa, the mean poylmer gun kids took over and made stages with more than four targets and now the low capacity guys have to reload. They almost took their ball and went home but decided to just make their own class where the other kids weren’t allowed so they wouldn’t get beat on so badly. The best part is, they didn’t make the rules strict enough and now the polymer kids are moving in on custom defensive pistol as well!
I guess I’m not American enough to understand the 1911 fascination. 1911s are heavy, low capacity, and expensive. Carrying a 1911 cocked-and-locked is how they were meant to be, but remembering to flip off a safety in a high-stress situation might not actually happen for some. A lot of advancements have come along in the past 100 years but people still don’t want to let go of the 1911 design.
Standard US Army protocol for the 1911A1 was to carry the weapon, mag full, hammer down, chamber empty. You drew the weapon from the holster, racked the slide, and took your one handed shooting stance.
The advent of the double action semi-auto changed the SOP from hammer down on an empty chamber to hammer down on a loaded chamber.
Yeah, I’m a CZ fan. IMO its shoots better at a lower cost.
I want to WWI era 1911… I’d probably cake it in cosmoline and leave it in a display case unfired.
“want to buy”
Polymer 1911 with double stack magazines! Go! Go! Go!
They are sexy but expensive.
I’ve carried both and there’s a reason I went back to the Glock 23.
Well, actually there’s a whole bunch of reasons.
And I’ve gone full circle and returned to carrying my 1911. I shoot it better, faster and more accurately than my Xd, M&P or Glock. That is the name of the game in CC. Fast accurate fight stopping hits. I do that with the 1911 better than any of the striker fired pistols I own and shoot.
Besides, I challenge anyone to come up with ONE example of someone carrying a 1911 that forgot to or couldn’t flick the safety off when drawing and it ended up costing them their life or other substantial injury as a result. That’s an argument that just won’t fly. Same as the emotional anti gun arguments used that don’t have any basis in history or facts.
I agree the “you’ll forget the safety!” argument is gettin old and tired. I’ve even tried to forget it on purpose in practice but when I pull the trigger my hand muscles tense up and the safety is automatically disengaged as I shoot with the thumb-on-top-of-safety grip. When you pull back in the trigger, you have to be pushing forward with the part of your hand behind the trigger, which is the base of your thumb and the web of your hand, that’s just physics, and when you do that it pushes the safety down.
Bunim the other way arLund, I’m faster and more accurate with my m&p so that’s what I carry. Carry what works, it’s all personal preference.
I carry and compete with a 4-inch 1911. It’s been drawn once in a self-defense situation…and that’s all I’m at liberty to discuss about that incident. I will say that I’ve never forgotten to or been too jacked to flick that safety off. I’m also faster swapping in 7 round mags on a 20+ round course of fire than some of the hi-cap doublestack guys in my class. It’s all in how much you practice, in my opinion.
I also own Glocks. Those are toolbox guns. I’ll leave it in the console. It’s what I consider my disposable firearm. It’s easier to clean, that’s for damned sure. It’s just never felt as good or as right as a 1911. Personal preference, obviously.
If you call a Glock a disposable firearm, you must have a lot of disposable income.
I also came full circle and am carrying a Para LTC. Para’s finish sticks to the aluminum frame well, but not to the steel slide, which makes me angry, but I can have it CeraKote’d next year for $250 or so (I know a guy who knows a guy). The first handgun I shot was a 60’s vintage Hi-Power, and the next was an AMT Hardballer. I love 1911s and never fell under-gunned or like it’s unreliable. My Para shoots 200gr LSWCs without a hiccup, as well as XTP and good ‘ol Walmart White Box 230gr FMJ. I like plastic guns, just not as much as I like metal ones with single-action triggers and thumb things that go up :) .
Whoever is charging 250$ to cerakote a slide is ripping people off. I had my 1911 frame cerakoted for 70$ cerakote is not majik and shouldn’t be priced thus.
That was for the whole thing, and it was a worst case scenario price (if I wanted crazy camo or whatever). I want just flat black still, and I think it will be about $120 for the whole thing.
Seems odd that this is at a mainly Glock leanin’ site. First pistol ever fired as a Glock, and I wasnt impressed with it. It was a .40SW, I believe the G23, and my friend asked me if I wanted to try a magazine or two. Wasn’t exactly a fun experience, straight into the water before knowing how to swim kind of thing, but it honestly never felt right in my hand.
A 1911 model might do better, always preferred it.
As a college student, I prefer cheap, functional weapons (yay taurus!), and as a left handed shooter, I prefer ambidextrous weapons. Both of those things aren’t known as a 1911 selling point, which is probably why I don’t own one and possibly never will. Coupled that with the fact that they are, in fact, obsolete at this point in many ways and it doesn’t bode well for practical price point shooters.
I will say that if someone managed to come out with a double stack poly framed 1911 that didn’t cost as much as a used car, I would be very inclined to purchase it.
Vhyrus, you do realize that Taurus makes a 1911, right? And it’s also ambidextrous. And cheap. I have one, it works quite well. But I have to agree that it’s not ideal for carrying. I carry an m&p, which I would highly suggest to you as they are cheap and very well made, but it looks like I may have to carry the 1911 for a while as i’m about to send my m&p in to have the slide modified for a red dot.
Correction, it has an ambidextrous safety but the slide stop/release is only on the left side, however, it seems this would be better for a lefty as you could actuate the slide release with your left index finger instead of havin to reach up with the off hand thumb. Unless your like me and try not to use the release.
Taurus 1911 is cheap by 1911 standards but that still puts it into the upper 500’s for the most basic model. Considering I got my Taurus 840 brand new out the door for 400, that doesn’t really make it practical from a price/performance standpoint. True the slide release is reached with the index finger (which is what I usually do on non ambi guns) but it is actually noticeably slower hitting it with your firing finger and then bringing the finger down to the trigger, rather than using your thumb properly with your finger already on/over the trigger. All this combined with the fact that I can get a Taurus 845 brand new for about 400, which is poly framed, double the capacity, lighter, da/sa, cocked & locked capability, ambi everything, AND interchangeable backstraps, a 1911 just can’t compete. Hell, for the price of a midrange Taurus 1911 I can get a freaking FNP 45!
Why not save your money up and buy a USP in .45?
I own a 1911 just for the sheer fun of shooting. It’s a classic gun, feels and shoots great. It’s not my go-to, but for competition and range fun it’s a great gun.
I like trying everything. Glocks don’t work for me, and I enjoy shooting a bit more traditional weapon with a hammer. Sig, FN, and HK are my personal choice for combat, high capacity hand guns.
+1 to HK.
USPs are easier to clean and disassemble compared to 1911s. With that said, I would still consider buying a 1911 (if it were made by Sig).
(IMHO)
I own an M1911A1 (actually a Springfield Loaded Stainless much like the one in the picture) because my wife prefers it. She doesn’t carry, it’s more of a SHTF and I’m not home gun. Heavy, solid, accurate, and the thin single stack grip suits her, especially with a finger groove rubber grip (can’t say grips b/c it’s one piece :) ). It is tough work to get her to remember how to use the dang thing though, plenty of time with Snap Caps going through “unloaded, on safe, hammer down, no magazine to loaded, on fire, hammer back and ready to go” drills.
There is no doubt that Glocks and other double stack, striker-fired pistols have more firepower and are much more intuitive. But they do have bulky grips and tend to be a lot lighter than 1911s, something to consider for what will primarily be a range gun.
I sold my Colt Combat Commander for a Glock 21 and had plenty of money left over for accessories. Best thing I ever did.
I have a 1911 and a Glock 17, and you know what? I like them both! *Gasp* I really don’t understand the “this” vs. “that” crap. I bought my Springfield 1911 for $425 brand new, I think all the hype over the centennial has caused prices to skyrocket. A solid, functional 1911 shouldn’t cost very much.
i used/carried the 1911 in various makes/models for 36 years +…
when the last 15 1911’s to slither thru my dealers door had 13 guns that were defective or unsafe i said !@#$%^&* this !@#$%^&* and switched to an H&K…
the poor QC (kimber/sig/sa) and the lack of support from the factory’s in trying to fix them or obtain parts to do so was the last straw for me…
i will never go back to a 1911, the H&K’s work and are worry free, way more than i can say for any 1911 i’ve seen in the last 6 years…
funny how my wartime 1911a1 never failed to work in all the years i had it, but the commercial guns seem to be junk …
a dammed sad state of affairs when a design that has been around for 100 years can’t be reproduced to function without hundreds of dollars in after purchase gun-smithing and parts…
Hey there.
Don’t post much but I follow this site religiously. I guess I understand the 1911 dismissal but it’s really a shame.
I don’t mean to sound arrogant or condescending but I think it’s an ignorance about the history of firearms. I love guns, as I’m sure most people do on this site. But I also love the history and engineering of the modern firearm.
You have to remember, this thing was “invented” in 1911! Browning was tinkering on this in the 1890s, long before the benefits of advanced CNC machines and other machining marvels.
Revolvers were still the primary handgun, because of a number of reasons including price and ease of machining and maintenance.
When the 1911 was made, .32 ACP/7.63x25mm were pretty much the flavors of the day. Browning’s own .380ACP round had just been invented in 1908, and was about as big as you could find in an auto pistol.
Go to youtube and check out contemporary designs from the same period. For instance, look at the JP Sauer & Sohn Model 1913, Mauser Model 1914, Savage Model 1907, Roth-Steyr M1907, Steyr M1912, and etc.
I think you’ll be surprised at how “modern” the 1911 is compared to some of these other pistols.
And give Browning some credit. After he made this. he went onto make the blueprint for the modern double stack 9mm so many folks on here know and love, starting in 1935.
They removed the vid! WHAT THE FUCK!
This site seems to have that effect on things :) Did anyone save it before it was removed?
dammit, i was saving this for after i got home and now its gone. anyone have a link to a copy?
Love it or hate it, the 1911 is an iconic piece of American history that has served since its invention and still does today with some individuals, plain and simple.
If I look at a 1911, and I look at a glock, I see two different things.
A 1911 is a piece of mechanical artwork. I see 100 years of history, refinement, and engineering.
A Glock is a reliable, and cheap gun, any unemployed person can afford. I see just another generic gun.
1911’s are not as reliable, by far. Life on the line, I prefer a 100% gun, like a Glock, but a 1911 is more than a gun.
Video’s down :(
I love my springfield 1911 “range officer” but they are a bit high maintenance.