1911 Pistols: Myth vs Reality And My Experience

[pookawa]

2 kimbers. after about 100-200 rounds they ran flawlessly.


used some USGI 1911s back in the day. these things were extremely worn and beat up, but ran smoothly.

[rpm]

I've owned a great many 1911s beginning with a Charles Daly (POS) and ending with a Yost-Bonitz custom. For a while I owned a large number of mostly WWII and a few WWI examples, all of which were sold off to fund other things.

I abandoned the platform a number of years ago after witnessing most 1911 guys having some type of regular stoppages and experiencing many of them myself while competing in USPSA. I still very much like them although I feel they do require dedicated and regular maintenance to run right.

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[TTWHTD]

Wilson Combat ULCC .45
1200 rounds, 1 FTF (my 10yo son was shooting it, I'm guessing weak wrist) not a single problem with me in 1199 rounds using lots of different ammo. I suppose you get what you pay for.

[Aloha_Shooter]

1943 Remington Rand
1943 Colt modified to NM config
Les Baer Custom
Someone's home-brew on a LB frame

The 1943 RR will stovepipe on occasion if you limp-wrist it. The homebrew had some slight issues until I got the mainspring adjusted, has been flawless since -- I attribute the issues to the DIYer who built it. My 1911s that have been built properly and handled properly (i.e., not holding it like you've lost all ligaments in your hands and wrists) perform flawlessly. I'm glad for those that like their Glocks or other platforms but I think most of the diatribes against the 1911 are groundless and uninformed from people that put it down just so they can feel better about their choice of guns. I like my M&P 9c, it's certainly more concealable than any of my 1911s and like my Beretta M-9 is easier to clean but none of that takes away from the fact I just shoot better with the 1911.

[Zombie Steve]

So many people making a 1911 these days, it's almost like asking "who's had problems with a pickup truck?".

[BlasterBob]

My Norinco 1911 is probably considered by the BIG boys as being the "Edsel" of the 1911's but it has been flawless for me.

[Bailey Guns]

So, who's had problems with their pickup?

[SideShow Bob]

So, who's had problems with their pickup?

Which one ?

[Zombie Steve]

Exactly.

[streetglideok]

I used to own 3 different 1911s before the tragic canoe accident, the uss titanic tipped over and all guns were lost. I had a first series of the colt defender, worked flawlessly, with everything. Had a first run Kimber Eclipse, custom shop model that I had a few failures, related to the slide catch snagging bullets and locking the slide open. Took a little filing to resolve that issue(mim part). Then I bought a used colt 1911 MKIV enhanced, mid 90s manufacture it looks like. Barrel link was worn, springs worn, and had some handling marks. Jammed and had horrible groups. New barrel link and springs, and it shot most impressively. Then the mim slide stop broke. Replaced that with a Wilson part, and it has been reliable since. Dad has a Springfield 1911A1 GI model that used to work fine, then the last trip to the range, it was a jamomatic. This brings about the pattern I see with 1911s. Pretty sure his gun's problems were related to detailed cleaning and proper lubing of the gun. I didn't read thru all 5 pages of posts, but anyone who has been with 1911s is familiar with these kinds of posts or should be IMO. You'll see the guys like me who have owned and shot a few different models, and aside from some minor issues, the guns work fine. You'll see some guys who mostly have had good ones, but a couple of duds(we all get them at one point or another). Then you'll see the guys who have little 1911 experience but plenty of experience in other guns, or none period. Those seem to have the largest sum of problems. 1911s have different lubing demands which many fail to grasp, to me it seems at least. Glocks require a few drops here and there, but not a 1911. Proper holding of the weapon is important to prevent limp wristing and inadvertent slide stop locks. So I feel a lot of the 1911 issues are lack of training in proper use and cleaning of the model, not a lack of skill in general. Each type of gun, whether it be a Sig, Glock, Beretta etc can have lemons, and reading enthusiast forums you will see them all day. A lot of them are lemons, a lot of them are also lack of being familiar with the weapon, and too stubborn to accept the fact they need to learn.