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SFRanger7GP wrote:In my former life I put a LOT of rounds through 1911 pistols and carried one for my job so here are my opinions based on my experiences. I love the 1911. None of them are 100% reliable because people are not 100% reliable. The worst are the high capacity 1911's. They are about as reliable as the weather report. I would never let an unknown/unproven gunsmith modify anything that my survival may depend on. The only mags worth using are Wilson and McCormick. A good 1911 will feed ball, hollow points and match ammo equally. A good 1911 will feed its own fired brass (manually cycled). I only have experience with the full size Kimbers, but they are reliable and a LOT of gun for the money. Remember, a 1911 is like a NASCAR, you can drive it hard but for maximum performance, it has to be fed the best (ammo, mags, parts), maintained by the best crew (don't let the local Dremel tool owner touch it), and you have to take it in for pit stops (maintenance). If that is not your idea of a defensive handgun, buy a Glock.
well said! once you get away from the milspec guns, you are gonna have reliability issues. other than lowering and enlarging the ejection port, your gonna have feeding issues. i've shot $ 3000 custom .45 that can't get thru a magazine without jamming. expensive paperweights, but useless as a carry piece, if i don't go bang each and every time
I have a Colt Combat Commander that is stock, and the only time I have a mal-function is when I'm doing load development, and then I get stove-pipes. If I'm shooting 230 grain ball ammo, or handloaded equivalent (could be 230 gr rn cast lead), or the Remington Golden Saber JHP that I use when I carry, I have no failures. I also shoot a 200 grain cast swc for practice, and since I found a "sweet spot" load with it, I've had no failures with it.
Lobo in West Virginia
Old List Veteran..Five Years..Five Hundred Posts
I've owned 2 stock Colts M1991s that never malfunctioned.
"I have reached up to the gun rack and taken down the .30/30 carbine by some process of natural selection, not condoned perhaps by many experts but easily explained by those who spend long periods in the wilderness areas."~Calvin Rutstrum~
"You come to the swamp, you better leave your skirt at the house"~Dave Canterbury~
Well I haven't had the experience some on here have, but my first 1911 was a Colt Series 70 that I won in a pistol match in the mid '70s, I sent it to Wilsons to have some work done on it for competition work. Accuracy Job and trigger with Bomar sights installed. I used to have all kinds of trouble with it till I figured out how to build proper reloads. It never malfunctioned with factory ammo, I gave it to my son for Christmas a couple of years ago. I recently replaced it with a Baer Custom Premier II, I've run 550rds through it over the last month with no failures of any kind. I love it.
I also own a Kimber CDP Pro that I purchased second hand, in the several hundred rounds I've fired through it both factory and reloads it also has perfect in function.
Kimber...an older "Classic Custom". Nothing done to it except remove the full length guide rod and use nothing but Wilson mags. Gun has never malfunctioned and will feed empty brass, both hand cycled and fired. (I can put an empty in the middle of the mag and it feeds...honest)
Also the most accurate 1911 I have owned, and I have owned several. ALL of the others at one time or another would malfunction.
It never malfunctioned with factory ammo, I gave it to my son for Christmas a couple of years ago. I recently replaced it with a Baer Custom Premier II, I've run 550rds through it over the last month with no failures of any kind. I love it.