1911 question for the experts.

[williamlayton]

I, gentlemen and ladies AM an expert---I also have never made a mistake .
Blessings

[Mikey]

Finally!

[Lloyd Smale]

I dont know if Broom rider meant this in her statement or not but good luck with your purchase as ive had good and bad guns from all the manufactures. Mostly good from colt and kimber but a couple bad from both. Ive had more problems with springfields then any other manufacture and wont buy another. That is just my opinion though and someone else may have had other results. Bottom line though is to be a 100 percent reliable most all production guns at least need a little tweaking. Mostly something small ike polishing a feed ramp, changing to a differnt spring or using a good magazine. Im a bull headed sob though and anymore if they wornt run as is i dump them. I resently picke up a 3 inch para lda. Its a gun that in my opinion would be about the alitmate ccw gun. It wouldnt run a ciip without a jam. I brough it back as id just dont have the time to deal with another problem child and if i did fool with it and get it to run i know id never have total confidense in that gun. I do use wilson and chip mccorick mags about excluvely though except in the 9mms.  Meggars seem to be about the best in them  Best bang for the buck in my opinion is if a guy has only 500 bucks to spend buy a used gun instead of a cheap new one and if i was looking for a 500 dollar to 800 dollar gun id be looking at kimbers. If i had a grand to spend it would be a sti hands down. If i had a bundle to spend it would be a les baer. If i won the lottery id probably have to have a ed brown or a wilson. I guess right now ive weeded out all my marginal guns and the ones i have are good ones. Ive got colts kimbers and stis that are not only completely reliable but shoot so well that its hard to justify spending big money on a gun other then the pride of ownership.

Good luck in whichever 1911 you decide on.

[Lloyd Smale]

PS. If you want some advice from probably the most experienced 1911 person on this forum as Broom Rider. Dont let the fact shes a girl fool you. She owns and shoots more 1911s that probably the rest of us combined. I would trust her advice without question.

[Broom Rider]

Thanks Lloyd.
I started to buy Les Baer because ALL the other 1911's I bought either weren't 100% reliable or just weren't as accurate as I thought I wanted them to be (or both). Les Baer right out of the box is the most reliable, most accurate 1911 I've had any dealings with. They cost more but the pleasure of not being aggravated by some of the junk I'm been saddled with makes them worth the cost.
I'm sure there's a lot of 100% reliable guns available and many of them will be accurate, but I know when I first take a LB out of the box it's doubtful it will disappoint me.

[Tom W.]

I just have a Colt Government model Series 70 that I bought new for $318. That was a  loooooong time ago....

[drdougrx]

Me too.  I have a series 70 colt rebuilt by Mike LaRocca of Worcester MA w all of the bells and whistles.  I also got a deal on a SW745 IPSC that is just as accurate and reliable though doesn't feel like a 1911.  Will probably find me plain jane 1911 and tweakgrntly one of these days.

[Lloyd Smale]

I see the same thing all the time. Ive said it especially about springfields. Its seems that all the springfields ive owned either were accurate and woulnd funtion or would function and werent accuate. I guess the bottom line is like in about everything else in life. You get what you pay for. A guy might by a ford and get a good one but the guy that buys a mercedes will usually get a good one everytime.

Thanks Lloyd.
I started to buy Les Baer because ALL the other 1911's I bought either weren't 100% reliable or just weren't as accurate as I thought I wanted them to be (or both). Les Baer right out of the box is the most reliable, most accurate 1911 I've had any dealings with. They cost more but the pleasure of not being aggravated by some of the junk I'm been saddled with makes them worth the cost.
I'm sure there's a lot of 100% reliable guns available and many of them will be accurate, but I know when I first take a LB out of the box it's doubtful it will disappoint me.

[Broom Rider]

Lloyd, the next time you have a full size 1911 that isn't running right, give Bob Rodgers a call. After he does a reliability package on one it will run and run and run.
I had this series 70 Gov't which I didn't care for
and I sent it off to Bob for a make over. The steel in the gun had pitting under the factory finish which is probably from the base metal plating or something reacting with the steel of the slide & frame so it couldn't be hard chromed and look good so it got this finish instead.

Bob shows this gun on his website.
I took it out once, loaded up ALL my magazines and fired 400 rounds through it pretty much non stop. It got a bit warm (maybe an understatement), my steel targets begged for mercy and it never missed a beat. I've heard of several pistolsmiths that do really top notch work but my experience has been with Bob initially at the recommendation of Chuck Rogers. Bob's work is the best and once he has fixed a gun for me it runs the way it should.
I can post a link to his site but I'm not sure it's allowed here and I don't want to run afoul of the rules.

[Tom W.]

I dunno, but I think I saw Broom Rider at our local  Arby's last Saturday.....

[Broom Rider]

Nope, wasn't I.............I try to avoid fast food much prefering fast motorcycles and cars but settling for ones that go faster than I can walk.