New to me stainless Llama Max-1 1911

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gsbuickman

gsbuickman

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Hiya Guys ;),

So late yesterday evening I closed a trade deal on this stainless Llama Max-1 .45 1911 that was on our local gun Grapevine. It was way too late to do anything with it last night so I decided to wait until daylight & did a bunch of reading up on it on other gunboards before I crawled in bed.

Well, I just pulled this thing apart and checked everything over and I don't see any excessive tool marks or anything that I've heard others complain about on some of the forums. The slide to frame fit, barrel lockup & barrel bushing is nice and snug, and I really can't find anything wrong with it to complain about.

Compared to other 1911's I've seen, owned and looked at this seems to be fairly well made. Basically the RIA of the 90's even though this may be a 2004 model before they went out of business in 2005. I soaked the bore in Hoppes #9, ran a bore brush thru it a dozen times or so, then I flushed it with some WD & patched it and they came out surprisingly clean. I ran a cotton bore squeegee thru it & the barrel looks real clean with daylight shining down it. Overall this thing's not half bad.

Apparently going by everything I've read about it on the 1911 boards, if you ignore the snobs and read everything else, these seem to be somewhat hit-and-miss but overall they have a fairly good reputation as nice accurate shooters & basically the RIA of the 90's. The company went defunct in 2005 after which the Llama name was picked up by Metro arms in the Philippines where I believe they're still being made. One thing is for certain, if someone was to offer to trade me a 1911 from Metro arms, even though this may be stainless, I'd be all over that like ugly on an ape ...

IMG_20170110_105805.jpg IMG_20170110_112424.jpg IMG_20170110_105727.jpg
 
Oh, it looks like I forgot to mention the trigger on this. I don't know if it came this way or whether or not someone has done a trigger job but I'm guessing it's about 4-4.5 lbs with a clean break. Overall it's almost as good as the trigger on my Israeli Kareen Browning Hi Power.
 
This kinda sucks, I have a pair of vintage WW2 1911 grips so I thought I'd put them on just to see how they fit. It turns out this won't accept conventional grips because the screws are offset wider on this thing. apparently they used metric measurements on this instead of SAE.

IMG_20170110_175239.jpg
 
Wow, you'd almost think this was a Jennings J-22 & not a nice looking 1911 o_O
 
Thanks, from all the threads I've read about this on the M1911 boards, these seem to have a reputation as being surprisingly accurate shooters as much as some people like to trash talk them. I pulled it apart and went through it and I can't find anything worth complaining about. it's put together just as well and it is just as tight as what my Turkish Tisas Zig 1911 was. These will apparently accept any factory 1911 mag which is also a plus.
 
My officers model was pretty nice. I just didn't care for .45acp. Those old llamas are bringing pretty fair money these days...a far cry from what they were bringing a couple years ago.
 
WestKentucky said:
My officers model was pretty nice. I just didn't care for .45acp. Those old llamas are bringing pretty fair money these days...a far cry from what they were bringing a couple years ago.
Click to expand...

Yep, that surprised me as well when I started researching this one @ about $450 :eek: .
 
I've got my dad's old Llama .45
It's a good shooting, good looking gun.
It does have a LCI and a rib on top of the slide, and as was mentioned, 1911 grips won't fit, but it's very accurate and not at all picky about ammo.
I think they are good enough guns.
Not to hijack the thread, but here's a pic of mine too.
IMG_8833b.jpg
 
You will like your llama. I bought my X-I C new in 1994. Probably 10k rounds with no breakage or any chronic feeding problems. Parts are hard to come by so if ya see some ya better buy them just in case.
 
Thanks Guys, much appreciated :)

Cornhusker77 said:
I've got my dad's old Llama .45
It's a good shooting, good looking gun.
It does have a LCI and a rib on top of the slide, and as was mentioned, 1911 grips won't fit, but it's very accurate and not at all picky about ammo.
I think they are good enough guns.
Not to hijack the thread, but here's a pic of mine too.
IMG_8833b.jpg
Click to expand...

Nnnaaahhh, it's not hijacking, I like gun porn ;)
 
GSB, as you have found the Llamas are close, but not exact clones of the 1911 platform. I don't have the list with me, but from what you have already learned the grip panels are proprietary pattern, 1911 ones won't fit on them. The extractor is different, and a couple of other parts. But, they are a fairly well made platform.
I don't own one in 45 now, gave it to a buddy of mine some years ago. But I do own 2 of them in 38 Super from the earlier variants. The mags are interchangeable with other 1911s.

I think you'll enjoy it.
 
If i recall correctly Llama did not produce any firearms in Stainless steel, your pistol is probably a flash chrome finish, I have a similar pistol and it is definitely chrome.
 
Llamas have an astoundingly BAD reputation, but if a gun is reliable, accurate and if it works without breaking, what more can you expect out of it? The stainless gun pictured doesn't appear to be as finely finished as most pistols made in the U.S. Back in the 80s, the Llamas were dreadful, but if yours works correctly and never jams, it can't be knocked!
 
Ibmikey

I didn't think Llama made any guns in stainless either. Some were finished in bright chrome or matte chrome but I have come across a few on gun auction sites and they look like they're stainless and are listed as such.
 
Every time one of these threads comes up somebody has a story about how they got a good one and what a stellar gun it is. I don't have a problem believing that, Llama made some good pistols, so did Jimenez but I think overall they are an inferior product.

I owned a Llama Minimax (?) in .380 that never had an issue but I had nothing but trouble with my 9mm or .45ACP Llamas and ended up giving both away.

I’m not really into 1911s so I wouldn’t even be in the market but if I was I would skip the Llamas
 
Llama pistols have a deservedly bad reputation for pistols made during the seventies and eighties, pistols made prior to that (40's fifties most of sixties) were well machined and assembled. After the not so good era and the coming of the Micro Max (.32&.380) and other frame sizes the quality returned, alas it was too little too late with outdated designs and they could not reverse public opinion on quality.
I have a number of small frame pistols from 1942 to 1968 and again in 1990's era that are all worthy for daily shooting, the Micro Max is being brought back by several Philippine companies.
 
The question was asked in the Spanish pistol forum to a guy called "Star" who lives in Spain and for a while sold parts for Spanish guns. He said no stainless Llamas were made. It's relatively easy to find out, find a spot where it won't show, under a grip panel for instance, drill a slight divot, just enough to get below the Chrome or nickle and then apply cold blue. I've personally never seen a stainless Llama and have long liked the little Llama .380's with locking actions, the closest thing to a 1911 ever in a .380 unless someone has come up with a copy recently.
 
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Hiya Guys :) ,

Sorry, for some reason I haven't been getting notifications for this thread. I picked up a couple magazines & a box of shells for for it though. I'll have some self defense rounds for it here in about an hour even though I don't plan on carrying this much. The magazine on the left is an Auto-Ordnance magazine and it Chambers and Cycles rounds perfectly so I don't see a problem from this one. The magazine on the right however is from an Argentine 1911 and it doesn't want to cooperate at all. It gets hung up in the Magwell and won't drop free, and when I try to chamber a round from it, it gets jammed. if I hold the magazine release button in awhile a shell is jammed in it and pull the magazine down about an 1/8" it frees the jam the Shell slides in the chamber and the slide snaps closed just as it should normally. I don't think I'm going to get the gremlin worked out of this one.

IMG_20170115_154714.jpg
 
Llama has had it's share of issues over the years but they've been producing pistols for over 80 years. Their Max series was their last hoorah and they made it as close to milspec as any of their pistols over the years. On the Max series I believe only the grips and plunger tube setup won't take standard 1911 parts. The earlier Llamas had more parts that didn't interchange with the 1911. I have a Govt size 9mm Max I Llama that I'd put up against any 1911 in 9mm as far as function, accuracy and reliability. It just works. There are a lot of Llama bashers out there, some criticism earned and some internet gossip, so you be the judge on your actual pistol. That's all that matters.

Llama never made a stainless pistol that I am aware of. The ones wrongly advertised are brushed chrome, like yours. I sell Llama parts if you or anybody else needs any. Just PM me if you need something.
 
larryh1108 said:
Llama has had it's share of issues over the years but they've been producing pistols for over 80 years. Their Max series was their last hoorah and they made it as close to milspec as any of their pistols over the years. On the Max series I believe only the grips and plunger tube setup won't take standard 1911 parts. The earlier Llamas had more parts that didn't interchange with the 1911. I have a Govt size 9mm Max I Llama that I'd put up against any 1911 in 9mm as far as function, accuracy and reliability. It just works. There are a lot of Llama bashers out there, some criticism earned and some internet gossip, so you be the judge on your actual pistol. That's all that matters.

Llama never made a stainless pistol that I am aware of. The ones wrongly advertised are brushed chrome, like yours. I sell Llama parts if you or anybody else needs any. Just PM me if you need something.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I'm pretty sure this is a 2004 production model and it is a full-sized llama Max - 1 f/s government model. thankfully it's not nickel-plated and if this isn't stainless the only thing it could be is satin Chrome because it isn't hard bumper chrome, it actually looks really nice. the inside of the slide is clean machined steel yet their isn't any overlap or any seams where the chrome would start, so if it is it's very nicely done.
 
I agree on the nice finish. Pre-70s blued Llamas had some nice bluing and I always thought their Satin Chrome was also an excellent finish. They did a lot of things right over the years. I especially love their mini-1911 .380ACP locked breech Especial line. Beautiful guns, well made and are true scaled down 1911s including the barrel link/locked breech setup. I'd take these over the newer 1911 type .380s recently released. The bluing is very nice on these pistols. The Max I is parkerized, not blued.

Llama .22LR Especial


Llama .25ACP Executive


Llama .380ACP


Llama 9mm Max I
 
Nice pistols Larry, i particularily like the executive--have been looking for one of the .25 or .22 pistols of that size but it seems few are around. My Llama's ( execpt a copule of .22XV's) are all models without the rib, seems to be more fitting with the 1911 image.
I just obtained a Star model P (.45 auto) and if the snow and single digit temperatures abate I will get a chance to shoot it.
 
I just picked up a couple boxes of critical defense shells for this thing, so I loaded the Llama and Auto-Ordnance magazines up with them to see how well this handles the hp rounds. The rounds from the Llama magazine are a little hesitant and occasionally hang up just before the nose of the rounds can hit the ramp. But if I top the Llama magazine off with 1 fmj round, all 7 rounds seem to load and cycle just fine.

The rounds from the Auto-Ordnance magazine load and cycle perfectly with no problems, go figure. It looks like I might have a little port & polish work to do just to smooth things out a little bit

Edit: the wide mouth hp's from the Llama magazine are getting hung up on the right edge of the chamber at the top of the ramp, rather than sliding straight up the loading ramp and into the chamber. It's not a big deal and a common issue since the 1911 was originally designed for fmj ammo. I'll just port and polish it tomorrow since I have a nice tapered Diamond stone for my Dremel, no biggie.
 
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