Are expensive 1911's range toys or serious CCW guns?

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I personally wouldn’t just let something that costs so much be wasted when something that cost 500$ that does it just good. Most likely better, so if you don’t see it again. You didn’t just tosses that much money out a window. Edit: Now I will say if you can spare that much if doesn’t come, go ahead. And I would personally get a little attached to something that costly, so I would be way more hesitate to carry it.

Its not being tossed out the window. I am using the gun daily as it was intended. In the same manner if I were to carry one of my Glocks, HK'S, SW's, etc. etc. It's a gun that works all the time and is comfortable to carry. Cost is the very last thing I think of when choosing a EDC. "What If's" don't even make that list. If "what if's" were all I thought about, I likely would never leave the house. Those "what if" scenarios never include how much that Lawyer is going to cost you or god forbid a Hospital stay. A shooting could cost you your home, your vehicles, your bank accounts, your way of life, etc. etc. etc. Yet people want to focus on the cheapest part of the equation (cost of the gun)

The only guns I am attached to are my childhood rifles. Which are monetarily the cheapest guns in my safe, yet more valuable to me, than all the high end guns in there.
 
That’s fair. But I fall more in the line of cheap gun = more money on the lawyers and any other legal/health costs. But most importantly; you haven’t should this gun of yours. Which is a problem in of it self.
 
My "Expensive" 1911's are built to be accurate with a very crisp lite trigger for target and competition work. I would never feel comfortable packing my tuned 1911 with a 3lb target trigger locked and cocked.

For me there are a lot better carry guns than a 1911... lighter, easier to conceal and packing more rounds of .45acp... But there is no better target hand gun than a well tuned 1911.
 
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If your life depends on it, get the absolutely best tool for the job. The one you trust. Monetary concerns are so far down the list of priorities when the dung actually hits your life fan, that it must be considered irrelevant. As long as you can afford it now, buy whatever you feel is the best, period.

And as for the weight, like several others pointed out, there are alloy-framed high-end 1911s, including Wilson's Ultralight Carry.

Dan Wesson models will give you a quality that is very close to that of semi-customs (several notches above standard production guns) at a better price point.
 
My "Expensive" 1911's are built to be accurate with a very crisp lite trigger for target and competition work. I would never feel comfortable packing my tuned 1911 with a 3lb target trigger locked and cocked.

For me there are a lot better carry guns than a 1911... lighter, easier to conceal and packing more rounds of .45acp... But there is no better target hand gun than a well tuned 1911.
I've never seen a double stack. 45 that didn't feel like a 2x4 in my hand or that had a decent trigger reach. For me, a .45acp is an M1911, a revolver or nothing at all.
 
I've never seen a double stack. 45 that didn't feel like a 2x4 in my hand or that had a decent trigger reach.

Ever try a 2011?
Dimensionally they are almost identical to a 1911 w standard grips. (Fore to aft/side to side) but they do fill the hand a little more.
 
STI or SVI plus a few other custom gun makers, make what is commonly referred to as a 2011. (Double stack 1911's with poly grip.)View attachment 849556
I've never held a double stack SAO M1911. I may have once seen one of the Canadian ones (forget the brand) about thirty years ago. It had a different trigger.

Since this is SAO, it could be an option, albeit an expensive one. I believe that Rock Island has made SAO double stack guns in the past although I don't think I've ever seen one in person.
 
If I were a cop, I’d probably go for the Glock. But I’m not, so I carry what I like, and that’s a 1911. No-one can say nine rounds of .45 ACP is inadequate.

As for comfort, a good belt and outside the waistband holster goes a long way.

Life’s too short to carry an ugly gun.

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I believe that Rock Island has made SAO double stack guns in the past although I don't think I've ever seen one in person.

Yes RI and Rem are currently producing the Para Ord type = an all metal double stack. The grip is substantially bigger
 
I don't have anything in the Wilson level of expensive, but I do have a Dan Wesson Valor that was expensive-ish. It's my winter carry. If I did have a Baer or some such, yes, I would carry it. With the right belt and holster, and cover garment, carrying a concealed 1911 isn't that difficult. Every once in a while I'll carry the Valor IWB under a Hawaiian shirt, so I know it can be done. I just have to remember to bend at the knees rather than the back to get something off the floor.
 
The 1911 is very concealable.... a bit heavy in its steel form. I’ve gotten over all of the science and over-analyzation of carry. Occasionally, I’ll carry a Wilson lightweight commander, sometimes it’s a PPS, but usually it’s a 642 in the front pocket Nemesis. I’m just a private citizen minding my own business. I’m not engaging bank robbers in a gunfight...not stopping a coup...not thwarting a terrorist attack at the mall. Just doing my thing with the ability to protect myself.
 
STI or SVI plus a few other custom gun makers, make what is commonly referred to as a 2011. (Double stack 1911's with poly grip.)View attachment 849556

They are fantastic and do feel nice, I personally don't like the looks of most STI, aesthetically. The metal double stacks certainly are bigger but I like them too, my R1 is a good shooter.

Then again with my hand size and wide palms the Glock 21 gen 4 actually feels smaller in my hands over either of them.
 
When I was a LEO back in the dark ages we carried wheel guns on duty, in my case a Python, because it was the best DA revolver I could buy. ($500.). My off duty carry was a full size colt 1911 because I shot it better than the Python. I've never gotten away from the 1911 over the years. I've tried S&W (645 and M&P) CZ and other similar pistols but it always comes back to my ability to shoot what ever I carry well. I have Colt and Kimber 1911's but these days my carry gun is a Rock Island 9 mm officer size 1911. It always goes bang no matter what ammo is in it. I'm accurate with it and it is small and light. In my opinion what really matters is accuracy, reliability and your comfort level with a given pistol not how much you paid for it.
 
I guess some people carry those expensive guns. The gun I mostly carry is about $300 (shield 9) or a $500 gun (G19). I also have a Kimber ultra carry that I paid $500 for that occasionally ends up on my belt.
 
In my opinion what really matters is accuracy, reliability and your comfort level with a given pistol not how much you paid for it.

Well said. I don't factor price, high or low, into my decision on what to carry, just what works best for me. Right now it's a relatively expensive Dan Wesson, but if the APX Centurion I just ordered shakes out better on drills the far less expensive polymer gun will make its way into my holster.

When it gets less hot and the extra weight doesn't bother me my moderately expensive Sig 226 SAO will likely become a primary choice, again unless the new Beretta really wows me.
 
I have carried a Baer PII for years; my wife carries a G19. They both run well and go bang. There is confidence in both, they both work well. Conclusion - I don’t know what to conclude - everyone should carry as they like.
 
One of my carry guns cost me about $600 (HK P30SK), and the other about $800 (Sig P938 Legion). I have confidence in the guns, and confidence I can shoot them well enough to defend my life. So I carry them and don't really care about carrying a more expensive gun, because these work for me.

If for some reason I lost confidence in either gun, and a higher end gun was what I was confident with and in, then I'd find a way to make it happen.

As others have pointed out, if you actually need your gun, and use it effectively, then I doubt very much that the cost of the gun will really be on your radar after dealing with the poop storm that will follow.

Carry what you shoot well and what functions as it should.
 
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My somewhat breathed upon but not really expensive Commander is about as big and heavy a gun as I care to carry.
And it is more often replaced by a dinky pocket 9mm these days.
My full size custom or customized 1911s are competition guns.

A lot of truly expensive pistols seem to be, at most, "range guns" that are occasionally shot under sanitary conditions.
Many of the rest are ballistic jewelry, take out for show and tell and bragging.

I recently saw a "review" of a fancy new gun so large in text and pictures that it took two gunboard posts to get in. No shots fired. Just ooh and ahh.
 
I own two 1911's. One is pricey, built for target shooting w/adjustable sights. It's used for target shooting up to 50 yards.
The other is plain government model 1911 & is intended for defense use.
The reasons for the choice are simple;
I can shoot either one equally well at combat ranges.
I believe a defense gun should have fixed sights.
 
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