1911 Gurus please advise.

[RobertFBurnett]

Hello all, I pretend to know a little bit about firearms, but no doubt many of you here have forgotten more than I know about 1911s.

So the query is: I own a Kimber Classic Gold Match 1911, and both from shooting a pre-war WWII 1911, watching documentaries and Magnum PI intros I know that my 1911 is different than those 1911s, but still a 1911. The slide for instance on my KGM is taller on the side walls.

So if anyone knows off the top of their head, or has a handy link of a short article on the evolution of the production 1911 variations I would be most grateful.

RFB

 

[Tim Burke]

That wouldn't be a short article.

 

[1911 guy]

Short answer.

The short answer is that there is no production 1911 that sticks 100% to the original blueprints, not even current Colts. Every manufacturer has their own little quirks to make it a XYZ 1911 instead of a ABC 1911.

The long answer would be very long, because there was and is no single path of evolution, due to the reason given above.

 

[Zach S]

That wouldn't be a short article.

I could do it;

In 1911 pistols were built to win gunfights. In 2008 pistols are built to sell.

 

[Conqueror]

There are still 1911s available that are quite close to the original.

 

[Ske1etor]

That would be an interesting read although it would be like reading a book with twenty or thirty different endings.

 

[RobertFBurnett]

The short answer is that there is no production 1911 that sticks 100% to the original blueprints, not even current Colts. Every manufacturer has their own little quirks to make it a XYZ 1911 instead of a ABC 1911.

The long answer would be very long, because there was and is no single path of evolution, due to the reason given above.

I understand, the 1911 is going on a strong 100 years. Let me go a different route. When did models similar to the (In my case Kimber Gold) Match Series begin to come out? I'm guessing Colt and/or SA had something to do with them, but not sure.

RFB

 

[gunnie]

i'd guess the first first morph was by uncle sugar, from 1911, to 1911A1. arched mainspring housing, and milled groves for finger clearance into trigger gaurd, shortened trigger are most visible mods.

then colt came out with the commander/combat commander mdls. shortened bbls, and rounded "high power" looking hammers are the most visible changes there.

then, the colt gold cup, ramp on top of bbl, enlarged ejection port, eliason adj rear sights with wider front sight, and overwidth, overtravel adj triggers. "back to the future" flat mainspring housing. this comes as close to being the root for a gold match ancestor as any i can recall, on a full production basis.

as far as i can remember {corrections gladly recieved}, vega was the first company that started the new wave of factory customs built from THEIR own parts. methinx randal and detonics followed, but not sure.
the vegas i also think were the first to offer a stainless 1911.

then in the eighties the market just exploded. even colt was offering limited runs of "factory custom" 1911 flavors.

untill now, a short list includes, kimber, para, charles daily, dan wesson, smith and dan, sig, imbel/springfield, high standard [re-org], etc...etc..etc. truly, this is only a few current mfgrs.

gunnie

 

[RobertFBurnett]

Thank you all,

then, the colt gold cup, ramp on top of bbl, enlarged ejection port, eliason adj rear sights with wider front sight, and overwidth, overtravel adj triggers. "back to the future" flat mainspring housing. this comes as close to being the root for a gold match ancestor as any i can recall, on a full production basis.

This was probably what I was looking for, more investigation will come when time permits.

RFB