1911's for different purposes

[Sergei Mosin]

I really think there is a lot of press and reputation repeating this idea, and I mostly think it's to get people to buy more guns. You can have your 1911, but you also need an old-school 1911, a woods carry 1911, a summer 1911, a tactical 1911, and a concealed carry 1911.

Lifted from another thread but I thought it led to an interesting question - if you were going to have a specialized 1911 for each of these purposes, what would you choose?

For me - the old-school gun would have to be a USGI pistol. I sort of have a hankering for a nice Remington Rand.

My woods carry gun would be a 10mm Colt Delta Elite.

In summer it would have to be light and small - the Colt CCO seems to fit the bill here. Officer frame to save weight and space, Commander slide for reliability, done and done.

Tactical - something in a rail gun of course; in keeping with the Colt theme I'd have to use theirs.

Concealed carry - Colt Lightweight Commander, maybe in .38 Super just to have a few extra rounds on tap, but probably in .45 ACP.

What I actually have - a Springfield Armory Mil-Spec. It does it all.

 

[Greg528iT]

You pretty much covered it. Though the Summer Carry and Concealed carry could be reversed.. small Officer frame for under clothes.. Commander for general conceal or open carry in the summer.

currently I own a Springer in a config half way between GI and Mil Spec (before they delineated between the two): Springer 5" with compensator and Burris Fast fire on the slide: Springer Ultra Compact (3.5" barrel, officer frame) and A STI Spartan IV (4.25" barrel) 9mm, and Ed Brown Bob tail.

 

[Teachu2]

I have enjoyed 1911s for 30+ years now, and have a great appreciation for the 1911A1. As far as the various cut-down versions, not so much. For me, there are alternatives that perform the same tasks as well or better, with less weight, cost, and issues.

 

[tarosean]

These three cover most scenarios... Yet Im going to check one in 9mm here in a little while too.

 

[Deaf Smith]

I'd just carry either my Colt Commander (all steel) or Dan Wesson CBOB (first year production, also all steel) for all occasions.

But... I actually use a S&W 629-1 4 inch for woods and Glock for the street.

My 1911s sleep alot in the safe.

Deaf

 

[Tirod]

I see the summer and woods gun to be a standard frame .45, possibly in stainless, and definitely with little in the way of race gun parts to hamper the operation. Ambidextrous safety would be about it.

Concealed carry would be a SIG P938. No, I'm not saying it's a "1911," the cut back slide and proportions lose the look. But it functions on the outside as one, which is what we work with.

Five guns is nice, I'd consider the summer/woods gun to be more barbecue than needed as the smaller CCW could do the exact same job.

 

[WarEagleJP]

at the range its tough not to shoot the USGI that my grandfather carried. But a modern 4.25" is the ticket to carry. Shoot them both about the same with ball ammo. The USGI actually feeds hollow points a little better, maybe due to throat wear.

 

[Valkman]

I have a 1911 for Bullseye, one in 10mm and several for carry although the 4" Kimber CDP goes with me most of the time.

 

[peacemaker45]

I've got three. My USPSA Single Stack gun was a much modded Taurus PT1911 until last week. Sold it, and am replacing it with an STI Lawman. The Lawman hasn't shown up yet, so we'll see.

My CCW 1911 is, as you mentioned, a Colt LW Commander, in .38 Super.

My Wild Bunch 1911 is an Argentine Sistema Colt.

My woods gun isn't a 1911. Ditto my running gun. Ditto, ditto, ditto.

ETA: I'd like to add a bullseye gun and a pretty gun. The bullseye gun would probably be one built by Clark Customs. The pretty one will be a Government Model Colt, in high polished Royal Blue, with a little bit of gold inlay and dead elephant's teeth for grips.

 

[RetiredUSNChief]

Lifted from another thread but I thought it led to an interesting question - if you were going to have a specialized 1911 for each of these purposes, what would you choose?

For me - the old-school gun would have to be a USGI pistol. I sort of have a hankering for a nice Remington Rand.

My woods carry gun would be a 10mm Colt Delta Elite.

In summer it would have to be light and small - the Colt CCO seems to fit the bill here. Officer frame to save weight and space, Commander slide for reliability, done and done.

Tactical - something in a rail gun of course; in keeping with the Colt theme I'd have to use theirs.

Concealed carry - Colt Lightweight Commander, maybe in .38 Super just to have a few extra rounds on tap, but probably in .45 ACP.

What I actually have - a Springfield Armory Mil-Spec. It does it all.

I'll break it down in the order you've listed:

For me: Colt 1991A1

Woods carry: Colt 1991A1

Summer carry: Colt 1991A1

Tactical: Colt 1991A1

Concealed carry: Colt 1991A1

What I have: Colt 1991A1



This is because I just don't see the need to have a customized 1911 for all these things. Not my bag.

If I was going to customize my Colt 1991A1, then it'd still serve me for all these various uses. I'm just not going to bother with specializing a half dozen versions of the same thing specifically to suit all these niches.

 

[SilverCat]

These three cover most scenarios... Yet Im going to check one in 9mm here in a little while too.

Okay, so I'm not against them, but I'd like to know what makes a 1911 in 9mm worth it. To me, it seems like taking a perfectly good .45 ACP, and replacing it with 9mm...... Smaller, and (to me) less superior. I'd just like an explanation of the advantages of a 9mm 1911. Thanks.

(Keep in mind that I have a natural aversion to 9mm. Haha. The United States adopted it to standardize with the UN right?? Why adopt a round used by countries that don't even use their guns, usually not even cops.)

By the way, BEAUTIFUL handguns. Beautiful.

 

[RetiredUSNChief]

Okay, so I'm not against them, but I'd like to know what makes a 1911 in 9mm worth it. To me, it seems like taking a perfectly good .45 ACP, and replacing it with 9mm...... Smaller, and (to me) less superior. I'd just like an explanation of the advantages of a 9mm 1911. Thanks.

(Keep in mind that I have a natural aversion to 9mm. Haha. The United States adopted it to standardize with the UN right?? Why adopt a round used by countries that don't even use their guns, usually not even cops.)

By the way, BEAUTIFUL handguns. Beautiful.

You run the risk of making an apples to oranges comparison here, because of the different bullet sizes.

Yep, the .45 acp is a very capable round. So, too, is the 9mm in its own right.

With essentially the same muzzle energy, this means the 9mm has more penetrating power because of it's higher velocity and smaller diameter.

It's a trade off in some characteristics...but not a bad trade off by any means. Stick some decent hollow points on them, and they run a higher probability of staying in the body, depending on where you hit. Which means essentially the same energy deposition.

Consider:

230 gr @ 850 fps = 369.1 ft-lbs muzzle energy

115 gr @ 1200 fps = 367.8 ft-lbs muzzle energy


Caliber to caliber, mass to mass, velocity to velocity...everything is a tradeoff, including switching bullets for the same gun.

 

[tarosean]

I'd just like an explanation of the advantages of a 9mm 1911. Thanks.

As USNCheif points out its really not an anemic little round. However, my intent for a 9mm 1911 was simply to have it easily converted to a 38 super for Major scores (Competition).

But even that didnt come to fruition. The one I ended up coming home with was yet another 45ACP.

 

[Hanshi]

For general purpose, including targets, my custom Colt series 70 .45 is king. For the field a similar one in .38sup can't be beat. In the combat ??? role is my old steel Commander .45. But for concealed carry i rely on a Kimber Ultra Carry .45.

 

[2wheels]

I'm a Colt fanboy myself when it comes to 1911s

Old school... A 1918 or earlier Colt.

Woods carry. Colt Government model.

Summer carry. Colt New Agent.

Tactical. Colt Rail gun.

Concealed carry - Colt CCO.

What I actually have...

Colt New Agent
Colt TALO CCO
Ithaca/AutoOrdnance GI 1911
And I guess I'll mention the GSG .22LR trainer

 

[orionengnr]

For me -
Old-school gun...Sorry, don't care.
Woods carry gun would be a 10mm, probably the Dan Wesson CBOB I already own.
Summer--my Kimber Ultra Carry works fine.
Tactical--No, don't care.
Concealed carry--the same Kimber was my favorite CCW gun until a year or two ago. These days, my Scandium S&W 1911PD seems like the perfect all-round 1911, and if I could only own one, that would be it.

 

[rockhopper46038]

Eh, why not?

Old School - Wilson CQB+ built on a stainless Colt 1991A1 slide and frame. Also my game gun.

Woods Carry - .460 Rowland Norinco - a bit amped up from a 10mm.

Summer - Bill Wilson Carry pistol

Tactical - No rails on my 1911s, I'm afraid.

Concealed Carry - Back to BWC; it pretty much disappears.

 

[FiremanJim]

Springfield Armory MC Operator.
Just got it used last week.
Can't use it for CC unless I wear a backpack everywhere I go.
Other than that, it's a good "don't mess with me" gun in any season for anywhere I go whether in the city or the woods.

This'll be my truck gun believe it or not.
Or at least it will be if I can ever get myself to stop admiring the damn thing so much and lock it up in my jeep where it belongs.
Thinking about buying another and cerakoating it in desert sand.