Colt 1911 Chamberings

[MattTheHat]

In my OCD-driven quest to own a Colt 1911 in each of the factory chamberings, I recently added a .40 to my collection. So far, I've got the following covered:

.22LR
9mm (9x19)
.38 Super
.40 S&W (10mm Kurtz)
10mm
.45ACP

To my knowledge, this leaves me still hunting the following:

9mm Steyr
9x23 Winchester
.38 Midrange

Am I missing any others?

-Matt

 

[LensWork]

For factory Colt produced 1911's, there were some made for the Royal Navy in .455 Webley Automatic. For non-Colt, but 1911 clone/pattern pistols, there have been several others like the Detonics .451 Magnum.

 

[Walkalong]

9X21?

 

[MattTheHat]

I'd forgotten about the Webley autos, good catch LensWork!

Did Colt actuall offer the 1911 in 9x21? I wasn't aware of that.

For non-Colt, or custom builds, there is also the .50GI, .460 Rowland, .45 Super, 9x21, 10x25, 7.62x25, and I'm sure someone out there has built one in .357 Sig.


-Matt

 

[StrikeFire83]

9mm Steyr
9x23 Winchester
.38 Midrange

Wow, some pretty esoteric calibers there. Sure you want to sink your money into a caliber you'll likely never shoot? If you have money to burn, though, I'd say why the hell not.

 

[daveinvegas]

I have seen a Colt in .357 Sig. I'm not 100% certain if it came that way from the factory or if it was a conversion. I saw it several years ago so my memory about it is a tad fuzzy but I think I recall seeing the factory box with that caliber designation on it. It was being sold as NIB.

For non factory calibers don't forget the .400 CorBon and the .429 Zeno.

 

[RSVP2RIP]

Colt made some Comanders in 30 Luger for export.

 

[MattTheHat]

Wow, some pretty esoteric calibers there. Sure you want to sink your money into a caliber you'll likely never shoot?

Oh, I'll shoot them. That is for certain!

> 30 Luger

Another good catch, I'd forgotten that, too.

I've never seen a Colt in .357 Sig, but you may well be right, I'll have to do some research. And yeah, .400 Corbon is another I'd forgotten about. I'm not even familiar with .429 Zeno.


-Matt

 

[MattTheHat]

Another for the non-Colt list would be the .41 Avenger.


-Matt

 

[yhtomit]

MattTheHat:

Jeesh! This sounds like the basis for (small, but cool) museum. Had no idea that Colt (or anyone!) had ever coaxed some of these into the 1911.

Looking at your list, I'm mildly surprised that Colt never came out with a .45 Super.

Do you have any favorites? Any peculiarities stand out, wrt function / recoil / reliability?

timothy

 

[MattTheHat]

I don't think Colt ever did a .45 Super. That one should have been on the "other" list.

As far as favorites go, it would be my Delta Elite that Heirloom Precision did for me. It's hard to go wrong with .45ACP, though. I do really enjoy shooting the .38 Super. Feels just about perfect in a steel-framed Commander.

Shooting 9mm in a Government length gun will spoil you very quickly. Almost no recoil.

The only reliability problem I have in any of my Colts (1911 or otherwise) is in my Service Model Ace. It's really picky about which magazines I use. If I use the original magazine it feeds flawlessly. If I use aftermarket magazines, the pistol gets really picky about ammo. Some feed fairly well, and others basically won't feed at all. I basically gave up on the non-original magazines, so I can't even tell you which ammo the aftermarket ones seemed to like better.

As for a museum, well, I simply don't have that kind of scratch. If the OCD ever really takes over, I suppose I'd need one of each caliber in each frame size offered. Problem is, some of the models (like the Defenders and any of the "Enhanced" models) just don't appeal to me at all.


-Matt

 

[breacher]

and don't forget the .46 Unobtanium caliber