first handgun purchase

[Spike_akers]

i believe im going to stay away from kimber. my buddy has a kimber and it frequently fails to eject and he has had other issues with it and is planning to trade it because in his words "i've spent more at the gun smith then i paid for the gun"

 

[rswartsell]

I stand corrected. You should however give me a bastardized break as my last name is Swartsell.

It started out as Schwertzel. A very old germanic name that means "armorer".

Das Schwert=The Sword

P.S. I like my Kimber, you should make an informed choice based on what YOU like.

P.P.S. It may be your fingers, but my family IS the chalkboard.

 

[rswartsell]

I would like to add the observation that to owners of reasonably quality 1911's perhaps 90+ percent of malfunctions are attributable to magazines. In this area I will agree that Kimbers factory mags are not good. By using a combination of Mec-Gar, Checkmate and Wilson mags, such anecdotes don't trouble me at all.

 

[Spike_akers]

i am making that on my personal preference. im not saying that a kimber cant be a good gun, but i did not enjoy shooting my buddies kimber because every 4th round it fails to eject. and he cant seem to get that fixed. once again, no offense to you and your kimber i just didnt like my brief experiences with one. im not entirely sold on the taurus though, im really considering looking into the colt 1991.. maybe finding it used. im really worried about prices i mean its only 2 months from now, but i feel like the current scare might increase prices...

 

[rswartsell]

Sir,

I am HIGHLY in favor of you making your own decision independent of "internet wisdom". I believe in your choice of the 1911 platform and I say educate yourself to make the proper decision for YOU. Remeber that bit about mags, especially for 1911's.

 

[Spike_akers]

Sir,

I am HIGHLY in favor of you making your own decision independent of "internet wisdom". I believe in your choice of the 1911 platform and I say eductae yourself to make the proper decision for YOU. Remeber that bit about mags, especially for 1911's.

i understand the mags are prone to failure, and my friend replaced his factory mags with wilson, and that stopped his feeding issue... i feel bad because im asking questions and going i know i know i know haha, maybe i need to figure out a way to reword my questions. if i were to go used, what would you look for outside of kimber and taurus? i think the colt is going to be a long shot..

 

[rswartsell]

Ruger, Springfield

 

[mnrivrat]

if i were to go used, what would you look for outside of kimber and taurus?

In a used 1911 remember that it is the type of gun that sees a lot of customizing work. Some of that work is not well done. I would learn to field strip the type of 1911 you are looking at and inspect the internals for signs of tampering before purchase - if not allowed ask them to field strip it. If that is not allowed, you are taking an extra significant risk.

A good example of this was a Colt Commander I picked up at a gun show many years ago. Looked OK but when I got it home and field stripped it ,the rails were full of deep punch marks.

For what is worth I have been working the past 5 years for a friend who owns a gun shop. The most freguently traded in 1911 just happen to be Kimbers. The functioning complaints on the Kimber just happen to be the highest for this shop over all other 1911's . I will not knock Kimber based on our experiences, but it is at least notable that one of the top builders for quality 1911's should turn out this way.
I also was informed, by customers ,that Kimber was good at standing behind their guns. Folks just don't like having to send them back for adjustment when they have paid the high price for a quality gun.

Another funny fact is that I have owned 5 Colts over the years, but the most accurate 1911 out of the box happens to be the American Classic I presently own. When they come together right they are great guns, no matter who made them.

 

[JTQ]

Two things you need to decide before you buy a 1911 are what kind of sights you want, fixed or adjustable, and can you live with a GI grip safety or do you need a beavertail grip safety.

Making the wrong choice, and deciding to change later usually will require some professional expertise, some grinding or welding on the frame, and some significant outlay of cash.

I'm a Colt guy. They make a solid pistol and are a good value, but the 1991 model comes with a GI grip safety. I can live with the GI grip safety, but you need to see if you can live with that before you buy. The percentage of guys that need to have a beavertail grip safety is very large. If you find out later you don't like it, expect to pay somebody to grind your frame to put a proper beavertail grip safety on it.

For quite a while lots of guys have been recommending the STI Spartan (and I believe the Trojan is now only available with adjustable sights also) as a good value in the inexpensive range, and the Springfield Range Officer at a slightly higher price/quality point. No doubt both are good values, but they both come with with adjustable rear sights. The slide cuts for those adjustables are very different than the cuts for most fixed sights. I've tried to warn guys, and it's taken longer than I thought it would, but the posts from guys saying "hey, I love my Spartan/Range Officer, but these adjustable sights are uncomfortable for concealed carry, or I'd like to get night sights, or dot sights, or the screws come loose, or they broke, etc", are finally starting to show up in significant enough numbers for it to be noticeable. Harrison Design and I think 10-8 Performance make fixed sight options, but if you really do want fixed sights, get them up front you'll have a lot more options.

mnrivrat wrote
In a used 1911 remember that it is the type of gun that sees a lot of cutomizing work. Some of that work is not well done.

This is an excellent point. Since most of you guys have spent just about your entire lives in the "Glock/AR era" they all think if there is a part out there for my weapon all I have to do is buy it and snap it onto/into my gun. It doesn't work that way with a 1911. The stuff you see guys doing or at least trying to do to their 1911's on the various 1911 forums is truly scary.

 

[Spike_akers]

So, I stopped by a shop with a guy from work and looked at some used 1911s, and I gotta say, I have to have the beavertail grip, I could definitely deal with the GI, but the beavertail feels a lot more comfortable to me. I looked at a new Taurus while I was there as well, and I was pretty impressed with it... And thanks for the heads up on field stripping them. I would have never thought of that...

 

[rswartsell]

1911 mags are not just prone to failure which I interpret to be wear. With so many manufacturers out there I would say they are prone to shoddy design and execution too, and apparently just plain incompatibility sometimes. Finding good mags that just plain work for you is a common 1911 owners goal nowadays.

 

[Bob C]

I've had a Remington R1 Enhanced for a few weeks, and it has been 100% reliable with various factory loads and reloads. Based on that experience, I just purchased an R1 Stainless, and the first 150 rounds ran through it 100%.

Both are more accurate than I am.

 

[Spike_akers]

Has anyone had any dealings with Sig sauer?? They have a .45 1911 that's close to my price range and was just wondering if anyone's ever dealt with them... I like the remington, but 1200 is a bit out of my range..

 

[mnrivrat]

Has anyone had any dealings with Sig sauer??

Sig Sauer has a reputation for quality guns. I have not personaly handled their 1911 gun so can not speak toward it.
My brothers Model 220 has been flawless and Sig's pistols have been used by a number of law enforcement agensies. Well respected

The Mesqito 22 auto however has not lived up to their standard from all I hear, and from the couple I have handled. Their pot metal slide is mostly the issue .

 

[Spike_akers]

I haven't been able to find many personal experiences online or in person about sigs 1911 but apparently the mags are horrible... Not that its surprising with a 1911... So depending on what kind of deals I can find its between the Taurus and the Sig so far... I'm definitely leaning towards the Sig... We'll see how much I can scare up to put towards it though... I was anticipating mags right out of the gate anyway...

 

[Spike_akers]

An experience I forgot to share, kimber has sealed their negative reputation with me. Me and the guys went out shooting and I fired 3.5 mags and in the first three I had 4 FTEs and on the 4th the extractor evicted itself and hit me in the face. Thank god for safety glasses. Does anyone know which extractor the Sig has? I can't find that info..

The only good I can say that has come out of it, is he called Kimber and even though is gun is quite old, they offered to replace the slide with an internal extractor model... So if nothing else kimber has good service.. but I plan on staying far away from them.

Edit: I don't know why I'm having so much trouble posting, this is the 3rd time I wrote that. Hopefully it doesn't come out as a repost.

 

[kalel33]

Sig Sauer has a reputation for quality guns. I have not personaly handled their 1911 gun so can not speak toward it.

Same here. I own the SP2022 and it's an absolute awesome firearm. With the craziness of the pricing and that I have more than one handgun, I'm selling it locally here soon with 2 15 round magazines, along with the 10 round that came with it for $600. I can't believe what people are paying for handguns and magazines right now but I might as well get a little kickback. I'm not selling here or taking messages about the sale.

 

[Spike_akers]

i know this thread is dead at this point, but i had a chance to fire a brand new kimber. and apparently they have went away from the external extractor (at least on some of their models) and i have to say that i'm open to getting a new kimber at this point.. although im fairly certain ill be getting the sig, the kimber definitely has a shot at this point.