Is there an epidemic of gaudy high-end 1911s?

[DaisyCutter]

Earlier this year I gave the 1911 another try, and ended up bringing home a Springfield Loaded SS. I've always liked the 1911, but some experiences from a couple decades ago turned me away for a long time. Coming of age in the 1990s, I just couldn't find an affordable 1911 that fed the various JHP defensive ammo. In fact lot of available handguns wouldn't. I went total Glock for about 15 years. The Glocks were the first for me that just worked... in the same sense as a terribly homely yet totally trustworthy wife does.

So, at any rate, I bring this sexy Springfield home, and it works really well... Flawless reliability. Granted, I have a firmer grip, better technique and better maintenance habits at this stage of my life, but the 1911 is now what I'd consider "duty reliable".


Which has brought me to looking at more duty oriented 1911, ones with light rails and high end hand fitted components. I only live once, so why spend the last half of a law enforcement career toting a homely Glock? I want to carry something classy.

So I start looking at $1000-2000 priced 1911s. It seems nearly every 1911 in this price range is overly cheesy, with different colored coatings, snake scales, fish gills, big letters TRP, TLE, CQB, TACTICAL, WARRIOR, SPARTAN, SCORPION, etc.

It's like the same people who put dragon stickers, Cessna wings, ground effects, and neon lights on Honda Civics, are now designing 1911s.

Though it appears like Ed Brown and Dan Wesson tend to stay a bit more conservative, and their handguns look classy (to me).

I think I finally settled on a Dan Wesson Specialist stainless for a duty gun, assuming it appears well built and proves reliable once I try it. It fits all my criteria, without getting too gaudy or exceeding my pricing ceiling (sorry Ed).

I recognize that my personal taste is obviously not the popular flavor (given the prevalence of dura/cera-Kotex & fish gills). For those of you with the special color coatings and uniquely shaped cocking serrations, was it a love at first sight thing, or an acquired taste?

I'm just wondering whether if in future years I'll find myself lusting after something previously dismissed as gaudy, or if I've permanently crossed over into the "music is too loud" stage of my life.

Has anyone learned to love a gun that wears too much lipstick? ;-)

 

[mgmorden]

"Gaudy" is different things to different people.

Personally, almost none of the stuff you listed really comes off as gaudy to me. Fish scale grip patterns are functional and look nice to me IMHO. Lettering on the side doesn't bother me (to the point that I just scratch my head in bewilderment every time someone complaints about a "billboard" on the side of a slide).

The colored coatings - I'll admit, I'm conservative there. Blue and stainless I don't mind. Chromed plated, I don't mind. If it's a Durakote/Cerakote type thing I don't mind if it's dark grey or black, but I don't like the FDE or Olive guns and anything too whacky like sky blue or camo I don't like.

The only thing that really looks truly bad to me is the stupid things like pinup model or Punisher/skull grips and the like, but you won't find those on many "high end" 1911's.

But then again I'm sure we have different tastes. My last 1911-esque gun I got was an STI DVC Limited that I'm sure would classify as "gaudy", but I love this gun .

 

[stchman]

High end 1911s are selling well so naturally there will be companies wanting to get a piece of that pie.

As far as 1911s and JHP ammo, the 1911 was not designed to reliably feed JHP ammo. Some do some don't, it's a roll of the dice.

 

[JTQ]

My take is when you get this...

Which has brought me to looking at ...1911, ...with light rails ...

You get this...

It seems nearly every 1911 in this price range is overly cheesy, with different colored coatings, snake scales, fish gills, big letters TRP, TLE, CQB, TACTICAL, WARRIOR, SPARTAN, SCORPION, etc.

 

[Sergei Mosin]

We've come a long way from the days when you could have any 1911 you wanted as long as it was a blued Colt. Whether that's progress or not...well, I like blued Colts, but these days there's a lot more variety for them as prefer other things. Whatever floats your boat.

 

[tark]

How about something like this? Cheesy , gaudy....or classy? Clint Smith (and Heidi) both carry one of these as they everyday carry guns. I guess they like a little class too.

Apologies if my psychotic 'puter posts the pic upside down.

 

[tark]

And it did.

 

[ATLDave]

As I grow older, I get less and less concerned with whether other people are buying/making/enjoying the "wrong" things. As long as I can get what I want, I don't care about what else is in the market. I only get concerned when all the manufacturers shift completely to things I don't like, and I cannot get what I want (or can only get it by having it custom made at great expense). Until that point, I just don't care at all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-d3r-AZMI1Y

 

[browningguy]

I like lots of options, so everyone can have what they like.

 

[FL-NC]

Gaudy is in the eyes of the beholder. That said, I think there is definitely an epidemic of overpriced 1911's that grace the cover of many magazines, that the "average guy" can't afford, (so, basically gun porn) and many 1911's in general that are bought for the status/cool guy/operator factor.

 

[DaisyCutter]

Tark's gun will look even cooler in another 30 years, but some of the modern 1911s... I just don't know.

 

[Jim Watson]

I can look in the 1911 showcase at a large store - even GM - and just be dazzled and bewildered by all the tackytickle paint jobs, funny grasping (and non) surface roughening, and woo woo grips. I have a hard time seeing through all the tailfins and spoilers to tell what the gun is.

 

[MCMXI]

My take is when you get this...
Quote:
Which has brought me to looking at ...1911, ...with light rails ...
You get this...
Quote:
It seems nearly every 1911 in this price range is overly cheesy, with different colored coatings, snake scales, fish gills, big letters TRP, TLE, CQB, TACTICAL, WARRIOR, SPARTAN, SCORPION, etc.

My take is ....

 

[WestKentucky]

For me, there's a very fine line. I love the way an over-the-top competition gun looks, the one mgmorden posted is a great example as it is certainly well done but it isn't done to be super flashy...maybe the yellow barrel but I like that too...and on a 1911 type gun, that only makes sense if your going doublestack which isn't a true 1911. In a true to form 1911, I like a classic look. No rails, no crazy engraved slide cuts, just simple, classy, elegant style. And in that form, if it's not polished, blued, and wood grips I'm not a huge fan unless it's a true warhorse.

 

[barnbwt]

Yes, the 1911 has become the poster child for bright, flashy, and expensive. SIG isn't far behind them, but the 1911 can be found in meteor, for crying out loud.

I think they've simply taken on the role previously held by Colt SAAs back when, being the go-to for filigree or engraving, or fitment of wild grips, or what have you. It's just so easy for various vendors to supply gaudy 'custom' versions of whatever part (grip, screw, barrel bushing, trigger) and have a ready market, and so many that have to outdo eachother in appealing to the 'fishing lure' section of the brain.

So you end up with guns that look like they were assembled out of fishing lures

TCB

 

[ttarp]

And here I thought there was an epidemic of GI styled 1911's lately...

 

[DaisyCutter]

MCMXI, wow what model Brown is that? That is gorgeous!!!

 

[bannockburn]

I like my 1911s both plain and a bit gussied up; nothing too extreme (not a fan of colored paint finishes, strange textured grips, or weird looking graphics), but still I can appreciate some upgraded things like beavertail grip safeties, extended and ambi thumb safeties, lightweight triggers, and nicer sights. I even have one that'a nickel plated (came that way from Colt's Custom Shop). Bottom line for me is how do they perform (reliability, accuracy, durability), and that's all that really matters at the end of the day.

 

[ritepath]

I hate the goofy chrome bumpers on my F150 also. Chrome is for antique cars and motorbikes. It shouldn't be on any modern "working" vehicle.

Now IMHO the 1911 can be a show car, or a working car...it's everything in an almost perfect package. (except that goofy grip safety)

 

[calaverasslim]

I'll be 73 shortly, and have come to realize that showy doesn't really mean better. Let me have my Plain Jane 1911 with improved springs etc and I'm happy. Shoots just as well as a dandified pretty show gun.

Having said that, it's like the feller said, "Whatever Floats Your Boat".

 

[Tirod]

I sure wouldn't mind a GI 1911 but if a certain Arizona senator gets his way the last of them will be melted down. Nobody makes a truly authentic issue 1911 which to me is duty grade. Anything that adds sharp edges or enhanced controls is moving into Race Gun where all the embellishments first started.

A nice old ASP or Devel would be welcome. Enhanced street combat grade is actually a niche in the market. Melt job, reliability enhanced and corrosion proof isnt' what sells now. Cartoon guns with range features are the norm and yes, they do look like Civics with dirt track wings on them. Most 1911's are now sold as show and tell guns for social and ego enhancement, not for using in self defense.

I do like a nice 1911 and plan to eventually carry one but the reality is that the utilitarian Glock has the market cornered on carry grade. Like that photo of a "Glock" marked 1911 that circulates, I would snap that up in a heartbeat.

Ed, Dan, and Wilson, I apologize but you got nothin for me. I know you sell what the customer wants, but most of the customers these days are "Bro Trucking" 1911s and its all about looks, not actual performance. Make me one with lopro night sights dehorned and capable of 50,000 round service life - which is what the GI version was trying to do.

I don't need no stinkin enhanced rods in it either.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

I don't particularly like flashy guns. IME, people who really appreciate the 1911 tend to be a little conservative, and appreciate minimalist designs, but not always.

I like my guns functional, which means high quality parts with perhaps a few add ins, and a bit of custom work. For example, I've hand polished a few of my stainless revolvers to a high shine, and tossed on nice aftermarket grips that improve my shooting. I'd like to send some in to a smith for trigger work too at some point, but that's about it.

I own one 1911. It's a S&W E series with a 5" barrel and no rail. It has some fancy grips on it, but that's all. It shoots nice, and it looks classy to my eye. Other's would call it tacky.

I think a Dan Wesson is a fine choice, and if I was trading up, that's what I'd go for. For me, a sturdy and reliable design is far classier than any "show piece".

 

[Tallball]

I see a bunch of them at the range I usually go to: rails, chrome finish, colorful grips, etc. They look like they cost a lot of money. Lots of times the owners are wearing "tactical" shirts and hats and so forth.

I usually outshoot them with my GI Tisas that cost $400.

 

[JohnnyFlake]

When it comes to the .45acp 1911, IMHO, there are two classes, the well made, strong, super reliable working guns and then there are the custom super reliable and/or show type.

The first category is where I'm at. I have had several over the years and as of late, mine is a Springfield Commander, which cost about $800 No one needs to spend over that amount at the high end for a well made, super reliable 1911. My grandson just bought a RI full size 1911 .45acp at $450 and it is as good as any I have ever handled and I have handled a lot!

When you see the custom 1911s out there in the $2000, $4000 price range, you have to wonder why, unless you consider them show to be pieces. They don't work any better!

 

[tarosean]

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