Most reliable 1911 for under 1000.

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Over the last 40-some odd years I've bought/carried about a dozen different 1911. Ranging from AMT Hardballers to Hartford-built Sistema, to Remington-Rand service beaters, a Norinco, a handful of Colts, and, recently, an Auto Ordnance.

Never once replaced a recoil or hammer spring for being worn out. (Experimented with full-length guide rods, and tried a captive spring set or two; use none of those at present.) My Series 70 has had 6 or 7 thousand (maybe nine) rounds through it; only thing changed for wear was replacing the collet barrel bushing for a non-collet version (it does have a Pachmayr mainspring housing to match the grips, but that was my choice).

Detail strip? About never. Barring only a "genuine" one bought from Navy Arms back in the day, that appeared to have been found in a barn as it had straw and manure (I hope it was cow) in it; Singer frame with RR slide, no plunger spring, slide stop 'repaired' with a busted drill bit, wore out triple spring leaf.

This does not mirror my experience with G19 or G27, both of which seemed constantly in need of one more thing. Even my sturdy as a brick Gen 1 G17 has annoyances.

Your Mileage May Vary
 
CapnMac said:
Over the last 40-some odd years I've bought/carried about a dozen different 1911. Ranging from AMT Hardballers to Hartford-built Sistema, to Remington-Rand service beaters, a Norinco, a handful of Colts, and, recently, an Auto Ordnance.

Never once replaced a recoil or hammer spring for being worn out. (Experimented with full-length guide rods, and tried a captive spring set or two; use none of those at present.) My Series 70 has had 6 or 7 thousand (maybe nine) rounds through it; only thing changed for wear was replacing the collet barrel bushing for a non-collet version (it does have a Pachmayr mainspring housing to match the grips, but that was my choice).

Detail strip? About never. Barring only a "genuine" one bought from Navy Arms back in the day, that appeared to have been found in a barn as it had straw and manure (I hope it was cow) in it; Singer frame with RR slide, no plunger spring, slide stop 'repaired' with a busted drill bit, wore out triple spring leaf.

This does not mirror my experience with G19 or G27, both of which seemed constantly in need of one more thing. Even my sturdy as a brick Gen 1 G17 has annoyances.

Your Mileage May Vary
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AMT Hardballer, you are showing your age! I guess I am too since I know what it is! LOL
 
My oldest grandson has one also and for longer than I have. I loaned him the money to buy it so I had to wait until he paid me back to buy mine. Well, not really but it was quite sometime before I bought one and mainly because they were scarce at the time. I don't know the number of rounds thru his but I do know it's been trouble free.
 
CapnMac

A buddy of mine had an AMT Hardballer and I had the dubious distinction of working on it to try and get it into some sort of working order. When you say all 1911 parts were "drop in" on the AMT you weren't kidding! There was absolutely no evidence that any parts of the gun were hand fitted; actually just the opposite, as if someone (I hesitate to call them a gun assembler or technician), just took a handful of parts out of a bin and threw them together to make this gun.

I replaced the mainspring, sear, disconnector, hammer, and added a beavertail grip safety and extended thumb safety. Surprisingly enough the gun was quite accurate once it was sorted out but it did live up to it's namesake: that is, it only would feed 230 gr. hardball ammo. All and all a very interesting (and many times difficult), experience with making this possible boat anchor candidate into something worthy of being called a 1911.
 
Seriously...?

Springfield 1911-A1 "MIL-SPEC".

Forger steel frame/slide, Great trigger, Stainless match Bbl./bushing, Lowered/flared E-port, High profile three-dot sights.

Very accurate, 100% reliable, and tight as a Mermaid's petunia.


Found mine NIB for $500, which leaves $500 for ammo to get good w/it.

Swapped in some nylon grips to save the beautiful Cocobolo SAI's.

WP-20180802-15-50-19-Pro-50-crop-inv.jpg





​

GR
 
Garandimal said:
Seriously...?

Springfield 1911-A1 "MIL-SPEC".

Forger steel frame/slide, Great trigger, Stainless match Bbl./bushing, Lowered/flared E-port, High profile three-dot sights.

Very accurate, 100% reliable, and tight as a Mermaid's petunia.


Found mine NIB for $500, which leaves $500 for ammo to get good w/it.

Swapped in some nylon grips to save the beautiful Cocobolo SAI's.


GR
Click to expand...

I would have no problem paying $500 for that.
 
The only parts failures that I have had on an M1911 was a collet bushing lost a finger and the flange broke on another solid, aftermarket bushing.

Colt replaced the collet bushing on their dime but I eventually replaced it with a solid bushing. I like the way the collet bushing functioned, but it was an achilles heel.

I've replaced recoil springs but never because they failed. I experimented with different weight springs here and there but always installed new springs.

I re-barreled my first M1911, a Colt Series 70 Government Model, with a 38/45 Clerke. The original 45 ACP barrel had somewhere between 2000 and 3000 rounds through it. The removed Colt barrel was eventually installed in an Auto Ordinance M1911 and continues in excellent service to this day. It probably is approaching 4000 rounds shot though it.

With a nominal $1000 (2018 dollars) M1911, I do not feel that parts failure would be of any concern in the reliability of the hand gun.
 
Really happy with my Springfeild "loaded model 1911" but it is a couple years old and the new ones have changed a bit.
9mm 1911, but I have probably 25-30K rounds on it so it has been shot a few times:D
Springfeild ROs look really nice.

I have a Couple Springfields, a Colt and a Citadel (RIA) all are good guns.
Is the Citadel as nice as the Springfield, no, does it shoot well yes, is it reliable yes, and about 1/2 the price of the Springfield. (which is worth what it costs it just costs more and is a nicer gun)
 
For $1,000, look for a used $1,500-$2,000 gun. Beats a new $899.99 gun everytime...

Search on high end forums, look at what people owning multi-thousand $$ guns think and know, look at what brands they respect and which are as useful as a wet noodle, read what custom smiths have to say about 1911s, then make your choice.

You’ll find that in that market there are often guns in LNIB conditions popping up at very good prices. Some guys have a dozen or more 1911s at a few grand each: first they know something about guns and treat them well, second they don’t put thousands of rounds through each one of them...
 
Kano383 said:
they don’t put thousands of rounds through each one of them...
Click to expand...

If it’s not gonna put thousands of rounds on target then I certainly don’t want one!
I’m gonna add my +1 to the Ruger pool. Built like a tank and definitely good for thousands of rounds!
 
JR24 said:
Thanks. I was just looking if there are figures indicating that there were more returns. Recalls could be another metric to call them the leader, good point.

Though I'd prefer a manufacturer just call back a product instead of digging heels in and doing a "voluntary upgrade" (320) or quietly change things without saying (Glock) or pretending theres no problem at all for 40 years (Remington).

As for your anecdotal gun store experience, would you say you sold a higher number of Ruger and S&W as well?
Click to expand...

Yes, I would certainly say Ruger and S&W lead the way in sales numbers too. Not quite to the point of this thread, but I'd say there were more problems with the revolvers from each manufacturer, than there were with the semi-autos. Frames not finish machined properly, barrels installed crooked and finish flaws. Plus you'll see an occasional old aluminum framed S&W with a cracked frame come in "for repair".

Believe it or not, I'm more comfortable accepting that a semi-automatic pistol will be pretty good right out of the box. A revolver should be checked over first, new or used these days.

My issue with the Filipino 1911s is that their finish machine work isn't consistent. I've handled some right off the rack that are very smooth and nicely fitted. And the one right next to it feels like the internal parts were finished with a dull file, with a handful of fine sand thrown in to help things "wear in." Whereas with at least say a Colt, the only real inconsistency I've noticed is in how the thumb safeties are fit. Some other manufactures put together really pretty pistols (Kimber, SIG) but I have little faith in the small parts quality. Google "broken SIG 1911 disconnectors" for parts failures. And the Kimber Series II safety issues are generally well-known. Plus the guns also feel tight right out of the box, and not in the smooth way something like a Nighthawk or a Wilson Combat should exhibit.

Having said all of that, one 1911 manufacturer we haven't mentioned much is S&W. Their 1911s get positive marks across the board. They look a little unconventional, the external extractor isn't a traditional feature, but they just seem to work from the people I've known who have them.

Lastly, I'm not particularly impressed with impressions or reviews where a shooter has put a few hundred or maybe up to 1000 rounds through a pistol before declaring it "the bestest ever!" The Gen 3 Glock 17 I mentioned in my first post had 17,000+ rounds through it before I sold it to a friend. Last I knew, it was still running. It was an E-series gun and broke a frame rail on the original frame in the 7500-round range. Glock took care of me, no questions asked.
 
Labguy47 said:
If it’s not gonna put thousands of rounds on target then I certainly don’t want one!
I’m gonna add my +1 to the Ruger pool. Built like a tank and definitely good for thousands of rounds!
Click to expand...

I think you misread my post... What I said is that you can find high-end 1911s that have not shot thousands of rounds, selling at interesting prices.

If one gets the opportunity to shoot a Wilson, Guncrafter, Ed Brown, or whatever semi- or full custom 1911, then the mid-segment production guns loose their appeal quickly.

A bit like getting back into a Corolla after driving a BMW or Audi for a few days.
 
TheProf said:
Looking for combat accurate gun.
Reliable enough for a defense role.
Looking for a rugged dependable 1911.
Something easy to work on if needed.
Must be reliable out of the box. I am mechanically challenged. LOL. If it is as reliable as a glock..that would be great. This would be my first 1911.
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I'd go the with RIA based on this. They are tough, reliable shooters, which sounds like what you are looking for.

Rocks don't get much credit as far as snob factor, but that's most of the criticism- look at the post about Ed Brown and Wilson etc, and the Corolla vs BMW comparison.

RIA's tend to be reliable and rugged. The biggest issue with most 1911's tends to be mags, and you can put a good mag into any brand. Since we're talking a 1st 1911, you're not going to have too many preconceived notions about stuff (as compared to a top-end guy looking for another). $400 or so + extra for some good mags and grips, that gets you in the game.
 
JR24 said:
Thanks. I was just looking if there are figures indicating that there were more returns. Recalls could be another metric to call them the leader, good point.

Though I'd prefer a manufacturer just call back a product instead of digging heels in and doing a "voluntary upgrade" (320) or quietly change things without saying (Glock) or pretending theres no problem at all for 40 years (Remington).
Click to expand...

Given the fact that Ruger outproduces all manufactures, there is likely a correlation. course no way to put a number on it.
 
We all learn by getting the feet wet. Buy one at the price point and you'll find what likes-dislikes come with that. Your price point is easy to find a good quality 1911. As they say, do it right the first time so pick a decent enough one that if you get the bug, you have a good base to build upon if you go in that direction. The wide ranging aftermarket availability of parts to put on a 1911 is appealing too. A Wilson, Baer or Brown, etc, may be the next step after shooting a base 1911.
 
RA40 said:
Buy one at the price point and you'll find what likes-dislikes come with that. Your price point is easy to find a good quality 1911.
Click to expand...
This bears repeating.

I started with a basic Colt 1911 and progressed through a Commander and an Officer's ACP, each having varying amounts of work done to them...before selling them. Then I went through a Springfield Armory full sized and an EMP...sold the first kept the second. Settled on a S&W Scandium Commander for a while before selling it and finally having a couple built
 
Kimber Custom TLE. I had a Colt Gold Cup many years ago that I loved. My Kimber Custom seems to be a better gun all around. I'm old fashioned. Had to put wood grips on it and got some xtra stainless mags for it. All under $1000. Have put 1000's of rounds through it and not one FTF. It's been awesome.
 
Let us not forget Coltington. I would imagine it would be at least equal to Ruger?
I would pass on old Hardballer.
 
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