You guys know I’m not in the Gun Business anymore – Not in any way. But once in a while, I do talk guns. Mostly folks who know very little about them, who want to run their mouths about how great their Taurus is and then ask me what I think. I have to put in effort to not roll my eyes… Smile, and say they’re a great value for the money. And then I exit stage right as quickly as possible. But sometimes, I actually have a great conversation about guns. These are rare these days, and I enjoy them. But I’ve seen a trend with Gun Guys… This is something that kinda makes my eye twitch just a little… “I’m a 1911 Guy, but…”
So, saying you’re a 1911 Guy is supposed to give you some sort of Authenticity. A Ballistically Moral High Ground. Or some sort of Trendy Gun Hipster Status. Maybe it’d to establish some sort of Fudd ground… Like saying “I’m a 1911 Guy” makes you a True Gun Guy.
And then they say “But”. When you say “But”, that pretty much means that what you said just before, is total bullshit. “I’m a 1911 Guy, But…” tells me that no, you’re not a 1911 Guy. Usually, the sentence finishes up with them saying they carry a Glock or an M&P or something other than a 1911. Look, it’s simple… If you don’t carry a 1911, then you are not a 1911 Guy.
“But wait”, you say… You are going to tell me that you shoot your 1911 at the range the most often. That you’re a competitive shooter and you use a 1911 in your matches. Really? So you do all this training and exercising of your skills with a 1911… But when it comes to what you stake your life on, you do so with something else? What you just explained to me is that you don’t actually shoot with your Carry Gun, you just carry it. For emergency use. Dude… WHY do you even carry a gun? Just to have? So that life-saving device that you carry with you isn’t the one you train with the most? It’s not the one you challenge yourself with? Of all the guns you train with… the one you should be using is the one you are packing to bet your life with – and the lives of your loved ones. That’s the one you need to be working out with. So no, you’re not a 1911 Guy. You’re a Poser.
NOTE: The only guys that get a pass on this, are you guys out there at carry a gun for a living that’s either Department Issued, or Department Mandated… I know most Departments don’t even allow 1911’s anymore – and that’s sad, but not your fault. You get that pass, because it wasn’t your choice. I’m talking about the guys that have a choice.
I’m a 1911 Guy and a SIG P22X Guy. Any SIG Pistol that starts with “22” is awesome in my book and I love them. 220, 224, 226, 227, 228, 229… and I do quite often carry an M11A1, which is essentially just a 228 with factory night sights. I’ll carry that piece on special occasions, now and then. And I’ve shot the hell out of them for hundreds of thousands of rounds, and I’m very familiar with their handling characteristics.
Back to the 1911 again. The gun I carry most of the time, almost daily, is a 1911. Because while I love the SIG 22X platform with that smooth DA/SA trigger and rebounding hammer… There’s something very special to me about the 1911. No other pistol allows me to make such accurate first-round hits. And no other hit in a firefight is so important as the first round. Most of the time, that first round is also the last round. I love that the 1911 points so naturally, it’s a thought and not an action… I don’t do it – I just think it and it’s done. Sorcery. That’s a 1911 for me. And that’s why it’s my preference for the majority of my Pistol Packing Policy.
Out of all of the myriad of 1911 types and configurations out there… All of them being excellent, of course… my very favorite is the classic Light Weight Commander. In .45 Auto. This formula fits me to a T. I could actually quite easily just forego all other pistols and carry nothing but an LWC-1911-45. If I knew I was walking into a situation where I was going to have to draw and shoot, and that my life was on the line… I’d want no other gun on me.
(If I knew it was going to be an actual firefight and concealment wasn’t a requirement – SHOTGUN – but that’s another article)
Nailed it. The first shot hit probability with a 1911 is better for me than anything else I routinely shoot. The only other thing that comes close is a S&W model 10 revolver that was my first center fire handgun purchase.
The walking-around-gun you use when poking around the deserts and mountains has to be capable of that unconscious level of first hit probability that comes from long familiarity and countless hours of practice.
The .38 Special +P and the .45 ACP have always been plenty when the first round goes where it will do the most good.
Been reading your blog for years! I carry a Sig C3 and would never trust my family’s life to another. Your a beacon of wisdom in this world today. I wish more people would understand the common sense that you write. As the saying goes, “beware of the man with one gun”
Why thank you, very much.
I always liked the 1911. Awesome handgun which is safe and reliable. Difficult to believe that it was designed so many years ago.
I agree with this 100%. I have other guns that I can carry, but always come back to a light weight commander of some flavor.
I will admit to switching to my P30 for the 2020 riot season as I figured capacity became the more pressing feature. I also often pocket carry a snubby or small auto in winter.
Things died down and it is warming up a a bit so I’m back to deciding between the .38 super or .45
I’m your huckleberry. Carried a competition SVI 2011 on me appendix, and shot nearly 100k rounds with the same darn gun for the last 5 years. Draconian gun laws in the Philippines means getting a carry permit is so damn hard, you might as well carry your match gun anyway.
My pocket gun is a P238, so that still counts.
I’ve recently shifted from Standard/Limited Division to Production. So now I IWB a CZ Shadow 2 with a Surefire X300u in a custom kydex AIWB.
It is lighter than my 2011, I’ll give you that.
I do miss my 2011’s superb trigger. I sometimes feel like I’m hurting my Shadow 2’s feelings when I tell my friends I miss my SVI ‘coz I had to Cajunize my CZ to get it close to my .40 gun.
Yes I’m asking too much from my 9mm.
1911 man here… BUT I’ve never owned a .45!
Cheers,
TZH
I’m a 1911 guy- rotated various iterations of Dan Wesson thru my collection for years. BUT…
my GP100 has become my one true love- the girl I’ll never be without. Now, one the other hand, if I were to have an affair…
…that CZ DWX is looking awfully intriguing (although not its price tag!)- a bastard love child of a 1911 and a CZ75, with the best parts of both.
Guessing that makes me an infidel…
That is an interesting hybrid approach. I like it… The DWX. And yes, I too have a 357 in my rotation.
At 6’6″ and two hundred and “mumble-mumble” pounds I can (and do) carry a full size 1911 in .45. Like Matt, I worry ’bout needing more rounds in this time of rioting. For that I have my Browning Hi-Power. Same controls so muscle memory serves me well.