As readers will know, last week I picked up a 1911 Commander from ATI. “American Tactical Imports“.
I remain impressed with the overall quality of the gun. It’s so far proven to be a great buy. At the time of purchase, and even since I had first seen them, I had only one complaint. The wood grips look like they are cheap plastic. Now I have another complaint.
One of The Horde has asked for a Top 5 1911 list. This is difficult, because saying 1911 is like saying Pickup Truck. There are different types, classes of truck. Class wasn’t specified. So this is going to be an overall pick, cross classes.
1. Springfield TRP
2. SIG 1911 TacOps
3. Dan Wesson V-Bob
4. STI Ranger II
5. Springfield 1911 GI
Three of the five selections are full sized, 5” guns. The other two are Commander length guns. There are no three inch guns on my list for a reason. The smaller sized guns get more finicky in terms of reliability and for me, that’s a huge disqualification. The full size and the Commander length guns are where it’s at.
If I was going to pick a few more, the other guns on my list would be the guns in the Colt CCO type configuration with a Commander length barrel and slide on an Officer’s length frame. Such as the SIG C3 and RCS. Both would make the list for sure. Also, if I had another spot, I’d have to put an STI Tactical 4.15, which would also be the only double stacked 1911 on this list, and the only one in 9mm.
If I was going to pick something on the more Budge Minded level, the options are fewer, but some stand out. The pistols from ATI have a strong showing with tolerances on par with guns that cost 3 times as much. The newish Remington R1 is a nice pistol, if you can find one. The Para GI Expert is a very similar gun at a similar price point, and it’s a good one. Then there are the guns from Taurus which are solid values and surprisingly good shooters.
Notice I am not talking about the Semi-Custom Production guns from makers such as Wilson Combat, Les Baer, and Ed Brown. They are certainly good, but the cost level is puts them far and away above the reach of a lot of shooters, without a drastic or tangible increase in returns for the money.
ToddG from Pistol-Training.com knocked it out of the park. This is well said.
I look at the 1911 much like Muscle Car. You can buy faster modern cars, but they just don’t have the class and style that a classic muscle car has.
As much as I love my G23RTF2, it doesn’t evoke the romance and the passion that my 1911’s inspire.
The 1911 is for the Aficionado and the Professional. It’s not for the rank and file foot-soldier. Yes, there is an Elitist aspect to it.
NC Alcohol Bureau has to ditch their unreliable weapons.
This is an interesting article and needs to be read. To see what these guns are, take a look here. As you guys know, I am a huge fan of the 1911. It is a romance kind of thing. I can’t help myself. However I am also a huge fan of the Glock, because, well, Glocks take away doubt. Doubt about reliability. Doubt about reliabilty can really put a sour taste in my mouth about any gun.
As much as I love the 1911, one company has caused more than one raised eyebrow for me. And that company is Kimber. About two years ago I started seeing some Quality Control issues with Kimber. Some of them minor details, others glaringly obvious factory fumbles. I had to send two guns back to the factory that had just arrived. In my Defensive Pistol training classes, I had a couple Kimbers come through that didn’t want to run… one in particular, a full sized SIS, just about refused to function altogether. That thing jammed like a jazz band.
In the Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trade we see a lot of Gimmicks. Some of them look like gimmicks but are actually quite handy for certain specific tasks… while others look like they could be handy, but are actually really useless. The king of useless has to be the most persistent one.
I first heard of this guy way back in the very early days of “The Firing Line”. This gimmick was laughed off the board pretty quickly. He’s popped up now and again, here and there over the years… insisting that he has the true light and knowledge.
I don’t know his name, but I’ll call him “Finger Shelf Guy.” He emailed me asking for a link and I was nice to him, saying that this is counter to what I teach so I can’t do that. The guy bows out and I don’t hear from him again for a week. Then all the sudden he shows up on WETHEARMED with an all new video about how great the finger shelf is and how everyone else is wrong. Here’s the thread. Enjoy.
Shout-out to Glock Talk. Howdy fellas. Thanks for the hits. Just so you know…
On my hip right now is a Glock 23 RTF2 modified with Warren Tactical night sights, 3.5# Disconnecter and the NY1 Spring, riding in a Sharkhide custom holster from Adams Holsters. Carry loads are Winchester PDX1 JHPs. Backing that up are two G22 mags, one loaded with more PDX1’s and the other with 135 grain Cor Bon’s… namely because I ran out of PDX1’s because I’ve a bad habit of killing prairie dogs with my carry loads.
So, thanks for the kind words. They are appreciated. Cheers!
