Tag Archives: 1911

I’m a 1911 guy, but…

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)

Springfield Armory MC Operator

If I were in the market for another full sized, railed 1911, I’d be looking for a Springfield Armory MC Operator. Let me tell you why…

Back when I was still in the Gun Industry, a Springer Rep came with a number of guns to try out first hand. I shot the lot of them, but the one I kept coming back to was the MC Operator. It just felt awesome in the hand, was exceptionally accurate for me, and it was flawlessly reliable.

A couple years after that, I was visiting the MARSOC armory at Camp Lejeune. We were fitting holsters for their new Colt Rail Guns, that won the contract to replace the MC Operators. The Marine Operators there spoke highly of the Springers and talked about how they never had problems with them… and the new Colts were giving them fits and nightmares. This made a lasting impression on me… and here I am years later again, and the MC Operator remains just as accurate and reliable for those that I know that have them and shoot them.

There are a lot of great railed 1911’s out there on the market. But few provide the bang for the buck value that the Springfield MC Operator gives you.

The Most Unreliable Pistols

I put out a survey and talked to a lot of Firearms Instructors about the most consistently unreliable pistols they’ve seen come through their classes.  When the pattern emerged through the Signal/Noise filters, it confirmed my theory.   Short Barreled 1911’s are the Most Unreliable.   Let’s look at this for a second and see why.
The 1911 family of guns tend to be very reliable.  During the Pistol Trials before the gun was adopted by the US Army, the Colt ran well over 6,000 without problems and thoroughly crushed the competition (Savage) which didn’t even make it halfway.   Since then, it garnered a reputation for being unreliable?  What happened?
Well, for a long time, Colt owned the patent on the design and if a 1911 wasn’t built by Colt, it was built under license and the guns all tended to follow that pattern rather closely.

Continue reading The Most Unreliable Pistols

Adams Holsters’ “Closing Time” Appendix Carry IWB rig


Let’s try AIWB again.   Let’s call this “Round Two”.   A few years ago I tried Appendix Carry using what was at the time a very popular CCW type firearm in a very popular IAWB type rig.  And I quickly found that it wasn’t for me.    Because, let’s face it… I’m not the young high speed, low drag operator that I was in my youth.
But I wanted to try it again, and I wanted to try it with my personal favorite type of firearm ever, a 1911 Lightweight Commander.
This isn’t a gun review so I won’t even mention how fantastic my Ruger SR1911 LWC is… But it is.  Ahem…

So I had a conversation with my Leathermancer, Lucas Adams.  Lucas has been my #1 Go To for Holsters for the last 7 years? 8 years?  I don’t know… But when I get a new pistol that I intend to carry, I talk to Lucas.  He’s good.  He’s that good.  Even when I actually worked for another Holster Maker (Kydex, so it like, doesn’t even count) I still had Lucas make my personal carry rigs.   Continue reading Adams Holsters’ “Closing Time” Appendix Carry IWB rig

Top 5 Production 1911 Pistols.

At my core, I’m a 1911 Guy.  Though I have a great fondness for SIG, CZ, and Beretta DA/SA type pistols, and a love of Revolvers… my heart belongs to the 1911.    I get asked about them from time to time, though not as often as I used to.  Because everyone’s talking about polymer framed, striker fired pistols these days.  People are generally forgetting about the amazingly wonderful 1911.  When asked, I’m most often asked about what my top choices are in a 1911.  And usually, I’m asked about this after the person buys their 1911 pistol and then gets their Feels bruised because their pistol isn’t on my list.
Now, as far as lists go, I’m not going to a top 5 Brands.  Because that’s not just boring, but obvious.  So I’m going to pick the Top 5 Pistols.  The individual model version… This is a much more challenging list.  Made far more difficult by limiting it to only 5 pistols when this list could easily – very easily – go to a Top 20.  So if you’re baby isn’t in the top 5, it’s probably really close… so your knee-jerk reaction of “What about this?” is going to be answered with, “There Can Be Only Five.”
Also, this list is just for Production pistols… Wilson Combat, Nighthawk Custom, Carolina Arms Group, Ed Brown, Les Baer and the like, I classify as “Custom” 1911’s.
Anyways, without any more preamble, here’s my Top 5 Production 1911 Pistols: Continue reading Top 5 Production 1911 Pistols.

RUGER 1911 Lightweight Commander .45 UPDATED


A few weeks ago I added a Ruger 1911 Lightweight Commander to my personal collection.   I wanted to go back to a lightweight Commander style 1911 as an EDC for some time, for a variety of reasons…  Namely style, accuracy, hard first shot hits… and I’ve always been a 1911 guy and it’s been a few years since I really carried one.   I really appreciate the narrow profile of a 1911.  So I started my shopping process.  I wanted to try something a little different.  And I’ve been impressed with the quality and value that Ruger has been churning out lately.  So I overlooked my normal Go To brands… and I’m glad I did! Continue reading RUGER 1911 Lightweight Commander .45 UPDATED

Visiting Carolina Arms Group Again

North Carolina is home to one of the best, most advanced 1911 Custom builders in the world, Carolina Arms Group.  You’ve read about them before here, and you might again in the future.   The owner if CAG is a fellow I call a friend… so it’s not unlikely.
I’ve watched the growth of CAG go from essentially one man with a file to a full fledged Gun Manufacturer.    And along the way, the company has evolved in a way that’s quiet remarkable.  The quality control gets tighter and tighter, and the standards get higher and higher.  The gun themselves have always been amazing.  But now I have to admit, these are the best 1911’s money can buy.  Period.  Let me show you why… Continue reading Visiting Carolina Arms Group Again

Carolina Arms Group 1911’s

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I stopped by Carolina Arms Group today to sign a copy of UPRISING USA for Jim, and while I was there, I got the chance to examine the completion of a very special 4 gun set.

These two were complete and the other two were getting final touches done.
Absolutely flawless. Now, CAG has a lot of very cool new things coming… things that I’m sworn to secrecy on, so I wont tell. Even if the NDA is a Handshake, it’s still an NDA, so I’m not saying anything other than this… Give CAG a Like, follow them on FB. Because you are going to want to keep your eye on them.
There is one new thing about to drop that I CAN talk about.
CAG is going to be releasing Fire Control Parts that you can order to be put into your gun. I’ve examined these… FANTASTIC. You are going to want to put these on your gun. Machined from forged billet stainless and absolutely the top quality you would expect from CAG. Also slides and pretty much everything you need to build your 1911 save for the Frames. And since not all of us are Gunsmiths – you will be able to send in your 1911 and CAG’s own Gunsmiths will give you their FEEL THE DIFFERENCE treatment.  All of the services will of course be on a menu for pricing and such. So bookmark this page too:
http://carolinaarmsgroup.com/

Ruger’s Light Weight Commander

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I stopped into a joint called “Nichole’s Store” in Rockhill, SC and found this little guy sitting there, all alone in a display full of other Ruger 1911’s.  This little one was all alone, because he’s a Davidson’s Exclusive.  Ruger is the Master of Distributor Exclusives.  I didn’t even know this guy existed.

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This finish on the slide looks blued, not coated.  If it is coated – I don’t know what it is.  But it has some color tinge to it, it’s not just black.  Depending on how the light hits it, it can look purplish, bluish, or brown – ish.   It’s pretty unique and the photo does kinda capture it, but then it really doesn’t.  It looks very nice in person.

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Like all Ruger 1911’s, the gun feels pretty solid and well made – and smooth.  But without feeling tight like a custom.   You can tell this is a Working Class Production Gun.  With tolerances generous enough for Reliability over Bank Vault Pleasures.  One one is going to mistake this for a Nighthawk or a CAG… But no one is going to mistake it for a Rock Island or ATI either.

It has two warts.  One you can see… the Novak Rear Sight.  Which is The Devil on a gun for this purpose.  The purpose being, this is a Defensive Gun.   Which means it’s a Fighting Gun.  And Novak Sights should not be on any Fighting Gun.  Ever.   The sights need to be replaced anyway, as they are just white 3 Dot sights… and any defensive pistol NEEDS Tritium.  That’s not a point I’ll argue about.  That’s God’s Own Truth.  This is why He created Tritium.  So it can be used on His Saint, John Moses Browning’s handguns.  While I’d be getting Tritium sights – I’d just make sure the Rear wasn’t Novak, and that it was a Straight 8 instead of 3 Dot.

The other wart is the Manual Safety… it flicks on with a nice snap.  The way it should.  But it flicks off, with no click, no snap, no tactile sign, and no audible tell.  It just… slides off.  Way too easily.  Like it was loose or broken.   That is a huge turn off to me.  Going Off Safe should be Tactile and Deliberate.  This feels like it could slide off if you had it in the holster and jumped up and down more than once.  This is of course, an easy fix.  But it’s a fix that would have to be made before you loaded it.

Overall.  I love this gun.   Well done, Ruger.

Colt needs to step up.

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COLT.  One of the most famous names in the firearms industry.  And one of the most poorly managed companies, with some of the most lack luster products for some of the highest dollars.   Colt is one of the least impressive companies still in business.  They think their name still holds currency in the market, and for a small, dwindling market segment, they do.  But that base is shrinking.  Colt may be coming out of bankrupcy again – but if they don’t change, they are going to go right back into it.

Any Colt firearm only looks good if you don’t look at any of the competition’s products.

From these images it looks like Colt is making some fine weapons.
And really, they are.  But there’s a problem.  They are over priced.  Somewhere about 200 dollars over priced.  At the same time they are not up to snuff, compared to the competition.

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Let’s look at the Mustang.  The competition is the SIG 238 and the Kimber Micro.  All three of these pistols are subcompact .380 Autos, all similar design and function.  And all taken from the original Colt Mustang, that Colt killed, SIG resurrected, and then Kimber and Colt came on with the Me Too theme.

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Of the three, the Colt is the most expensive, and as you can see, the least desirable.  It’s the worst finished, with the worst sights.

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The other Colt guns leave me a bit unimpressed.  The slides are alright, but the frames all feel like they are unfinished sand-castings. Of course, they are not… they are Media Blast finished… but they feel… sandy.    Rough.  Sets my teeth on edge like fingernails on a chalkboard.

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SIG’s 238 set the bar for what this sort of pistol needs to be like.  And Kimber took that challenge and came in with a tie score.

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The Kimber – being not a favorite brand of mine by any means… has a strong game in the Micro.   Making the Colt look like the Ugly Step Sister… which it is.

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Other than the finish, the Colt’s molded in front sight is just flat out unacceptable.  The others have dove-tails with high viz sights.  The Colt’s is No-Viz.

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You can see, of the Three Amigo’s, the Colt is one no one wants.  It’s clearly the worst of the three, and yet carries the higher price tag for no reason.   (The Kimber in the photo is wearing the Crimson Trace Grips, which makes it more expensive than the standard Micro.)

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Here’s the Cold Railed pistol.  A Tactical pistol with an all the bells and whistles price take, but has no bells and no whistles.  It’s pretty much at the same level as a Springfield Loaded Model, being simply a railed 1911… but has a premium price tag only because it bears the Colt name.   Rough finished frame, notchy feeling action, and a trigger that feels like you are dragging a piano over a gravel road.  This is not a good gun for the money.

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If you get one, you are going to need to an action job, trigger job, new sights, and you are going to want to get that frame cerakoted or something.  So about 500 dollars worth to put this gun where it needs to be.

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While I do like the look of it in the photos I took… yes, it looks nice.  It just doesn’t feel anywhere near as good as it looks.   Honestly, for less money, you could buy a Springfield MC Operator or a SIG 1911 TacOps, and have a better gun right out of the box, and save enough money for some spare mags and a case of ammunition.

What does Colt need to do to fix these?   Well, finish them for one thing.  Everyone else is throwing on some checkering or a nicer finish, and coming in at less cost.  Let’s start with that.  If Colt can step up to that level… That would be nice.  A move in the right direction.

We don’t even need to talk about the Reliability issues.   The Defender model of 1911 is one of their most popular models.  It’s also the most unreliable 1911 I’ve ever seen next to any Kimber Ultra pistol.  I saw one guy that had bought two of them.  Both of them didn’t work.  Both went back to the factory.  Once returned, one of them still had the reliability of a 4 year old.   And the one that “Worked” had the most sporadic ejection I’ve ever seen on any gun.  It was more like an open pan of popcorn… it could spit cases out in any direction.  Including into my forehead and teeth.  Some directions seemed physically impossible.    And that’s just the guns from one customer.  One man.  There have been others.  Many others.   In fact, of all the Colt Defenders I’ve seen sold or have sold myself.  Well, I don’t know of any that didn’t cause the owner some sort of grief.   I do know a couple guys that have them and say they have no problem with them.  But these guys don’t actually fire the guns.  If you don’t actually shoot it – of course it’s not going to cause you any problems.  Problems are only going to pop up when you pop rounds.  So these guys are saying that the guns don’t spontaneously self destruct, I guess.   Grips don’t suddenly spring off the gun and fly across the room… No problems then.

I’ve never seen a reliable Colt Defender.  Ever.  I’ve never seen a reliable Kimber Ultra either, but you can get an Ultra for a lot cheaper than a Defender, and any of the Ultra series guns are probably better guns than the Defender.  Maybe even more reliable.  Maybe.

If Colt is going to really make a come back with the American Gun Owner – Colt is really going to have to step up.