My SW1911PD Gunsite Edition off-duty pistol (4.25" bbl) is accurate and reliable and the scandium frame is a noticeably lighter than my steel framed 5" bbl service pistol.
For the sub $1000 range…to be honest I wouldnt bother. You’d be better off getting a SIG 220, or HK45. Honestly
Bump your pockets up a couple of hundred and then the decent options start to appear. By decent I mean TRP, or maybe an MC operator. I cant recommend Kimber at this due to numerous first hand negative experiances.
I suppose there is always S&W but I have a thing against external extractors…seems so un-1911 like…
Still, even if you go TRP, which is a good entry 1911 for the money, dont expect Ed Brown, Nighthawk or Les Baer class build quality. Working the action on the Nighthawk feels like the slide was riding on ball bearings. You just dont get that on production pistols
If I had the cash I would get a Springer FBI Pro model 
In a Commander size 1911, I carry a CCO (4.25" slide and Officer frame). The company owner carries a tweaked Commander. Colt has the best FPS, if you are stuck buying a 1911 with one.
SA also makes a decent 4".
You’ll be fine getting a good running 1911 for under $1k. I suggest you find the best 4"-4.25" gun in the $800 to $900 range and get a Cylinder and Slide drop in trigger kit. The owner’s Commander started off as a $400 NIB NRM Commander and got some upgrades. The best money spent was replacing the stock trigger.
The single action trigger is the key to the beauty of a 1911.
My 1911 experience is limited. However I can succinctly state that my NHC T3 with a 4.25" tube does run better than my 5" of the same company. An anomaly probably, but it runs smooth and is incredibly accurate.
All things equal, I rarely carry my 5" on account of its size. The compact T3 is perfect for daily carry. I wanted a 4.25" 1911 and I’m very happy with mine. Generally speaking in the shorter barrel lengths I’d steer toward HK and SIG, though. Heck, I prefer HK and SIG to nearly any 1911 regardless of bbl length.
Tim
Do you want to carry/use? I think others have said if you’re looking for a serious use 1911, you need to spend more money.
If you’re not going to carry and want a 1911 more to have fun with, then I’ve had great luck with Springfield Armory. Mine was about $450 for the mil-spec, ran like a champ.
I agree. If you are not carrying it and just want a great gun to shoot, get a 5" mil-spec. FWIW, my favorite hand gun to shoot is a Colt 1911A1 made in 1942 and stamped “US GOVERNMENT PROPERTY”. The rifling is damn near shot out of it and it runs perfect. There is not an empty pop can in the desert that is safe from that gun.
A mil-spec or goverment model is perfect for cutting your teeth on and getting aquainted with 1911’s. From there you can decide if it is a platform you want to; a) build up the gun you already own, or b) invest 2k in a high end Wilson, Les Baer, Nighthawk, Etc. At least then you will be making an educated decision based on your wants and needs.
I am quite partial to the Springfield GI model. I just saw it recently at a shop for 500. It is very nice.
While I am not outright recommending the S&W 1911’s for a fighting gun…I will say that our rentals have probably 50k rounds between 2 of them, and their extractors are working flawlessly.
I’m familiar with the problems Kimber had with their external extractors…but I’ve seen a lot of rounds go through the S&W’s, and their extraction seems to be top notch so far.
I’ve seen some parts failure on the guns, and wouldn’t buy one unless I was gonna have it overhauled…just wanted to chime in on their extractors is all.
If it’s not a dedicated self defense pistol, what’s a few feeding and extraction failures.
Personally, I hate babysitting extractor tension on 1911s… especially when they need to be dealt with after less than 1k rounds. Sure, quality aftermarket replacement parts are available from Wilson, Ed Brown, etc., but why bother. For $1000, I shouldn’t have to replace anything at under 5000k rounds.
Sub $1k 1911s can work, but I’d rather gamble the money in Vegas on the blackjack table and buy a Les Baer, Wilson, Nighthawk with the winnings… or 3 SIGs… or an M1A and a Glock… or… you get the point.
If I was rich, I wouldn’t mind having $2k tied up in one sidearm.
Some will surely disagree, but I think we’re being a bit disingenuous to suggest that an out-of-the-box production 1911 cannot work properly. That simply is not the case, and notwithstanding the customization craze of the past decade or two, one must keep in mind that Old Slabsides worked just fine in a very basic configuration for many generations before we got our hands on it.
In order to bring the pistol into the “modern era,” we’ve tinkered with sights, safeties, triggers, magazines, fire control parts, ejection ports, springs, overall dimensions, barrels, tolerances and just about everything else on the 1911 – little wonder then that some of them should have problems. The point here is that one can generally go out and buy a box stock Colt or Springfield (just for example) and probably feel quite comfortable with the reliability and overall performance of the pistol. Most of the 5" are good to go, and more than a few of the 4.25" models run just as well in practical terms.
So, where do we go wrong? Well, I think the first area is that we try to save a buck, not realizing that the 1911 is not a Glock or HK or S&W. A 1911 needs some bench time under skilled hands to be set up properly the first time, and time/skilled labor costs money. Don’t expect a “me too” marketer to deliver a flawless 1911 clone for $600; if you go that route, you’ve no right to expect a positive outcome. One needn’t spend $2,000 or more on a custom, either, but the point here is that most bargain 1911s aren’t anything of the sort.
The second area where we tend to go wrong is in gravitating toward the “sexier” chopped-down and/or heavily-modified versions. Can anyone get a 3.5" 1911 to really run? The answer is a qualified “yes,” but then refer to point #1, above. It is definitely a more difficult task, and if you expect to keep one of them running, you had better know something about spring weights and ammunition selection. Commanders and Government Models have far fewer problems, and the latter is the unquestioned king of the lot, even today. Before you start down the “but that’s an awfully big pistol to carry” line of reasoning, remember that barrel length isn’t nearly as much of a factor in concealability as width and overall profile, and the 1911 is such a flat design that even a small man can easily pack a 5" model.
Can you get a reliable 1911 for under $1,000? If you shop for the right model, and the QC boys did their part, the answer is a resounding “yes.” Will you inevitably begin tinkering with it later? Well, of course … sooner or later, most every 1911 gets a bit more TLC along the way, but that wasn’t the original question. Most of us who have owned several examples of this pistol will tell you that we have Colts that are every bit as reliable as our Wilsons or Browns. Not that the latter aren’t money well spent, but sometimes that added expense is borne of desire, rather than true necessity.
My advice? Go buy a 5" Colt, and don’t mess with it.
Chief
One should also keep in mind, when that very basic configuration worked just fine for many generations, people:[ul][li] … were not shooting JHP through the gun.
[/li][li] … were not shooting as much, on average, as serious shooters do today.
[/li][li] … considered a 500 MRBS rate acceptable.[/ul]
[/li]
But in fairness, they also didn’t expect the gun to be infinitely customizable in terms of ergonomics, or have super-light trigger jobs, or any of the other things that have become almost “required” for an official Cool Guy 1911.
If ten different companies were building Glock 17’s, the Glock 17 would certainly have a much worse reputation than it does today.
I agree with you 100%. Most of those who think the 1911 is unreliable have never fired or handled one. I’ve owned a lot of 1911’s over the years, the only one that didn’t run out of the box was a Kimber CDP Pro II. Anyone who says a 1911 can’t be/isn’t reliable is talking out there arse.
I’ve owned everything from a SA GI to a Yost Custom, Wilsons and Baers and everything in between. All have been as reliable as any other gun I have owned. This is with hollowpoints, 1000+ round pistol courses etc. I just put 750 rounds through my CQB this weekend in a one day course, I had two FTF issues with my reloads - they were too long. Other than that, I lubed it once and it ran and ran.
I also think people get a little carried away with the whole “my gun can go 3,000 rounds without cleaning or malfunctions and your 1911 can’t” line. My response is so what. When in the real world would a true defensive pistol need to be fired so much?
I’m more than comfortable carrying a pistol that can go 500 rounds without cleaning and no malfunctions.
All my 1911’s have made it through multiple day classes and high round counts without failure. But that doesn’t really matter to me. What matters most is that when it is cleaned and lubed, that I can take it to the range and fire 25 rounds of Speer 230 gn Gold Dot reliably straight from the holster. It is nice to know what it can do at 500 and 1,000 rounds, but it is not applicable to me in the real world. I need 25-32 perfect rounds.
As much as I like and appreciate the 1911 design, in your case, I’d get a glock 19. Either go 5" 1911 from a quality maker or go with another model of gun. Unless you are willing to do what it takes to take full advantage of the 1911 platform, a Glock 19 is a far better choice for 90% of the shooters out there. You are asking for trouble by A) wanting 4" 1911 and B) wanting it for less than $1,000.
Sure the shorties can run well - I’ve shot a little 3" 1911 built by CT Brian that was pretty amazing - it digested well over 500 rounds in one day with not a single problem…of course it didn’t cost less than $1,000 either though. You get what you pay for, especially with 1911’s.
And you base this statement on what, exactly?
Mike,
I thought I had asked you this earlier, but I guess not. Or maybe it was another forum…
Anyway, where did you get your avatar from? It looks the same symbol that Paul Liebenberg (Pistol Dynamics) uses. In any case, I like it.
http://www.pistoldynamics.com/Pistols_08.html
anyone with firsthand knowledge , experience with the Kimber Warrior ?
I have two, one Desert Warrior and the other is a black one. My Desert warrior was purchased when the first came out and my black warrior was purchased some time later.
I am completely satisfied with both of my Kimber Warriors. However, my Desert Warrior sees more rounds fired through it and is probably my favorite of the two due to the slightly shorter trigger.