I used to carry a compact 1911 in .45 ACP. Indeed almost 10 years ago I felt so strongly about this that I published these words in M4C:
[b]Too, there may be a psychological component to the 1911 vs. Glock decision.
Consider the man who carries a 1911. He radiates aplomb as he strides through the city. His eye is intrepid, his gait cocksure, his countenance censorious. He need not fight; youthful gangsters feel his presence in their bones a block away.
Now consider the man who chooses to carry a firearm that more closely resembles an iPhone than it does one of John Moses Browning’s noble creations. Does he move among the thugs with the same dash?[/b]
My compact 1911 has been taken to a gun show and sold. When I set forth, I’m carrying either a G17 or a G19, depending on what I’m wearing. I am much better armed now.
It is possible for even die-hard believers to change their mind in the face of evidence.
I’ve gone through various 1911’s over the years, colt, springfield, nighthawk, dan wesson. Dan I Wesson being the favorite, most accurate and most reliable. Got rid of all them, they are fun classic pistols for the range or training classes. Never trusted them for EDC in the event a severe situation should arise. Walther or Glock for edc.
I CCWd a gubment 1911 or an officer length for a decade +, took courses, competed in IDPA, had three custom pistols made, etc with my beloved 1911s. All gone now. When the M&P with Apex trigger etc came along, and there was now 1911-like ergos, good trigger, in a dead simple double stack 9mm - and knowing also that the terminal ballistics of modern JHPs were essentially the same - I could no longer ignore the plastic wonder pistols.
For me, the HKVP9 took that to the next level, and I never looked back.
I hope that you still radiate aplomb despite carrying an iphonesque gun nowadays. English is a second language here so I admire your prose. The thread title says full circle; I thought it meant abandoning and then returning to an original position. May we say that you have made a semi-circle?
I have started to shoot a 1911 more often as I have found myself in a situation of having stocked more .45 ammo than 9. More accurately, my 9 expenditures were higher than 45 and my current 9 stock isn’t sufficient to support 25K/year schedule, but I digress. As I shot .45 (in my world .45=1911) more, I found myself carrying 1911 more often although the summertime has a say in this too. I’ve my preferences but at this point I also don’t give much damn about what I carry as long as I do. My gait is less cocksure with a 1911 tho, simply because its weight.
Dude it’s just a gun. A stupid ass gun. John Moses Browning didn’t make it out of some reverence. He was doing it for money.
Honestly, I like a 1911 but it is a toy. If they passed some bullshit law that you could have only one pistol the rest of your life it would unhesitatingly be the G45. It does absolutely everything:
They are just toys, dude. Even a pistol is dumb as hell. If I could get away with it; I’d carry an 11.5 AR everywhere[/QUOTE]
We only carry pistols because it is social unacceptable to carry a rifle. Or because we are too lazy to carry a rifle.
In Israel where it is socially acceptable to carry a shoulder fired weapon 90% of the time mine was some type of M16. 10% either a mini or micro Uzi, of course I also carried my pistol as a backup.
But they are not what wins fights, I am what wins fights.
I have told of the time I took a round to my rifle destroying it, I carried on with my Hi Power and finished the mission.
Dare I say I have come 3/4 circle?
I carried a 5" Colt gov’t model in .45 for 25 years (off duty. I still have it but rarely shoot it) There was only the 1911 & all others handguns must pay homage to it. I was finally swayed by the M&P 9mm w/Apex trigger kits. Good Lord at one time I owned 8 of them! I have on occasion (sentimental reasons I guess) carried my DW Guardian in 38 Super but most days it’s either my RMR’d 9mm 2.0 compact or (& here comes the 3/4 circle) a Beretta Inox compact w/ RMR. If I could only pic one, It’d probably be the M&P but my Beretta, done over by WC is a neck & neck second. For me, a tough choice between the two.
I have always carried a Glock, I have a 1911 but it was more of just having a 1911… I like the capacity of either 13 or 15 rounds depending on if I carry a G23 or G19.
I’ll go a step further, if one “had” to have a 1911, get a 9MM one or a 2011. It took me almost 20 years to outgrow .45 ACP. It’s an interesting cartridge and fun to shoot, but irrelevant for what it is.
But even then, Glock is still the easy button. If not Glock then HK.
It’s sad how much my formative gun decisions were made due to brainwashing or some dude saying “because I said so”.
Like I found out the hard way that police departments do actually pick their guns because some guy “said so” and it wasn’t too expensive. I wasn’t into guns when I started out. I just did what I was told. I did gravitate towards ARs and Glocks. I had the right answer at a nascent level, but listened to people above me who didn’t.
Sig named the 365 appropriately. One and done, everything else is just for fun. The 1911 still makes a great nightstand gun though.
Mods… Can we just rename this sub-forum the “Glock fanboy forum” and be done with it? If my old agencies told me I had to carry a Glock, I’d have quit.
[QUOTE=Firefly;2948086]I’ll go a step further, if one “had” to have a 1911, get a 9MM one or a 2011. It took me almost 20 years to outgrow .45 ACP. It’s an interesting cartridge and fun to shoot, but irrelevant for what it is.
But even then, Glock is still the easy button. If not Glock then HK.
It’s sad how much my formative gun decisions were made due to brainwashing or some dude saying “because I said so”.
Like I found out the hard way that police departments do actually pick their guns because some guy “said so” and it wasn’t too expensive. I wasn’t into guns when I started out. I just did what I was told. I did gravitate towards ARs and Glocks. I had the right answer at a nascent level, but listened to people above me who didn’t.[/QUOTEy]
Firefly knows.
When I had the Glock epiphany, I quickly got a G21 for range fun. I like reloading. 45 and it’s fun to shoot at the range. 45 is to shoot with your friends; 9mm is to shoot at your enemies. If I carried a 1911 it would be 9mm.
45 doesn’t do anything on jackers that 9mm won’t do.
Oh, and Det-sog: I hated Glocks until I tried Gen 5. Glock is much better now.
I have a G19 and a brace of 1911s. I need at least a couple more G19s. But I think I’m done buying 1911s. Doesn’t mean I’m ever going to sell mine though. I enjoy shooting them too much.
Not everything has to be a “soulless, godless pistols designed for killing things up.”
Even though an old design, the 1911 is still a fine weapon.
