Hey guys ive been kickin around the idea of buying my first handgun for the past few months. Im a broke college student so this is going to be my only handgun for a while. I was originally looking into getting a glock 20 but, every time i think of getting something else i always circle back to a 1911, i cant get away from it. 1911’s are about as american as killin terrorists and apple pie. So, heres my question, what are some nice 1911’s i can get for about 700 bucks? price cant exceed 800 bucks. Im looking for a reliable, accurate shtf 1911.
If you are only going to have one handgun and don’t have a lot of money to spend, a 1911 is probably not a good choice. A gun purchased at that price will likely need some work to run well enough to be depended on. What about getting an M&P 45 (similar grip angle, can be had with strong side safety) and then a 1911 later on when you have the bank account to support it?
Suggest you do an exhaustive search of this forum. The issue of bargain 1911’s comes up often and has been rehashed almost monthly.
Have a good idea in your mind of what you want the gun for: home defense, concealed carry, competition, plinking?
if i were to have to spend money on a $700 gun to make it run right then forget it, ill resort back to my old plan, but a heartless plastic pistol (glock or SW) I like the SW, i havent held one but they look nice, and their very affordable.
Todd, this said handgun would pretty much be an all of the above gun. Home defense, ccw, carbine/pistol course gun, some competition, weekly range plinker. Its going to be used heavily. Now for whatever its worth, im a 6’1" 176lb athlete, broad shoulders, large chest, so for ccw size doesent really matter.
I’d agree with Daveo then. For that kind of money the 1911 isn’t the best choice, especially if it’s your first gun.
i guess technically it would be my second, my dad and i shared his old sig 226 9mm. Ive put more rounds through that sig226 than i can even begin to guess, it taught me how to shoot a handgun. I was going to look into buying a new sig but i herd their QC has gone to hell. I think glock or SW is a good option for a out of the box reliable accurate shtf go to gun… would yall agree? i could buy a glock, do a trigger job on it and be gtg. if the bad stuff about sig is just internet mall ninja haters, then, ill certainly look seriously into a new/used sig.
For that kind of money I really like the older Kimbers. I have a bone stock pre-series II Kimber that keeps running and running.
There are a few on gunbroker:
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=120563718
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=120425035
While you are there check out the Norinco 1911’s.
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=120419255
They are usually selling in the $450 dollar range although I did see one sell locally for $350 recently. Very good steel and decent overall quality. You can start out with that and later on upgrade the sights and other items as you progress.
Whatever you purchase, get some good magazines for it. Personally I like Chip McCormick or Wilson.
thx dude! ill def look on the used market, as those kimbers looked nice! ill try and see what my local shop has to offer. and i dont think i could bring my self to buy a norinco anything.
i cant buy anything made by a commie, especially something as American as a 1911. every time we buy commie goods, a puppy gets killed… i dont want to be responsible for innocent puppy deaths.
Sounds good, just stay away from the newer series II Kimbers, they seem to be hit and miss, and a firing pin safety system is un-1911. 
You mentioned the secondary market. Don’t overlook older SIG/Sauer classics. The P228 is a great gun.
How about a bastard child of a P226 and a 1911? There are Sig P220 models in Single action only. A buddy has one, and while it is no 1911, it has a sweet trigger and is more modern and user friendly than a 1911. (Like he was telling me that you can drop the mag, rack the slide to clear the chamber all with the safety on.) A $700 P220SAO will run more reliably than a $700 1911.
By all means, get a 1911. You’ll learn more about how it works as it has all the different kinds of failures.
for triple the money, you can have the 1911 you’re looking for
wtf??
I can’t believe the gun snobs here… if it’s not a $800+ 1911
it’s not going to shoot or be reliable???
I have bought 4 1911s for under $700
3 Rock Islands, and one Taurus PT1911
I have NEVER had a problem with ANY of them!!
They have ALWAYS gone bang when I pulled the triigger,
and have ALWAYS been ready to fire again…
Not one FTF or FTE with any of them…
I have another friend with 2 RIAs and he also has never had any problems
I’m not sure how a gun that costs twice as much could be any more reliable…
I have been looking at 1911s for a long time, and I can tell you I’ve felt
some pretty sloppy, slide to frame fits, with some poor barrel / bushing / slide
fits on some high dollar guns, where my RIAs are all tight!
Yes I have had some of the “expensive” ones…
I Just sold a Springfield Loaded, and I would have put any of my
lower priced guns up against it any day, in both accuracy and reliability
Last time we had 1911 day
There was a Sig 1911 Revolution, a Wilson Polymer frame wide body 1911, and a Springfield GI
that all had multiple problems, NONE of my lower priced ones did
and yes, they shoot just as well…
PLEASE do yourself a favor, and check out the forums over here
http://forum.m1911.org/forumdisplay.php?f=17
Check out both the RIA section, and the Taurus section for some real reviews from
some real owners, and yes a lot of them have higher priced models as well
so you can get some GOOD honest feedback!
Also, check out how 2 lower priced guns fared against the higher priced Wilson CQB, and Kimber Warrior
http://www.advancedtactical.com/sweeneyarticle.pdf
In other words, PLEASE do more research before swearing off 1911s!!
They are a GREAT design!!
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While it’s possible to find a 1911 that will run on the cheap, it is by no means easy, and even then maintaining it and keeping it running right isn’t an easy feat.
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.45 ACP is expensive.
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10mm is expensive and the G20 is a huge beast.
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Stick to Glocks in 9mm as they have the best track record AND they are less expensive to feed than some firebreathing monster. Spend the saved money on more training, which is more important than anything else.
It’s entirely possible to find an 800 dollar 1911 that works. It’s also very likely that you’ll end up with a gun that doesn’t work.
In other words, PLEASE do more research before swearing off 1911s!!
They are a GREAT design!!
1911’s have some good points…
…but I will invoke the advice of a participant of this forum who has more operational experience with a 1911 both as a user of the weapon in nasty circumstances than anyone else I know and as a gunsmith and master 1911 builder:
1911’s are enthusiasts handguns. They require specialized knowledge and usually a fair bit of money to obtain and keep in top working condition.
Lots of Kimbers look nice…but they don’t run very well. If you ask guys who see the most rounds go downrange every year what 1911 brand they see with the most problems, odds are the answer would be Kimber. There are some Kimbers that run great…but a good many of them have issues.
You’d be much better off with a 9mm Glock or M&P than a Kimber as your only handgun.
My friend and I and all the others must just be lucky to get all these guns that work right out of the box…
If I got one that needed work it would go straight back to the manufacturer
I love to customize, but it better work before I even start messing around with it.
My very first 1911 I built myself from an 80% frame…
At that point I had never even seen the inside of a 1911, and had only held one once…
I found prints, schematics, and went to town buying parts and doing all the reading I could find on 1911s.
There were a few local match guys at the range here when I went to shoot it for the first time, and they were impressed at how good it felt/was built and were shocked to find out that I had done it, and even more shocked that I had no experience with 1911’s or smithing at that point…
I am not a big name, or make money doing it,
but I have a good understanding on what makes a 1911 run.
The only thing any of mine get is a cleaning after every time I
come back from a day of shooting…
It is as you said though, there are high dollar guns from big names that I have seen that are crap.
There are nice guns I have seen that were lower priced…
My advice is to look at each gun, and evaluate it on how well it’s built, fit, finish, etc, not on name alone
PS… One of the guns I shoot best with is a G19, so as much as I love the 1911s, I can’t fault the GLOCK idea
With all due respect, your experience and your friend’s experience doesn’t really match up to the level of experience that’s behind the advice I related earlier.
I heard Ken Hackathorn (a legendary 1911 guy) say with my own two ears: “1911’s are like Ferarris. If you want one, you’d better know a good mechanic and you’d better bring money.” That advice is based on DECADES of experience with the 1911 as a user and an instructor all the way back to the early Gunsite days.
Not a problem, and no offense taken.
I can only relate my own experiences, not the experience of others.
My experience with the 1911s that I have paid under $800 for have all been positive.
They all have never failed me in any fashion, That’s all I can ask for in a gun, and
that’s all I can vouch for, my own personal experience…
The 1911’s that I have spent more than $800 have also all been positive,
Like I said, it don’t matter to me what price range I happen to be shopping in at the time, I look them over before I buy them, and have turned a few away for seeing something I didn’t like, both high and low dollar stuff, so maybe this is upping my percentage of working models…
And no offense to anyone, but CNC machining has upped percentage of good working 1911s across the board… In the old days there were a LOT of machine changes, and a lot of people that worked on a gun… If ANY one of those guys made a mistake, didn’t have sharp tooling, had a shaving between the frame and clamp, etc, etc, it would carry on to the next step and the whole thing was off…
Now with the CNC machines doing the majority of the work with a single clamp, on a single machine…
things are a lot better all around these days, I think even the “experienced” guys would agree with that