1911’s that are under $2k I FULL of MIM parts. These break. It may happen in the first 100rds or might happen at the 10K mark. Hard to say. The fact still remains that hard used 1911 SHOULD have as few MIM parts as possible.
C4
I have Rock Rivers, Baers, and even Dan Wessons that I spent well under $2k for and they have no MIM. I may be mistaken, but I believe Colt stopped using or greatly reduced the amount of MIM that they use.
Not impressed with the one I examined/shot.
So, no, not a fan.
There are many quality 1911’s without MIM parts under the 2k mark. I think the best bargian is a les baer TRS for about 1800$ or a Les Baer Custom Carry for 1600$
Do Colts and Springfields have lots of MIM parts? Specifically the Colt Combat Commander (Wiley Clap Edition) and the Springfield Loaded?
Springfield’s do. The hammer, sear, and disconnector.
Easily replaceable with many quality parts like Wilson, Vickers, Ed Brown, etc…
Although, I never changed out the MIM parts on my Springfield MC Operator and I shot the hell out of that and used it in several high count classes and never had any issues.
Went to the range today with 300 rds. of Win. wb. Took my PT 1911, mim parts and all, along with the mags from my son’s PT. Four Taurus PT 1911 mags in all and the guns were bought from two different dealers. 1280 rds on my PT before putting all 300 rds through, today. 100 rds at 50yds, 100 rds at 25yds, and two short rapid fire sessions (four full mags, twice) at seven yds. The rest I just pissed around with at 7yds with a couple of people and one of the range masters. Range master thought the gun felt solid. I was pleased when he shot out the whole top of the bullseye with eight shots, about an inch.5 group. Not as pleased as he was though since he does not shoot a .45 much, or so he says. Anyway, not one single hiccup, even when the guy’s wife beside me shot four rds (they were shooting a Ruger SR9 I believe). I have not had the followers out of the mags on either gun since new. 1580 rds. is not much, but it is 1580 without a single failure of any kind, even when other people have shot it. Son’s PT only has about 80 rds. on it, but it has not shown any “new gun” characteristics, and no failures.
If you don’t want mim parts, then there are several nice 1911’s you are going to have to take off your list, unless you replace the mim parts. Some people don’t agree and that is ok, but I do not fix things that aren’t broke.
The whole MIM thing doesn’t really bother me as long as you know what the pistol contains and if it has a fair price point. I am not sure why, probably marketing, that there are guns on the market that have a ton of MIM yet demand high prices. On the other hand, quite a few respected “modern” pistols contain MIM parts and have good track records.
My experience has been better with MIM than machined steel components but I will say that there were obvious flaws in the failed parts. The issue, just like AR parts, is the questionable quality of the parts from some of these manufacturers. Taurus is not know as having high quality parts in their guns and nobody on a professional level recommends them. This is not because they are gun snobs but because they have experience with guns breaking.
Harrell if you are happy with your Taurus then I wish you the best but until I personally see better quality from the guns then I will stick with what I have. I won’t go as far as saying that you got a good deal but I will say that you probably got what you paid for.
I disagree with you. I think you really must spend that much or more. I have a friend that is a 1911 gunsmith and even with him working for free it would cost more than 1000$ to even put one together with good parts.
The 1911 is very unlike the AK47. The 1911 takes a ton of hand fitting work to make it a reliable and accurate weapon. The AK47 is on the other side of that spectrum 
I went to a GSSF match that was pretty big in Atlanta, GA. Only one guy had a malfunction… He went to the glock armorer and had a bad part. It was replaced and he was 100% all day. Hundereds of people with many different caliber Glocks were here that day.
I went to a CDP class IDPA match in the same city and almost every 1911 had at least one malfunction, and every 1911 guy had mags that cost alot of cash. My friends 1911 was the only one that did not have problems. That is not hard to comprehend because his dad and grandfather were 1911 gunsmiths. He better know what he is doing… LOL…
I love 1911s, they are amazing! DO NOT CHEAP OUT! YOU WILL BE SORRY! Start with a springfield loaded and you will be happy. Even new it might need work or just personal touches. 100% of the 1911 is customizable and everyone prefers different things.
Oh hell, I love Taurus 1911s. I use them as door stops and boat anchors - they are great!
:sarcastic::sarcastic::sarcastic:
Only on M4C can a thread about a Taurus 1911 turn into a promo for M&P’s with Apex parts.
Hey, I understand, and I see everyone’s point. Honestly, I don’t know if I would even carry a PT 1911 (or any other for that matter, I think there are too many better choices for carry) but I don’t knock anyone who carries 1911’s.
At first, I was a little remiss that I had one (a PT) after being on this forum, but I couldn’t take the fuzzy, make me feel good forums any more. I am here to actually learn something. I do want to at least inform some people of what I am getting out of mine, which ain’t much yet cause I haven’t shot it enough. I have other makes that I prefer not to shoot too much because I don’t want to have issues with my HD weapons. I use my Tauruses for the range, which I begin to Jones if I don’t get there at least every few days. I figure for the prices of these pistols, I can afford to shoot them. I don’t beat on them, but I get good use from them. I am happy enough with them to get each of my kids one, mostly for the range and to be able to have a 1911 that I can afford.
They do have a marketing strategy in that their claim is they now set the standard. It is not just in quality they are talking about, but what you get and the features you get without having to spend 2000.00. I could buy into that if there were not so many gun fighters having trouble with them. To a person who is inexperienced, a PT 1911 is an attractive deal, and if they have trouble with their pistol, even if it is not the pistols fault, everyone gets to hear about how crap they are. I cannot however justify any of this to people who have a lot of experience, and with 1911’s as well, and have trouble with them. I do admit there are too many bad stories and it would make a person who depends on a gun leary of carrying one.
As far as the mim, there are some metals that are stronger after they have been melted more than once. If the mim parts are the right kind of metal, then I am cool with them. Mim has found its way into darn near every kind of mass production because it is a cheaper way to get a ton a parts. I think we are going to see a lot more mim parts in guns that do not use them now. It is the only way some of these gun companies will be able to keep up without just down right selling non mim guns at Ferrari prices to the elitetists, which I do not knock at all, either.
What’s wrong with recommending an alternative higher quality firearm? This is not arfcom or some other place, that make recommendations on firearms that are only shot a few times a year, sits in a safe or under the bed for the majority of it’s life and are inferior at best. Most on this forum would not promote problematic weapons which have vast lesser quality, than we would own individually.
I have not kept track of 1911’s for years so that could be possible.
Just like AR manufacturer’s saying that they use all Mil-Spec parts, I wouldn’t trust everything 1911 Manufacturer’s say either.
C4
I know! Ain’t it great! 
C4
Correct Sir.
As a long time 1911 fan and owner, I no longer recommend them to people (unless for pure collection purposes). Their time has come and gone and really are not the best choice as a defensive weapon.
A Glock, M&P and HK all make better choices.
C4
When I bought my Thunder Ranch Special in 2007, it had no MIM parts and if anything was low quality or out of spec then John Harrison was asked to replace it.
Some folks who say MIM is akin to shooting the gun with the barrel pointed backward also have no trouble recommending guns with critical parts made out of stamped sheet metal set in plastic.
In my experience owning and shooting dozens of 1911s in the $400-$2,500 price range, you can get a Springfield Loaded 1911 for less than $1,000 that will shoot much more accurately off-hand than all but the most skilled marksmen are capable and that will experience the same rate of failures as more expensive 1911s. You get all of this and the best customer service of any (not just firearms) manufacturer anywhere.
If you’re going to shoot more than 10,000 rounds through your pistol in a year, YMMV. Also, in the interest of full disclosure, I got rid of all of my 1911s as of last year, replaced them with a Glock 19 and a S&W 36. I bought the O1918 as a birthday present to myself earlier this year, but it’s a safe queen.
While I agree in principle with most of what you mentioned, it still makes me wonder why MARSOC and other units still choose the 1911 platform (and even production models) as their go-to secondary weapon. I can’t imagine that there aren’t 1911s fielded in those units that wouldn’t be reliable.
Pat
I don’t know that many units still field them. If they do, it is most likely because they don’t have coin to switch out to something else.
Pistol’s are secondary weapons to the Military. They are primary weapons to LE and Civy’s.
C4