As the topic states. Have a friend wanting to spend about 7 bills on a 1911. He is an OK shooter, so does not need match accuracy, but it has to go bang when he pulls the trigger. If it does not, I will be stuck trying to figure out why it isn’t.
Thanks for the advice.
Cheap production 1911s can be a gamble. That said, I have had excellent experience with Springfield Armory.
The Springfields do have a lifetime warranty so if anything were wrong it would be fixed. A Springfield Mil-Spec would be a good place to start.
I have a Kimber, Springers, but I think in that price range the Taurus is a good bet for about 150.00 less.
I knew someone would post that…
From what I have seen of them the, STI Spartan’s are the best value 1911’s out there right now.
They are built in the PI by Armscor using STI parts and then they are given a qc check by STI before they go out the door. At less than $600 they are a real solid deal, and the two I have seen personally were nicely fit shooters.
I have no long term history with the gun, then again no one does since it has only been available for a couple months but STI has great customer service should you ever need it. Springfield is the only other gun in that price range that I would recommend. YMMV.
+1 here as well for Springfield…
when you talk about Kimbers and Colts I dont think, personally they are worth the money (i find them to be fine guns, but my current Rock River and Les Baer I purchased for $1100…which is DAMN close to what you pay for a Colt or a Kimber…and I know the RRA or Baer is a better gun…)
At any rate…you can find a nice springfield loaded for under $700…sometimes well under…that is generally with night sights etc…
thats what i recommend for my friends…
for the money id have to go with a springfield as well.
I have a couple of new production series 80 Colts that have been stone reliable, at about the 13,000 round mark of factory 230gr the Government broke the back leg of the ejector… although the pistol still ran without a problem zero malfs not related to mags or ammo. The Commander also has over 10,000 rounds without a malf that wasn’t ammo attributable. With close to 25,000 rounds now through two Colts I am sold on these particular pistols as reliable.
I paid $549 for the Government and $599 for the Commander.
im not trying to be argumentative…
it looks from your pictures that you have, at the very least, installed after market beavertails and thumb safeties on your colts (and done a pretty good job at that)…
I am assuming that the original poster is a “noob” and doesnt have the where with all or know how to do that…
plus, those are fantastic prices on Colts…if you can find the colts at that price BUY THOSE…
around me, NRM series 80s guns go for $750+…and that is bone stock government…if you want the XSE models you are looking at the $900 range…
Looking like I will tell Steven to look into the SA’s, thanks for the advice, I have owned and shot 1911 for years, but it has been a long time since I looked to buy a new one.
For the $500-$700 range, I really like the S&W 1911’s. Under $400, the Armscor pistols are actually pretty decent. >$800ish, I really like Colt Series 70 Government Models and while I really like the Les Baer and Wilson pistols, I think you’re paying a lot for a name. Grant’s build is really sweet for the $1500-$2500 range. The STIs are nice, but I don’t really care for them. I’d rather have a Camp Perry NM rework.
Kimber and SA are both overrated, IMO.
I only have one 1911, a series 80 Colt Gold Cup that hasn’t given me any trouble.
I think when you hear people having trouble with the 1911 it is either a lemon coming from the factory, a very old gun needing repair, a gun that someone has tried to tweak. The Tweakers are the problems. The others can be recognized and fixed. The tweakers may look great or not, but sometimes it is nearly impossible to figure out what is/was wrong without a pile of spare parts.
I would go with a 1991A1 NRM 5". These go right under 7 here (NC).
The only thing I dont like about the entry level STI is the Armscor cast frame and slide. I think that the Springer Mil-spec is a real good deal(not the GI-Milspec) with what is has standard. Nowadays there is alot of good choices for that price.
I have to concur with Damian that 1911’s in this price range can be a gamble.
I also concur with Striker5, that the Colt 1991 NRM pistols wouild be a good buy for this price range. However, if I were in this situation I would likely opt for a base model Kimber.
I had good luck with two NRM Colts. I less than good luck with Springfield and Kimber.
I would be very wary of buying a used 1911 in this price range as there is usually only one reason that it is being sold.
M_P
not to disagree, but I have found that I have fantastic luck getting used 1911s in this price range…
Generally, in my experience, a new shooter, or a new 1911 shooter, gets one of these entry level guns, doesnt like them, or doesnt take the time to get to know a 1911, and goes back to their glocks or sigs, and so shoots the 1911 very little and sells it for cheap…
I have been able to get fantastic deals from “glock lovers” (nothing wrong with glocks, dont get me wrong) who got a 1911 to see “what we nuts all raved about” decided they wanted to stick with their plactic wunderpistol and so shot their 1911 a couple hundred rounds and off to the gun show it went…
I think the best “deal” like that I got was a practically new Kimber TLE/R Pro for $425 bucks…i wont disclose what I eventually sold the pistol for…
I had a S&W 1911Sc run 100% the whole time I had it. I liked it a lot, but traded it off in favor of something smaller for me to carry concealed.
Are you concerned about the STI Spartan because the frame and slide are made by Armscor, or because they are cast? Or both?
If it’s because of casting, I hope everyone knows that Caspian frames are made from castings, and they’re as good as any on the market (perhaps the best). As long as the heat treatments are good, the differences between a cast frame and one that is machined from a forging are negligible.