So why don't I want a 9mm 1911?

General Firearms Handguns - 1911
1

I’m really wanting to get another 1911 to carry concealed (I miss my Colt CCO, I never should have sold it) but the thought of either doubling my ammo budget or only practicing half as often doesn’t really appeal to me. I did a bit of reading and the general thought is that anything that’s [/i]not[i] a 5" all steel 1911 in .45ACP is a waste of time and not fit to depend your life on. I don’t know how much of that is just old school traditionalism or rooted in actual experience or if their requirements differ from mine (duty pistol vs carry gun). I understand that the 1911 platform is not a Glock but I’m having a bit of trouble swallowing that line so I figured I’d defer to those with more experience.

A. Is it possible to get a 9mm 1911 to run well enough to depend on if I do my part?
B. What production guns should I be looking at specifically or am I going to have to get one built?

2

You do want one. It will be a great remedial action trainer. I have never seen one run reliably.

3

i think the biggest issue with 9mm 1911s are the magazines. its hard to find a reliable magazine that will work with the gun out the box without any tuning or modificatons by a gunsmith. the few 9mm 1911s i’ve had ran fine, i didnt have any issues with them, and when i had my ranger II converted to a 2011, i gave my gunsmith all my mags and had him tune em to make sure they would all run fine.

they are great guns, but i wouldnt consider em to be one of those out the box 100% reliable type of guns like the current polys on the market today. regardless if i came across one that worked reliably out the box 100%, i would still take it, and all the mags, to my gunsmith, he does wonders with 1911s i tell ya.

1911s are issue prone in general IMO… they are great to have but when it comes to carry, i’ll stick to the m&p / glock.

4

Well, I have ZERO issues carrying a 1911 pistol and do about 75% of the time. I’ll admit that the pistols (Springfield Armory TRPs and one Les Baer TRS) aren’t stock (replaced internals to known quality parts, Ed Brown Grip Safety and arched Mainspring Housing, cryogenically treated and WDLC coating). They’ve both run over 5,500 rounds with no failures. On the Les Baer the slide to frame fit was ever so slightly loosened and the barrel hood to slide fit was improved and the barrel bushing was replaced with one that does not require a tool to remove. That pistol has survived two pistol courses plus ~2,000 rounds of shooting drills. All of them have been fitted to shoot the 200 grain JHP “Flying Ashtray” bullet as the very wide mouth can hang up on feed ramps of 1911s.

Bottom Line: they aren’t inexpensive. Was everything needed? Probably not. In fact, no it wasn’t.

Issues with Pistols, in general, usually are extractor, recoil spring, magazine spring, magazine feed lips, magazine follower. With the 1911 magazines, in general, and extractors seem to be the most common culprit that I have witnessed. Others with more experience may comment here. But 9mm 1911 mags have turned me away from them but Wilson Combat supposedly has “the best” magazine for 9mm 1911s. Several other web forums would/could probably confirm whether or not they are what they are marketed to be.

To me if a pistol cannot shoot the piddly amount of ammo one has on his person while carrying it should either be fixed or smelted.

I also like the polymer pistols which usually don’t require any fiddling to work. Some of them I absolutely adore.

If I had to have a companion piece in time of an extended war I would not choose a 1911 due to the level of 'smithing required to replace components when they invariably fail. With the polymer pistols (and Sigs) “parts are parts”. But for the three mags I might have to shoot they run like tops.

If I were just starting out with the Global Economy as it is I’d not bother with the 1911 due to my obsessive nature of “having it done just right” and the price associated with obtaining a 1911 with the level of detail (material properties, coating, etc.). The HK P30 & HK45, the Glock 17/19 and the S&W M&P would be the way I’d look as they are generally very reliable, suitably durable and with the P30 phenomenally ergonomic.

I hope I wasn’t too wordy or too off topic.

5

I’d order this with a clean slide. Wilson SO 9.

6

The simple answer is yes.

However, something you may want to consider is going with a Commander length slide in order to achieve more slide velocity and thus a better cycling gun. Another important component with 9mm 1911s is the magazines and to that end the Wilson ETM magazine has proven a good solid feeding device for 9mm 1911s.

B. What production guns should I be looking at specifically or am I going to have to get one built?

If it were my choice I would build the gun (big surprise there ;)) on a 9mm Lightweight Commander. You get all the ammunition capacity benefits and a quicker cycling slide all in a lightweight package that’s easy to carry and shoot.

7

Jason,

would there be any issues of using a light weight frame (aluminum?) for a gun that will see a high round count?

A fellow club member i shoot with has a older 9mm les baer pII and well that gun just runs and runs, i don’t think he has ever cleaned it either lol

8

I was kinda hoping one of you 'smith type folks would chime in here. Can you help explain the challenges of getting a 9mm vs .45ACP gun to run reliably (besides magazine related issues) or all the issues generally the same?

9

They really are and people should know that going in and be prepared to sort some things out… like they do with an M4. :wink:

BTW, who are you using to fiddle with yours?

10

We currently have 5 9mm 1911 guns in the shop.

Sins ammo has gotten a little better price we do less of them but we have done a lot of 1911 9mm guns.

You need to use an AFTEK extractor and the Wilson mags are the key to reliability.

The most common gun for us here is an STI 9mm 1911 most people don’t want to spend custom gun money on a 9mm 1911 so they use factory guns to start.

STI has less MIM parts then there competitors for the same money.

We have one customer who sent us his gun to make his backup gun.

The original gun is at 35000rd so I think the guns are reliable and he is not the only one to do so with a 9mm 1911.

11

How about going old school with a .38 Super?

12

There’s a real lack of factory .38 super defensive loads compared to 9mm and it’s difficult and expensive to find locally. I thought about it though…

13

My experience with my Springfield Loaded has been very good. Using Metalform magazines it will feed Remington and Hornady XTP hollow points and FMJ round nose but is finicky about truncated cone bullets if they are not seated to a certain length. I have also run some 147 grain lead bullets that have a round nose flat point profile with success.

Since it is just a range toy I have not tried any serious defense ammo (Gold Dot, HST, Win Ranger) in it but I feel pretty confident in it. I know a couple guys that have run the Kimber Tactical Pro in 9mm with success. They said their only issue was getting the extractor tension correct which falls in line with what Mr. Smith said.

I have been looking at building one of the Fusion kits with an alloy frame, ramped barrel, and commander slide.

14

I was going to suggest the super too, only cuz it screams 1911 behind the 45. I use winchester silvertips for the defensive stuff as they seem to be the most common.

This round will also sneak into your ammo budget but is just a wicked cal…it’s a reloaders dream & with a change of a spring, a joy to shoot.

15

lol 38 super 1911 screams cartel! lol j/k

the wilson combat etm mags are just like the tripp kobra mags… :confused:

16

if you do it right with the m4, you dont have to fiddle faddle. lozl

and i use eddie jimenea in stafford tx.

17

Man, I’ve been looking for a reliable 9 mm 1911 for so long and still have not found one.
Whether STI, Wilson, SA, etc… I’ve been to so many matches and have seen so many nice shooting decent running guns that guys have dropped a lot of cash into, but none of them, not a single one, were really GTG/100% reliable, that counts using the Tripp mags or the Wilson ETM mags which seem to be the best out there, then ramped-barrels, Aftec extractors, $$$ in gunsmithing, etc., they all choke.

I don’t know, I just don’t think a 9mm 1911 is a viable option as a self-defense gun, fun gun definitely, but not for betting your life on.

I really wish there was one out there because a 1911 in 9mm is so fun and makes so much sense, but just getting a traditional 1911 to run like a Glock is near impossible, in 9mm it’s just added drama…

Now, if you really just got to have a single-action 9mm that’ll go bang pretty much all the time then you’re in luck as I believe exactly ONE of them exists: H&K P7.

18

Have a 9mm 1911 and am very satisfied with it.Colt series 70 rebuilt by KS custom guns (kent singletary) between gun and smithing I have about 1200 into it which in today’s 1911 market is not bad. It is a regular non ramped barrel and except for my very light lead bullet target reload it works perfectly- about 2k thru it so far and no malfunctions at all with jacketed ammo. While I agree they can be mag sensitive, mine even runs with a generic mag that it came with. I would feel ok carrying this for serious purposed and have.

19

I have a Wilson Spec Ops 9 that has ran over 3K rounds through it without failure. I carry it and have attended several classes with it.
I trust my life with it.
Feeds 115 practice ammo and 147 +P HST for defensive use.
After 6 months of use I sold off my nice Springfield custom 45

20

My box stock SA 1911 in 9mm (a.k.a. pimp juice 'cause of the finish) has run perfect since day 1 with EVERY type of ammo I put through it.

Rich