1911's

I currently have nothing but three 1911s in all three sizings (Govt., Commander and Officer).
Needless to say I _love_ the 1911.
Currently I have a SigArms 'GSR' (Govt.), SA 'Lightweight Compact Commander' which is basically their equivalent of the famous Colt 'Commander', and a Colt 'Defender' (Officer) all of which I carry though the GSR is mainly a range gun while the Defender is my primary carry weapon. Additionally I'm abig fan of the SW 1911 models including most specifically their 1911PD formerlly named the 1911SC. See my range reports toward them lastfall via OT.

As for .38 Super thats the cartridge Browning originally chambered the 1911 for and it's been the round of choice for 1911 folks US and foreign for nearly a century. it's lost favor in the US as of the last 30 yr.s or so with the increase of the 9MM but it's still a very popular chambering, and man stopper, in areas like South America and Mexico in specific as there it's illegal to posses ammo. that s used by the military (.45 ACP).
I personally am looking for an older 1911 chamebered in .38 Super.
The round shoots soft out of a1911 though is fast and in my experience very accurate with a flat trajectory out to atleast 50' if not further.

Problem is that .38 Super is a spendy ammo to buy and isn't often in stock but thats same for .45 ACP. BTW Kimber and SA have 1911s in .38 Super as well as 9MM too while S&W has a Doug Koenig designed race gun that is like sweet sweet buttah (I did a range report on it last fall in OT) though the cost is likely far more than you're looking to pay.

- Janq

From what I see there is still alot of 70 series guns floating around and those seem to be the 1911 of choice as well as the platforms for your spendy 1911's adn race guns. I believe that there are several places still using the non 80 series systems such as your rock island arsenals. They of course dont have that firing pin safety.

I also hate the fact that no 1911 has a decok lever, something any good service or carry gun should have. All it takes is a slip of the thumb and there is a nasty hole in someone or something. This is a bitch I also have with the cz75b and EAA witness.

Glocks and their copies are in a whole world all together. They arent fully cocked and to me that makes a slight difference. I prefer my steyr over glocks because the fact it has that extra safety so I can trust that even if something snags my trigger it isnt ever going to go off.


All that said I still like the 1911 over some DA designs like the Beretta 92 which shamefully replaced it.

I know your a 1911 fan as many are. It is a very sturdy and reliable design. I may have my complaints about them but I look at it like an idiot is going to try to use one, not a professional. I have seen an idiot almost blow his little man off with one by carrying it cocked and locked in the front of his pants at the shooting range. It was a colt Govt model with the 70 series system.

For SA guns I will always go Hi Power first and then 1911 but I will keep and prefer my reliable old Walther p38 to any of them.

Adler said:

I checked Auto Ord. They are using the series 70 system on all new 1911's according to the owners manuals you can download online. They have an interia firing pin, disconnecter safety to keep from firing out of battery, thumb safety, and the ever annoying grip safety but no firing pin safety block.

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If they have an inertia firing pin and a grip safety then having a third firing pin safety via series 80 block would be triplication. Even with them using a Series 70 system there is still the inertia firing pin and the grip safety which more than do the job and did for all prior to the Series 80 debut.
BTW I don't know of anyone that considers AutoOrd 1911s to be of regard, except for you as per this thread. Not saying thats a bad thing but it's not at all common. Kimber, Sig, SA, Colt, RRA, and most everyone else of note use a Series 80 firing pin block, which I personally have no problem with nor grip safeties (I actually prefer them), and the only exception toward a major supplier is with Colt on a repro govt. model they are selling thats based on the old Series 70 guns having no firing pin block or cutout but otherwise uses mostly all Series 80 parts.

- Janq

Auto ord was generally well hated when they were owned by Numrich but now that Kahr took them over they are getting their reputation back. Old Auto ord guns were made on outdated equipment and were loose.

But now I actually find them to be every bit the equal of Springfield. They are just more well known for their tommy guns and M1 carbines.

Series 70 are able to take trigger jobs better is the reason I assume they still use that system. Plus that system tends to have a better stock trigger anyways. Colt went away from them cause some people who had a round in their chamber and the hammer down found marks on their primers when they unloaded the gun showing that the inertia pin was riding a bit too close for comfort.

I have shot a ton on 1911s and I find that older Kimbers, S&W, SA, and auto ord make the best mid range. The bad ones are your Charles Daly guns. Total crap. I would say Llama but they went out of business cause they had such a bad rep.

Do pick up an auto ord sometime and you will be convinced they are a good 1911

Me I still like John Browning's other great gun over the 1911....the Hi Power

bassplayrr said:

Janq said:

Adler,

Modern day 1911's all come with firing pin safeties, have been since the early 80's with development of the 'Series 80' firing pin safety system.
No one but super spendy full custom builders sell 1911s without a firing pin safety.

- Janq

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False. No SA (Springfield) 1911 has a firing pin safety. Absolutely every SA 1911 sold is of the older '70' design whether it's a basic GI Mil-Spec or a top-of-the-line TRP or Leatham Legend.

-Chris

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Correct they as of very late have switched over to a Ti firing pin in lieu of a Series 80 firing pin block, like everyone else. Although that change over is just in the last 4 or 5 years. Prior to that they were Series 80 too as is my SA Lightweight Compact Commander build date 2000, which I also CCW.
SA is a notable exception amongst the norm to which Auto Ordinance is not, recent ownership transher history inclusive.

Even still the bottom and point reamins the same, 1911s are fine and very safe for CCW.
Adler I don't know why a person would carry a 1911 with the hammer down considering that goes against the basic design intention of the gun same as carrying the average DA/SA with it's hammer back (HK USP being a notable exception). Someone doing as much is just asking for a problem and thats not the fault of the 1911 design. It's designed and intended to be carried in Condition 1, cocked & locked, and any operator who doesn't know or understand this likely shouldn't be handling a firearm at all.

The Site 1911 Conditions of Readiness said:

Condition Two is problematic for several reasons, and is the source of more negligent discharges than the other conditions. When you rack the slide to chamber a round in the 1911, the hammer is cocked and the manual safety is off. There is no way to avoid this with the 1911 design. In order to lower the hammer, the trigger must be pulled and the hammer lowered slowly with the thumb onto the firing pin, the end of which is only a few millimeters away from the primer of a live round. Should the thumb slip, the hammer would drop and fire the gun. Not only would a round be launched in circumstances which would be at best embarrassing and possibly tragic, but also the thumb would be behind the slide as it cycled, resulting in serious injury to the hand. A second problem with this condition is that the true 1911A1 does not have a firing pin block and an impact on the hammer which is resting on the firing pin could conceivably cause the gun to go off, although actual instances of this are virtually nonexistent. Finally, in order to fire the gun, the hammer must be manually cocked, again with the thumb. In an emergency situation, this adds another opportunity for something to go wrong and slows the acquisition of the sight picture.

http://www.sightm1911.com/Care/1911_conditions.htm

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- Janq

I'm a lot more confortable carrying a 1911 in Condition 1 than a Glock, and here's why.

A Cocked and locked 1911 requires this to fire:

1. Safety Off
2. Grip safety held down
3. 5.5 lb pressure applied to trigger

A glock requires this to fire:

1. 5.5 lb pressure applied to trigger.

That's why I'm a lot less afraid of a negligent discharge with a c&l 1911.