If you’re looking for the $500 to $700 range: Springfield
If you’re looking for the $700 to $1200 range: Kimber
If you’re looking for $1200 to well I guess I’m single again range: Wilson Combat

I personaly am a Kimber guy... I have never shot one that wasnt awesome. I really like both of mine.

I was such a Colt fan for so long. Not that I'm anti colt now, I picked up a Kimber custom II a few weeks ago and I just really like it. I'm not opposed to owning another colt somewhere down the road. but I'm enjoying this kimber.

Originally Posted by scottl

They may not be tops in poll but I got a Para LTC over the weekend.

Those para's are damn good pistols. You'll really like getting that one dirty

I voted other, because even though I've got a Kimber Classic series 1 that is now perfectly reliable, it took about 2 years, lots of ammo, some Wilson parts, and lots of cussing to get that way. It always has been very accurate I must say.

I fully intend to acquire a Les Baer.

I have always shot mispec style 1911's and loved them. They are not tack drivers, but they are reliable and more than adequate for self defense shooting. But now I have encountered the Kimber, and I am impressed. I am considering selling a couple of guns I do not use, so I can purchase the Kimber without feeling the damage. Who knows? I just might!

I voted Kimber, the one I have has not had the first problem and I like the way it looks. But the next time at the range, it may be nothing but problems, hope not.
Ken

Springfield for utility.
SVI for show.
Tussey custom for fit.
STI for go.

Ultimately, I'd rather have a gunsmith build a frankenstein'd 1911 for me.

My Les Baer was a nice start and then went to John Harrison for some personal touches. My Dan Wesson Valor is the best for the money. All forged frame and slide and tool steel trigger group, like the Baer.

Baer/Harrison











Valor

PARA
Actually it's the only brand I've had the plesure to shoot so far so I don't have any depth to my opinion.
But the one I got sure is nice and it shoots good tooo

Well Riot, the military never carried them cocked and locked. And I think using proper tactics, and keeping tactical advantage are going to obviate a real need for most quick draw techniques for the armed citizen. I am not denegrating "cocked and locked". I carry that way in the field, and sometimes concealed. But it is not necessary, and it was not necessarily a prime intention with the origial design.

The firing pin block will allow people concerned with safety to carry the 1911 chambered but not cocked. Better yet, one can carry in the classic military style and practice racking the slide as the weapon is drawn. It does work. There is more than one way to use the 1911 effectively.

Mindset, and maintaining tactical advantage are more important in self defense for the armed citizen, than quick draw techniques.

When I was looking at diffrent companies to buy my first 1911 I pretty much narrowed it down to a Springfield or Para. I had a question for both companies of diffrent natures. Both were pretty easy questions. The only one to reply was Para. I carried on a brief but running conversation over several days that expanded to other areas. The guy I was talking to was cheerful and helpful to a fault and always answered within 24. I bought the Para. I felt really good about the kind of customer service they offered before and after the sale. Springfield has yet to reply.
Something to think about if you're lookin to buy

Originally Posted by Teuthis

Well Riot, the military never carried them cocked and locked.

Current military issue users, USMC Force recon (refurb selected M1911A1s), MCSOCOM Det-1 (Kimber ICQBs) and Delta, carry condition one.

Originally Posted by Teuthis

The firing pin block will allow people concerned with safety to carry the 1911 chambered but not cocked.

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.

Firing pin blocks did not get introduced until Series 80 Colts. It is not guaranteed to be included in all 1911s.

Originally Posted by Teuthis

Better yet, one can carry in the classic military style and practice racking the slide as the weapon is drawn. It does work. There is more than one way to use the 1911 effectively.

Condition 3, or Israeli carry, that you recommend requires the gun to be carried without a round in the chamber. The draw requires you thumb the safety prior to racking the slide or carry with the thumb safety off. Some of the real expert trainers can do an Israeli draw faster than most of us can do a simple draw, but for most of us, the Israeli draw adds a degree of complexity, an extra step, and an opening for mistakes in the process of getting the front sight onto the target.

For me, Israeli carry is tactically disadvantageous since it requires 2 hands and announces your position with the racking noise.

The reason for Israeli Carry is because in Israel ~ "Street Crime" is not a problem. Terrorism is the problem.

Israeli carry was developed early in the creation of the state of Israel due to a lack of standardization of weapons. It used to be that any Israeli Citizen could go to the police station and request a firearm for the day.
Since all of the firearms that were "loaned out" were of different "makes and models" the standard (less confusing) way for the average citizen to carry them all was magazine fully loaded...with the chamber empty and whatever "safety controls" in the OFF position. That way ANY make of firearm could be "made ready to fire" just by racking the slide & pulling the trigger. The citizen requesting a firearm might get a DIFFERENT gun every day. So by using Israeli Carry Method...that "ordinary person" could safely carry any defensive firearm without learning the specific controls for every type of firearm.

I just picked up a llama 1911 replica ( I know it's way down on the list, but a fella has to start somewhere ). It is a very tight feeling gun and looks like new, it came with rubber grips, so I made a set of grips out of Zebra wood for it and it looks pretty good with them on.
My last grips made were from Cocobolo wood and it is hard to work with.
One of these days I may become a bonifide grip maker, I am starting to get the hang of the process. Will post some pictures this weekend of them.
cmanhome
--------------------------------------------------------------NRA Member
Florida CWP holder
llama 45acp Max-1, 1911 style semi
Kel-Tek P32 acp
Bersa Thunder 380 DLX
Taurus PT92SS
S&W SW40ve
Accu-Tek 380
S&W 38 Special
Browning BDA380
CZ 70
High Point 45acp semi
High Point C9
Taurus PT25 (wife's)
Beretta 25 acp (wife's)
Soon to have more added to my collection....

Other:

1. Les Baer PII is the gun I soot most accurately

2. Wilson Combat CQB, takes a lickin and keeps on tickin

I have only one 1911, and it's a Colt.

Colt. Preferably a Combat Commander

I like this Springfield I got about a month or so ago

I've bought, sold, traded a lot of 1911's over the years and I still have a few. Out of all of them I like my my old Springfield best. i have a couple Para's and they are really great guns..I just get that lovin' feeling when I get the old girl out of the safe for a little fun time. Here she is with the other kids (Springer has the elk grips)



I just can't help whipping out pics of the kids when I get a chance

Even though I voted Colt as the best over-all 1911 brand (nothing beat the Original) my favorite individual 1911 is my Springfield Loaded Champion.

My favorite 1911


A close second

I have a Les Baer PII and a series 70 Colt Gold Cup,A 70 series Colt Mil spec and a series 80 Colt. The series 70 Colts are my thing.They served me well in the Nam. I am just partial to Colts but in all reality,if it is a 1911 of any brand,it is all good.

Mine is a Springfield but I like Kimber and
colts too.

When I decided I wanted to buy a 1911, I originally looked at Kimber TLE II. They make a very fine gun. But when I went to the gun shop they had a two year old "new in box" S&W 1911Sc too. So I compared the S&W side-by-side with the Kimber. The S&W was $100 less money than the Kimber. The fit and finish on the S&W was superb. The wooden grips on the S&W were gorgeous. I liked the idea of owning a genuine S&W and figured I could not go wrong buying a gun from a legendary company like S&W. So I bought the S&W and lived happily ever after:



TINK

Very nice gun!

OK OK, I confess.
I was at one of the local gun shops and saw an Ed Brown Jeff Cooper commemorative model. When I picked it up, the chain link checkering, grip safety, and overall balance felt like it had been custom fitted to my hand. Only problem was that it was combat sight instead of target sight. So I asked how hard it would be to get the chain link with target. The reply was that it don't come that way - the Special Forces had the chain link, the executive target slide was cut for the Bo-mar sights. So they kinda frankensteined the slide to the frame and added fiberoptic front (because of light conditions at the indoor range that I shoot at most often), I have this bizarred 1911 that I will second Charlton Heston's sentiments on.

It's gorgeous, it hasn't burped on anything that I've fed it, it practically leaps into my hand when I reach for it. It eats the center out of pretty much anything downrange as long as I've had enough sleep the night before. My wife says that it counts as my next 10 birthday presents. It's a once in a lifetime thing, I'll never do anything like this again. But I'm really really glad that I did.