1911's: What's the difference?

[Egyas]

Ok, I have heard people over the years saying how they love their Springfield, Kimber, etc, etc. My question is, what's the difference between them all?

Other than cosmetic differences and things like barrel length, etc, what is really the difference between them all, and why are some "awesome" and some "junk"?

[DEUCE-DOBE]

Numerous.

Everything from polished ramps to general craftsmanship. Some companies offer more 'bang' for the buck than others. I'm a Springfield Armory fan, personally, as it seems they do offer more bang for the buck. But, generally speaking, your major manufs' all produce a good product (springfield, kimber, colt, etc.).

[quantico]

You pay more for high quality materials... you pay more for high quality cosmetics.... you pay more for hand fitting parts and doing custom builds...

There are guns with great reputation... Ed Brown les Baer Wilson combat Nighthawk Nolin STI

There are good quality factory guns... Springfield Colt Kimber Para

there are value oriented guns... dan wesson norinco and entry level springfields

there are guns that are much less expensive... some with good reputations , and some with some quality control issues..


Ed brown / wilson combat / les baer 1500 - 2500 dollar guns have all hand fitted parts of tool steel primarily... come with excellent service and high end sights and magazines.. they will last a lifetime and are suitable for competition / law enforcement use and owners that take 1911's seriously..

Colt / springfield etc make guns from 550 to about 900 dollars that are high quality guns... not as highly tuned triggers... more standardized production runs.. with some mim parts . These guns can be used as built, or can make nice base guns for future custom builds..

Budget guns like the milspec springfield and the GI models are reliable and work well... with less highly tuned triggers and maybe more average sights... as long as you stick to quality steel and metal these guns are just fine for defense and plinking.. but are not highly accurate guns for competition.. they would have similar accuracy to a glock ...


A good quality entry level 1911 is a colt series 70 from their custom shop at around 900 dollars... another good choice is a springfield loaded model for around 650 dollars that includes some very nice features and cosmetics for the money.. these guns may need a trigger job to reach their maximum potential.. an action job and tuning can make them very nice at less then 1000 dollars..

It is pretty easy to find a budget 1911 that is fairly loose and that functions perfectly... it is pretty easy to find an expensive 1911 that is tightly fit and highly accurate ..... it gets harder to find an inexpensive gun that is fairly accurate and tight ... that is perfectly tuned out of the box...

A good comparison is in cars... reliable is easy and not too expensive.. honda and toyota make decent small cars... porsche and bmw make great expensive and reliable cars that offer fantastic performance.... it gets hard to find a high performance car that is not expensive... so you end up with cars like the mustang... less quality parts ... poorer paint and tires that offer bang for the buck , but are never considered refined..

[freepatriot]

Don't overlook the size of a company's marketing budget. ;)

[auto45]

There are some "physical" differences between them now. Not everything is interchangable anymore.

Kimber and S&W have external extractors(mostly) and firing pin safeties activated by the grip safety. Different designs for each.

Springfield and Colt have neither of those features. Colt has a trigger activated FP safety on some(most) models. More traditional features, internal extractor, etc and models.

Para has their own designed internal "power" extractor.

So, you have more real choices now in design than you did before...for good or bad. ;)

I view them as "different" guns now, not similiar. For example I don't need or want an external extractor, grip FP safety, so Kimber and S&W are eliminated as choice 1911's...to me. Same for Para with their "power" extractor.

[Romulas]

don't forget, sometimes you pay a little bit more for the name when it comes to certain platforms. My Rock island 1911 shoots excellent groups without malfuntion (for $275). many bad-mouth the name but it shoots like a much higher dollar gun wihtout the price. the trigger it came with was pretty good, a little work to make it excellent. do your research, there are so many options out there, you will find the one for you.

[philipk]

Originally posted by quantico
Budget guns like the milspec springfield and the GI models are reliable and work well... with less highly tuned triggers and maybe more average sights... as long as you stick to quality steel and metal these guns are just fine for defense and plinking.. but are not highly accurate guns for competition.. they would have similar accuracy to a glock ...


Quantico, most of your post was well written and reasoned. However, I disagree with two points in the above quote.

Budget 1911 guns are a great place for a beginner to start. I own and love a Springfield Mil-Spec.

As nice as the are, as sold, they are not a good defense weapon. The reliablity (straight out of the box) is just not 99.99% as they are in the higher grades of 1911s. For defense the starting point is one grade higher or stick with the Glock.

I also disagree with the idea that the accuracy is similar to the Glock and not hightly accurate for competition. Unless you are talking about the Glock sub-compacts, you are off base. Full size Glocks, especially G34 and G35, are highly accurate and used in competition. In class, they often beat pricey 1911s.

Budget 1911s are accurate enough but "may" not be well suited for competition. The same can not be said for the Glock. They are highly accurate.

[Egyas]

Thanks for all the facts and thoughts guys!

Another thought. Are there any 1911 "clones" chanmered in 9mm from the factory?

[hatidua]

Another thought. Are there any 1911 "clones" chanmered in 9mm from the factory?

yeah, and there are .22 conversion kits as well ;Q

[d0truji]

.

[MikeG23]

Originally posted by Egyas
Thanks for all the facts and thoughts guys!

Another thought. Are there any 1911 "clones" chanmered in 9mm from the factory?

There's a couple on Springfield website. I'm sure the other manufactures have them as well, but Springfield's site is the easiest to navigate.
http://www.springfield-armory.com/prod-pstl-1911-fs.shtml