first 1911

So I'm thinking of buying my first 1911 style gun.  I'm reasonably experienced with other guns (glocks, sigs, smiths).  I don't want to spend more than 800 bucks.  I want the full size gun, I'll carry something else.  I like the older military looking ones, but want something comfortable to shoot, accurate, reliable, with a nice trigger and sights so I can shoot accurately.  Prefer mil-spec ish so if I want to upgrade parts/pieces its not difficult. 

Springfield Range Officer.  Build quality and accuracy are excellent and fewer MIM parts to replace than most in this price range if you ever decide you want to carry it.

+1 on the Springfield Range Officer. Its in your budget and a real good choice for a out of the box quality 1911. The Springfields I've worked with need a fair amount of shootin to break in so plan on a couple hundred rounds before she smooths out. On a side note I don't favor the Springfield subcompacts cause they are too stiff in the action and don't take well to adjustin the springs and guide rods. But the full size Springfield's are as good as any for after market mods.

Let us know what you get. Good Luck!

I like the rock Island its what I have. But I got it with the intent of reworkin it. Replace the grips, polish the slide and such. For the money its a ok out of the box 1911. A good starter for one you want to personalize. +1

http://centerfiresystems.com/AC-RI1911TACA.aspx

Sounds good.  I'm not going to the Olympics.   

+2 0n the Springfield.Down the road you can start up grading with no problem,lots of good mods out there.I'ts also an easy sale if your not satisfied with it.

I suggest you spend what it takes to get one of the Kimbers in the commander length with an alloy frame you will enjoy carrying it more.  I prefer one with stainless slide and alloy frame or if you go blue then have it cerakoated to prevent rust.  The Kimbers I have shot shoot nicely.  If on the other hand you can run down a real Colt then you may wish to buy that. They are hard to find these days but there are some around. What ever you do dont buy the Sig Sauer 1911 I have had two both failed to cycle properly. You should also consider the H&K 45 compact and the Sig Sauer P220 and the new one with high cap mag.  When it comes to a 1911 you are better off to spend what it takes to get the right one.  If you must go cheap look at the Ruger and look at the Taurus and go stainless then cerakoat it dark.

I regret selling my Colt 70 series 1911 Government model.

My brother bought one of the Rock Island 1911 compacts and has had good luck with it so far. No malfunctions, feeds a wide variety of ammo, and is reasonably accurate.

I've shot several Kimbers and haven't seen a bad one.

I also would like to have my first 1911 someday and a friend of mine that has had alot of them recommends the STI

Urimaginaryfrnd wrote: I suggest you spend what it takes to get one of the Kimbers in the commander length with an alloy frame...

That's what I have, and I've been very happy with mine. I'm not a "cocked and locked" carry kind of guy, so my Kimber is just a range gun. I bought it because I felt guilty that I didn't own a 1911 at the time.

Mine is a Kimber Pro Elite, which is a Custom Shop "Commander-ish" size (4" bbl, 7+1 frame size) gun, made in 1999, now discontinued. It caught my eye in a local gun store in 2006 and followed me home. It has the full melt treatment, night sights, excellent trigger, checkered front grip and mainspring housing, w/ silver finish alloy frame/ black finish stainless slide combination. It looks like a CDP, except with black slide/ silver frame, the opposite of the CDP. It was used, but in like new condition. I bought it for $800, which I thought was a decent deal at the time, given the MSRP was something like $1100 when it was introduced. After I bought it, I later found out that it's a somewhat rare pistol, with only 2500 of them produced, and based on what I'm seeing the Pro Elites go for today, it's worth a lot more than I paid for it.

Anyway, mine shoots great, and I haven't had a single problem with it, though I haven't shot it all that much; maybe 1000 - 1500 rounds since I bought it. Obviously mine is a Series I pistol, and I haven't had an opportunity to shoot very many of the current Series II pistols, so I don't know if mine is representative of current -II quality or not. I've heard mixed reviews of the Series II pistols on internet forums, but all the Kimber 1911 owners I've talked to personally have been very happy with theirs. I couldn't ask for a better shooting 1911, regardless of price.

If the budget is firmly capped at $800, then your choices pretty much boil down to either the aforementioned Springfield Range Officer and Rock Island, Ruger SR1911, Remington R1, Taurus PT-1911, or buy used. There may be a few more that are under $800 that I'm not thinking of. Of those, I've only shot the Springfields. A friend of mine had the Ruger SR1911 and liked it, although he was much happier with how it shot after he custom fitted a bbl bushing to it. He sold it and bought something else, but he said it was a good gun for the money.

I got my Kimber is 2003.  It is a Tactical custom 2 with an alloy frame.  I know I have over 12,000 rounds out of it, probably pushing 15.  I love that gun.  I change the springs every 3 or 4 thousand rounds and keep it clean and it just keeps on shooting great.  Been very happy with it. 

Mine even has the dreaded external extractor that every one hated and had so many problems with.  Mine has been just fine.

I also had a CDP pro that I put around 5000 down the pipe with the external extractor and didn't have a single issue.  Of all the guns I have gotten rid of over years, I regret selling that one the most.  What a great pistol it was. 

Kimber has the Custom 2 line that sell for $800ish or a little less.  They are good pistols, just are missing a few of the bells a whistles of the nicer kimbers. 

I got a bnib kimber custom II off gunbroker from SWFA's no reserve auctions in 2012 for less than 650 if I recall correctly.

I have shot both the Springfield mil-spec and Loaded models, the price difference is not hard to justify. The Loaded is a very nice gun and I like the Novak style sights vs the LPA cut on the R.O. I'm not extremely experienced with 1911's, but there is nothing bad to say about the SA Loaded.,

springers are good as well as rugers, dan wessons, kimbers, para ordnance, sig,  colt  and many others . for a first time 1911 many get the RIA tac, or the american classic for  $400 and up --there pretty good pistols and shoot better than their low cost suggests.

now if it was me i would buy a caspian frame and one of those para slides over at sarco--LOL

so far i haven't seen ONE 1911 -- $500 or even $1500 that didn't end up with some little tune up to suit the buyer.

take rugers 1911s their well made but their triggers--well could  use improvement.

if it was me i would get whatever gun suited my needs as closely as possible. then tune it up to my needs.

 paying a little more now will pay off down the road-- i would look for a slide with a standard novac cut or those LPAs that come on some springers and paras-- the good thing about the springers is there popular enough that aftermarket sights are made for them so as long as you got cuts you can put night sights or LPAs on there without re-cutting anything.

one of the problems with the GI models is the small sights and limited sights to fit in the USGI dovetails-- and to change from the USGI set up to novak your going to have to either re-cut the slide or buy another slide with the correct cuts. lots cheaper to stat with the type of slide that fits the sights you want.

same thing on the frame the GI frames are cut for USGI parts like grip safetys  --if you think you might want to add a big duck tail safety-- it is better to start with a frame that came with one. add one to a USGI usually involves cutting.

trigger jobs can be as simple as a $8 spring and a hammer swap -- so don't let a crappy trigger spoil your day.

on a inexpensive 1911 like a RIA  or other PI made gun i like to swap ALL the springs with a kit from either cylinder and slide or wilson combat. springs and pins are inexpensive and critical to how any 1911 works.

a few years ago i started building my own 1911s and have a 6" hunter i am about to finish up.

i don't see many 357 sigs in the 1911 or barrels for um-- i suspect they might need a ramped barrel  to get the sig round to run.

the good thing about the 1911 is there are plenty of parts to do it your way and owning a 1911 ain't expensive to keep it going cause 100% of its parts are out there for sale.

the 1911 is like the "chevy V8" of the pistol world and it can be in any form from mild to wild--any mechanic worth his salt can make it run and shoot straight.

The Springfield Range Officer would be a great choice in your price range. And it is a solid 1911 that can be upgraded if you desire.

LOL! yea off the shelf makes it tough--

i would probably spring for the springer RO  or maybe a dan wesson-- in 45acp--

out of the box ready to run pistols --can't really think of that many as most need at least a little trigger tune up.


on the inexpensive side the sub $500 american classic seemed to have a good trigger and function proper. i have only seen one of them and i don't know if that is "typical" of all of um.  they only come in 45acp AFAIK.

trigger tune ups, a spring and pin swap ain't that expensive if your the DIY type on any model/make of 1911. sometimes only one spring is needed and they ain't expensive.

i suspect many of the US 1911 come with crappy hard triggers for legal reasons. like super hard drop safe-ect--

you can't go too far wrong on any reasonably well known  1911 provided you don't pay much OTD--

Springfield loaded 1911....crisp trigger night sites no work needed. Very tight shoots well. Had 2 kimbers not impressed for additional cost, still have 2 springfield.

One other I love....STI spartan....have in 9mm. It is smooth, no work needed. It's reflex shooting at its best this one just points well at where you want it to hit. My first sti and even though a cheaper one, would definetly buy another and suggest this one.

Price is not always indicative of value.