1911 for carry. a production or a custom model?

[Manxdriver]

So....um......can you post an example of scary looking grips?

I could, but I think most people can picture a Death's Head grip, or an Aces and Eights hand. Picture something that a prosecutor can hold up and point out to draw a gasp from the liberal Bed-wetters sitting on your jury. Something that just screams “ I went looking to kill some poor Dindu that was just coming home from Sunday School!”

[free]

I could, but I think most people can picture a Death's Head grip, or an Aces and Eights hand. Picture something that a prosecutor can hold up and point out to draw a gasp from the liberal Bed-wetters sitting on your jury. Something that just screams * I went looking to kill some poor Dindu that was just coming home from Sunday School!*

Oh...so I would think of that more as "tacky" than "scary".

[cdi]

Some good advice in this thread. Self-defense shooting don't require being able to drive tacks at 100 yards, in fact if you shoot someone beyond 5 feet or so you will raise eyebrows.

Carry a gun that you'd be OK with the police seizing for a few years, because that happens, with or without a defense shooting.

Carry one that won't snag so easy.

No "Punisher" grips, no amusing barrel bushing that says "SMILE, WAIT FOR FLASH".



The Harold Fish self-defense shooting, used expanding 10mm rounds, a lady juror later explained on national TV that 'nobody carries ammo like that unless they want to kill someone'. He was convicted, appealed, the state had to change the law on self-defense burdens at trial to keep him from being re-tried.

A good starting point is to carry the same type of pistol (or the compact version there of) and the same ammo that your local police department does. It doesn’t make you jury proof but it’s a good foundation from which to argue against the “you fancy yourself a gunfighter” argument.

Totally agree on the “Punisher” stocks and other slogan-bearing accessories morons bolt on their carry pistols. I see that shit frequently in the shop. You’re just giving the prosecutor ammo to make you stupid and dangerous.

Lastly a word about 1911s. 1911 pistols that are built “tight” are not problematic. It’s urban legend that 1911s need to be loose to function properly. A 1911 that is built around the ordinance department drawings will be very “tight”. It will also run like a scalded dog and be every bit as reliable as any other pistol design.

Ordnance department drawings is the important part. The specs are old and there is some opportunity for improvement in feeding modern hollow point ammo and a couple nice to have accessories. Like palm swell grip safeties, frame undercut blahblahblah.

That said, ordnance department compliant means the holes are all in the right places and materials are of known type regarding heat treat, etc. That lets out a lot of the pistols that are supposed to be high end- Wilson combat, Kimber, nighthawk and a bunch of others. Two pistols I am aware of that have their holes in the right places are Colt and Les Baer.

If you think tight is problematic, pick up a new Les Baer and try it. It will be far tighter than any Colt and still run as reliably as any other pistol. The most surprising newish 1911 I’ve seen on the market is from Tisas. I’ve transferred somewhere around 2 dozen for customers and have not seen any issues.

All of them get bench checked before transfer- cause I’m interested in knowing- the .45 acp guns of gi type styling have all had barrels fitted almost as tight as if I fitted them by hand. The 10mm guns have all had noticeably looser fit but still very good. Only had a couple of the 9mm versions and they were excellent.

Girsan made guns don’t seem to be nearly as well made and the price point is higher. As an aside, their hipower clone is not very well done. Frequent quality control issues seem to rule the day with them.

I’m sure I’ll piss off somebody by picking on their Wilson or Kimber Elite Nitro Methane $5,000.00 1911 but troof is troof, don’t shoot the messenger.

[Ronin]

Some good advice in this thread. Self-defense shooting don't require being able to drive tacks at 100 yards, in fact if you shoot someone beyond 5 feet or so you will raise eyebrows.

Carry a gun that you'd be OK with the police seizing for a few years, because that happens, with or without a defense shooting.

Carry one that won't snag so easy.

No "Punisher" grips, no amusing barrel bushing that says "SMILE, WAIT FOR FLASH".



The Harold Fish self-defense shooting, used expanding 10mm rounds, a lady juror later explained on national TV that 'nobody carries ammo like that unless they want to kill someone'. He was convicted, appealed, the state had to change the law on self-defense burdens at trial to keep him from being re-tried.

"In July 2009, the Arizona Court of Appeals reversed Fish*s conviction because the trial judge failed to give necessary jury instructions, and because the judge improperly excluded evidence of Kuenzli*s past acts of violence which Fish attempted to present to support his claim that Kuenzli was the aggressor.
The appellate court noted that the evidence about Kuenzli*s background was *highly sanitized,* and that if permitted, numerous witnesses would have described Kuenzli as *irrationally aggressive and violent and extremely frightening.*

Seems to me it was more than just the ammo he used that got him convicted and why he was later exonerated.

[Curmudgeon]

I can always release my secret weapon...

26685.jpg

[Ronin]

A good starting point is to carry the same type of pistol (or the compact version there of) and the same ammo that your local police department does. It doesn*t make you jury proof but it*s a good foundation from which to argue against the *you fancy yourself a gunfighter* argument.

Totally agree on the *Punisher* stocks and other slogan-bearing accessories morons bolt on their carry pistols. I see that shit frequently in the shop. You*re just giving the prosecutor ammo to make you stupid and dangerous.

Lastly a word about 1911s. 1911 pistols that are built *tight* are not problematic. It*s urban legend that 1911s need to be loose to function properly. A 1911 that is built around the ordinance department drawings will be very *tight*. It will also run like a scalded dog and be every bit as reliable as any other pistol design.

Ordnance department drawings is the important part. The specs are old and there is some opportunity for improvement in feeding modern hollow point ammo and a couple nice to have accessories. Like palm swell grip safeties, frame undercut blahblahblah.

That said, ordnance department compliant means the holes are all in the right places and materials are of known type regarding heat treat, etc. That lets out a lot of the pistols that are supposed to be high end- Wilson combat, Kimber, nighthawk and a bunch of others. Two pistols I am aware of that have their holes in the right places are Colt and Les Baer.

If you think tight is problematic, pick up a new Les Baer and try it. It will be far tighter than any Colt and still run as reliably as any other pistol. The most surprising newish 1911 I*ve seen on the market is from Tisas. I*ve transferred somewhere around 2 dozen for customers and have not seen any issues.

All of them get bench checked before transfer- cause I*m interested in knowing- the .45 acp guns of gi type styling have all had barrels fitted almost as tight as if I fitted them by hand. The 10mm guns have all had noticeably looser fit but still very good. Only had a couple of the 9mm versions and they were excellent.

Girsan made guns don*t seem to be nearly as well made and the price point is higher. As an aside, their hipower clone is not very well done. Frequent quality control issues seem to rule the day with them.

I*m sure I*ll piss off somebody by picking on their Wilson or Kimber Elite Nitro Methane $5,000.00 1911 but troof is troof, don*t shoot the messenger.

Back in the day, the most problematic gun on the competition circuit was somebody's 1911 race gun. Those of us running GI models or slightly enhanced, fared far better than most of the $3k+ guns. The Springfield Champion you worked on for me is tighter than the GI Tisas that Mrs Ronin owns, but it runs great. Still happy with the work you did. Another Mrs Ronin 1911 is her Springfield TRP. It's a fantastic 1911 that's never given us problems running 230 ball ammo. She tried to use it in a Wild Bunch match once, and it didn't do too well with lighter cowboy rounds. Wasn't designed for it. The Tisas, OTH, is perfect for Wild Bunch. Rattles like my trick knee, but eats everything that's been thrown at it so far. The TRP is about as "high end" as I'm willing to go for a 1911. I don't see much point in spending the cash on a Wilson or Jim Clark other than the bling factor.

I have about 1200 rounds through my Girsan Hi-Power clone. It's one of my favorite pistols. I watched all the videos that BH Spring Solutions released on the Girsan and I haven't had any issues yet. I figure I'll probably install their reliability kit somewhere down the road, just to be safe, but I'm loving the gun so far.

[Exbiker]

I carried a 1911 for a long time. The last was a Springer model PX9109L. Reasonably priced and mine has been 100%. LOL as my back gets worse I moved to a Glock 19 and now either a Glock 43 or a S&W bodyguard 638.

[edritchey]

I've always enjoyed building my own but that said it all started many years ago after I bought a 1925 Colt M1911A1 at a gun show they are my favorite pistols to shoot. I've never carried one they are just to big and heavy to conceal carry comfortably and these days there are to many other better options.

Here is a picture of one I built to replicate my 1st Colt

[JenniferG]

Colt Government model



https://www.colt.com/detail-page/cla...assic-ss-45acp

[JAKIII]

I carried a 1911 for a long time. The last was a Springer model PX9109L. Reasonably priced and mine has been 100%. LOL as my back gets worse I moved to a Glock 19 and now either a Glock 43 or a S&W bodyguard 638.

You need this on the other side to balance out the weight...