Why The 1911 Will Never Die

GunDigest ^ | 2/5/2025 | Richard A. Mann

[exnavy]

You might try looking at a High Point model 995 carbine. Completely made in Ohio, mine is very fun. Takes all ammo (9mm) i throw at it, very accurate and only about $300.

[This_Dude]

My .50 ae desert eagle I bought when I was young and stupid only misfeeds once in a blue moon. So it ain’t a limp wrist.

It’s like my issue with lever actions. I’ve owned 4 lever guns in my life, I don’t remember the particular models because it was about 20 years ago, but one was a Winchester that had to be angled upside down to eject, one was a Henry .357 that opon opening the action, all the rounds in the mag tube dumped into the receiver, another unknown brand (possibly Henry) in .44 magnum that would not pop rounds out of the mag tube upon cycling the lever. It had to be single loaded, and another one whose action wouldn’t close on any round unless you aligned the round with the chamber between shots.

Lever action rifles are the sorriest pieces of garbage I have ever had the displeasure of attempting to use. They remind me a lot of 1911s in that regard.

So while the 1911 guys are practicing stoppage clearance, me and the rest of the instructors will be crushing the range with our “boring” plastic pistols.

[Big Red Badger]

Dang Dude ,
They can be frustrating No Doubt!
I know as I just spent an hour putting
a Ruger MK III Pistol back together!
Use whatever Works for Ya and
Keep your Powder Dry Amigo !

[Dave911]

I carry a nickle plated bird’s head colt SAA on occaision just for fun.

[T.B. Yoits]

This is a digression from the 1911 and you might have already seen the videos from "Tuco The Ratt" shooting a triple-shot from a Colt Single Action Army but if not, here's a link to a video short of him doing it. (He has other videos well worth watching).

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/WBqBfRsmybo

[This_Dude]

Copy that, you too

[exnavy]

Oh very nice. I have a uberti 4 inch barreled birds head. Very nice shooter.

[exnavy]

I had not seen that, way cool. Single action fun!

[T.B. Yoits]

You might also like .45 rimmed cartridges modified for .410 primers to shoot wax cartridges (no powder - just the primer).

https://candrwax.com/ols/products/45-caliber-209-cases-includes-us-domestic-shipping

Here's a 10 minute video on wax loads for cowboy action shooting:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lo-y3lC5864

[exnavy]

Thank you, i do reload .45 colt and .44 special and magnum. One of my favorite .45 colt loads is a 160 gn cast lead round nose over just the right amount of titegroup powder to run out at about 850 fps. That load keeps the cup pressure low so that my 106 year old hand gun holds together like it should.

[Lurker]

You’re doing it wrong.

I have 3 1911 pistols. Two from Kimber and one original Colt manufactured in 1968. I rarely have a malfunction and when it does happen it’s because of cheap crappy ammo.

Handloads, hollow points, FMJ, they all work just fine.

A 200 grain Gold Dot bullet doing 900 fps opens up to almost an inch in diameter in ballistic gel.

I like modern 9mm ammo and have 2 pistols chambered for it. But when Mrs L and I leave the house it’s .45 ACP on our hips.

L

[Lurker]

“I no longer enjoy .45 ACP recoil, but 9x19 out of a steel 1911 is easy as pie.”

If you can get your hands on one try .38 Super in a 1911 platform.

L

[Lurker]

I just inherited a Lightweight Commander in .38 Super. Don’t think it’d ever been fired. Ran 50 rounds of some stuff I got from Ammoman through it. Had a couple hiccups the first 3 magazines but after that it ran smooth as silk.

I did get 2 more mags from MecGar. Again, no issues.

L

[Tijeras_Slim]

Any idea of it’s date of manufacture? At some point Colt switched from headspacing on the case mouth like the .45 and tried headspacing off the dinky rim. That caused accuracy problems. As far as feeding, it can be a crapshoot sometimes. Glad you got a good one. How do you like the cartridge?

[This_Dude]

But have fun finding 200 grain speer gold dot without ordering it. It’s not at academy and I haven’t seen it at my local bass pro.

And I’m seeing a lot of people on here touting Kimber, a company KNOWN for having zero quality control until only very recently.They just follow the blueprint and ship it. Neither myself nor my colleagues have seen any kimbers make it through a class without the student being given a loaner at some point that I’m aware of.

And another point, why do people feed their guns expensive ammunition for training/plinking? If it can’t handle steel cased rounds, it doesn’t deserve brass.

[Myrddin]

For the 9mm, give me a P35 HiPower.

I missed out on buying a HiPower in 1999. It was used and had a little rust on the bolt. I was reticent to spend what the FFL wanted for the pistol in that condition.

[Aeneas2112]

“Old, Fat, and Slow still gets the job done”.

[NorthMountain]

Springfield Inc is selling new manufacture USA made P35s under the name “SA-35”. I have heard good things about it, but no personal experience.

[Myrddin]

Springfield Inc is selling new manufacture USA made P35s under the name “SA-35”. I have heard good things about it, but no personal experience.

Thanks for the pointer. Springfield has a few models that are copies of products from other manufacturers. I'll check it out.

[Myrddin]

The SA-35 does look just like the Hi-Power. A few reviews of the Springfield version claimed problems with jamming after 250 rounds. Some required a trip to the factory to correct. I'll put it on my "future" list. I just had an S&W M&P 2.0 9mm CarryComp follow me home yesterday. I waited a few months for my range to have Smith & Wesson day discounts. It's still NIB because the place was wall to wall and half of the lanes were dedicated to allowing customers to try S&W products with 5 free rounds.