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Okay, I am shopping for a new 1911 (duty gun). I have been out of the market for sometime and need your input on all the different manufacturers of 1911's. Why do you choose one brand over another?
Here are the features I need to have on a new gun. Full size, light rail, ambi saftey, mag well and night sights.
Tell me what you think. I have already been to some of the 1911 Forums, but I want another cop's perspective to help me narrow down my choices.
Thanks for the help.
I'm not a LEO, but I have always liked the Rock Island Armory Tactical Attachment 1399
If you're going to bet your life on it, you're going to spend a bit.
Rock Island guns are made in the Phillipines and have cast frames. Casting is awesome for pans, not so much for frames.
Springfield and Colt use forged frames, and they have made the darn things since they rolled out. I note that the Marines just bought Colts, which is a sound endorsement.
If I wasn't going to buy something from Nighthawk or Wilson Combat, I would buy a Colt or Springfield.
I have a nice Swith & Wesson that the wife bought me that has everything you mentioned. It is a great accurate gun.
I believe that most of the LAPD SWAT, if not all, use Kimbers...
I also have a Smith & Wesson with everything that you mentioned, and I love it! It's a very accurate gun!
I swear by my Taurus PT1911. It is a bad ass gun, and accurate as you could ever ask for. For a price of around $640 you get a gun that will compete with a $1000 Kimber. I agree that Kimber makes a nice gun, but they don't do anything any better than the Taurus. As far as the R.I. Arms... you definitely get what you pay for with that (instead of getting more than you pay for with Taurus). The frames of the Taurus 1911s are cast, like R.I., but there is no reason to say that there is anything wrong with a cast frame as opposed to a forged frame. If you've got the money, buy a Kimber. But if you want all the features of a Kimber, and feel like saving $400-$500... buy the Taurus. It's worth a good hard look at least.
I have a Taurus 1911 also, and I think it's a great gun. I carry a Taurus slim 40 as a BUG, and have never had a problem with that, either.
Great minds really do think alike! :worthyQuote:
Originally Posted by keith720
I run a Kimber TLE/RLII on duty. I think I read somewhere that's the gun LAPD SWAT issued for a long time, not sure....it looked like it in that SWAT movie though so it must be true, right? :D Seriously, though...the hype was never the factor. For me, I had the same criteria as you did, and I picked it up for around $900 and run a Surefire X200a on it, thought I need to upgrade to a newer 300. I'm no die hard Kimber fan, though I own several of their guns. This one was not perfect out of the box, though it ran well. Took a few hundred rounds and a new extractor, but it runs 99.999999% now. But make no mistake, it took some work. I'll have a feed malfunction once over the course of a thousand rounds class or so, more without some heavy cleaning, but when it's clean it's a tack driver. From looking at Kimber's offerings 10+ years ago to where they are now, I feel they may suffer from some poor QC here and there. I've seen some real lemons come from them. But, the majority of the Kimbers I see run great. That being said, I was limited more by budget at the time I bought it 6+ years ago. Making a little more money now, I would love a Les Baer or Wilson Combat.
I've since sand blasted it and refinished it in desert and black, and put some Mil-Tac grips on it, along with a magwell (the magwell didn't come standard.) Have a look.
Before...stock finish and grips...no holster wear even!
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n...ic/x200lft.jpg
How it looked right after the refinish, although I have some good holster wear on it now.
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n...c/SDC11656.jpg
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n...c/SDC11655.jpg
I'd say that depends on how much you shoot.Quote:
Originally Posted by code3bg
Take a read at Hilton Yam's articles on picking a 1911 for duty use. The article is on his 10-Performance website.
Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet.
Mr. Yam is a scholar, indeed.
I bought a bead blasted stainless Colt and sent it off to Wilson for the treatment. Best gun I have ever owned and I know I can trust it with the lives of those I love.
Car 4
Fantastic work! I may have just found the grips I'm putting on my 1911, very well done.Quote:
Originally Posted by 121Traffic
