I get that — to me 1911 and 45 are synonymous.
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Unfortunately all of my 1911's suffer from that disappearing front sight thing. If only I could hang a dot on them. I love whacking cardboard with those big 200 SWC's. :)
You don't need to spend huge money for a reliable single stack setup...but it'll be more time money and effort than a "normal" gun, even in .45 like a M&P45, G21, or PX4.
I run a Springfield RO in .45 and though I tend to use 230gr polymer coated RNL bullets, I have faith using a 200gr LSWC bullet. If you use a magazine with parallel feed lips you should have fewer problems. Mine has no problems with them, I just like heavy bullets that I can download to just barely get major. Sometimes I'll shoot minor but I found that it's not really THAT much better aside from the two extra rounds.
The .45 ACP 1911 will be the most reliable option, although it should be noted that even my RO didn't work immediately after I got it. I had to adjust the extractor and the adjustable rear sight launched itself into the ether one match and I had to replace it after shooting the rest of the match with just a front sight. Since addressing those, I've had many a match, range day and training session that went swimmingly.
All that to say, I have phenomenally bad luck getting 1911s that run out of the box, but I got decent at making them work. Nothing about a reliable out of the box 1911 is certain for me.
I run bullets forward, work a lot of reloads and although being the "single stack guy" means I really won't be cleaning the local talents clock anytime soon, I find that my position in the overall scores doesn't change much. The production guys beating me will still beat me, and even if I went to a higher cap division I'd still lose to them. I did a class with Tim Herron and watched him execute a practice stage with the exact same stage plan I did, but a full few seconds faster. It's more about efficiency, planning, and good hits and less about my excuses.
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I shoot Single Stack more than anything in USPSA. I like it because it is more thoughtful and places a higher premium on accuracy because competing with the Hi Cap mean every round counts.
.45 is the way to go for Single Stack if you are shooting major because:
- Easy to load for and large primers are avialable
- Major power factor is easy to achive without trickery
- Reliability
I use 230gr FMJ. Because it is really easy and reliability is a huge factor to be competitive in single stack. As far as hotness for heaters most people have some custom who ha in whatever flavor they like. Personally for me that is an identical pair of Les Baer Custom Carry worked over by my gunsmith sponsor.
All that being said I also shoot IPSC and the rules are a bit different, and usually when I shoot international I end up shooting minor in 9mm. Single Stack is really fun if you like the nuances.
I still like the 1911 and shooting in Single Stack Division, and it isn't unusually for me to be 1st place, mostly because I'm about the only one who regularly shoots in that division.:D I started shooting IPSC in the 70s' and miss the old days when almost everyone shot a 1911, reloaded H&G 68s', and everybody helped pick up brass after a stage.
Here's my 2 cents:
Single stack is a dying (dead?) division and has been for several years. Outside of single stack nationals, there is absolutely no competition at state and area matches, and participation at club matches can be counted on one hand. If that doesn't bother you, proceed on.
If you've already gotten over that hump, I find it hard to beat the Dan Wesson 1911's as the best single stack guns in .45. I had a DW Specialist that rivaled my Springfield Professional for fit/finish and reliability and blew away the lower grade Springfield 1911's. In fact, the trigger on the Specialist was better out of the box, and I wouldn't spend any additional time or money trying to improve it. The Specialist, with the light rail dust cover, is the perfect weight and gets you within an ounce of the division weight limit.
I find .40 1911's to be a bit more finicky than .45. The caveat is you can shoot either major or minor with .40 and just use different ammo.
Bullets out or forward is personal preference. I still shoot bullets forward for production and do well with it.
I disagree with competition. In the southwest Single Stack is still very popular, granted it is not nearly as popular as production for the low cap stuff.
I am working with Southwest Gunsmith Technologies to make a "one gun" for IPSC, IDPA and IDPA. It would be a .40 1911 with the intention of making the weight and size IDPA legal, but able to take 10 round mags so when you shoot IPSC you can declare major or minor depending on the match. I have found that event shooting 175 power factor in minor there is not much to chase power factor to make a competitive difference. Declaring minor gets you the extra rounds.
Off the shelf? The Ruger Koenig looks pretty nice. I still think a used Wilson is a pretty good buy. Did Dan Wesson ever get past the galling issue they had with slides? or was that an isolated issue?
My last few 1911’s have been Springfields. I have a good relationship with a custom builder. I put a few rounds through them and then send them to him for a reliability package. Usually they don’t need much but it’s cheap insurance and I’m still way under the price of a semi custom.
I’m having pretty similar results with Chip and Wilson magazines. I’m using Bayou 200 SWC and Bullseye.
I’m okay getting beat by production style guns. I haven’t shot USPSA but I do shoot other matches with similar rules. I’m competitive. On shorter stages I’m usually right there. Shooting a single stack is fun for me. Plastic guns have their purpose but for me fun isn’t one of those purposes.
I’m currently down to one major gun and one minor. I use to own several but I’m working on getting to quality over quantity. I’m kicking around having a USPSA legal major gun built. My builder has connections with Nighthawk. I’m kind of waiting to see what direction they go now that Tim Herron is shooting for them.
Gio knows a lot more about USPSA than I do. I agree that single stack is a lot smaller division than it used to be. That doesn’t mean it’s dead. I mean revolver is still a division.
I say do it.
I've been running Single Stack Major this last year, just made B class in it, which is kind of disappointing but a accurate assessment of my true ability with a 1911 so... I changed out the Beretta holster on my belt for a 1911 and I am carrying 6 spare mags on the belt plus the initial load and spare to get me to 9 rounds in the gun for loaded starts. I never thought I would count rounds but it seems to be a real thing with this division. I got 4 targets and then reload, don't ever go to slide lock if you can avoid it. Don't make up any C or D hits.... Luckily only ever have a few D's.... I have been using a worked over Springer range officer I picked up at Virginia Arms a few years ago and a Stainless Springer TRP I picked up used for 6 bills at a local shop. I had a failure of the sear spring in the TRP on a stage in a local match but that was a easy fix.... only issue so far. I am enjoying the division and have won a couple matches for my division simply due to being one of two to four guys shooting single stack. I started shooting this due to having a abundance of 45 ACP stored away vice continuing to burn my irreplaceable 9mm stock. I can still source 45 locally.... I shoot factory ammo, never got into reloading so I can't help you there...