You get to pick your duty weapon, which one ?

[Bucky]

I'd be really hard pressed to choose a 1911 as a primary sidearm. There's the simple fact that they're not a terribly maintanence friendly gun, as has been mentioned. Just look at Todd's use of the 1911..........sure, he was able to keep them reliably running, and part of that is because he had a world-class gunsmith on speed dial, all the support anyone could ask for, and he replaced magazines at a prodigious rate.

There's a lot of good reasons not to choose the 1911, with weight and capacity being at the top of the list. And let's not forget cost. On the other hand, I don't see a really good 1911 (again, cost!) being such a maintenance nightmare. I shoot the heck out of mine in competition, and these days don't hardly do much maintenance, just oil and shoot. They've not given me any problems. Admittedly, sometimes the initial dialing them in is something to consider, and I guess getting it right is most important.

[RevolverRob]

If I positively, absolutely, had to have a .45 cause 'reasons', HK45 or 45C with LEM.

Otherwise, I'd probably just go with a P30 LEM, unless I really wanted an MRDS, then I'd go VP9.

[john c]

I may be moving to another department around the first of the year.

I have to provide my own weapon. As long as its 9mm or bigger I'm good.

I have carried a 1911 off duty for many years and for the first time ever I may make the 1911 my duty weapon.

Thoughts?

What are you going to be doing at the new dept? If it's not patrol or special ops, a 1911 might be a reasonable choice. As others have mentioned, capacity and weight are serious considerations. But if you're going to be a training Sgt or command staff, go for it. Get yourself a nice Wilson Combat or similar, and write it off on your taxes.

Alternately, split the baby and get a Wilson X9. It's 9mm, plenty of capacity, and probably the best option in double stack 1911s for serious use.

Strongly consider the amount of time you'll be holding people at gunpoint in your new job when looking at a new platform.

[Duelist]

Our county sheriff and deputies are issued 1911s. I don't know what brand. IIRC, ive seen a couple carry something else, but in the main, they carry a cocked and locked 1911. City PD carry Glocks, state patrol carries SIGs but are switching to FN. CBP carry P2000. Quite a mix of weapons and action types around here.

Right now, I think I'd carry a Beretta TDA or a Glock or an HK LEM.

[gskip]

I would freaking love to carry my 2011 on duty, but realistically I would be happy with a custom glock 17. Lighten the gun up a hair and stipple it, slap some trij HD XR's on it and I'd be happy.

Agency Arms glock 17 would be a blast.

Really I just want to put Trij HD XR's on my duty gun...

[jnc36rcpd]

Duelist, if you don't mind giving up PERSEC, are you in Arizona or is there some other state police agency other than AZDPS going to FN?

[SCSU74]

Long post from a previous thread:

This may get a little long winded, but.. I started my career with a 226 and it is what I learned to shoot on so I may be bias. My first department had a very open weapon policy (Pretty much any caliber from major manufacturer HK/Sig/Glock/Smith 9/40/45/357) so when all my buddies were going plastic I thought that I was missing the train and jumped on myself. I went to a G21 and then a G17 and carried that for several years until my current department that at the time only allowed M&P's. The M&P is a whole other thread, but suffice to say it wasn't for me. My PD recently approved the 320 and 226/220, but only if you attended a striker to hammer conversion course, if you currently carried striker (M&P) you could switch to the 320 which I did the day after the policy came out (switch was more about getting away from the M&P than switching to the 320. Would have switched to Glock if that was the only other option)

To back track a bit, I've always had issues with strikers shooting left (all my glocks and M&P) not a ton, but enough to irritate me (hitting the 9 instead of x at 10 yds). I initially had the same problem with the 320 until I switched to the large size module. With the large module I'm dead on like with my 226's. I put around 5K through my full size 320 and can't recall a single malfunction (all factory ammo, either AE or WWB). The only negative I can mention about the pistol is lack of back end support. Ordering spare/replacement parts is very difficult as they are somewhat new. I have had 0 issues with finding holsters and Safariland offers both the 6360 and 6378 so covered there. For me, it came down to it being so new with not enough track record or part availability. I am not aware of any issues from officers at our PD and many are switching over. Glocks were also recently approved and the 320 is still the popular choice. If you like strikers and aren't bothered by the lack of spare parts I'd say go for it. I was 100% confident carrying it on duty. Side note, my preference is for the carry size and if that is an option I would go that way. The compact slide has a dual recoil spring and for me tracks flatter and transitions easier.

All that being said.. I currently and will continue to carry a 226 on duty. I love the platform, maybe because it was what I was first issued, or because I shoot it so well. I haven't found another pistol that fits my hand as well that I can shoot as accurately. With the SRT trigger the pistol is even better. My original issued pistol did not have it, my current ones do and it is night and day better. After training with the gun and watching Langdon's videos (fear not the double action shot) I am much more confident in the DA and that was one of the reasons I left the platform initially. I make a habit to practice DA/SA transitions and to shoot DA exclusively. I found that training the DA hard has helped me all around. I really like TDA and being able to cover the hammer when holstering. Spare parts/holsters are everywhere, I especially like the 20 rd MG mags, allows me to carry 81 rounds on my person.

ETA: With a red dot Safariland holster coming out for the 226 soon I don't think I'll ever make another switch. The use of an RMR was tempting me to go back to a 320, but after confirming production of the 226 RDS holster I'll be good to go.

Also, if you like SAO/1911, take a look at a 226 SAO. 20 rds > 8 rds.

[awmp]

Patrol

QUOTE=john c;672588]What are you going to be doing at the new dept? If it's not patrol or special ops, a 1911 might be a reasonable choice. As others have mentioned, capacity and weight are serious considerations. But if you're going to be a training Sgt or command staff, go for it. Get yourself a nice Wilson Combat or similar, and write it off on your taxes.

Alternately, split the baby and get a Wilson X9. It's 9mm, plenty of capacity, and probably the best option in double stack 1911s for serious use.

Strongly consider the amount of time you'll be holding people at gunpoint in your new job when looking at a new platform.[/QUOTE]

[secondstoryguy]

My preference: Glock 34 for patrol. G19 for everything else. G43 or G42 for NPE.

I've carried HK P30 and 1911s too...they work well too.

I like the G34 for the slightly longer sight radius and barrel. The longer barrel keeps my WML out of way and under the barrel.

[TC215]

Because I’m on my department’s SWAT team, I’m mandated by policy to carry a 1911 when in uniform. However, I’ve worked narcotics/plainclothes for nearly all of my career and rarely wear a uniform.

I started carrying commander-sized 1911’s not long after I went to narcotics, because my department lets plainclothes officers carry personally-owned weapons. I stuck with the 1911 for years, until I switched to a Glock 19 during the summer of 2016. I made the switch for a variety of reasons, not the least of which were based on comments here from @SLG and @Dagga Boy.

I think the biggest thing about carrying the 1911 is being able to manipulate the safety on auto-pilot at the appropriate times. The way I train is off-target = safety on, on target = safety off. When I first went to the 1911, I was pretty young, and of course knew it all. In hindsight, I really shouldn’t have been carrying a 1911, because I hadn’t trained with it enough. One night, after the end of a foot pursuit, I discovered that I had holstered my 1911 with the safety off. It scared me pretty bad, and I don’t know how I didn’t shoot myself in the leg. It scared me enough that I went back to the issued pistol for a few months, until I got trained up enough on the 1911 to carry it comfortably.

As to some of the comments about 1911 maintenance— Personally, I don’t find it to be that big of a deal, just worrying about my guns. Now, if you were responsible for maintaining a team’s/unit’s/department’s 1911’s...that’s a different story.

I love 1911’s, but at this point, they wouldn’t be my number one pick for a duty gun. I do still feel comfortable, though, carrying one for SWAT and the occasional time I put on a uniform.