Which 1911?

[Poconnor]

I would go with a Colt. The gold cup was a target gun in the past. I would not get a gold cup. I have a colt combat unit rail gun and a stainless Wiley clapp commander They are both excellent 1911s for the money. I would get a stainless Wiley Clapp commander. The rail guns weighs too much for many people. Plus if he really likes the stainless commander you can buy a lightweight Wiley clapp commander next year! It will fit the same holster. I would suggest a Milt sparks holster for a 1911 for Xmas

[theJanitor]

Just like @JSGlock34 mentioned above, a 5" in 45acp is the way to go for a "forever" gun.

There are models from several manufacturers that are significant to their respective brands that are worth looking at:

Colt - Special combat Gov't, other Custom Shop models, or Reproduction models
Les Baer - Thunder Ranch Special (these are recently discontinued and inventories are dwindling) or PremierII
Springfield Armory - Professional Models
Wilson - CQB
Nighthawk - Classic or GRP

Personally, I don't rate the Ruger or Sig as an example of a "beautiful, quality 1911 that he will want to keep forever"

[MolonLabe416]

Dan Wesson Vigil.

[MGW]

One more option is the Colt Gunsite. https://www.gunsitestore.com/product...-gunsite-1911/

They are reported to be put together by Colts Custom shop and are a very classic design. A couple things about it that some people might not like, no front strap checkering and it has a short trigger.

[FNFAN]

The best value in a classic 1911's are the Clapp Government Model, the Springfield TRP and the Dan Wesson. Since you like Ruger, they appear to be well regarded, solid guns as well. For a first 1911 I suggest a full size 5" steel frame. Mega-Kudo's for inquiring to get your Hubby "the right gun!"

[Greg Bell]

Anything that says COLT on it is the perfect gift.

[1911Nut]

Another vote for the Dan Wesson, if you can't have an Ed Brown.

[WobblyPossum]

I don’t personally have any 1911s at the moment so I can’t recommend anything from experience. All I can say is that based on reading comments online, I have seen fewer people complain about issues with Dan Wesson pistols than with Colt, Springfield, or Sig pistols. The only people who seem to mention issues less frequently than the Dan Wesson people are people who purchased semi-custom guns like Wilson and Nighthawk.

[Borderland]

Any of the 70's series Colts. The only company still building 1911's that was around for both WW1 and WW2 with a military pedigree. I have 3 of them and satisfied with all of them. There are other companies who build as good or better but none with that history. My choice would be a Gold Cup for the target sights but a Government model is still a worthy shooter. Actually one of my Government models is my most accurate. They can be tuned up by any 1911 smith to be very accurate. A trigger job and a fitted barrel bushing isn't that expensive and it turns a production pistol into an excellent target pistol.

Here's a good one that isn't very expensive that any 1911 shooter would enjoy.

https://www.colt.com/detail-page/col...ood-grip-blued

Good luck in your search.

[Robinson]

I don’t personally have any 1911s at the moment so I can’t recommend anything from experience. All I can say is that based on reading comments online, I have seen fewer people complain about issues with Dan Wesson pistols than with Colt, Springfield, or Sig pistols. The only people who seem to mention issues less frequently than the Dan Wesson people are people who purchased semi-custom guns like Wilson and Nighthawk.

Dan Wesson makes great guns for the money, no doubt. But they do have issues, the same as other manufacturers.