Current state of the 1911 industry?

[JAD]

How'd you like Gunsite?

I went back with a group of folks who I’d first gone with in ‘97 and who I’d trained with a lot for a few years, so it was a lot of fun.

[HCM]

It does appear that the Special Forces has avoided the “pimp mah gun” treatment.

Sadly, it seems that’s the direction that Wilson is going as well.

How much of that is trying to appeal to younger buyers who associate “custom pistols’ with custom striker guns from Agency, Zev, Salient etc. In fact I believe some of the new style nighthawks or a collaboration with agency arms.

I don’t think much of the traditional semi custom 1911 customer base is big on the gold and I tried barrels on the slide cuts.

[Lester Polfus]

That theoretical versatility is actually what I think turns me off of 10mm.
If I need that capability, I will go to a revolver, where it's as simple as drop in cylinder and pull trigger. With an autoloader once you move out of the factory options, it seems you have to do a lot of fiddling to set up the gun to work with the higher end loads. At least that's my recollection of what's guys like GJM found out according to his experiences with it.

After 3 Glock 20s and about 10k rounds of 10mm, this is why my field gun is a 4” .357 GP100.

[psalms144.1]

Any input on Les Baer?

A Baer 1911 is the only gun that's ever drawn blood from me just in handling the gun at SHOT show. Sliced my thumb badly on the hammer - needed to break out my boo boo kit to stop the bleeding. All in all, I was never that impressed with them...

[M2CattleCo]

I’ve probably owned at least $50K worth of 1911s over the years, most in the $2-$4K range and have launched an exorbitant amount of ammo in practice and competition. I’ve trained with some legendary 1911 guys and had a lot of fun in those years.

My notsohumble opinion?

There’s about maybe 5 or 6 shops that build one that I’d trust to carry, and then, it would have to be a non-ramped 5” 45. No exceptions.

Even then, they’re a colossal waste of time if your end goal is anything other than messing with 1911s.

[HCM]

A Baer 1911 is the only gun that's ever drawn blood from me just in handling the gun at SHOT show. Sliced my thumb badly on the hammer - needed to break out my boo boo kit to stop the bleeding. All in all, I was never that impressed with them...

The older guns did not have that issue but the new ones are as bad as Colts in terms of sharp edges.

[Gary1911A1]

My baer had so many sharp edges I didn't need to carry a pocket knife. It's a Premier II ad it does shoot well and is reliable.

[MandoWookie]

My baer had so many sharp edges I didn't need to carry a pocket knife. It's a Premier II ad it does shoot well and is reliable.

My limited shooting time on a friends Kimber was similar. Like holding a handful of razor blades.

[Stephanie B]

So, unless somebody wants to spend a ton of money, get a HK45, a Glock 21/30, a S&W M&P, Shield or a 4500 series? For the cost of a reliable (maybe) 1911, one can get two of almost anything else?

I'm not tossing this out to start a flamewar. I've owned a Colt Government Model (two different ones) for 40 years and acquired a LW Commander over a year ago. I've had no complaints about any of them. However, I've run none of them overly hard, they get cleaned after a range session. But it's starting to read as though that, other than affinity for the 1911 pattern, there is little reason to carry one for defensive purposes.

Am I wildly off base? Because I'd like to have a reliable near-milspec 1911, but it seems as that's not realistic.

[Bergeron]

I love 1911s, and I think that Stephanie is spot-on.

I had a fantastic experience with a M&P .45, and holding it, I really thought that if I were ever going to dive off into a .45 without owning other 1911s, I would have not picked a 1911 over that gun.

I’m just sunk cost and experience into 1911s, and ok with that fact- and I have Glock 9s, but on a real-world, where money and performance in practical settings are a thing- yeah, HK, S&W, and even Glock make more sense.