Why Carry a 1911? Gun Guys

[Bergeron]

I got into carrying as soon as was realistic, for external reasons, and if I was going to carry it had to be with my existing guns, rather than purpose-driven guns.

I had an old, used .45 Springfield set up like a current Loaded gun, from a gunsmith/competitor sort of person. I also had a USP9F, so I naturally compared the guns against each other.

The 1911 had the advantage of thinness, which mattered more than I thought it would. It was heavy, though, and it had a lot of sharp and pokey bits on it. The USP felt nice and smooth to carry, and I liked the weight, but the added bulk was noticeable.

USP is a fantastic gun, but there's no way to make it less bulky, good as it is. 1911 can be pretty easily dehorned, and there was a kind gunsmith in my college town. Weight versus bulk at that point, but then I found a blued, old-school style Delta Elite, and I've been lost in that until P-F let me know about Roland Specials.

I've got and will always have some kind of life with 1911s, but even if not, the external hammer, thumb safety, grip safety, thin pistol makes its own sort of argument for being a carry gun. I have no doubts about aluminum framed guns, and am curious about sub-Commander slides on Officer frames, and how they might compare to comped 43x sort of guns.

[Mark D]

Because 'murica! Two world wars, John Wayne and all that. The Sig is just an excellent gun, which is so poser.

Yep, and that 1911 charisma is why I'm fascinated, from afar, by them. Even thought I understand all the practical advantages offered by my HKs and Glocks.

Outside of my Lane

I began texturing 1911 grips seriously in 2008 after returning from a closed Gunsite 250 class populated by 19 of my closest shooting buddies/their buddies.


The regional FBI SWAT guys I knew loved their 1911s from the accuracy/badge of honor standpoint but even then, the writing was on the wall.

1. IIRC they were issued 1 gun, but there were a few extras in the division should they go down.

2. With the possible exception of recoil springs and grip panels, anything else that got wonky on the gun, back to Quantico it went.

3. Everybody had range mags/swat load out mags and daily "duty" mags and never the twain did meet.

4. Even when you made Regional SWAT, you could not carry a 1911 until you went to an off site multi-day transitional school which started being offered less and less.

5. After coming off SWAT, you could carry a 1911 if you had bought one yourself. The issued guns went back to the armory.

6. Many active/former SWAT guys worked fugitive apprehension in my AO.

7. Based on my conversations with one 2x HRT candidate, all quals were done with a Glock because while most HRT guys were prior regional SWAT, not all were and/or not all of them had had the transition course.

8. Based on my conversations with a former HRT guy, many of them had already started carrying glocks because of overseas assignments. Overseas it tended to be a 9mm. Stateside it tended to be a Glock 21

9. Regional SWAT started carrying 9mm with plus 2 OEM mags well before the rest of the division transitioned to 9mm wholesale from the .40 cal glock that they were issued. Technically, shooters who had recurring qualification issues could ultimately get a 9 mm before the changeover but that was not a good look and I know of no one who did so despite multiple shooters who were very tentative/task saturated folks shooting 80ish % with the .40 becoming 90 % ish shooters with a 9mm. In my division, SWAT guys would work with those shooters on a regular basis before their quarterly quals.

Thanks @vcdgrips - I've always wondered about that.

[revchuck38]

Does Smith still make plastic M&P .45?

Yup, and I have one on order...actually, my LGS has it in their "wish list" at their distributors for when S&W makes another production run of them. Compact version - full-size frame, 4" slide, thumb safeties.

[Tackleberry40sw]

I've kept up with this thread from the beginning and have enjoyed everyone's input. I'm a lover of the 1911/1911A1 platform and carried one daily for many years. She currently resides put away for only to be handled and looked at very seldomly a kin to having coffee with an old girlfriend reminiscing about the old times. I'm issued a G17.5 and carry my personal G17.5 off duty. I did not go quietly to the Glock continuum. I still love 45's and miss my 1911.

Back in 2003, Glock came out with models 37, 38, and 39 chambered in 45GAP. It was adopted by several state police departments. At the time I was issued a G22.4. To say I did not like the G22 would be an understatement. I impulsively sought out a G37.4 and bought it. It fit the 45 category while keeping all other ergos consistent with my duty pistol. Since then, my G22 and I worked out our differences and I got to purchase her after the transition to the G17. I also got another G37.4 at a steal, new in the box.

The Point to this rambling thought, is the fact that the G37's felt recoil is less than that of my 1911. I will always love and opine for my 1911. The G37 fits the niche and is able to combine them for now.

[Corse]

Yup, and I have one on order...actually, my LGS has it in their "wish list" at their distributors for when S&W makes another production run of them. Compact version - full-size frame, 4" slide, thumb safeties.

I have been on the lookout for a 2.0, but no real luck so far.

[newyork]

Yeah, 2.0 9 and compact 9 are always around but not the 45s for some reason.

[MandoWookie]

Yeah, 2.0 9 and compact 9 are always around but not the 45s for some reason.

I'm still holding out hope that S&W will bring back the subcompact 2.0 .45.

[newyork]

That’s the g19 sized one with 8rds?

[Evil_Ed]

I've kept up with this thread from the beginning and have enjoyed everyone's input. I'm a lover of the 1911/1911A1 platform and carried one daily for many years. She currently resides put away for only to be handled and looked at very seldomly a kin to having coffee with an old girlfriend reminiscing about the old times. I'm issued a G17.5 and carry my personal G17.5 off duty. I did not go quietly to the Glock continuum. I still love 45's and miss my 1911.

Back in 2003, Glock came out with models 37, 38, and 39 chambered in 45GAP. It was adopted by several state police departments. At the time I was issued a G22.4. To say I did not like the G22 would be an understatement. I impulsively sought out a G37.4 and bought it. It fit the 45 category while keeping all other ergos consistent with my duty pistol. Since then, my G22 and I worked out our differences and I got to purchase her after the transition to the G17. I also got another G37.4 at a steal, new in the box.

The Point to this rambling thought, is the fact that the G37's felt recoil is less than that of my 1911. I will always love and opine for my 1911. The G37 fits the niche and is able to combine them for now.

The Glock 21 is a handful, no doubt...but if you have large++ sized hands and can fit it, you'll find the 21 recoils softer than a 1911 as well, holds 13+1, it's a lot easier to suppress if that's something you're into, and sights are a lot easier to come by and change...it's near sacrilege, I know, but it actually is a great platform for launching 45ACP. The 37 was a swing at it, but since it never caught on...plinking ammo is near unobtanium, never mind good self-defense ammo; suppressing it is impossible unless you can find someone making threaded barrels; so on so forth...

The Gen 4 (without a backstrap), and Gen 3 SF models are easier to get non-XL hands around. I have a straight up Gen 3, so I don't know if they feel about the same to shoot, though I can't imagine recoil characteristics would change that much between them based on grip size..

[SecondsCount]

But then you would be carrying a Glock