The 1911 for the aging Boomer...

[MichaelOrick]

The 1911 and I go way back.

The first auto I shot was a 1911. The first auto I bought was a 1911. The first auto I Qd with was a 1911.

I was issued M1911A1s by Uncle Sam. My USAF match pistol had a Remington slide, Colt frame, and was older than I was at the time.

They've been foreign and domestic, new and used, stock and custom. Some were better than others, but all were good enough.

You can do better now for less, but I still like them.

How would I improve it?

Chamber it in 9 minimeter cuzz it kicks and costs less and you can go through both sides of a helmet at >130yds instead of bouncing off at 50 yds.

Ditch the bbl bushing, slide/bbl ring lockup, bbl link, and plunger tube. Keep the thumb and grip safety. Chop it a bit and give it fully ramped bbl, internal hammer, and polymer frame. Make take down and loading the mags easier.

It would be EZer to load, rack, shoot, clean, and carry. Might look like this. Could call it the M2020.

Hope this was as fun to read as it was to write.

[Whirlwind06]

I was going to say that you pretty much described the S&W EZ, then saw your pics.
The EZ needs a dot and would be pretty cool IMO.

[BillSWPA]

Regardless of whether it is made easier to install a red dot, I would like to see some more sight options for the EZ pistols.

[TheNewbie]

An EZ Shield with a double stack or 1.5 stack magazine would be neat.

[awp_101]

An EZ Shield with a double stack or 1.5 stack magazine would be neat.

An EZ Shield Plus with an M&P/1911 style safety would get my attention.

[TheNewbie]

An EZ Shield Plus with an M&P/1911 style safety would get my attention.

Would be amazing.

[MandoWookie]

How has the EZ been holding up for people?
Is the 9mm model deliver on lower recoil and easier shooting over similar size guns?

[358156hp]

OP more closely describes the new S&W CSX, than anything else.

[MichaelOrick]

OP more closely describes the new S&W CSX, than anything else.

Maybe if it had a grip safety... have not tried that one. A bit too small for me. Does look good.

I would not be surprised to see a EZ Plus in the future if they can figure out an EZ mag for it.

The way the EZs are marketed has some passing it over that might like it.

8+1 is enough for some of us. The EZ is as good/better than the Star BM, PPK, or Makarov, and those did well for many for a long time. Then again, the way they did not do well enough is why we have other stuff.

Do not know if it's as tough as a SIG P239, G43/43X/48, P365/X/XL, but it's probably tough enough. It is EZer to load and rack and seems to shoot as well. The thumb safety works better for me than the 365s.

[Rex G]

Well, I do not disagree with the general concept, but, a Shield EZ does not point naturally, at all, in my hand. Plus, if the heel of a gun’s grip does not make full contact with the “heel bore” of my right hand, that is going to be a painful gun, to shoot. A Shield EZ “might” have a long-enough grip. A 9mm 1911, with a full-length grip frame, does makes plenty of sense, and may well be part of my future.

The 1911 is good for my aging hands. In 2011, at age fifty, my duty pistol, a .40 SIG P229R DAK, and the non-R P229 pistols that I carried concealed, during personal time, started really vexing the arthritis in my right thumb, hand, and wrist. I pulled my all-steel, full-sized 1911 from the safe, where it had been sleeping since 2002, except for one short range session in 2007. Well, I was gratified to find that the operation of the thumb safety remained an intuitive, conditioned reflex, and that the 1911 still pointed so very naturally*. I then was relieved to learn that the lower bore axis, and all-steel construction, meant that recoil was not vexing my thumb, hand, and wrist. I then broke from my established habit of concentrating on only one auto-pistol system, at a time, and carrying the same pistol system on and off the clock. It was time to start training with two auto-pistol systems.

My Les Baer Thunder Ranch Special regained its status as my personal-time carry pistol, though I had to keep toting a .40, on patrol, until a rule change in September 2015. I used an S&W Model 17-4, a .22 LR revolver, to keep my right trigger finger accustomed to long-stoke DA, so it served as the interim training gun for SIG DAK. I used a G17 as a duty pistol, starting in October 2015, but, then, another rule change, at the end of 2015, enabled me to attend a certification class, and resume carrying a 1911 while on patrol, in early 2016.

When I retired, from LEO-ing, in early 2018, I was qual’ed with two Les Baer 1911 pistols, and two or three Glocks. When the panic-demic curtailed my range training, it was the Glocks that I put into storage, as I need more live-fire trigger time with Glocks, to maintain what I consider to be acceptable skill.

*My personal history with the 1911 dates back to 1983, if not late 1982, when a 1911 was my first handgun.