1911 Suggestions

[cz223]

I own two Taurus 1911's

The first has more than 3000 rounds through it without a single gun related failure. It has had exactly three failures to feed, all of which were do to excesssive headspace problems, at the reloading bench. The second is relatively new to me but I have a few hundred through it with no failures of any sort. They are a lot of gun for the money. I also have a Kimber and a Springfield, both Tauri are more accurate than the other two.

 

[Single Six]

Guys: Thanks to all who responded. All advice and comments are greatly appreciated. To 45 Gunner: Can you elaborate? What brands of 1911 are you thinking of that you'd consider better than Taurus?

 

[varoadking]

What brands of 1911 are you thinking of that you'd consider better than Taurus?

Just about any of them...

Get a Colt...you'll only cry once...

 

[gotigers]

Just about any of them...

yeah, i must agree. Besides. look at all of the negative threads about Taurus customer service. I was about to buy a PT709 Slim. I saw all the issues with CS and talked myself out of it.

I hear S&W has good CS. I know Springfield has good CS. I hear that Rock Island has very good CS.

 

[crimsondave]

The only Taurus 1911 I've ever shot functioned very well. It cycled with LSWC rounds that I loaded. Many 1911's have trouble with SWCs. I have to say, though, it had the worst trigger of any 1911 I have ever fired and was not as accurate as some of the higher quality guns I've owned and fired from Colt, Springfield, and Kimber.

It also has the best trigger of the 3.

Interesting. Maybe my buddies needs to go back to Taurus. Wonder if he would ever get it back?

IMO for the price range get a Rock Island.

IMO, the best budget 1911 available.

 

[44 AMP]

First, let me say I have no personal experience with Taurus

But I wouldn't get one of their 1911s, or any other foreign maker, these days. Consider spending your money on a US made (or at least owned) product.

My son got one of the S&W 1911s, a couple years back, and left it with me during his last deployment. Very nice gun. Brand new, very tight, very accurate, all the bells and whistles so many seem to think are needed today. Ran flawless with several hundred rounds of ball, JHP, and LSWC reloads. Slightly different from a Colt, but a very good gun.

And I still have the Colt Govt model my Dad bought in the late 60s. Other than some finish damage suffered in my Dad's declining years, its functionally perfect, and still shoots 2.5" 25yd groups.

IF you are fixed on a new gun, at least consider an American one, if for no other reason than to support our gun industry. If the lowest cost is your primary concern (and it is for a lot of us), consider a used gun. Especially in these times, lots of perfectly good guns are going on the market, for pretty good prices.

 

[IdahoG36]

But I wouldn't get one of their 1911s, or any other foreign maker, these days. Consider spending your money on a US made (or at least owned) product.

+1. Most 1911s in the lower price range are foreign made. Springfield's lower end 1911s are forged by Imbel in Brazil. Taurus is also made in Brazil. Rock Island Armory, Hi Standard, Metro Arms, and Citadel are made in the Philippines. STI's low end 1911, the Spartan, is made by Armscor in the Philippines. The list goes on and on.

If your budget allows for it, you could get a Colt, S&W, Kimber, STI, Springfield, Wilson Combat, Nighthawk Custom, Dan Wesson(which I believe is American made), Sig, Les Baer, Ed Brown, Rock River, even Paras are US made now.

There is nothing wrong with the budget 1911s, but if it is important to you to buy an American made product, spend the extra money and buy American. The way the economy is going these days, it doesn't hurt to buy American.

 

[Doublestack]

I wanted a SS 1911 and got a Springfield Mil-Spec. So far, I am very impressed with this gun. The only downside is that the trigger pull is too heavy, so I need to put a lighter mainspring in it. Easy to do. Customer service is very good.

Good luck.


DS

 

[gotigers]

My used SA milspec had a heavy gritty trigger. If it were new i would have sent it to SA. I used a local smith. He added a wilson long match trigger with overtravel adjustment, worked and stoned the other existing parts. I added a wolf 19lb mainspring (i changed MSH and its guts). Now it is 4.5 lbs, very short pull and the shortest reset of any gun i have.

 

[gwnorth]

I owned a stainless Taurus PT1911 for nearly two years. Bought it used shortly after their stainless models first started showing up in stores. I put about 2000 rounds through that gun and never had a single issue or problem of any kind, other then a mag problem (an ACT mag I got after the gun purchase refused to feed the 8th round reliably, but it was just that one annoying mag, the other 4 ACT mags I got were fine). That's my only experience with anything Taurus, and I have to say I was a thoroughly satisfied PT1911 owner.

I did sell that gun a short while ago, and put the money towards a new stainless Colt 1991a1 Combat Commander. Nothing wrong with my Taurus, but I've always wanted an actual Colt 1911, I like the commander size better then gov't size, and I also prefer a standard type GI thumb safety (I'll never buy another 1911 with ambi-safety nor extended safety - or at least I'll swap them out fast next time).

I will say that the Colt is finished better internally. My Taurus had very nice exterior fit and finish, but the machining under the slide and such was not as neat, clean and crisp as the Colt. As I said though, nothing about the Taurus ever affected function, and the Colt is more expensive. I see new stainless PT1911's going for about $100-$150 less then a new stainless gov't sized Colt 1991a1 - only you can decide if that is too much or worth the extra expense.

 

[Single Six]

To all who've responded: Well, I knew I'd be stepping into it with such a question. I have read all of your posts and now it's decision time...gonna take a bit more thought now,what with all of the helpful input from you guys. Fellas,thanks as always.