Why the hatred for 1911s?

[327 FM]

I read and hear all the time how 1911s are unreliable and a poor choice for CCW. I am really confused by this. I have 2 that run flawlessly (Ruger & Sig), and I have buddies whose 1911s run flawlessly as well. I carry my Sig C3 a lot with total confidence.

What am I missing? Why is the 1911 suppose to be such an unreliable gun? I was thinking of purchasing a Dan Wesson soon but there are some who are telling me I would be better off buying 3 Glocks...…..

What am I missing?

I really want to hear your opinions and advice on this. Thanks guys....

 

[Dufus]

I guess there were 2.7 million in military service so that there could be at least one that would work???

 

[Nathan]

Are you baiting?


The 1911 is considered generally unreliable because it is made by hundreds of makers and many have been mix & match....cause parts is parts..

Your Dan Wesson will be an amazing piece of art and function. And yes it will function 100%.

 

[Doyle]

Where are you hearing that 1911's are unreliable?

 

[labnoti]

Yeah, this just looks like bait. The 1911 has been widely regarded as an excellent handgun for carry for over 100 years. I'm not aware of any legitimate criticism by a reputable authority, other than perhaps the expense which I think it's fair to say is a multiple of the modern polymer designs for comparable quality.

1911's do have their unique features that don't make them the best choice for everyone. The most significant of these which I think are characteristic of the design (but not necessarily true of all versions of it) are:

- the single-action trigger which can increase risk/liability for unintentional discharges
- the manual safety which affects the manual of arms and has been controversial for more than a century
- the lower single-stack capacity, which is probably a legitimate concern for today's law enforcement operations (my local law enforcement use 1911 but it's easy to see from video why many want double-stack)


Reliability? I've never heard a concern about that. I know several people that are professional firearms instructors and they carry 1911 and have recommended them for decades. They've never even suggested a reservation about reliability.

I personally do not carry one because I prefer a double-action only trigger. The idea of a manual safety does not bother me, but a short, light single-action trigger does, as does also the specific holster requirements that are necessary to carry a single-action with a manual safety.

 

[327 FM]

No, I am not baiting. Pull up youtube. There are several videos on this.

I just recently did my renew CCW class and the instructor bashed 1911s.

 

[Nanuk]

All the children on social media constantly whine about 1911's. They just need to learn how to run one.

 

[Chui]

I read and hear all the time how 1911s are unreliable and a poor choice for CCW. I am really confused by this. I have 2 that run flawlessly (Ruger & Sig), and I have buddies whose 1911s run flawlessly as well. I carry my Sig C3 a lot with total confidence.



What am I missing? Why is the 1911 suppose to be such an unreliable gun? I was thinking of purchasing a Dan Wesson soon but there are some who are telling me I would be better off buying 3 Glocks...…..



What am I missing?



I really want to hear your opinions and advice on this. Thanks guys....

Ignorance.

That said, there’s more to a properly built and maintained 1911 than your modern striker-fired, polymer framed pistols.

Everyone should have at least one 1911 in their armory.


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[RickB]

The deciding test that allowed Colt's pistol to beat Savage's for the contract in 1911 was the Colt going 6000 rounds without a parts breakage or malfunction.

Every World Speed Shooting Championship (since 1981) has been won with a 1911; if the gun weren't accurate and reliable, it would not be so.

 

[Seven High]

In my opinion, if the military 1911s had better sights they would be held in higher regard. End users would be late teen early twenties military personnel with good vision, but even they had problems with the sights.

 

[MarkCO]

For the last 25 years or so, that has been false. But there are periods of time when anything other than a 5" Colt would not run anything but ball ammo, and some only 230 ball. When I was much younger, I went through several trials with 1911s trying to get them to be 100% with lighter JHPs and carried daily. If they were not cleaned meticulously weekly, they were about 90% out of the holster on the 2nd and 3rd shot. If you wanted a 4.25" it was even worse. I gave up and went to Glocks right when they first came out and it was a totally different animal. I took me some time, but I came back to 1911s. I have a 3" (Kimber) a 4" (SIG) two 5" and a 6" and they are all 100% reliable. The way they are ramped and throated and even the lockup is different than on my 1911s from 25 to 30 years ago. They all run 185 ashtrays to 230 ball and will take several weeks in a holster and still run a whole mag. So, things changed, but Fudds don't.

One of my 5" is a 10mm Dan Wesson, and it is one of my favorite firearms I own. Buy a Dan Wesson 1911 with confidence and tell the "Boomers" to sit back down on their rockers. (Only half kidding, and yes I have been called a Boomer even though I am only 52).

 

[jr24]

My Dan Wesson Valkyrie CCO is less ammo picky than my Gen 5 Glocks.

For whatever that is worth

 

[Aguila Blanca]

No, I am not baiting. Pull up youtube. There are several videos on this.

Consider the source. I approach Youtube videos with a great degree of skepticism. I've been shooting 1911s since I was on my unit's shooting team in the Army in 1967. My experience that it's rare to find a 1911 that doesn't function. When you find one, it's usually because some Youtube "expert" decided to improve it.

 

[jmr40]

Why the hatred for 1911s?

Several reasons.

A big part of it is the fanboys who have vastly overstated both the 1911 and 45 ACP cartridge. Many people have gotten sick of hearing the hyperbole taken for gospel truth. Jeff Cooper is responsible for most of this. He was probably the most prolific writer giving the 1911 praise. A large part of it fictional.

The truth is that the 1911 was a very good pistol for its time and was probably the best pistol fielded in WW-1. But by WW-2 it was already dated. Most of the troops who used it during WW-2 didn't particularly like the pistol nor the 45 cartridge. Almost all felt the Browning in 9mm was the better pistol. The army did too.

After the war the army did a lot of side by side testing and wanted to ditch both the 1911 and 45 ACP in 1946 for some new type of 9mm pistol. But due to budget cuts, no war, and warehouses full of functional 1911's the idea was scrapped until 1985 when the Beretta was adopted.

Most of the 1911 mystique came AFTER WW-2 due to the writings of Cooper and others. And from the 1960's until around 2000 1911's EARNED their reputation for being less reliable. Many were worn out military pistols or new guns made during a time of poor QC. This was a huge reason why revolvers stayed in cops holsters. The only real option for a semi was 1911's and revolvers were always considered MUCH more reliable. During the 60's, 70's, 80's and into the 90's there was a huge gunsmithing industry working to modify factory 1911's to get them to function reliably and shoot straight. You just didn't take a 1911 out of the box and shoot it without having it worked on.

To be fair many of the 1911's manufactured in the last 20 years or so have been much better. I've owned at least a dozen over the years and wouldn't trust most of them for carry. Accuracy varied from better than average to awful. I currently own 4 and they have been trouble free and very accurate.

The 1911 over the years has morphed into one of the best target pistol designs, particularly suited for many of the shooting games. Some of which were specifically designed around the 1911. But even if 100% reliable there are much better options for a combat or SD pistol in 2020 than a 115 year old design.

 

[littlebikerider]

I have had three 1911's and they have been spectacularly reliable. Hats off to the OP, I also have a couple of .327FM guns.

That said, there are a lot of smaller, lighter guns that might be easier to carry concealed than a full frame 1911. I compromised and went with a 1911-ish Kimber Micro.

 

[Nanuk]

In my opinion, if the military 1911s had better sights they would be held in higher regard. End users would be late teen early twenties military personnel with good vision, but even they had problems with the sights.

I did'nt.

 

[TunnelRat]

All the children on social media constantly whine about 1911's. They just need to learn how to run one.

How should they "run" it? I own a 1911 still and have owned a few in the past. I haven't really had to change how I "run" a firearm when I've used them.

I'd ask why there is so much love for a firearm that while popular is more of an American phenomenon. Yes it was used and copied by other countries, but really the cult following it enjoys stateside isn't replicated nearly as much elsewhere. It seems to me that the current situation is more of a turning away from that cult than an actual hate.

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[Forte S+W]

There will always be hipsters lining up to hate on popular firearms, not to mention your garden-variety arrogant folks who slam anything they don't carry as inferior, then there are the Mall Ninjas/Armchair Commandos who hate anything isn't cutting-edge military hardware, and last but not least are the folks who only hate the 1911 by proxy due to the fact that the 1911 unfortunately has some extremely obnoxious fanboys. (What popular firearm doesn't?)

Fortunately, none of the above have any valid opinions and thus ought to be ignored. Let them whine like the petulant children they are about how the 1911 is bad as you enjoy shooting it at the range and/or including it in your rotation.

 

[JohnKSa]

I suppose a lot of it is that people can't just say that they don't want a particular gun. Instead they feel like they have to justify their decision not to buy one or they have to explain why they don't like it.

I think that the compulsion to justify decisions and to explain preferences is probably amplified somewhat by the fact that there is a lot of material out there pushing certain designs which makes some people feel defensive.

And, for what it's worth, this is not just limited to 1911 pistols. Nor even to pistols. Nor even to guns. It's not enough for people to say what they like and why, they have to also say what they don't like and explain why others with different preferences have to be wrong.

 

[Nodak1858]

I think the biggest issues with reliably is people take a stock gun that works fine, and add and change parts until there's problems. Most guys don't need to change anything for a range gun, but they hear they need this or that upgrade. So they hit the internet and spend a lot of money and end up with a gun that doesn't feed or has other problems.