Guns you own (7 Viewers)

[Tarheel4Life]

5” is the best for reliability but it’s very hard to find a 1911 under 1K that I would trust for HD. What you commonly hear from firearms experts and instructors $1500 is the minimum for a defensive 1911. Dan Wesson is a common recommendation as are some of the Springfield higher end offerings. Colt as well. But to be honest when I hear 1911 and HD I cringe a bit.

The 1911is a very finicky gun and requires a lot of hand fitting to make it truly reliable with all types of ammo and magazines. Believe me,I was a huge 1911 guy. I thought mine was reliable (had 1000 of ball through it fired mostly at a range) but then I took some pistol classes and started shooting IPDA it was night and day. Found out my “carry gun” (a first series Kimber..back when they were actually well made) was very picky with magazines and ammo. Spend a lot of time and money on books, videos and tools to try to learn 1911s. Final gave up and got a M&P 45 full sized with a thumb safety and an Apex FSS trigger. All the ergonomics and accuracy of a stock 1911 with the reliability of a modern service pistol aka M&P, Glock, HK. Etc. Go to any IPDA match in the US on any given weekend or take a pistol course and you will probably see 1911s choking.

I highly suggest you take some time to read the archives of Hilton Yams website. He is a master 1911 pistolsmith used to be the armor or for Miami’s SWAT team and is probably the most relied on member of the gun community for serious use 1911 info. Also Larry Vickers who used to maintain the 1911s Delta Force used back in the day. Ken Hackathorn too

The fact that Yam, Vickers, and Delta Force all shoot Glocks now may be construed as a “clue”. Here is an article on his website I suggest you read
http://modernserviceweapons.com/?p=3250

This is all great stuff - thanks. I’m warming to the idea of a different gun for self-defense but definitely want a 1911 for the range at a minimum (I just like the 1911s). Thanks for the article too - reading that now.

My options are somewhat limited as I drive between NC where I live and MA/NH/CT quite a bit for work. I don’t think I’d carry but I’d like the option and I know CT and I think MA have some pretty limiting restrictions around what you can own. I’ll have to research that a bit more.

Thanks!

 

[Old State]

This is all great stuff - thanks. I’m warming to the idea of a different gun for self-defense but definitely want a 1911 for the range at a minimum (I just like the 1911s). Thanks for the article too - reading that now.

My options are somewhat limited as I drive between NC where I live and MA/NH/CT quite a bit for work. I don’t think I’d carry but I’d like the option and I know CT and I think MA have some pretty limiting restrictions around what you can own. I’ll have to research that a bit more.

Thanks!

Yes, those are tough states to drive through with a firearm. It’s not just magazine restrictions but ammo Type as well. I went with a .45 because I wanted to replace my 1911 for the CDP class of IPDA (requires .45 and was originally created for 1911’s) I also reload for .45 and have tons of brass. All that said 9mm is the better option for almost all scenarios accept when you are limited by magazine capacity. Then you might as well have a .45 and get the very minor ballistic performance advantage it has. If I lived in NJ, NY, or MA and was limited to under ten rounds I’d probably get the M&P 45 compact. For NC and other free states though the Glock 17/19 or M&P 9/9c are top recommendations and can be had for $500 or under.

 

[Old State]

I started with a Lee Turret. I loaded for a few years and then decided to add a Loadmaster to support the bulk 9mm that I needed. I knew what I was getting into with the Loadmaster, but I am a natural tinkerer and had the time to make it work. I got the Loadmaster running pretty well, but the priming system always annoyed me. It also had a significant amount of "press stretch" when all stations were working. I pretty much only used it for the high volume stuff. Rifle stayed on the single stage or the turret, and low volume pistol would go on the turret. I started with the Loadmaster when I didn't have kids and I had plenty of time to tinker. Now, with kids, I wanted the ability to setup the press and crank out 500 rounds (without interruption) in a single evening.

I love the Dillon 550C, and it is a solid piece of machinery. The only beef I have with it is the primer bar bearing tack does not provide enough support and will cause the primer bar to hang on the down stroke. I just have to blow off the bearing plate with my air hose and it will work properly again, but it's annoying.

I started with a load master and it drove me out of my mind! Same things you described. I almost went Dillon but liked the Hornady collet system so I went with that. Night and day...though none of them are 100% flawless.

Do you follow Ultimate Reloader on YouTube? He may have a video or article in his website addressing your issue. Also Dillon (and Hornady) have over the top customer service so maybe call them.

I just reorganized my reloading/gun/work room a week ago

 

[dew4au]

I started with a load master and it drove me out of my mind! Same things you described. I almost went Dillon but liked the Hornady collet system so I went with that. Night and day...though none of them are 100% flawless.

Do you follow Ultimate Reloader on YouTube? He may have a video or article in his website addressing your issue. Also Dillon (and Hornady) have over the top customer service so maybe call them.

I just reorganized my reloading/gun/work room a week ago

That's a fine looking setup! I do follow UR, and I wasn't able to find anything related to my issue. Unfortunately, Gavin is not critical about things that he has in his current videos due to most of the items being sponsored. He's not very transparent about what is, and is not, sponsored content. A good example is is latest Loadmaster video. I loaded with that thing for 8 years and he didn't touch on one single sore point for the press. He even skipped the priming setup in his unboxing / setup video.

I had one small plastic part break and Dillon shipped out a free replacement immediately. I will give them a ring, but it seems like this issue is widespread. There are two or three aftermarket enhancements that fix the issue.

 

[dew4au]

But to be honest when I hear 1911 and HD I cringe a bit.

Same. I started with a 4" 1911 for concealed carry back when I didn't know anything. Then I got training and switched to Glock for anything carry or HD related.

1911's are best suited for the range these days.

 

[Old State]

That's a fine looking setup! I do follow UR, and I wasn't able to find anything related to my issue. Unfortunately, Gavin is not critical about things that he has in his current videos due to most of the items being sponsored. He's not very transparent about what is, and is not, sponsored content. A good example is is latest Loadmaster video. I loaded with that thing for 8 years and he didn't touch on one single sore point for the press. He even skipped the priming setup in his unboxing / setup video.

I had one small plastic part break and Dillon shipped out a free replacement immediately. I will give them a ring, but it seems like this issue is widespread. There are two or three aftermarket enhancements that fix the issue.

Yeah, Gavin doesn’t ever give opinions but sometimes you can read through the lines. Luckily there is a massive following for Dillion so I’m sure you can find a solution. I joined the FB group for Hornady and learned a ton of tips and tricks.

Same. I started with a 4" 1911 for concealed carry back when I didn't know anything. Then I got training and switched to Glock for anything carry or HD related.

1911's are best suited for the range these days.

4” was my first carry as well. I bought this in 2000 when Kimber was making better quality pistols with 70’s Series triggers.

The pistol smith I used for my target 1911 warned me that short 1911s were not as reliable but I didn’t listen. After all everyone on the 1911 forums said they were great. Well I found out the typical person giving feedback on a general forum probably only ran a few boxes of ammo through it with a mag or two. A few stoppages in a couple hundred rounds was considered GTG. Not until I started IDPA and following forums with more serious shooters did a realize I didn’t know what I didn’t know. This gun only runs 100% with full power or +p loads. Reloading for it requires swapping the recoil spring. I messed with different ejectors, springs, etc for a year then gave up.
I’m definitely going to get another 5” but it’s at the bottom of the gun list right now. I’m only buying things that may be hard to get coming up on the election and maybe after. I was intrigued by S&W E Series with an external rather than internal extractor (the Achilles heal of the design). Hilton Yam tested one (5-10K rounds I think) and had issues but I think most were fixed by swapping every spring in the gun to Wolff springs at certain weights. I’ve also considered buying a basic Springfield and taking a 1911 armorers course with it as a base gun and refitting new parts.[/QUOTE]

 

[dew4au]

Yeah, Gavin doesn’t ever give opinions but sometimes you can read through the lines. Luckily there is a massive following for Dillion so I’m sure you can find a solution. I joined the FB group for Hornady and learned a ton of tips and tricks.



4” was my first carry as well. I bought this in 2000 when Kimber was making better quality pistols with 70’s Series triggers.
View attachment 479804

The pistol smith I used for my target 1911 warned me that short 1911s were not as reliable but I didn’t listen. After all everyone on the 1911 forums said they were great. Well I found out the typical person giving feedback on a general forum probably only ran a few boxes of ammo through it with a mag or two. A few stoppages in a couple hundred rounds was considered GTG. Not until I started IDPA and following forums with more serious shooters did a realize I didn’t know what I didn’t know. This gun only runs 100% with full power or +p loads. Reloading for it requires swapping the recoil spring. I messed with different ejectors, springs, etc for a year then gave up.
I’m definitely going to get another 5” but it’s at the bottom of the gun list right now. I’m only buying things that may be hard to get coming up on the election and maybe after. I was intrigued by S&W E Series with an external rather than internal extractor (the Achilles heal of the design). Hilton Yam tested one (5-10K rounds I think) and had issues but I think most were fixed by swapping every spring in the gun to Wolff springs at certain weights. I’ve also considered buying a basic Springfield and taking a 1911 armorers course with it as a base gun and refitting new parts.

[/QUOTE]

Wow. We pretty much had the same experience. I too fell victim to the gun forums touting the Kimber 4" hype. Learned pretty quickly about FTF in 1911s. I could reload for mine without a spring swap, but there were constant reliability issues. I never could throw the chicken bones the way the 1911 forum guys said I needed to get the thing running. It's on the bottom of my list as well, but I was also looking at a basic Springfield 1911 for range time.

 

[Tarheel4Life]

Are 1911s really that unreliable that it’s impossible to get a basic 1911 configuration that consistently works and doesn’t have feed or ejector issues?

 

[WedgeRock]

My Father-in-Law has a $300 Rock Island that is a safe queen, but he's never had a FTE, FTF at the range, AFAIK.

I don't get all the 1911 hate/anti-love.

 

[Old State]

Are 1911s really that unreliable that it’s impossible to get a basic 1911 configuration that consistently works and doesn’t have feed or ejector issues?

It’s not impossible but a crap shoot. Problem with the 1911 is that it was designed originally for round nose military ball ammo as that is all that existed then. If you look at the top round in the magazine it needs to take a sharp angle up and then horizontal to chamber. This can cause issues with modern hollow point ammo. Over the last 60 years manufactures have come up with solutions to address it but it’s still not ideal. Also the internal extractor design is difficult to stayed tuned and can cause extraction issues.

From a manufacturing standpoint they require a lot of hand fitting (Skilled labor) and are expensive to make. Also way too many people make them and their parts. Tolerances are all over the place so nothing is really drop in.
The cost of making them vs what people are willing to pay causes another problem. If you want the handwork needed to make them feed, cycle, extract, and eject all types of ammo you have to pay for it. $400-800 isn’t really going to get you there. The CDP division of IPDA is dominated by 1911s but most of the ones you see in the hands of to top shooters are semi custom or custom pistols in the $1500-4000 range. The ones jamming are the cheap ones

 

[dew4au]

Are 1911s really that unreliable that it’s impossible to get a basic 1911 configuration that consistently works and doesn’t have feed or ejector issues?

It's not impossible at all. You just need to pay a lot of money! When John Browning designed it, guns were made by craftsmen. Parts were carefully fitted to each unit as it was assembled. Modern manufacturing techniques do not typically give a 1911 the attention to detail needed to make it a reliable weapon by modern standards. Also, for most of its history 230 grain FMJ ball ammo was the load that was used. Now people use hollow points of various sizes that are preferred for defense. The problem here is that the rounds are shorter than the 230 grain FMJ rounds and this is one of the causes for FTF.

Some manufacturers put a lot of effort into bridging the gap between early 20th century and modern manufacturing techniques. You pay a lot of money for those manufacturers.

Now consider that you can buy a modern pistol that is more reliable and more capable for less than a third of the cost of a decent 1911. That's why some people hate on 1911s. It seems a bit ridiculous when you think about it that way.

My Father-in-Law has a $300 Rock Island that is a safe queen, but he's never had a FTE, FTF at the range, AFAIK.

I don't get all the 1911 hate/anti-love.

Most safe queen 1911s can come to the range and shoot a box of 230 grain ball ammo with no problems. I've watched people try to shoot 400 rounds in a day with a "nice" 1911. They get lots of practice with FTF and FTE clearance drills

I dont hate 1911s at all. I love them! I just think they are obsolete for modern practical applications.

 

[Old State]

My Father-in-Law has a $300 Rock Island that is a safe queen, but he's never had a FTE, FTF at the range, AFAIK.

I don't get all the 1911 hate/anti-love.

You can get lucky but I have to ask, if it’s a safe queen how well has it been vetted? How many rounds? Does he clean it every range trip? Is this all types of ammo or just round nose? All brands of magazines? 7 and 8 rounders ?
Modern pistols like Glocks, M&Ps, etc have been proven to go 1000s of rounds with minimal or no cleaning or lube. They can basically all do that for around $500
As I’ve mentioned before, hang around IDPA matches or take some pistol classes and you will see for yourself.

 

[Old State]

Even Browning understood the limitations of the 1911 he designed. If you look at John Brownings next pistol, the High Power, he made several design improvements namely going to external extractor and barrel cam rather than a swinging link. These two design feature are still seen in many modern pistols. Browning supposedly thought the High Power was superior. He also removed the grip safety but that was the US Army’s request anyway.

The 1911 has remained so popular because it was the Army’s pistol for 70 years and it has incredible ergonomics. Plus the trigger is unrivaled by anything since. The pistols can be made to be incredibly accurate too.

 

[Trihonda]

Modern pistols like Glocks, M&Ps, etc have been proven to go 1000s of rounds with minimal or no cleaning or lube. They can basically all do that for around $500

Basically this ^.

I would love to have a nice quality 1911 .45, and do own a .22 version from Ruger, but honestly my “gun” money is important to me, and not without limits. I am hard pressed to spend $1500 on something that can be accomplished for $500 (that’s factoring in reliability, accuracy, and quality).

I recently spent $2000+ on a quality AR pistol. And though I could get something reasonable for much less, it would not perform as reliably and smoothly as my more expensive kit. Coupled with the fact it’s purpose is HD, where reliability is paramount.

A $1500 1911 won’t provide me any more confidence in a HD/SD situation than a $500 Glock .45. In fact, I’d argue the Glock is better suited for the task.

But I’ll give you that the 1911’s have a sexy mystique to them. .

 

[Old State]

Anyone looking to buy a serious defensive pistol should search this forum. This is the best forum on the internet hands down. Lots of industry folk and respected instructors frequent it.
https://pistol-forum.com/forum.php

The best AR related but also excellent for any serious use weapons is this one. This website was started back in 2006 originally for LE and ex-military contractors but the membership is open. There are more novice types now but nothing like AR-15.com which is largely mall ninja show and tell types.Use the search bar before posting anything. Also frequented by industry leaders and well respected weapons experts and instructors.
https://www.m4carbine.net/search.php?searchid=3736658

Between those two forums you should be able to get very very good advise from extremely knowledgeable people. Many of which use or have used weapon for work and on “two way” ranges.

 

[Trihonda]

My AR posed for a short photo op... just ordered 1000 decent Quality rounds of 5.56 55g FMJ with a metal ammo can for $430 shipped, from a very reputable website. If anyone wants the link, PM me.

 

[Old State]

My AR posed for a short photo op... just ordered 1000 decent Quality rounds of 5.56 55g FMJ with a metal ammo can for $430 shipped, from a very reputable website. If anyone wants the link, PM me.

View attachment 481808View attachment 481809View attachment 481810View attachment 481811View attachment 481812View attachment 481813

Nice! Did that come with an ambi safety or did you add it?

I’m really considering that new BCM upper receiver for a precision build. I was interested in BCM upper receivers for this anyway because they have a slightly undersized inside diameter for the barrel extension. Requires you to heat it up to get a barrel in but negates the need to bed it or shim it for accuracy. The new design is supposed to be more rigid.

 

[Trihonda]

Did that come with an ambi safety or did you add it?

this was the build kit, as provided by my LGS, and I was told it was factory BCM (Gunfighter this and that, and a bunch of upgrades). The irons and optics were extra, and I installed the light.

heres a LINK to the BCM site with specs. However, I got a newer mk2 upper

 

[Old State]

this was the build kit, as provided by my LGS, and I was told it was factory BCM (Gunfighter this and that, and a bunch of upgrades). The irons and optics were extra, and I installed the light.

heres a LINK to the BCM site with specs. However, I got a newer mk2 upper

I’m thinking the upper was factory assembled. I don’t think BCM puts their white logo on the stripped upper receivers they sell.
I’m interested to hear how it shoots!

 

[Trihonda]

I’m thinking the upper was factory assembled. I don’t think BCM puts their white logo on the stripped upper receivers they sell.
I’m interested to hear how it shoots!

going up to the great north Wisconsin in a week, I’ll let ya know how it shoots... also, I meant to say it was direct that way from BCM in the factory build, not something hobbled together by the LGS. It’s all part of the particular recce mcmr gunfighter package, I think. It’s kinda new, the mark 2 uppers aren’t even on the website Yet.

 

[Old State]

going up to the great north Wisconsin in a week, I’ll let ya know how it shoots... also, I meant to say it was direct that way from BCM in the factory build, not something hobbled together by the LGS. It’s all part of the particular recce mcmr gunfighter package, I think. It’s kinda new, the mark 2 uppers aren’t even on the website Yet.

Oh ok, I through they were for sale ....just sold out with COVID. It’s an interesting concept and I remember a video with Larry Vickers getting one out during their T&E phase.
Edit...they were on sale
https://aimsurplus.com/bcm-mk2-upper-ar-receiver-assembly/

Here is a cool article on them if you didn’t see it.
https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2019/12/17/bcm-mk2-upper-receiver/

 

[Jambine]

Hey, as long as we are not on the subject. Best online vendors for ammo?
My local brick & mortar stores are getting way too expensive.
Specifically pistol ammo, 38 spec, 357 mag, 45 ACP

 

[Sparty]

I’m looking for 300 blackout if anyone has any insight on ammo availability.

 

[trever]

Hey, as long as we are not on the subject. Best online vendors for ammo?
My local brick & mortar stores are getting way too expensive.
Specifically pistol ammo, 38 spec, 357 mag, 45 ACP

If you buy it by the case, targetsportsusa.com is always extremely competitive.

 

[Jambine]

If you buy it by the case, targetsportsusa.com is always extremely competitive.

They do have great prices, even by the box, but not much in stock

 

[BNM]

@JeepologyOffroad View attachment 478639

I'm kinda a 1911 fan....

Holy 1911s, Batman! Over the top 1911 love!

 

[Josh Kifer]

Holy 1911s, Batman! Over the top 1911 love!

I got other ones too. So it's not just 1911s here.

 

[BNM]

Are 1911s really that unreliable that it’s impossible to get a basic 1911 configuration that consistently works and doesn’t have feed or ejector issues?

Can only share my experience, and the answer is "no". Never had a single issue with either of two Kimber 1911s. I would never choose a 1911 as my .45 of choice, but that's a separate issue. You don't have to break the bank for a 1911.

 

[TomC727]

Can only share my experience, and the answer is "no". Never had a single issue with either of two Kimber 1911s. I would never choose a 1911 as my .45 of choice, but that's a separate issue. You don't have to break the bank for a 1911.

I like shooting them and I love the look of them. Why I don’t like shooting them - cleaning them sucks. I find cleaning a 1911 completely miserable.

 

[Sprouty]

I don't clean my guns.....