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.45 acp or 9mm in a 1911.

All of my 1911's have been 45's, 5 in total, but only 1 a the present. My next will be a 9mm Dan Wesson. Unless of course I stumble on to a Dan Wesson 45 first. 😉
I just saw a lnib DW Specialist in duty coat(+200) for 1700. My credit card got nervous lol. Maybe next spring. On a side note Rural King has Tisas gi models on sale for 399, supposed to be a tad better than Rock Islands.
 
I just saw a lnib DW Specialist in duty coat(+200) for 1700. My credit card got nervous lol. Maybe next spring. On a side note Rural King has Tisas gi models on sale for 399, supposed to be a tad better than Rock Islands.
I've been thinking about a Tisas myself. A lgs had a 9mm GI and a 45 Duty that I was able to check out. I went back a couple days later and they were gone. I almost bought the Duty, probably would have if it had still been there. You definitely get a lot for your money.
 

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Too Fugly For Free.
I just saw a lnib DW Specialist in duty coat(+200) for 1700. My credit card got nervous lol. Maybe next spring. On a side note Rural King has Tisas gi models on sale for 399, supposed to be a tad better than Rock Islands.
So far the three Tisas 1911s I bought have been the best 1911s I've owned. Unfortunately my brother-in-law tried my Tisas enhanced carry (commander size) and decided it wasn't enough just taking my little sister he took my 1911 too.

1911-Carry.jpg
 
If it’s your first 1911 then it must be in .45ACP. If you already have one then a 9mm makes perfect sense and would almost certainly be a joy to shoot. No personal experience, I’ve never shot one in 9mm. And like others here, I’m not good at working on my own guns because I’ve never destroyed a part, I’m good because I’ve destroyed 100 and learned from each failure.
The worst was my Hungarian AK build. I took weeks to get all the trunnion holes drilled and fit perfectly, made my own rivet sets, got the trigger guard and trunnions riveted in and smoothed the rails so the bolt slid like it was on oiled glass.
Then proceeded to heat treat the fire control group holes and stress fractured the holes. Had to de mil the whole thing and start from scratch on another new receiver.
 
I own 5 1911's and they're all .45ACP. If I hadn't bought factory ammo when I did or have the supplies and ability to reload .45, I'd probably pick 9mm but not in a 1911. For 9mm, I prefer Sig and Glock. I shoot 9mm more than any other caliber, just in different handguns but I freakin' love the 1911.
 
If it’s your first 1911 then it must be in .45ACP. If you already have one then a 9mm makes perfect sense and would almost certainly be a joy to shoot.
I have to agree too although I'm not a .4x fan. If you have problems with a 9mm 1911, they can be hellish to fix, moreso than a problematic .45 1911.😜

Having said that, properly assembled & tuned, with Wilson mags, they are an absolute dream to shoot!
 
I own several 1911’s. 2 in 45acp, 1 in 45 super, 1 10mm, 1 40s&w, and a 9mm. The 9mm has almost no recoil and is a great range toy, the others accompany me while hunting or road trips. They’re all fun to shoot, but some are better a certain jobs than others.
 
This may be a bit off topic, but I think some of you might find it of interest.

A short while back, I finished a commander build on a Para frame. VERY nice gun with one glitch. Being a Para frame, it was cut for a Para ramped barrel. As I had never done a gunsmith fit ramped barrel in a .45, I approached this with a bit of trepidation, but everything seemed to go well. I was at the range on Tuesday and Wednesday, converting cash to racket and having a nice time in general. While testing the new commander, I discovered that it would not reliably feed Hornady XTP bullets. I got home and after a lot of looking, measuring, checking, and just being anal retentive, I decided to take a file to the ramp and move it forward so I had a bit of a jump from the tiny portion of the feed ramp that was left in the frame to the beginning of the ramp. Then, I re-cut the ramp to drop the origin back down to where it had started out, then re finished it. I also slightly radiused the top edge of the ramp in the frame. The majority of this work was done with files.
The gun now runs with XTP bullets, flawlessly.

These guns are amazingly reliable when they function properly. That being said, this old dog is learning new tricks when dealing with ramped barrels. They are DIFFERENT. They do not conform to the original design and I have found that I need to look at the geometry differently when fitting one. (Looking at the picture, I may take a little time and even out the ramp a bit more, but that would be just to satisfy my sense of aesthetics. The gun runs perfectly as it is.

New_1.jpg


Bill.
 
This may be a bit off topic, but I think some of you might find it of interest.

A short while back, I finished a commander build on a Para frame. VERY nice gun with one glitch. Being a Para frame, it was cut for a Para ramped barrel. As I had never done a gunsmith fit ramped barrel in a .45, I approached this with a bit of trepidation, but everything seemed to go well. I was at the range on Tuesday and Wednesday, converting cash to racket and having a nice time in general. While testing the new commander, I discovered that it would not reliably feed Hornady XTP bullets. I got home and after a lot of looking, measuring, checking, and just being anal retentive, I decided to take a file to the ramp and move it forward so I had a bit of a jump from the tiny portion of the feed ramp that was left in the frame to the beginning of the ramp. Then, I re-cut the ramp to drop the origin back down to where it had started out, then re finished it. I also slightly radiused the top edge of the ramp in the frame. The majority of this work was done with files.
The gun now runs with XTP bullets, flawlessly.

These guns are amazingly reliable when they function properly. That being said, this old dog is learning new tricks when dealing with ramped barrels. They are DIFFERENT. They do not conform to the original design and I have found that I need to look at the geometry differently when fitting one. (Looking at the picture, I may take a little time and even out the ramp a bit more, but that would be just to satisfy my sense of aesthetics. The gun runs perfectly as it is.

View attachment 1526500

Bill.

Famous last words...8mm into the chamber later... :blink:
 
Famous last words...8mm into the chamber later... :blink:

I'm sitting here laughing. I refer to that as the 'learning curve'. I did clean it up and had it to the range yesterday. I put Nosler hollow points, Montana Gold flat points, 230 grain ball, and Hornady XTP bullets through it, using four or five different magazines. It ran flawlessly and I am happy. One more 'skill' earned (although just enough to make me over confident, and probably expensive).
 
I'm sitting here laughing. I refer to that as the 'learning curve'. I did clean it up and had it to the range yesterday. I put Nosler hollow points, Montana Gold flat points, 230 grain ball, and Hornady XTP bullets through it, using four or five different magazines. It ran flawlessly and I am happy. One more 'skill' earned (although just enough to make me over confident, and probably expensive).
AWESOME!😎👍
 
I have both. For me the 1911 is all about the platform, manual of arms...and ooooh, the glorious trigger.

Mine include:
  • Colt, full-size XSE, 45ACP
  • Colt Commander XSE, 45ACP
  • Sig Sauer, full-size, reverse two-tone, 45ACP
  • Kimber Ultra CDP, 45ACP
  • Springfield EMP, 9mm
  • Dan Wesson Operator, 9mm
I think that's it, off the top of my head.

Another of my favorite "non-trditional" hand guns is my stainless steel Ruger single-action wheel gun with bird's head grip, chambered in 45ACP. I love that the cylinder is machined to work without moon clips.
 
I have both, the traditionalist in me thinks a 1911 should be chambered in .45. The common sense part of me loves 9mm for a plethora of reasons. I am thinking of maybe adding a Gold Cup to my regiment later this year. As of right now I have no idea which caliber I would buy.

What do y'all prefer?
I’ll be buying my first 1911 someday. It’ll be in 10mm. Possibly a Ruger.
 
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