THOUGHTS ON A .40 1911?

[SlowPlay]

I'm thinking a nice single stack 1911 in .40 S&W would be something I could use. No particular need, just kind of a range & play gun. Not looking to spend a fortune on one, but not a cheapo either. I know not many think highly of a .40, but I've been shooting them for 25 years. Last .40 1911 was a Colt, been awhile. Don't have any now. Anyway, any good info on current ones?

 

[Mike Elzinga]

Proceed with caution. Ive seen some that ran great and some that didn't. STI Trojans had inherent problems for years. It was a known issue with the way the barrels were fitted, some were ok, and some were junk, as mine was. They may have fixed the problem by now but it always left a bad impression with me. Ive seen several Springfields and a Kimber that ran fine however.

 

[partyboy6686]

I shoot USPSA and am seeing more people shoot 40cal 1911's to consolidate calibers. I have heard of the past problems with the STI Trojans but they seem to work fine now.

 

[Dean C.]

NO!!! One of my good friends owns and operates a gun shop, he told me that if I ever bought a .40 1911 be prepared to ship it off to a gunsmith to get the damn thing to work. I would stick with 9MM or 45 for a 1911 albeit 38 super is still very viable.

 

[Hoosier45]

I have a Kimber Classic Stainless Target and Kimber Pro Carry both in .40. Both have run fine for me, but I will admit to not having many rounds through either. When I grab a 1911, it is usually a .45.

 

[throttletony]

a tentative yes, for competition, otherwise no.
--the biggest advantage is capacity, but that is negated in a single stack

on the other hand, why not? You can always sell if u dont like.

 

[Beowulf]

A buddy of mine had a Springfield EMP 1911 in .40 and had nothing but problems with it. He sent it back to them several times and they wanted to charge him for the repairs. I would definitely avoid one of those.

Though, honestly, I just avoid .40 S&W anyway. 9mm and .45 do everything I need and I don't need another caliber cluttering up my ammo shelves.

 

[Leo]

With 8 shot magazines so available for .45, there is no capacity advantage with the .40 in single stack. Even the double stack only gets you two more rounds. My Para 16.40 is a double stack that runs great, and I like it. That pistol has a full ramp barrel, I do not know if that is why it runs so good.

If I only had .40 S&W and I wanted a 1911, I would definately look into one. The .40 is an ok round, but the .45 acp had a 90 year head start with popularity, hard to beat that.

I'll heard a guy who seemed to know what he was talking about at an IPSC match. He said the 1911 frame was designed for a 1.25" cartridge. He claimed that if you bought round nosed .40 bullets and loaded them 1.25" long they would always feed in a 1911 frame. He might have the answer. (I bought a 1000 round nose 180 grain .40 bullets just in case but never needed to do that)

My 9mm 1911 feeds fine using magazines that have a spacer welded in the back that locates the bullet nose in the same position in the frame as a .45 bullet would be. The early magazines did not have that spacer and were more troublesome.

 

[Grelber]

I shoot USPSA and am seeing more people shoot 40cal 1911's to consolidate calibers. I have heard of the past problems with the STI Trojans but they seem to work fine now.

If I was going to shoot USPSA single stack regularly I'd sell my 45 & go with 40. Still major power factor but 9 round magazines instead of 8 and better prices for brass & lead.

What I did instead was go with a 2011 40 (ok by now it is more than one, they are addictive). Same everything as a 1911 but a wider grip which fits my hands better (I've actually bought 2011 sized grips & installed them on my 45 1911) and 18 + 1 capacity. For plinking or idpa or USPSA minor you can load 40's to feel like a 9, for USPSA major or hunting or self defense you can load or buy them pretty sporty.

Do not know about past reliability issues, but since the double stack guns run very well I don't know of a reason why the single stacks would not do the same.

 

[Mgderf]

I don't know if it would be something that interests you, but my steel framed .40S&W "Baby Eagle" from Magnum Research runs like a top.
I've never had a malfunction with it.
It's a CZ clone.

 

[Twangbanger]

I've been researching what you're thinking about, and magazines seem to be an issue. I have read that many 1911 .40 mags are just re-purposed 10mm mags, and this is part of the issue with feeding (the .40 round is shorter, and some brands of 10mm mags won't feed it well in unmodified form). I have also read on Enos that Chip McCormick 45 mags will feed .40 well. This is all secondhand repeated info, so take it for what it's worth.

I eventually decided against this course of action because the component cost advantage over .45 is not compelling to me. But if I were also running a .40 Limited Major gun, and wanted to shoot Single Stack also, it would definitely appeal to me from a component supply standpoint.

 

[Trigger Time]

The .40 is a pointless round. It will eventually go away . So no I wouldn't be a fan of a 1911 in it

 

[Grelber]

The .40 is a pointless round. It will eventually go away . So no I wouldn't be a fan of a 1911 in it

It is off topic, but does anyone know what gun sales volume by caliber looks like right now?

9's are probably a long way in the lead, beyond that I think 40's are outselling the 45's (guns in general not 1911's) but this is just an observation thing & may be wrong.

Would hate it if any of the big 3 fell away and I suspect I'll be dead long before it happens, but cost hurts the 45 and those of us that have the most sentiment for that caliber are not getting any younger.

 

[Amishman44]

I'm thinking a nice single stack 1911 in .40 S&W would be something I could use. No particular need, just kind of a range & play gun. Not looking to spend a fortune on one, but not a cheapo either. I know not many think highly of a .40, but I've been shooting them for 25 years. Last .40 1911 was a Colt, been awhile. Don't have any now. Anyway, any good info on current ones?

I'd be a bit leary....the 1911 is designed to run on .45 acp...but the 9mm works (feeds and performs) quite well as well. I would probably stay away from a 1911 in .40 from the feed viewpoint (some issues depending on the ammo...JHP's tend to NOT feed as well) and for the power factor (frame beat-up.)

I used to be against 9mm as a home/personal protection round...but if you research the various rounds, there are some I like for home/personal defense nowadays. In a 5" 1911...a few of these would get you an accurate round delivering more than adequate levels of penetration.
1. Buffalo Bore
2. Hornady's XTP
3. Federal's 124 grain JHP +P+
4. Littleston's Ammo in the 124 grain Sierra JHP version (pretty hot)
5. Etc.

 

[Amishman44]

The .40 is a pointless round. It will eventually go away . So no I wouldn't be a fan of a 1911 in it

While it may be 'pointless' to a few...the people who own company's that're making .40 ammo sure are living well!

 

[AllenM]

I have a 1911Commander in 40. It runs just fine

 

[g+16]

I have a springfield XDM that runs great

 

[ejevans45]

I recently bought a used Springfield 1911 full size in .40 and totally enjoy it. It has fed every factory length ammo I have and my lead reloads as well. No problems at all. I have 2 metalform mags in 40 that came with it but mostly use my stash of wilson 47d. 45 mags. I don't have any issues with the wilson mags feeding factory .40 ammo at all. The Wilson's will also fit 9 rounds of the 40.

 

[88E30M50]

I've toyed with fitting a .40 barrel to my 10mm Delta Elite for cheaper shooting. Actually, not so much cheaper, but just more relaxed shooting. I hate leaving a range with less 10mm cases than I arrived with but have no problem walking away from .40 brass if it's scattered around under snow.

 

[NHT3]

Personally, for me, an answer to a question that no one asked.

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