Just shot my first 1911 today....

[churchmouse]

I have actually been thinking of carrying my 1911 instead of my Shield. But I want more time in and out of the holster before I do that. I'll admit, I am a little concerned about carrying cocked and locked. I just need more practice to make sure I never inadvertently flip the safety off somehow while it's holstered.

That is the only thing preventing me from making the switch now. Oh, and a holster!

I carry in a Serpa. Many people are not on board with that holster.
Muscle memory. Pure and simple. Put it in the holster cocked/locked and leave it alone. If your safety is not properly fit and loose then get that looked at. It should take the proper effort from your thumb to disengage.
You know some people that will take care of this if need be.

 

[Doublehelix]

I have actually been thinking of carrying my 1911 instead of my Shield. But I want more time in and out of the holster before I do that. I'll admit, I am a little concerned about carrying cocked and locked. I just need more practice to make sure I never inadvertently flip the safety off somehow while it's holstered.

That is the only thing preventing me from making the switch now. Oh, and a holster!

When I first started carrying in Condition 1 ("cocked and locked") a few years ago with my Sig P938, I have to admit that it was kind of weird, but once I got used to it, it is as natural as walking now. A 1911 also has a grip safety which is lacking in my P938, so that provides even another layer of protection.

 

[gmcttr]

...Not much you can do to a G**** that is nearly as rewarding....

But you can't stipple a 1911 with a soldering iron.

Still recommending 45acp for the OP's first 1911.

 

[gregkl]

I carry in a Serpa. Many people are not on board with that holster.
Muscle memory. Pure and simple. Put it in the holster cocked/locked and leave it alone. If your safety is not properly fit and loose then get that looked at. It should take the proper effort from your thumb to disengage.
You know some people that will take care of this if need be.

On your earlier post, I too can't leave stuff alone, especially when it comes to cars. I am a natural tinkerer, DIY'r, and finally at my age a craftsman when it comes to woodworking and home renovation.

My safety seems to "snick" in and out pretty good. I have been thinking I should get that "loose slide" tightened up, but I only feel like that when I'm around certain people.

Ah, the grip safety! I should be called Mr. Obvious, lol. That moves up my desire to switch sooner to the 1911 for carry. I know enough to keep my finger out of the trigger guard on the draw and until I'm on target so that part is ingrained pretty good.

 

[Dddrees]

So ***I hear ya shot your first .45 *** good on ya man .

I also hear you're having trepidation handling the soul stealing power of the only pistol caliber worth shooting . Don't worry man *** handling that much awesome in your hands is always intimidating at first .

Dare I say , many a pivotal battle have been fought that changed the course of wars .

Indeed , many an awe inspiring feat can be directly attributed to GODS chosen caliber .

There's just one little misunderstanding , it isn't the caliber giving you issues .

It's the umm , the "platform" .

You see , the much fawned over 1911 is an overly complicated , heavy , antique design with limited capacity and unless you spend as much or more on " fine tuning " the umm "weapon" , they tend to have questionable reliability .

Ya hear the latest NRA news on the 1911 subject ? just saying .

Not to mention much of their allure as a typical American sidearm , no "the American side arm of choice " has been propagandized into the American psyche thanks to Hollywood .

Have ya tried GODS chosen .45 platform ?

You see , GOD himself seen fit to bless Mr. Glock with the ultimate warfighter's pistol design .

By gracing him with HIS immortal wisdom Mr. Glock was deeply honored to bring forth through immaculate conception , the physical manifestation of the one true , perfect weapon .

That's one way to look at it but then again some are also fine with a Timex vs a Rolex or sneakers vs dress shoes. Personally I prefer a real nice pair of leather shoes, a good mechanical watch, and a 1911 thank you very much.

 

[indiucky]

That's one way to look at it but then again some are also fine with a Timex vs a Rolex or sneakers vs dress shoes. Personally I prefer a real nice pair of leather shoes, a good mechanical watch, and a 1911 thank you very much.

Word....

 

[bobzilla]

I mean, who looks at a G***k and thinks "Damn, that is one beautiful piece of destructive art right there"? No one. It's an ugly tool that does what it's supposed to do (unless it blows up), The 1911 was designed in a day when beauty was also important and it shows. Still a useful tool, still kills things that need killing. It just looks good while doing it.

 

[Benp]

I have a SA RO in 9mm and love it. I don't believe I've shot one in any other caliber, but I love the way it feels. IMO, the 9mm has plenty of stopping power ability and I enjoy that platform. If I were you then I would try renting one, or borrowing one so that you could try it out because there is nothing like your own opinion to help you make a decision.

 

[CraigAPS]

So ***I hear ya shot your first .45 *** good on ya man .

I also hear you're having trepidation handling the soul stealing power of the only pistol caliber worth shooting . Don't worry man *** handling that much awesome in your hands is always intimidating at first .

Dare I say , many a pivotal battle have been fought that changed the course of wars .

Indeed , many an awe inspiring feat can be directly attributed to GODS chosen caliber .

There's just one little misunderstanding , it isn't the caliber giving you issues .

It's the umm , the "platform" .

You see , the much fawned over 1911 is an overly complicated , heavy , antique design with limited capacity and unless you spend as much or more on " fine tuning " the umm "weapon" , they tend to have questionable reliability .

Ya hear the latest NRA news on the 1911 subject ? just saying .

Not to mention much of their allure as a typical American sidearm , no "the American side arm of choice " has been propagandized into the American psyche thanks to Hollywood .

Have ya tried GODS chosen .45 platform ?

You see , GOD himself seen fit to bless Mr. Glock with the ultimate warfighter's pistol design .

By gracing him with HIS immortal wisdom Mr. Glock was deeply honored to bring forth through immaculate conception , the physical manifestation of the one true , perfect weapon .

Good lord. Only a matter of time.
The 1911 is one of the most simple designs out there. The ignition controls compared to a G**** and especially a CZ are so simple. Not much there to go wrong.
Nothing and I will repeat nothing is perfect. Nothing. I ran 1911's un-molested for years and years and could count from memory the failures and most were ammo and mag related. I did say most.
Believe as you will. G**** is a piece of plastic that has no allure. No soul IMHO.
Oh they work OK. I never wish to have one pointed at me. I also never wish to be very close to one that is Ill handled. They seem to go off on their own a lot. Ask the owners......Damn thing just went off.

I do not think I have ever seen a thread where a person was that excited after running a G****. But you see them all the time about my favorite.....1911's.

Personally I would rather this young man pick up a CZ over the G****. But in the end we will all have our favorites.

If you like-em run-em.

While I cannot deny the fact that Glocks are good at what they do, I will never own one (so, don't worry CM!). I know it shouldn't be a factor, but I find them to be hideous. They're blocky, and they all look exactly the same! I have shot a couple, a 34 and a (forgive me, I can't think of the model) sub-compact 9mm. They just did nothing for me. They didn't feel good in my hands. That is one of the most important things for me. It has to fit in my vienna sausages for fingers hands. I'm not sure if it was the finger grooves or the fact that they were set up for the owner or what, but they felt out of place, if that makes sense at all. Don't get me wrong, I understand that all 1911s have the same basic shape, but each one can be customized to be a little different than the rest. They can be made to express who the owner is. To straight up steal from CM, they can have souls! Glocks, to me, are pretty much the same. Sure, one can augment/drastically change the grips (be it stipling or grip tape or merely undercutting the trigger guard or grinding down the finger grooves), but a Glock is a Glock. As far as reliability and the so-called "perfection" is concerned, Glocks are perfect once you fix the grips (as above), change the trigger, recoil springs, guide rod, and, possibly, the barrel, then you've got a fantastic gun (that cost a few hundred more than the tag)! But, then again, to some, a 1911 is a 1911 and they pretty much look the same too. Maybe I'm just talking out of my rear because I just hate the way Glocks look.

 

[CraigAPS]

Op - I'm late to the thread, but after reading through it, I see that you're toying with the idea of one in 9mm. It does make for affordable fun on a beautiful platform, and 9mm can be had far and wide these days... I even saw recently where brass-cased Federal cosst the same as aluminum-cased Federal. Wow.

I have a S&W 1911 SC-E commander with the round butt that I use to sling 45, and it's so far been top notch. For 9mm, I picked up one of the new Ruger SR1911 models in 9mm last fall, and so far it hasn't given me a single issue. As for recoil, it's almost like shooting a squirt gun, and pretty accurate too. Sorry for the bad cell phone pic... the only things I've done to it was to swap out the black rubber grips for wood, and replaced the factory 10# recoil spring with a 14# spring to get rid of lazy slide cycling.

FWIW, this now goes into my range bag EVERY time. So much fun to shoot, and easy to shoot well.

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That's kind of the one I'm leaning toward right now but in the full size. This may be something I put off until tax time next year and just take some time to research more and see if I can get out and shoot some others or at least get my mitts on some and see how they fit in hand. I love those grips, by the way. Do they give you problems slipping with so little checkering?

 

[CraigAPS]

I have actually been thinking of carrying my 1911 instead of my Shield. But I want more time in and out of the holster before I do that. I'll admit, I am a little concerned about carrying cocked and locked. I just need more practice to make sure I never inadvertently flip the safety off somehow while it's holstered.

That is the only thing preventing me from making the switch now. Oh, and a holster!

I carry in a Serpa. Many people are not on board with that holster.
Muscle memory. Pure and simple. Put it in the holster cocked/locked and leave it alone. If your safety is not properly fit and loose then get that looked at. It should take the proper effort from your thumb to disengage.
You know some people that will take care of this if need be.

I'm not going to lie, the "Cocked ad Locked" kind of worries me, too. The Kimber I tried out had a safety that was really easy to take off, or at least it seemed easy. I'm large man, and the thought of the safety being inadvertently knocked off while moving around definitely crossed my mind.

 

[rugertoter]

Went to the range with my dad today. I decided to rent a 1911 just for the heck of it. Neither my dad nor I had shot one before, nor had either of us shot a .45 before. Wow! It was such a great shooter. Felt great in the hand. The recoil was surprisingly not as bad as I thought it would be. Just fantastic! And, sadly, now I want one. I blame INGO for this. Had I never found this site, I would never have thought about what I was missing.

Now your screwed....well, at least your bank account will be.

 

[CraigAPS]

Now your screwed....well, at least your bank account will be.

Not until I have enough to buy one! Until that time, I'll feel rich!!

 

[Hopper]

That's kind of the one I'm leaning toward right now but in the full size. This may be something I put off until tax time next year and just take some time to research more and see if I can get out and shoot some others or at least get my mitts on some and see how they fit in hand. I love those grips, by the way. Do they give you problems slipping with so little checkering?

Good question. Since this is the 9mm SR1911, there's really not enough recoil to feel like the grips are slippery at all. The 9mm SR1911 currently is available only in commander length like I have, not in full size... if you want full size, that'll be in 45 ACP, and it will come with some decent thin Ruger wood grips that look to me like they have good checkering.

Depending what you decide to do, with you being in Muncie, you can have my stock black rubber grips if you decide you don't like the factory wood. The rubber grips that came on mine are nice and reasonably grippy.

 

[CraigAPS]

Good question. Since this is the 9mm SR1911, there's really not enough recoil to feel like the grips are slippery at all. The 9mm SR1911 currently is available only in commander length like I have, not in full size... if you want full size, that'll be in 45 ACP, and it will come with some decent thin Ruger wood grips that look to me like they have good checkering.

Depending what you decide to do, with you being in Muncie, you can have my stock black rubber grips if you decide you don't like the factory wood. The rubber grips that came on mine are nice and reasonably grippy.

You're right.I didn't make myself clear. I'm currently leaning toward the 5" in .45.

I appreciate the offer, but I love the look of wood rather than rubber. It just looks right to me. I love the way the wings wrap around on the ones you're using. That's really cool!

 

[halfmileharry]

You shot your first 1911?
That's just mean.

 

[DocIndy]

1911s will grow in numbers once one makes it into your safe. My 5" .45 created a "need" for a Carry-comp .45. Then I "needed" to add a 9mm Commander since I already had other 9mms and piles of ammo. Now those 3 have expressed interest in a high capacity 2011 in 10mm to keep them company. (AllenM is currently helping fill this void.) And that 10mm has asked for the 2011 frame in the safe to be a 38 Super. You need to have a lot of self control or it can get expensive fast..... ask me how I know!

 

[churchmouse]

1911s will grow in numbers once one makes it into your safe. My 5" .45 created a "need" for a Carry-comp .45. Then I "needed" to add a 9mm Commander since I already had other 9mms and piles of ammo. Now those 3 have expressed interest in a high capacity 2011 in 10mm to keep them company. (AllenM is currently helping fill this void.) And that 10mm has asked for the 2011 frame in the safe to be a 38 Super. You need to have a lot of self control or it can get expensive fast..... ask me how I know!

I have not seen you at the meetings Doc.....

 

[Gluemanz28]

I have not seen you at the meetings Doc.....

Thats because he is still in denial. The road to recovery is admitting you have a problem.

I don't have a problem either..... really I don't. I can quit anytime I want.

You guys just have no self control.

I'm off to the classifieds, bye.

 

[Trapper Jim]

You should try out for The 1911 45 Club!