1911 9mm Recommendations

[Expat]

As for mine, when I get around to it in several months, I'll be a bit more picky. I'll be happy to go with a higher quality, maybe custom built one.

If I had the money, I would have gotten this instead of the Colt.
https://www.lesbaer.com/BlackBaer.html

 

[rhino]

The RO is one that's in consideration. Not sure if you read the first post here or not. This pistol is not for me, mine will come later. There's been lots of recommendations but little in the way of details on WHY those are recommended and what makes them better than the others (besides the normal "I have it and like it").

I need to take her someplace that she can actually put her hands on these guns and shoot them if possible. I need to be able to tell her why one is better than the other and what justifies the price between them. From what I've learned there aren't many places that have 9mm 1911's for rent. It's almost 2 hours for me to get to Indy plus the trek across town to all the usual haunts. She's not going to go wandering from place to place at random even if I'm the one to drive.

Phone calls will be happening this week to see if any shops have one to rent.

Okay, I'll be more specific. I've owned five 9mm 1911s and shot several more than that. I have over 30,000 rounds through my first (don't shoot it much anymore) and probably 40-50,000 rounds total shot through 9mm 1911s. I've seen a lot of them in matches where they are pushed harder than what most people do at a shooting range.

I would go with Springfield Armory, either the Range Officer or Loaded. Here are the reasons:

1. Based on my own experience, you're more likely to get a gun that functions properly than other makes in the same price range or lower.
2. Based on observing others shoot them and run them hard, the Springfield guns tend to be the most reliable. There are quite a few USPSA and IDPA shooters in Indiana who shoot Range Officers in 9mm and most of them function very well.
3. The 9-rd magazines that come with it (designed by Rob Leatham and made by Metalform) are the most reliable 9mm 1911 magazines on the market. There are 10 round mags that are good, but if a gun does not function with the 9-rd Metalform/Springfield mags, there is something wrong with the gun (they're the 9mm equivalent of the Wilson 47D to .45ACP 1911s).
4. If you choose to customize, most people who work on 1911s will gladly work on a Springfield. That is not true of some other brands.
5. The Springfield guns do not have firing pin blocks in them, which eliminates potential issues with those parts. Colt's and some of the others have either Series 80 or Swartz-style firing pin blocks. Usually they work fine, but when they don't they can be tough to fix. More importantly, they are not necessary.
6. The investment is less than an STI Trojan or similar.

 

[long coat]

I like my RO. I need to get the rear sight changed out because it puts holes in my shirts. I have already rounded the rear sight off, but it still does it.
When I picked mine up they didn't make the RO in SS, now they do and I would love to swap it out for a SS one.

If you can't find one to rent, my offer still stands. My parents live in Anderson and I can meet you around there if you can find a place to shoot it.

 

[88E30M50]

Okay, I'll be more specific. I've owned five 9mm 1911s and shot several more than that. I have over 30,000 rounds through my first (don't shoot it much anymore) and probably 40-50,000 rounds total shot through 9mm 1911s. I've seen a lot of them in matches where they are pushed harder than what most people do at a shooting range.

I would go with Springfield Armory, either the Range Officer or Loaded. Here are the reasons:

1. Based on my own experience, you're more likely to get a gun that functions properly than other makes in the same price range or lower.
2. Based on observing others shoot them and run them hard, the Springfield guns tend to be the most reliable. There are quite a few USPSA and IDPA shooters in Indiana who shoot Range Officers in 9mm and most of them function very well.
3. The 9-rd magazines that come with it (designed by Rob Leatham and made by Metalform) are the most reliable 9mm 1911 magazines on the market. There are 10 round mags that are good, but if a gun does not function with the 9-rd Metalform/Springfield mags, there is something wrong with the gun (they're the 9mm equivalent of the Wilson 47D to .45ACP 1911s).
4. If you choose to customize, most people who work on 1911s will gladly work on a Springfield. That is not true of some other brands.
5. The Springfield guns do not have firing pin blocks in them, which eliminates potential issues with those parts. Colt's and some of the others have either Series 80 or Swartz-style firing pin blocks. Usually they work fine, but when they don't they can be tough to fix. More importantly, they are not necessary.
6. The investment is less than an STI Trojan or similar.

That's good info Rhino! I just picked up a Colt O1992 full size govt 9mm 1911. So far, so good with mine, but with a sample size of one and less than 200 rounds down the pipe, it's not a useful measure. I may look into modifying it to a series 70 spec down the road, but for now, it's nothing more than a cheap range toy. Good to know regarding the mags.

 

[rhino]

That's good info Rhino! I just picked up a Colt O1992 full size govt 9mm 1911. So far, so good with mine, but with a sample size of one and less than 200 rounds down the pipe, it's not a useful measure. I may look into modifying it to a series 70 spec down the road, but for now, it's nothing more than a cheap range toy. Good to know regarding the mags.

If your Colt works well, you're GOLDEN! I wouldn't touch the Series 80 parts if they work (other than to clean). They won't noticeably affect the trigger work if you have someone do it that knows what they're doing.

If you like 10rd mags, I've had the best luck by far with the Metalform 10rd. I have a bunch of the Wilson ETM 10rd, but they sit too high in my RO and impede the slide from cycling normally. They work okay in the Loaded, but you can feel the slide slowing down. I have one MecGar 10rd that also works well in all of my guns.

 

[88E30M50]

This is my first 9mm 1911 and I'm hoping for the best. All of my 1911s have been in .45 except one Delta Elite. I'm starting to understand that reliability in a 9mm 1911 is not as much a given as it is in the .45 1911 world. Lots to learn with this new one, but I've had zero failures in the first 180-ish rounds, so I'm hopeful.

 

[AngryRooster]

Thank you both very much. This is the kind of stuff I've been looking for. +6 completely neutral broken rep incoming.

Okay, I'll be more specific. I've owned five 9mm 1911s and shot several more than that. I have over 30,000 rounds through my first (don't shoot it much anymore) and probably 40-50,000 rounds total shot through 9mm 1911s. I've seen a lot of them in matches where they are pushed harder than what most people do at a shooting range.

I would go with Springfield Armory, either the Range Officer or Loaded. Here are the reasons:

1. Based on my own experience, you're more likely to get a gun that functions properly than other makes in the same price range or lower.
2. Based on observing others shoot them and run them hard, the Springfield guns tend to be the most reliable. There are quite a few USPSA and IDPA shooters in Indiana who shoot Range Officers in 9mm and most of them function very well.
3. The 9-rd magazines that come with it (designed by Rob Leatham and made by Metalform) are the most reliable 9mm 1911 magazines on the market. There are 10 round mags that are good, but if a gun does not function with the 9-rd Metalform/Springfield mags, there is something wrong with the gun (they're the 9mm equivalent of the Wilson 47D to .45ACP 1911s).
4. If you choose to customize, most people who work on 1911s will gladly work on a Springfield. That is not true of some other brands.
5. The Springfield guns do not have firing pin blocks in them, which eliminates potential issues with those parts. Colt's and some of the others have either Series 80 or Swartz-style firing pin blocks. Usually they work fine, but when they don't they can be tough to fix. More importantly, they are not necessary.
6. The investment is less than an STI Trojan or similar.

I was wondering about those mags. I saw another post where someone was having problems with the Metalforms from Brownells. I went to Brownells and looked around. They had several, including Wilsons, Metalform, & McCormick. I was unaware that the Metalforms were the factory mag and best of the breed. I would have ordered the Wilsons since I run the 47D in my 45's.

The new Ruger is a series 70 action as well. No firing pin block. I don't really think it would matter to April as much as long as the trigger isn't gritty.

I like my RO. I need to get the rear sight changed out because it puts holes in my shirts. I have already rounded the rear sight off, but it still does it.
When I picked mine up they didn't make the RO in SS, now they do and I would love to swap it out for a SS one.

If you can't find one to rent, my offer still stands. My parents live in Anderson and I can meet you around there if you can find a place to shoot it.

This is something I'll have to let her know to keep an eye on. If it starts to cause wear on clothing or purse then she can look at other sites.





After she reads through here and checks out the videos she will have a better understanding between the two of them. It sounds like the Range Officer would be the better way to go for the price difference between them.

 

[bigretic]

I got a new Colt completion 1911 in 9mm. Love it.

 

[AngryRooster]

A bit of an update.

A HUGE thank you to GNRPowdeR for getting us hooked up with a Springfield RO to try out. We got it to the range and put a few hundred rounds through it. There were a couple of physical differences between the Ruger and the RO.

The Ruger (45) has vertical grooves in the front strap, the RO is smooth.
The Ruger thumb safety is a little more straight, the RO takes a bit of a dip at the tip of it. With her long fingers the Ruger was more comfortable to use.
The grip safety on the RO is much more pronounced at the bottom than the Ruger. While shooting she said it felt like it was digging into her palm.
The RO seems to have a 6 o'clock hold where as the Ruger was POA/POI.
The rear sight in the Ruger was a little wider.
She liked the disassembly of the Ruger better than the RO.



After all was said and done she decided she liked the Ruger a little better. She ordered it and after a small snafu at the distributor it came in. We were able to get it to the range a couple of weekends ago. There are a couple of differences between the 45 and the 9mm.

The 9mm has a smooth front strap instead of the vertical grooves, she knew this and liked the smooth better.
The Ruger seems to use the exact same sights as the 45 and does not shoot to POA, at least with 115's.


There were a few feeding problems, several FTF's. It seemed the ammo was either weak or it needed a slightly stronger recoil spring. The slide failed to close all the way several times. A quick bump with the thumb closed it. It happened across several shooters using WWB 115, RWS 124's & and some of my ammo. We took it apart and gave it a wipe down and some fresh lube. Used EWG (only thing I had with me) on the rails and it seemed to help but not eliminate the problem. I didn't have any 147's with me to try out, that's next along with a recoil pack from Wolff.

The gun came with two 9 round mags. She's looking forward to getting a couple 10 rounders with a base pad so it's easier to seat the mags. The rounds are tight in the mags and since it's a flush fit there were a couple of times the mag didn't seat all the way when slapped in.

Overall she's happy with the gun and ready for more practice when time allows. It was kind of rough for her & her daughter to practice with. The weather was crappy & cold so we went to the indoor range. The range is 17 yards from the bench to the targets and there is no option to shorten that. Kind of harsh for 2 people that have probably fired less than 100 rounds in their life before this process started. There's a lot to work on. Once the weather gets nicer we'll hit the outdoor range where we can move targets around.

 

[churchmouse]

AR........WWB ia crap ammo. It runs dirty and goes "Pop" when you need it to go "Bang"

In my experience with both models the RO is a better made gun all around. I have an SR1911 and it needed some work to get it right.

Tell her to grip the gun better and maybe the failure to chamber issue will go away.

 

[AngryRooster]

AR........WWB ia crap ammo. It runs dirty and goes "Pop" when you need it to go "Bang"

In my experience with both models the RO is a better made gun all around. I have an SR1911 and it needed some work to get it right.

Tell her to grip the gun better and maybe the failure to chamber issue will go away.

A much wider variety of ammo is on the list for the next time around. Once the weather warms up and I don't need a parka in to barn to reload then I'll be making some 147's to try as well. We had 5 of us at the range. April & her daughter were the only ones with minor to no experience. We all got the same results.

IIRC it comes with a 10# recoil spring. That seems quite light to me. Wolff says 16# for a 9mm commander. Pulling the slide on her gun feels almost like a CCP. If we have any more problems at all with different ammo then we're going to up the spring weight. Also ran across this as well. Same problem.

Shooting The Ruger SR1911 LW 9mm | Down Range TV

 

[churchmouse]

A much wider variety of ammo is on the list for the next time around. Once the weather warms up and I don't need a parka in to barn to reload then I'll be making some 147's to try as well. We had 5 of us at the range. April & her daughter were the only ones with minor to no experience. We all got the same results.

IIRC it comes with a 10# recoil spring. That seems quite light to me. Wolff says 16# for a 9mm commander. Pulling the slide on her gun feels almost like a CCP. If we have any more problems at all with different ammo then we're going to up the spring weight. Also ran across this as well. Same problem.

Shooting The Ruger SR1911 LW 9mm | Down Range TV

No time now but I will review this later. Thanks.

 

[Expat]

I would hate to buy a new pistol and have to start changing springs in it to get it to run properly.
I only have about a hundred rounds through my LW Commander (9mm) but no function problems so far.

I hope you get it sorted out.

 

[Hopper]

A much wider variety of ammo is on the list for the next time around. Once the weather warms up and I don't need a parka in to barn to reload then I'll be making some 147's to try as well. We had 5 of us at the range. April & her daughter were the only ones with minor to no experience. We all got the same results.

IIRC it comes with a 10# recoil spring. That seems quite light to me. Wolff says 16# for a 9mm commander. Pulling the slide on her gun feels almost like a CCP. If we have any more problems at all with different ammo then we're going to up the spring weight. Also ran across this as well. Same problem.

Shooting The Ruger SR1911 LW 9mm | Down Range TV

Rooster - please see my post on the first page of this thread. While I didn't have any trouble running my SR1911 9mm with the factory setup, I did find the slide to be "lazy" during cycling with the factory 10# recoil spring. I went with a 14# recoil spring, and found it to be a huge improvement in the way it allowed the slide to cycle with more authority. I also tried a 16# spring, which was too stiff, and resulted in some of the FTE/FTF issues you are reporting, so I went back to the 14# spring.

I had run across something saying the 16# spring in a 9mm commander was the way to go, but for me, which was backed up by further investigating, the 14# spring was the ticket.

 

[42769vette]

AR........WWB ia crap ammo. It runs dirty and goes "Pop" when you need it to go "Bang"

Ill just leave this alone. I think you know where Im going with it.

 

[AngryRooster]

Rooster - please see my post on the first page of this thread. While I didn't have any trouble running my SR1911 9mm with the factory setup, I did find the slide to be "lazy" during cycling with the factory 10# recoil spring. I went with a 14# recoil spring, and found it to be a huge improvement in the way it allowed the slide to cycle with more authority. I also tried a 16# spring, which was too stiff, and resulted in some of the FTE/FTF issues you are reporting, so I went back to the 14# spring.

I had run across something saying the 16# spring in a 9mm commander was the way to go, but for me, which was backed up by further investigating, the 14# spring was the ticket.

I remember seeing that. It is indeed a lazy cycle. Shooting it felt like slow motion. Press trigger, instant bang, wait....wait....slide closes. Normally everything happens in such a quick flow it seems like one action. With this there was distinct steps to it that you could actually discern as it happened. It was like watching Neo get shot.

The 14# is what we had in mind. We had my 45 with us so we tried that spring, IIRC it's an 18# spring so it turned it into a single shot. The slide cycled enough to say that it moved before it closed on the empty case again.

 

[whatwehavehere]

With those long fingers you mentioned, she may prefer a double stack. I have the armscor/rock island 9mm/22tcm combo double stack and am very satisfied.

 

[Hopper]

The 14# is what we had in mind. We had my 45 with us so we tried that spring, IIRC it's an 18# spring so it turned it into a single shot. The slide cycled enough to say that it moved before it closed on the empty case again.

Good deal. I got a Wolff commander spring pack from Midway with a variety of weights, since I didn't know for sure at the time what I do now. I believe Midway sells inidividual 14# springs, with one of the options being a "variable" spring. I'd have to ask Churchmouse to comment on the variable style spring... the idea makes sense to me, but I have no firsthand experience with it.

I'm not necessarily a fan of Wolff, but it works, and was what I could find quickly at the time. There might be much better 14# commander spring offerings from other sources, like maybe Wilson Combat, or Apex?

 

[churchmouse]

Ill just leave this alone. I think you know where Im going with it.

Yeah I know.

 

[churchmouse]

Good deal. I got a Wolff commander spring pack from Midway with a variety of weights, since I didn't know for sure at the time what I do now. I believe Midway sells inidividual 14# springs, with one of the options being a "variable" spring. I'd have to ask Churchmouse to comment on the variable style spring... the idea makes sense to me, but I have no firsthand experience with it.

I'm not necessarily a fan of Wolff, but it works, and was what I could find quickly at the time. There might be much better 14# commander spring offerings from other sources, like maybe Wilson Combat, or Apex?

I pretty much use the straight weight springs. Easier for me to tune the gun.