James Yeager: 1911's suck

[goinggreyfast]

He lost me when he slammed the XD's. Loser! Just sayin...

Dang! I just ran out of popcorn!!!

 

[vwarren]

first off I love my 1911.
however I have seen more 1911's not work right out of the box than have worked right.
I think there are too many manufacuters trying to make a 1911.

I trust my glock all the time.
however I dont trust every plastic gun that I grab either.
maybe that makes sense.

 

[IndyIN]

I tend to tune out when someone spends most of their time discussing why another product is bad, and minimal energy reinforcing why they have a better choice. They get even less of my respect when they try to force their opinion because of their perceived experience (e.g. “Do you know what I know, do you know what I’ve seen” as stated by James). His credentials are his credentials, but he seems very quick to categorize anyone that disagrees with him as “not shooting their gun very much” or not having any experience. That is how the weak argue their point. I don’t like it when politicians do the bashing routine, and I don’t like it when someone uses is at the basis for their reliability argument.

This pissing match back and forth makes people look foolish, and blind brand/platform loyalty is foolish. There are sheep everywhere, and some will read threads like this and make purchases based on internet blabbering. Some people just need to belong, and will pick the camp that fits them best and join (Glock, Sig, 1911…). I would argue that the better person would evaluate multiple criteria, and then validate through testing and training. If you're looking for a range gun it doesn't much matter, if you're looking for a carry gun... I would hope you test reliability, and not just read reviews!

 

[churchmouse]

1911's will knock people back 20 feet when you shoot them. Just hold the Glock gangsta style, and people will **** themselves.

We get enough of that "Gansta" here in the city. Just stop in at Dons guns to use the range. If you can not find something to laugh about in there you are already dead. Place is a Zoo.

Wow, I want to shoot your 1911's. 20 feet back. Impressive.

 

[tommyj223]

1911's will knock people back 20 feet when you shoot them. Just hold the Glock gangsta style, and people will **** themselves.

wheni see a gangsta",which i see them often seein as i work in the hood",around gary.i laugh just cuz u got a glock dont mean u can shoot.to each their own gettover your plastic toy

 

[mettle]

Fired an out of the box BRAND NEW Kimber 2 months ago.
Remington. 45, kimber mags

3 FTEs in the first mag alone...
1911s are not anything special by any means...
They just look good.

 

[churchmouse]

Fired an out of the box BRAND NEW Kimber 2 months ago.
Remington. 45, kimber mags

3 FTEs in the first mag alone...
1911s are not anything special by any means...
They just look good.

It was a Kimber............

I have 4 Kimber mags and I do not use them anymore. Had some trouble with them and they are permanently parked. Wilson or McCormack for me.

Just joking. They all fart or pop occasionally, even Glocks.

 

[iChokePeople]

It was a Kimber............

I have 4 Kimber mags and I do not use them anymore. Had some trouble with them and they are permanently parked. Wilson or McCormack for me.

Just joking. They all fart or pop occasionally, even Glocks.

I'll bet the Kimber name actually came to his mind several times while making this video. Kimber is notorious for spotty quality. They make some really good guns... but they make their fair share of 'fixer-uppers', too. They are NOT one of the companies he meant when he was talking about the few he'd trust, unless he has even worse taste in 1911s than in shirts.

 

[churchmouse]

I'll bet the Kimber name actually came to his mind several times while making this video. Kimber is notorious for spotty quality. They make some really good guns... but they make their fair share of 'fixer-uppers', too. They are NOT one of the companies he meant when he was talking about the few he'd trust, unless he has even worse taste in 1911s than in shirts.

I try and stay away from remarks about Kimbers because so many on this site like, love or just have them. To each their own poison. Know folks who have them and really like working on them so there you go. I used to "Race" Harley's. That is a oxymoron.

 

[iChokePeople]

I try and stay away from remarks about Kimbers because so many on this site like, love or just have them. To each their own poison. Know folks who have them and really like working on them so there you go. I used to "Race" Harley's. That is a oxymoron.

I'm not jabbing Kimbers, and would be SHOCKED if any of the Kimber owners haven't heard a hundred times about Kimber's hit and miss quality. If you get a good Kimber, you have a very nice gun. Unfortunately, a fairly substantial number of them have to have some work.

ETA: I've had several, and have one now. Every Kimber *I've* had worked very well. But I also know of quite a few stinkers.

 

[Tombs]

Fired an out of the box BRAND NEW Kimber 2 months ago.
Remington. 45, kimber mags

3 FTEs in the first mag alone...
1911s are not anything special by any means...
They just look good.

Remington isn't a good benchmark for reliability in any caliber, much less in a 1911. Winchester white box is pretty much the standard if you want to know if the gun will run with reasonably quality ammunition.

I've put about 200-300 rounds through my stainless II and most of the problems are starting to go away, but out of the box it wouldn't run for crap. Also did lots of polishing and tweaking of the slide release.

Only issue the gun has really ever had was pre-mature slide lock, due to the rounds entering the chamber and sometimes tripping the slide release. Haven't really felt brave enough to go trimming my slide release down, I suppose I may eventually. This is not an issue with the gun being tight at all, this is an issue with a part being spec'd incorrectly. Tight guns will run fine, as long as they're spec'd correctly. Anyone who has watched guys running 1911s in competition should know by now, just because something has been made as accurate and as tightly as possible doesn't mean it's not reliable, it just means it may suffer some issues if it's excessively dirty. The issues with kimbers have nothing to do with being tight.

If the rounds make it halfway into the chamber and don't feed, it means the feed ramp needs radiused a bit on the top, more of a polish though. If they nose dive into the frame and won't ride up into the chamber, it means you need to find some white rouge metal polish, a small dremel wheel, and chuck it up in an electric drill and polish that ramp until you can't find a single scratch or flaw in it under a magnifying glass.

At times I start to think it may be the design of the extractor that kimber uses. There's some odd beveling at play there, that isn't normal or true to most 1911 extractors, granted mine has always been 100% on extraction.

I'm not jabbing Kimbers, and would be SHOCKED if any of the Kimber owners haven't heard a hundred times about Kimber's hit and miss quality. If you get a good Kimber, you have a very nice gun. Unfortunately, a fairly substantial number of them have to have some work.

ETA: I've had several, and have one now. Every Kimber *I've* had worked very well. But I also know of quite a few stinkers.

Most the issues I run into with kimbers is a direct result of them doing silly things to the design of a specific part or not following the blueprints for proper 1911 design. Typically all of which are cheaply and easily fixed if you have a very solid understanding of the platform, but they can turn into an expensive nightmare for someone less experienced.

I bought mine knowing that it wasn't going to run out of the box, and had that expectation, so it wasn't much of a surprise to me. I suppose I should try a colt some day, it just doesn't seem like any of them are different enough to be able to depend on straight out of the box. Most of the imported cheapos are probably the best bet for a gun that works out of the box since they seem to follow the guide lines pretty well without making major design changes.

 

[hpclayto]

Who cares?

 

[mettle]

Remington isn't a good benchmark for reliability in any caliber, much less in a 1911. Winchester white box is pretty much the standard if you want to know if the gun will run with reasonably quality ammunition.

I've put about 200-300 rounds through my stainless II and most of the problems are starting to go away, but out of the box it wouldn't run for crap. Also did lots of polishing and tweaking of the slide release.

Only issue the gun has really ever had was pre-mature slide lock, due to the rounds entering the chamber and sometimes tripping the slide release. Haven't really felt brave enough to go trimming my slide release down, I suppose I may eventually. This is not an issue with the gun being tight at all, this is an issue with a part being spec'd injcorrectly. Tight guns will run fine, as long as they're spec'd correctly. Anyone who has watched guys running 1911s in competition should know by now, just because something has been made as accurate and as tightly as possible doesn't mean it's not reliable, it just means it may suffer some issues if it's excessively dirty. The issues with kimbers have nothing to do with being tight.

If the rounds make it halfway into the chamber and don't feed, it means the feed ramp needs radiused a bit on the top, more of a polish though. If they nose dive into the frame and won't ride up into the chamber, it means you need to find some white rouge metal polish, a small dremel wheel, and chuck it up in an electric drill and polish that ramp until you can't find a single scratch or flaw in it under a magnifying glass.

At times I start to think it may be the design of the extractor that kimber uses. There's some odd beveling at play there, that isn't normal or true to most 1911 extractors, granted mine has always been 100% on extraction.



Most the issues I run into with kimbers is a direct result of them doing silly things to the design of a specific part or not following the blueprints for proper 1911 design. Typically all of which are cheaply and easily fixed if you have a very solid understanding of the platform, but they can turn into an expensive nightmare for someone less experienced.

I bought mine knowing that it wasn't going to run out of the box, and had that expectation, so it wasn't much of a surprise to me. I suppose I should try a colt some day, it just doesn't seem like any of them are different enough to be able to depend on straight out of the box. Most of the imported cheapos are probably the best bet for a gun that works out of the box since they seem to follow the guide lines pretty well without making major design changes.

Understand. I'm just saying 1911s are the only pistols I've encountered that can't seem to perform flawless out of the box. It's a shame too. At $1200, it should hit the bullseye at 50 without me even handling it. LOL

 

[Tombs]

Understand. I'm just saying 1911s are the only pistols I've encountered that can't seem to perform flawless out of the box. It's a shame too. At $1200, it should hit the bullseye at 50 without me even handling it. LOL

At $1200 they would rather be lazy and let the new owner finish the work on the gun. Relatively speaking for what a 1911 is, that's not a lot of cash.

Takes getting into the $2000+ range to really have everything squared away out of the box, and even then there still exists a few that have to go back to the factory.


There's some obscene tolerances to get right on the feed ramp and extractor. If those aren't met, you're going to have a gun that needs a "break in" period. Makes me wonder why some people don't just buy some steel cased ammo to accelerate the process a bit. Sure helps on other guns, at least to make the high spots more easily identifiable.

 

[rockhopper46038]

"Your father's 1911. This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as random or clumsy as a Glock, an elegant weapon for a more civilized age." - Obi Wan Kenobi

Original version of the script, before Glock fanbois got butthurt. Or so the legend goes...



http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TropeNamer

 

[LCSOSgt11]

Well:

This guy has his opinions, and he is welcome to them.

I've have a Glock, a Sig, and have had who knows what else. For me, my money's on the 1911. Sure, for the initial basic cost, one cannot go wrong with a Glock.

With that said, they can malfunction also, and one may not know it until its been fired (hopefully not in anger).

This guy seems to forget that "modern production methods" have also been applied to the 1911 too, look at Kimbers, Baers, etc. Basically saying that the 1911 is an old design and made by "craftsmen" just doesn't hold water with me. Modern manufacturing techniques may lean more heavily on CNC machines, not so much on the human eye. I'm not so convinced that a precision pistol made with modern manufacturing techniques is better than anything else.

I believe that the issue boils down to choices. If you want a 1911, lay the money down. If you want a Glock, lay the money down. The individual is making the choice. I don't need some "I've been there, and I've done that" tatted up fellow ranting about how this gun is better than another.

All guns are tools. It is up to the individual owner to make sure it works properly and maintain it properly.

Of course, I'm older and feel better with a steel pistol with wood stocks in my hand. That's why I paid for them.

One pays their money and makes their choice.

 

[churchmouse]

Who cares?

Well, I guess anyone that wants to "Know" something about how a gun may "Actually" work. Duh.....................

 

[churchmouse]

Understand. I'm just saying 1911s are the only pistols I've encountered that can't seem to perform flawless out of the box. It's a shame too. At $1200, it should hit the bullseye at 50 without me even handling it. LOL

All of my mid/higher range 1911's have ran fine. Maybe there is a jinx.

 

[Hoosier45]

Guns are just tools. And so is that guy...

 

[army bratt]

he may be correct on some issues, guess its a good thing that i have both a 1911 springfield and a g22. i love them both equally. i cant discriminate! equal opportunity gun lover...