Save your brass, invest in a reloading setup & you're gonna have a new hobby you enjoy as much as wheeling!! Making your own rounds is fun, economical, educational, confidence inspiring & did I mention fun!?

I admire your choice - .45's are great, though slipping in popularity w/ high capacity 9's & the new .40
When you're ready, I've got a .45 die set I'll let go cheap - haven't had the opportunity to use it in years

 

Will start savin' the brass when I switch to some different ammo... This CCI Blazer stuff uses some form of aluminum alloy specifically called out as not reloadable...

But it was cheap and I figured to break it in about any FMJ ammo would work...

Forgot to mention the most important part of the range trip... Out of all those rounds fired, I experienced no failure to extract, eject, return to battery, in fact no failures of any sort... Plus it went bang every time I pulled the trigger, for which I was very happy... Sights are about dead on, if I bother taking the brief instant to line 'em up right... Ejects casings more right than up... Quite a bit more, but then again I like it that way anyhow, and hope it stays that way...

I definitely found a keeper...

For some reason the time I did use the 9mm pistol, it just wasn't confidence inspiring... This thing actually feels nice and substantial in the hand, and the increased recoil over what I recall the 9mm doing just "feels" a bit better, more confidence inspiring, etc... If I can't hit what I need in 14 rounds, or at least make enough noise with that to get me out of a bad situation and time to reload one or some such thing, I should have showed up to the situation with a rifle or shotgun anyhow probably...

 

Tim glad to hear all is well with you and your weapon.
i plan on buying on of those as soon as i get hired on at a different dept. i am thinking either the Colt combat commander .45ACP or the Customized colt government model series 80 .45ACP. what do you think of those 2 guns?

 

I've got no experience at all with either of those two weapons... I seem to recall hearing some not so nice things about Colt series 80's... I don't recall what it was specifically though... Can say I'd recommend this particular model that I got (is springfield part # PX9109L, parkerized finish, "loaded" they call it, has ambidexterous safety, Novak glow in the dark 3 dot sights, etc...)... Then again as with all manufactured items, I might have gotten one made on a good day and somebody else might not be so lucky... Just like with vehicles, or any other man-made item, some are better than others when produced...

Here's a great forum for discussion of all things 1911: http://www.1911forum.com/forums/

Coincidentally here's a picture of my 1911, in case y'all missed the picture I posted in the chevy forum...

 

ok Tim i think i found the one im going to get

that would be a nice off-duty weapon

 

Sweet. Told you they're known for their reliability. 90 years worth of proven engineering can't be wrong.

Springfield, Colt, and Kimber all make good guns. The last National Rifleman magazine had a good write up of Colt's current products, heavily on the M1911 family. Para-Ordanance out of Canada also makes a very good M1911, including several that have composite frames and wide grips, giving them a 13-14 round magazine.

Which further makes me wonder why people buy 9mm's?

I'm probably going to be picking up one of the Rock Island Compact model M1911's sometime this year. Spending to much money on the truck and learning to fly now.

I just want a good, reliable, .45 ACP Goverment model that I can carry, also for a good price. I've heard nothing but good things about these Rock Islands.

They're in the Shotgun News, SARCO used to sell them until they basically blew the deal out their @ss, and now the only place is called something like Dealer Warehouse, or something like that. It's in California.

 

well if AJM reccomends it, you know its got to be good. they reason i am really excited about that is the price, only $830. sounds expensive nut not compared to most 1911's especially that look like this one.

 

In reply to:

Out of all those rounds fired, I experienced no failure to extract, eject, return to battery, in fact no failures of any sort... Plus it went bang every time I pulled the trigger,

[/ QUOTE ]
1911A1

 

scratch that boys and girls.....i am going with the compact!
full inch shorter, i didnt realize that the one i posted earlier was 8.5" long. that bugger would be hard to conceal. the compact will be a little easier and alot lighter. oh and Tim i got a guy who is giving me awesome prices too. the compact is only $554 from him. one of my dads friends who owns his own store. sells all his guns for $50 over his cost.

 

Next time I buy a gun, I'll have to ask you for some contact info for this person... That sounds like a great deal for that... Depending on how you dress I'm thinking it would be easily concealable (the 5" barrel version)... At least I tried on a standard hip holster with mine, and with shirt un-tucked, is hard to see... Then again I've got a while to figure out what way I want to carry 'cause I'm not ready to get CCW permit yet... A few more range trips like last one and I will be tho...

Hopefully this weekend...

 

most everyone i work with has the holster that hooks to your belt but rides on the inside of your pants. that way if your shirt moves or anything it would have to go up past your waste line for anyone to see it. i just think that the compact would be a little easier and the specs show it is alot lighter. the stainless pic i posted previously, he can get me that gun for $580. so just let me know if you need something

here is a pic of the compact

 

The M1911 is one of the best handguns ever made. And the .45 ACP will put someone down, quick.
There's a brand of ammo you can get at Walmart I think, UMC. It is made by Remington, and is fairly inexpensive.
For plinking and target practice, you can't beat it.

 

In reply to:

If I can't hit what I need in 14 rounds, or at least make enough noise with that to get me out of a bad situation and time to reload one or some such thing, I should have showed up to the situation with a rifle or shotgun anyhow probably...

[/ QUOTE ]

I like your thinking

I shot a 9mm about 2 weeks ago, it was my first time shooting a handgun. It was a pretty small gun and had quite a lot of recoil - I had a tough time with accuracy with it. In your opinion (open to anyone) are 9mms inacurate or do I just suck?

I've shot rifles all my life and I'm a pretty good shooter (got NRA qualification like 3 years back, for sharpshooter in muzzleloading) so I'm just wondering what's up with handguns.

 

they are pretty scary the first time your shooting them. most everyone wants to do it but between being so excited and having no idea what to expect, you get agitated. then you shoot once, get spooked and the adrenaline rush and next thing you know your hands are shaking like a dog ****ting peach pits. handguns are accurate for the most part but you could have been shooting one with a slightly twisted barrel too. depending on the owners shooting style and maintenance of the gun, that can happen. the heavier the gun and caliber, the easier it is to control IMO.
just keep on shooting.

 

Sorry Panther, it's just you - 9mm's do just fine in the accuracy dept. ... I was only downin' 'em earlier because their stopping power is a fraction of a .45's (even with the higher velocity).

First time shootin a pistol - sit sown & use a rest for the first couple boxes, get to know your weapon - it's just an extension of your hand. Be concious of your breathing - pause slightly on exhale & Squeeze the trigger (you prob'ly already know all this), if it doesnt feel right & youre temtped to hold your breath - don't ... get it on the next breath.

You already know your long-guns ... so it stands to reason why, in my experience, the only pistols that suffer in accuracy are the ones with limited barrel length.

I'm amazed to hear so many of so many first time shooters - I always thought 4x4's & shotgun racks went hand in hand! But more pwer to ya - and may you never suffer my title - 'former shooter'. (Damn city life)

 

You're right Sparty, I did get that shaky adrenaline rush... I pulled the trigger and was like HOLY SH*T!

Yeah, I know what you mean hitechredneck... i always associate 4x4s with gun racks too

yeah, I live in Phoenix, and I can't wait to move to the country when I get older!!!! (own my own land with dirtbikes, shooting range, quads, and of course trucks and mud pits, trails, etc)

I'll definitely keep on shooting... Shooting the handgun was scary but it was one of those things that when you are done (hand the gun over in my case) you want to do it over again

For now, just

have a good sat night gents

 

ok well pretty quick here im gonna go out and buy my new springfield armory 1911-A1. my question is this: now that i've gotten it down to 3 different guns im gonna go in and see which one feels the best in my hand and get that one.......but before i do i want anyones first hand knowledge about the 3 guns in question.
they are:
full size
mil-spec
compact
i am leaning towards compact because it would be an off duty gun and i dont want it too big or heavy. i have glowing reviews on the full size from Tim but feel it would fall into the too long/heavy category. so if anyone has any opinions on those guns please throw it out there.
thanks

 

Wouldn't "full-size" and "mil-spec" be basically the same? An important point is that the 1911A1 is a combat pistol known for its toughness and reliability, not as a concealment weapon - the officer's M15 version of the 1911A1 might be similar to the "compact."

Ever consider somethink like the Walther PPK in .38 for concealment. Used by Nazi officers and German police, and was used by James Bond (but it would be gay if you chose it for that reason) - the Soviet Makarov was loosely based on it too (the PPK is the smaller version of the PP).

 

.380 auto's are nice little guns - I bought a Colt for my wife ... but c'mon - we're talkin about a man's pistol here!!

 

Yeah, but he wants to hide it in his pants - not too comfy with a 1911.

I'm not familiar with big bore pistols meant for concealment - what would the options be?

 

ahhh the compact is 7.5" overall. the duty guns that most people carry off duty are 7.5" long too (Sig Sauer p229).

 

Did you decide just what you were going to get yet?

Coincidentally, I procured new stocks for my pistol today... Was going to check what sort of deals I could get at some ATV dealers on a new ATV, but they apparently all closed at 3, about an hour after I left the house in search of some... So, rather than making a wasted trip out, I decided to go to the gun store instead... I procured some new ammo to try out, and a Hogue rubber wrap-around grip for my 1911...

Here's the pictures:

The one on the left is a PMC Starfire 230 grain JHP, middle is a Taurus 185 grain copper hollow point, and the one on the right is the Hornady 200 grain JHP/XTP round... It will be interesting to try these out on a test subject of some sort, I need to figure out some sort of target i can find to do a personalized test of just what would make the most efficient personal defense round for "me"...

Oops, I gotta learn to not take these pictures for posting here at max resolution, they're huge...

 

Sparty, I'm going with the Compact for my carry gun. The Midsize has a .5-1" shorter barrel, and the hand grip portion of the gun is the same as the fullsize versions. With almost a regular length barrel and the standard grip, I don't see much advantage in it for carry.

This is the Rock Island Compact I'm interested in:

One day, when I have more money and am not blowing it all on my truck.

For whoever asked about the mil spec vs standard thingy, no, they are not necessarily the same. Mil-Spec basically means a Government Model .45 pistol made by any manufacturor that is a very accurate copy of a real, WWII M1911A1 or a WWI M1911. None of the modern "advances". The fullsizes or standards are the same size and overall capabilities, just with many of the modern changes in the design. I just want a cheap, reliable, good shooting .45 Compact, so I'm getting the Rock Island.