Better 1911's

[ap3572001]

When I was a very Young man , If You wanted a GOOD 1911, a std thing to do would be : Buy a Gold Cup or get a nice used series 70 colt and send it to get the work done by one of the few known pistolsmiths. That was it.

Today we have production/custom 1911 makers. Les Baer, Wilson Combat, Ed Brown, Springfield Armory Custom Shop, Rock River, Nighthawk and several others.

If You had to make a list form Best on down. What woudl that list look like?

Thank You .

[Colt]

The custom smiths still beat the production guys.

[DVSmith]

The custom smiths still beat the production guys.

Most of them anyway. I have seen a few examples of really messed up 1911's. I hate buying anything that has been worked on unless I am planning to send it out to someone I really trust.

I think the high quality production 1911's are a great value. They are done well highly accurate and you know what you are getting.

[HighLander51]

When I was a very Young man , If You wanted a GOOD 1911, a std thing to do would be : Buy a Gold Cup or get a nice used series 70 colt and send it to get the work done by one of the few known pistolsmiths. That was it.

Yes, that was true in the old days. You spent as much on the gun as gunsmithing... But today, everything is CNC machined, pretty much drop in what you need. All the new 1911's are of good quality.

[chiselchst]

I think the high quality production 1911's are a great value. They are done well highly accurate and you know what you are getting.

I agree. Just cruising over some price lists for customizing, I think the production - custom models are a decent value. Plus the hand fitting they do for the frame/slide fits have to be done by hand...the better ones get more human time.

[AJAX22]

Browning got it right the first time....

Everything that's 'better' gets that way by trading something for it...

The usgi 1911 is perfect, leave it alone

[JanG]

DL SPORTS professional 6in... i will have one someday.

[sholling]

When I was a very Young man , If You wanted a GOOD 1911, a std thing to do would be : Buy a Gold Cup or get a nice used series 70 colt and send it to get the work done by one of the few known pistolsmiths. That was it.

Today we have production/custom 1911 makers. Les Baer, Wilson Combat, Ed Brown, Springfield Armory Custom Shop, Rock River, Nighthawk and several others.

If You had to make a list form Best on down. What woudl that list look like?

Thank You .

Ford or Chevy. At the $2000 plus level pick the one that you like. All are going to be dead reliable, beautifully finished, and more accurate than all but the best shooters.

[9mmepiphany]

top notch custom 1911 smiths still beat out the high end production guns...what i find amazing are folks who will spend as much for one of them as they would spend on a full custom. the only reason i can find is that a buyer would not want to get on a long waiting list...if they can even get on...or wait the time it takes to build one. they are even people who don't want to wait how long it takes to get a Springfield Professional made.

the best buy in custom work is from an up and coming smith who isn't well known yet, who might be still perfecting is trade...but who has taken the right training and really gets it. i have one coming from such a smith and believe me you're not saving any time

[chiselchst]

top notch custom 1911 smiths still beat out the high end production guns...what i find amazing are folks who will spend as much for one of them as they would spend on a full custom. the only reason i can find is that a buyer would not want to get on a long waiting list...if they can even get on...or wait the time it takes to build one. they are even people who don't want to wait how long it takes to get a Springfield Professional made.

the best buy in custom work is from an up and coming smith who isn't well known yet, who might be still perfecting is trade...but who has taken the right training and really gets it. i have one coming from such a smith and believe me you're not saving any time

As a person who doesn't know, what would the custom charges be? Say one buys a basic Colt 1911, and has it worked over. What does that cost, to get it hand fit, with the fetaures a Les Baer, Nighthawk, or Wilson has? Those can be had from the high $1,700's to $2,100. Just trying to weigh the economics...

Thanks...

[J-cat]

The custom smiths still beat the production guys.

Not Springfield's Custom Shop.

[9mmepiphany]

As a person who doesn't know, what would the custom charges be?

you'd have to ask the smith and you and he could decide what you wanted and what he'd charge, that's what makes it custom

the last time i checked with a great, but not overpriced, smith, he told me he could give me a superior gun than i could get spending what Nighthawk was charging.

we're not talking about the $6k 1911s, more in line with $2k...depending what you start with and what you want done

[Colt]

Not Springfield's Custom Shop.

I left out a word: Should have read: the top custom smiths still beat the production guys...

Any of these guys: www.louderthanwords.us

[C.W.M.V.]

Browning got it right the first time....

Everything that's 'better' gets that way by trading something for it...

The usgi 1911 is perfect, leave it alone

I agree!

Gospel according to John

[JanG]

here's an example of a custom smith prices

http://www.dlsports.com/npage2a.html