1911 opinions

[NeilM]

Hi guys. I'm in the market for a custom 1911.

Wanted to get everyone's opinion on their fav custom 1911 handguns.

Baer, Wilson, Ed Brown, Nighthawk, etc.

Use is for home protection and target/range shooting.

Budget is $1700 - $2200.

Many thanks in advance.

[9mmepiphany]

You can't get a custom 1911 in that price range...custom guns usually run $4k+

The manufacturers you've named offer high end production guns that are available for about that.

In the high end production range, it becomes a matter of which you like the look or features of best. I think the Springfield Armory Professional is a great value in this range at about $2500.

I think the Best Buy in this range would be the Dan Wesson Valor (if you want to go SSE) or a Dan Wesson CBOB and use the extra funds to add any features you'd like. What you are giving up over your named makes is name and final finish

[Chumpmenudo]

1911

I bought a Dan Wesson PM7 last year, and quite like it. I got it gently used for much less than retail, but even full retail is cheaper than your price target, and its a very well made gun that shoots beautifully.

Best,

Chumpmenudo

[NeilM]

many thanks 9mm. Much appreciated. This is the type of feedback I'm looking for.

[230grjhp]

At your price point you can get a very good used gun from any of those brands you mentioned. Or you can shop around for a brand new Springfield loaded and send it to Springfield's Custom Shop to get the stuff you want done to it. I did it to my Springfield 1911 Loaded Target and came back just as good as my Wilson Combat Protector, in my opinion. My total investment $925 (gun plus shipping and DROS) for the gun plus $1,155 for the work done by SACS (SA Magwell blended to the frame, action job with tool steel sear and hammer set at 4 lbs, full internal deburr, front night sights, match barrel and bushing, tighten slide to frame, fully prepped extractor).

[Rivers]

Or look at Springfield's TRP. These are built in the USA. About $1550-1600 retail if you can find one. I bought one last month and can attest to very nice build quality. Very tight, accurate out of the box, etc. Trigger seems around 5#, hopefully that will lighten up with some more shooting. If not, that's easy enough to tune for personal tastes.

[tacticalcity]

Ignore 'em man. Have to hassle everybody over semantics.

You asked about 1911s between $1700 - $2200 range. The brands you mentioned are all great. It is a question of finding one you like and that meets your needs for the budget.

People are going to tell you their Springfield, or Kimber or whatever is the way to go. But in my opinion, you are better off with a Wilson Combat, Nighthawk, Ed Brown or Les Baer. I'm sure the other guns are nice and wonderful. But the brands you asked about are the way to go.

[Moto4Fun]

In the price range you are talking about, I wouldn't consider a Springfield. Not that they don't make nice pistols, but you are in a price range where you can have something from one of the "gurus". Personally I would be shopping for a Nighthawk or a Wilson, pre-owned. That might blow all of your budget, but you shouldn't have to do any modification. If you want something that you can hand pick the components, then by all means, by a SA Loaded and send it off to the custom shop, but in the end you would just have a really nicely customized Springfield Loaded.

[NeilM]

great input guys! Many thanks again.

[skosh69]

For your price range, I haven't seen any "new" Nighthawks, Ed Browns or Wilson's, but you can get the Les Baer or Dan Wesson new for that price.

Bottom line, I like your style, go for the best you can get or go home!

Canyon Sports in Martinez has a few Wilson's and Nighthawks if you want to check them out.

[keenkeen]

In the price range you are talking about, I wouldn't consider a Springfield. Not that they don't make nice pistols, but you are in a price range where you can have something from one of the "gurus". Personally I would be shopping for a Nighthawk or a Wilson, pre-owned. That might blow all of your budget, but you shouldn't have to do any modification. If you want something that you can hand pick the components, then by all means, by a SA Loaded and send it off to the custom shop, but in the end you would just have a really nicely customized Springfield Loaded.

I tend to agree with this approach, I would however suggest starting with an SA GI or Mil Spec as the base gun if you are having much work done. That way you are not paying for upgraded parts that you going to change anyway.

As an example here is what just under $3k will get you in work from the SACS:

List of parts fitted (Non SA parts supplied by customer NOT SACS):
-Wilson Bullet Proof extractor (2, one a spare)
-Wilson Bullet Proof grip safety
-Wilson grip bushings and screws
-EGW thumb safety
-EGW bar stock plunger tube
-EGW melt barrel bushing and plug
-EGW flat trigger with solid fit overtravel stop (no screw)
-EGW firing pin stop (2, one a spare)
-EGW hardcore slide stop (2, one a spare)
-10-8 u notch rear sight
-10-8 mag catch/release
-same match barrel as the Professional model
-same ignition components as the Professional model
-Ed Brown barstock firing pin
-Gold bead front sight
-Nighthawk black g-10 golfball grips

Labor done:
-front strap given "golfball" treatment
-Professional magwell fitted and blended with guns magwell (added an internal lanyard loop and "golfball" treatment to match the front strap)
-extreme carry bevel
-tighten slide to frame fit
-french border (breaks up the rounded, ball bearing look of the gun)
-ball cut slide
-flush cut barrel crown (17 degree)
-entire gun Ionbond DLC coated

So add to that the cost of the non-SA parts and the original base 1911 (GI or Mil Spec) and you are around $4k plus or minus.

Start with a SS gun and you can know the Ionbond costs off of the labor (a big chunk)

[Freq18Hz]

You can't get a custom 1911 in that price range...custom guns usually run $4k+

The manufacturers you've named offer high end production guns that are available for about that.

In the high end production range, it becomes a matter of which you like the look or features of best. I think the Springfield Armory Professional is a great value in this range at about $2500.

I think the Best Buy in this range would be the Dan Wesson Valor (if you want to go SSE) or a Dan Wesson CBOB and use the extra funds to add any features you'd like. What you are giving up over your named makes is name and final finish

This is 100% incorrect.

You can definitely get a custom 1911 for that price.

-Freq

[Arkangel]

Nighthawk or Wilson

My dream duty 1911 is a GRP recon, one day....

[Gress]

This is 100% incorrect.

You can definitely get a custom 1911 for that price.

-Freq

It all depends on what you call a custom.

[Q619]

I tend to agree with this approach, I would however suggest starting with an SA GI or Mil Spec as the base gun if you are having much work done. That way you are not paying for upgraded parts that you going to change anyway.

As an example here is what just under $3k will get you in work from the SACS:

List of parts fitted (Non SA parts supplied by customer NOT SACS):
-Wilson Bullet Proof extractor (2, one a spare)
-Wilson Bullet Proof grip safety
-Wilson grip bushings and screws
-EGW thumb safety
-EGW bar stock plunger tube
-EGW melt barrel bushing and plug
-EGW flat trigger with solid fit overtravel stop (no screw)
-EGW firing pin stop (2, one a spare)
-EGW hardcore slide stop (2, one a spare)
-10-8 u notch rear sight
-10-8 mag catch/release
-same match barrel as the Professional model
-same ignition components as the Professional model
-Ed Brown barstock firing pin
-Gold bead front sight
-Nighthawk black g-10 golfball grips

Labor done:
-front strap given "golfball" treatment
-Professional magwell fitted and blended with guns magwell (added an internal lanyard loop and "golfball" treatment to match the front strap)
-extreme carry bevel
-tighten slide to frame fit
-french border (breaks up the rounded, ball bearing look of the gun)
-ball cut slide
-flush cut barrel crown (17 degree)
-entire gun Ionbond DLC coated

So add to that the cost of the non-SA parts and the original base 1911 (GI or Mil Spec) and you are around $4k plus or minus.

Start with a SS gun and you can know the Ionbond costs off of the labor (a big chunk)

The custom shop did all that but the grips they told me to source my own. Funny since they did everything else I asked for. How's the gun serving you?

OP: I have/had a gun from each of the semi custom 1911 mfgr's out there (excepting NH) and can honestly say that out of them all, the greatest bang for the buck so far has been with the Ed Brown SF. I believe I paid $2100 for mine. Worth every penny IMO. It was $450 cheaper than my Wilson CQB and matches up to it very well in every respect. The only thing superior in the Wilson is that I believe they have the best extractors out there but everything else is equal: fit/finish/quality/materials/performance. Brown will have a few more cast parts on the gun than Wilson (though not on the brand new examples which are all bar stock parts) but they're all of the highest quality and are parts which are used by some of the greatest 1911 smiths out there so it goes without saying that they're top notch.

Another worth looking at is the Springfield Pro. It's a very nice gun but will have either a premium price attached to it in many cases or is something that you'll have to order in advance and wait on for quite a while. Mine ended up taking somewhere around 18 weeks.