1911s not as reliable for HD? it's a myth!

[Mossy Man]

My Colt Combat Elite has been reliable except with Wilson 47D 8-round magazines.

The last round pops out if the mag and the slide locks back before it can chamber.

Its been reliable with GI mags.

I don't know how reliable it is dirty, because I always clean it after every trip unlike my Glocks which I never clear regularly

[sammy]

I love 1911's and own 2 Les Baers and one Springfield Pro. When I shoot at the pistol line one of these goes with me every time. Sometimes to the rifle side to shoot 50 yards. The Springfield is the only gun that has had no failures but only has 4000 or so rounds through it. The Les Baers have had enough reliability issues that I would not consider using them for a house gun.

If one has ANY doubt about the reliability of a gun, and has the choice of something better why not? My Glock 34 has lots more rounds, no safety and a light. Can't think of a better handgun to use (yes a shotgun is better). Not to say there are not other guns but the Glock is the one I own and shoot best.

If you have confidence in your 1911 then the choice is easy.

[Malaprop14]

While I don't truly have concerns about my 1911, it isn't my primary carry either. I carry my M&P mainly because it a lot easier to carry and is very easy to shoot.

[Sunday]

S@W makes quality guns.

[brian5271]

So I should wait till they start putting the rest of the parts in before I buy one?

[pastureofmuppets]

WHO exactly said less reliable? Picky? They can be. Requires more maintenance yes, but less reliable? Nope.

That famous guy that worked on 1911's all his life then turned around and said that their time has gone as a service weapon.

I dunno though, if you have a reliable one... who's anyone to say it isn't reliable?

The gun I see fail the most of the common ones are 1911's, but you know... people do love to mess with them and there are some dodgy makers out there.


In fact, I asked a guy once if he knew what the problem was with his 1911... he looked at me like I was an alien and said "what problem?". I pointed out he had tap-racked twice in one magazine. He swore blind he hadn't and thought I was messing with him.

I guess it was so automatic to him...

[digdug74]

The biggest issue with 1911 reliability is that manufacturers, over the course of the last 20 years, have been trying to turn them into something they were never designed to be: namely, target pistols. If you were to loosen up all the tolerances on the 1911 to somewhere near where JMB intended them to be, then you'd probably have a quite reliable pistol. Of course, it would still weigh 40+ ounces and carry only 8 rounds and only barely be able to hit the broad side of a barn at 50 yards which is why firearms technology moved on...

[thorium]

There is nothing wrong with 1911s - I have a bunch, too - but it wouldn't surprise me if a statistically significant endurance test was run between a group of good, $1000 1911s and H&K 45s, and it was found out that the H&Ks were clearly more reliable.

+1. Statistically speaking (well, my made up stats to illustrate the point)... A 1911 put through these military torture tests would NOT hold up as well as more modern top tier designs... Glock, HK, Sig, etc

a 1911 is going to have a lower (worse) rounds between failure under normal conditions than a modern semi.

In my book, "Normal conditions" includes dirty guns, lack of proper lubrication, human maintenance error, etc.

So for your night stand gun, as long as you'll put in the time & skill to maintain it you'll be just fine. But the modern semis will fail less often because they've improved on design, making them more flexible to a variety of factors (including human factors like proper care, ammo factors, etc)

So would I choose a 1911 for a service pistol? Nope.

Do I shoot my 1911 more accurately than any other pistol? Yep

The FBI HRT gets all the gunsmith resources they need, if they didn't, they would have chosen a different semi.

[CK_32]

The biggest issue with 1911 reliability is that manufacturers, over the course of the last 20 years, have been trying to turn them into something they were never designed to be: namely, target pistols. If you were to loosen up all the tolerances on the 1911 to somewhere near where JMB intended them to be, then you'd probably have a quite reliable pistol. Of course, it would still weigh 40+ ounces and carry only 8 rounds and only barely be able to hit the broad side of a barn at 50 yards which is why firearms technology moved on...

+1. Statistically speaking (well, my made up stats to illustrate the point)... A 1911 put through these military torture tests would NOT hold up as well as more modern top tier designs... Glock, HK, Sig, etc

a 1911 is going to have a lower (worse) rounds between failure under normal conditions than a modern semi.

In my book, "Normal conditions" includes dirty guns, lack of proper lubrication, human maintenance error, etc.

So for your night stand gun, as long as you'll put in the time & skill to maintain it you'll be just fine. But the modern semis will fail less often because they've improved on design, making them more flexible to a variety of factors (including human factors like proper care, ammo factors, etc)

So would I choose a 1911 for a service pistol? Nope.

Do I shoot my 1911 more accurately than any other pistol? Yep

The FBI HRT gets all the gunsmith resources they need, if they didn't, they would have chosen a different semi.

I agree with both of these 100%.


Stereotypes are usually stereotypes for a reason, cause they were/are true to some point. As much as I love the 1911 for/how I do, it's current production firearms are limited in many ways. But having said that they also supersede in many ways as well. Not one gun can win every event... You win some you lose some. Fact of life. Some of us just need to face that.

[Press Check]

+1. Statistically speaking (well, my made up stats to illustrate the point)... A 1911 put through these military torture tests would NOT hold up as well as more modern top tier designs... Glock, HK, Sig, etc

Sure about that?

[JDay]

That famous guy that worked on 1911's all his life then turned around and said that their time has gone as a service weapon.

I'm sure him getting a sponsorship from Glock had everything to do with that.

[Press Check]

The US Marshall Service, DEA, SWAT, FBI, and branches of the Military (etc) still commission 1911's, so what Hilton Yam thinks doesn't amount to much, especially when what he thinks is motivated by...

Knowledgeable guy, but his opinion regarding pistols and rifles seems to change from day to day.

[Garand1911]

The reliability issues for 1911s come from at least a couple reasons ...
1) people running JHP in USGI spec guns, which had a narrow feed ramp intended for ball ammo ONLY
2) people adding bells and whistles to their reliable stock gun, and over tuning/tightening the gun, to make it run like a well tuned competition gun
3) people taking their 1911s to wanna-be gunsmiths to accomplish #2

[brooTool]

1911 are NOT reliable handguns for self/home defense, reason why the military no longer uses them. There are MUCH better options out there for self/home defense. Don't get me wrong, they are nice firearms, just not that good anymore, they do not do well when they are massed produced, hence why they are sooooo picky and they have so many issues. James Yeager has been conducting defensive pistol and classes and has seen more pistols fired than probably anyone here on these forums. He estimates around 15,000,000 rounds. So when he says that the 1911 is in no way/shape/form a reliable pistol it means something. Here's a video explaining it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfJj90eNIfE

You can get a reliable 1911, just going to cost you $2,000 + and why would you pay that amount for a HD handgun when you could get a MUCH better for 1/3 the price.

[JDay]

He never said that until Glock started paying the bills. The reason the military moved away from the 1911 (and special forces still uses them) was a political move.