Who Makes The Best/Most Reliable 1911’s (if $ was no concern)

Leeann's Rock GI came out of the box rollin' and has never missed a beat. If you can put the bullet in the mag and rack it into the gun, it will shoot it; not at all finicky. Ran 1,000 rounds thru it one day without stopping to wipe it off.

The only problem I’ve ever had with the RIA was that one factory mag (ACT-Mag) had the spring installed backwards. Once that was corrected, not a single issue since.

Ugh! It's hard to be objective given my limited experience with different brands. I've had very good luck with Dan Wesson, Colts, Sig and Springers. Never thought one was inherently more reliable than the other.

Batt816 said:

Anyone have a Taurus? I've been looking at one, reviews seem pretty good.

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I have a Taurus PT1911, first handgun I ever bought. The only time I ever had an issue with it was when using a Promag in it. With factory mags and wilson 47d's it has been flawless with both factory fmj and hp ammo. The promag also failed to drop free when full, which led me to believe the sidewalls were too weak and were being distorted by spring pressure.

The fit, finish & accuracy on the Taurus is far better than a RIA I also own... but they may have improved since the RIA was bought (2011-ish?).

Racking the slide on the Taurus, it feels like a well fitted machine, much like more expensive 1911's I have handled and shot. The RIA feels like mismatched parts... there are sticking points and pauses where it seems to resist as the link engages and starts to pull the barrel down.


Regarding magazines, note that the 47d's I have were bought in 2009 & 2010, maybe 2011. I have heard it said here they have gone down in quality recently and are no longer the 'standard' in reliable 1911 magazines that they once were.

Dan Wesson. "Descretion". Not a hiccup in 2500 rds and it's still tight and hits exactly where you point.

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My Pops got a Ruger SR45 at the Howard County back in 2013 from the little red dog relative. Nuff about that loser... anyway, he has not had any issues at all. At 86 he acts like he is in his 60's and can damn shoot as well... or as bad as me with my Glock 17 Gen4. He says a .45 is what he carried in Korea and than damn well is what he will continue to have. What can I say?

babalou said:

My Pops got a Ruger SR45 at the Howard County back in 2013 from the little red dog relative. Nuff about that loser... anyway, he has not had any issues at all. At 86 he acts like he is in his 60's and can damn shoot as well... or as bad as me with my Glock 17 Gen4. He says a .45 is what he carried in Korea and than damn well is what he will continue to have. What can I say?

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God bless your dad! Sounds like my dad, but my dad was Vietnam.

Your description of your dad made me think of this. He too was a proud Korean War Vet, who loved his 1911 and M1 Garland.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MhjkY45ztH0

Yup

Mr.Blue said:

God bless your dad! Sounds like my dad, but my dad was Vietnam.

Your description of your dad made me think of this. He too was a proud Korean War Vet, who loved his 1911 and M1 Garland.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MhjkY45ztH0

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Forgot to mention Garand. That too is his favorite rifle. Lolol. He adopted me when I was around ten when he married my mom. Love him. Takes a real man to raise someone else’s kid and call him your own. He is my Pop. I turned 53 on Feb 12. My bio dad with whom I am close as well is vietnam. He was pretty bad ass there. He loved his m16s.. he too told me of why they had early issues. The non chrome lining and powder etc. will not really talk on stuff but I found out stuff. I got him a 101 airborne challenge coin as well as a patch from Vietnam of the 123rd aviation battalion warlords. He too kept a 45 as a spare and loved it. Worked well in the brush.

Did you mean to say he bought a SR1911, or did you perhaps confuse the two?

The SR45 is a striker fired, polymer frame pistol, same family as the SR9 and SR40.

It may be a great pistol and worthy of discussion, but has nothing in common with a 1911 (except that it shoots .45acp) and not really relevant to OP's question.

babalou said:

My Pops got a Ruger SR45 at the Howard County back in 2013 from the little red dog relative. Nuff about that loser... anyway, he has not had any issues at all. At 86 he acts like he is in his 60's and can damn shoot as well... or as bad as me with my Glock 17 Gen4. He says a .45 is what he carried in Korea and than damn well is what he will continue to have. What can I say?

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Sounds like a great guy.... my Dad is 83 and looks and acts 60-something as well.

The term "best" is subjective.

The 1911 is a fantastic platform which is inherently accurate and, when made properly, extremely reliable. However there is so much more to "best" than that. Asthetics, resale value, heritage, price (yes I know the OP said money no object...but let's be honest, for most of us it is)

Price disqualifies the Ed Browns and Nighthawks and Les Baers. All of which are excellent pistols, with fantastic build quality and fit and finish, however at a certain point the law of diminishing returns applies and for the price of some of their offerings, a buyer could get a custom made 1911. Additionally, in many instances resale value doesn't reflect the original cost, and some offerings are so tightly machined that they become unreliable.

Asthetics are, of course, subjective. Even a lot of the top tier 1911s listed look very similar. I have always thought Kimbers looked very nice, especially the Eclipses, however the Kimber Schwartz safety and usage of MIM on parts subject to shock has, in my experience, made Kimbers less reliable than their competitors.

RIAs and their ilk are cheap, and reasonably well made, however (and I can't remember if RIA does this, but I know tisas does) a cast frame doesn't give me a warm fuzzy.

Sig's shoot like a dream and are very accurate, and very reliable. My first 1911 was a Sig GSR and after 15,000 rounds (spring changes around every 5000) it still runs like a top with no failures....but they don't hold their value at all, and the looks are very polarizing, you either live them or hate them.

Dan Wesson, a division of CZ, are beautifully made, accurate and reliable, and seem to hold their value well, and have some innovative features like double stack models and full length dust cover models...but, being fairly new to 1911s (albeit longer in the game than S&W or Sig), they don't quite have the heritage. Same with Taurus, except without the reliability, resale value or looks.

And speaking of heritage, Springfield's look like 1911s of old, but there is no relation between the USGI Springfield Armory, and the modern SAI.

S&W comes close, with many boxes checked, however they really haven't been making 1911s that long. If I were looking for a revolver they would be at the top of the list.

So that leaves Colt. They definitely have the heritage, and (especially in Royal blue) they have the looks, their pricing is competitive, and while they are usually the last to adopt newfangled things like light rails, their current offerings are pretty comprehensive. Their fit and finish is good for the price point, but not great, with interior machining marks and gaps being common. Every Colt I have has been 100% reliable out of the box, although I don't have nearly the round count through them that I have in other 1911s (see above). Colt resale value is excellent, with used Colts sometimes exceeding their original sale price. And while many on this list are more accurate, they aren't much more accurate. Most likely a tribute to the design, rather than the manufacturing, but it is relevant nonetheless.

So there you have it. I believe that a Colt 1911 really provides the "whole package". Heritage, looks, accuracy, reliability, price and resale value.

(Yes I know I didn't mention some, but the ones not mentioned can be placed into any of the "not Colt" categories, for many of the same reasons.)

Boats said:

Dan Wesson, a division of CZ, are beautifully made, accurate and reliable, and seem to hold their value well, and have some innovative features like double stack models and full length dust cover models...but, being a Czech company, they don't quite have the heritage. Same with Taurus, except without the reliability, resale value or looks.

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Dan Wesson started out in the 1960’s as an American company, with the Wesson part of Smith and Wesson founding the company. They were acquired in 2005 by CZ, but started making 1911’s well before that date, although they were more known for their revolvers.

The factory is still in America, well NY, and has an American workforce.

Nothing against CZ, as the CZ 75B and SP01 are my two favorite non-1911 handguns. I just wish Dan Wesson was owned by Americans again.

Mr.Blue said:

FYI -

Dan Wesson started out in 1968 as an American company, with the Wesson part of Smith and Wesson founding the company. They were acquired in 2005 by CZ, but started making 1911’s before that date, although they were more known for their revolvers.

The factory is still in America, well NY, and has an American workforce.

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Fair point. I was aware of both of those items. I believe they started making 1911s in the early to mid 90s, (a few years before S&W and Sig) so the heritage point still stands. (Much like S&W, they would be top of the list for a revolver purchase) However I did remove the Czech part of my post, as it is a little unfair to call them a Czech company.

Boats said:

Fair point. I was aware of both of those items. I believe they started making 1911s in the early to mid 90s, (a few years before S&W and Sig) so the heritage point still stands. However I did remove the Czech part of my post

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I wasn’t sure if everyone knew their genesis. I’m looking for what 1911 you would trust your life with if you could only have one. I should have put it in the title, but I couldn’t change it, although it is in the first post of this thread.

I agree with you about diminishing returns. That is why I took $ out of the equation. If money is no object, I’m going Wilson Combat. If money is a factor, I’m thinking $1,500-$2,000 is the sweet spot and I’m taking a Dan Wesson or a top of the line Colt.

How about you?

Mr.Blue said:

I wasn’t sure if everyone knew their genesis. I’m looking for what 1911 you would trust your life with if you could only have one. I should have put it in the title, but I couldn’t change it, although it is in the first post of this thread.

I agree with you about diminishing returns. That is why I took $ out of the equation. If money is no object, I’m going Wilson Combat. If money is a factor, I’m thinking $1,500-$2,000 is the sweet spot and I’m taking a Dan Wesson or a top of the line Colt.

How about you?

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If I could only have one that I would trust my life with? Surprisingly, Sig or S&W

What you're talking about is a carry piece, or a duty piece, or a combat sidearm. All of those duties are very hard on a pistol and tears them up. Which means resale value plummets, even on Colts (think rust, scratches and finish wear) The reason why is simple, the factory Sig trigger is just better than Colt AND Sig 1911s have external extractors.

While the likelihood of getting in a gunfight is pretty slim, and the chance of having a failure even slimmer, the original internal extractor design can bend or break when clearing a fte. (Asking the extractor to jump the case rim). The external extractor is spring loaded and will jump the case lip just fine, the internal one is just a piece of bar stock and has less give and no where to go. (For what it's worth, S&W 1911s have external extractors as well. Paras have spring loaded internal extractors, but Para reliability is a joke)
I don't know about DW extractors.

Again, realistically it probably wouldn't happen, but considering it would be one gun to train with and carry, and assuming fte drills would be part of that training, the probability of an extractor failure would go up.

A Colt (with a mild trigger job) or a DW would be my second choice, so long as it is a steel or stainless steel frame.

I tend to shy away from 1911s with full length guide rods due to the decrease in functionality like brass checks and one handed charging (plus if you lose the plug you can substitute a spent .45 casing.) I also shy away from bushingless barrels because I can't help but think the slide will wear out over time. (I am not saying this will happen, and have no evidence to support this mindset, it is just what I think). I mention this because most of the high end 1911s have at least one of these "features", so even if money was no object, I still wouldn't have a Wilson, or Nighthawk. (Unless I could get it without those features)

Finally, like I said in a previous post, I have around 15,000 rounds through my old Sig GSR and it still runs like a top, is still very accurate, and if anything has worn in, instead of worn out.

Edit: I should point out that the mags that come with Sig 1911s (Italian Act-Mags) are horrible, nose-divey crap. I would recommend Check Mate or Colt hybrid mags.

Bullfrog said:

I have a Taurus PT1911, first handgun I ever bought. The only time I ever had an issue with it was when using a Promag in it. With factory mags and wilson 47d's it has been flawless with both factory fmj and hp ammo. The promag also failed to drop free when full, which led me to believe the sidewalls were too weak and were being distorted by spring pressure.

The fit, finish & accuracy on the Taurus is far better than a RIA I also own... but they may have improved since the RIA was bought (2011-ish?).

Racking the slide on the Taurus, it feels like a well fitted machine, much like more expensive 1911's I have handled and shot. The RIA feels like mismatched parts... there are sticking points and pauses where it seems to resist as the link engages and starts to pull the barrel down.


Regarding magazines, note that the 47d's I have were bought in 2009 & 2010, maybe 2011. I have heard it said here they have gone down in quality recently and are no longer the 'standard' in reliable 1911 magazines that they once were.

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Thanks for the info...... I think, now which credit card to put it on

By the way, this article is the most comprehensive 1911 magazine analysis I have found (and also why I won't run 47D mags. I stick to Colt or CMI hybrids)

http://how-i-did-it.org/magazines/

Boats said:

If I could only have one that I would trust my life with? Surprisingly, Sig or S&W.

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No surprise here. Sig makes an extremely underrated 1911, as does S&W.

Zzzzz_man said:

No surprise here. Sig makes an extremely underrated 1911, as does S&W.

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Real 1911s don’t have external extractors



If JMB had lived longer, I think he would have eventually designed the BHP for 45 ACP with an external extractor

As with most of these responses, mine is anecdotal at best:

I have an SA MCO that has been through 2 separate week-long combat pistol courses and a carbine course. It has not failed me yet. My favorite pistol by far.

I'm also on the EDC X9 bandwagon. It (or some evolution of it) will likely be my retirement gift to myself in a few years, although I'd like to try one first.

This pretty much sums up how I feel about the 1911 platform.