Best 1911

[UnSafe]

"Best 1911 for about a grand?"
I like all my Kimbers, and the basic black Classic Custom is a good choice.
The SA Milspec and Loaded are good ideas as well.
Rem R1 is a nice Mil style pistol with decent sights.
The RIA 1911 is decent, but the low GI sights aren't so great.
There's a bunch more, just haven't owned or had the chance to dump a pile of lead reloads thru them.

You can do well for $700 or less on a new or used steel frame 5" pistol. Spend the rest on reloading components and shoot the crap out of it.

 

[Brandi]

The thing about 1911's is that there are so many good ones out there nobody will ever agree on which is best. Colt, S&W, Springfield.... there are more than I can list and for every one of them there's someone who will swear it's the best. That makes picking your first out a real pain in the butt. I'd say go out and handle as many as you can and find out which one feels best to you and as long as it's not a known POS that'll be your best choice. You have to take a lot of the brand hate with a grain of salt, much of it is people repeating something they heard and you know how that goes. Even if someone is slamming one brand because they had problems with it doesn't mean anything because you don't know anything about the actual circumstances.

I've heard all kinds of hate about Kimber and yet they are one of the best selling of them all. I bought my sister a Kimber Ultra Crimson Carry II and, despite the hate, it's one of the nicest guns I've ever shot. My sister wanted a Kimber Solo CDP, I had people messaging me saying to avoid the Solo because it was a problem gun and they were unreliable and they won't run. I asked everyone of them if they actually owned or shot a Solo and not a one had, go figure. The Solo turned out to be the best compact gun you could imagine, I'm just mad we didn't buy one for myself. That doesn't mean there aren't legitimate cases of bad guns, it happens, but it's not a one bad gun spoils the kind of thing. I don't ever doubt someone who says their gun was a POS, most people would fib about such a thing but it's not likely their experience will carry over to your gun of the same brand.

Resale value is very important to some people and doesn't mean anything to others. I personally prefer a gun with good resale value because nobody usually plans to sell a gun they are just buying but real life happens and you just never know. Brands like Colt, Kimber, Nighthawk, Les Baer, STI have very good resale value while brands like Ruger, Springfield and such may not despite being very good guns. Off brand guns or Taurus usually have the worst resale value...I generally stay away from them altogether but they have their fans and if you want to go that route best of luck.

My personal 1911 is an STI Elektra, it's a fantastic gun and I don't believe you can do better without moving up into Ed Brown, Wilson Combat territory and price. The Elektra is a bit out of the $1k range but they have several models to choose from and you just can't go wrong with any of the models and ALL STI's come with match grade barrels which I can attest are extremely accurate. Under a thousand still gives you a lot of excellent guns so Colt, Springfield, Ruger, S&W....are all very good guns pick which one you like best and if it's one of the brands these guys have recommended you can depend on it (well, except Taurus but I don't think anyone recommended them)(I'm just kidding, there are some that like them).

 

[barry_miller31]

Smiths are the best, no comparison at all.

 

[TwoForFlinching]

Smiths are the best, no comparison at all.

lol... Newb

 

[Dukester]

lol... Newb

Even though my first impulse was to defend Smiths because I am a big fan, I have to say that anyone who claims that any one gun or other widget is the best hands down is usually trying to feel better about the ridiculous price they spent on their gun. That's like saying that cherry Kool-Aid is the best Kool-Aid flavor (it actually is, by the way) even though there a ton of people that like grape. Different people like different things about different 1911's for different reasons.

 

[TwoForFlinching]

Even though my first impulse was to defend Smiths because I am a big fan, I have to say that anyone who claims that any one gun or other widget is the best hands down is usually trying to feel better about the ridiculous price they spent on their gun. That's like saying that cherry Kool-Aid is the best Kool-Aid flavor (it actually is, by the way) even though there a ton of people that like grape. Different people like different things about different 1911's for different reasons.

Exactly... Though, the koolaid is a lie... Obviously Hawaiian Punch is the Bently of juice drinks.

 

[0311]

Exactly... Though, the koolaid is a lie... Obviously Hawaiian Punch is the Bently of juice drinks.

Hi-C is the Taurus of fruit punch drinks!

 

[Dukester]

You guys just lost all credibility with me......

 

[TwoForFlinching]

lmao...

 

[JD8]

Post purchase justification comes in all flavors.

Most guys won't know the difference in spending money on 1911s or rather researching a bit more into higher quality, better fitting, non-proprietary designs. However, if one tends to shoot quite a bit or plans on keeping their 1911 long enough to hit higher round counts, then the higher tier guns' value becomes more evident. Seeing and experiencing small parts breaking on various 1911s and then watching more than a few upper tier 1911s go 50K+ with the same ignition and barrel tends to make you a believer in what works, and what lasts.