Brand new to the forum. I want to stick with 45 acp. I shot IPSC with my 1911's in 45 and am set up to reload my own. Don't want a short barrell, 16" is fine. I'm shooting milk jugs and steel plates at about 50 yards. Most important is reliability and function and then breakdown and cleaning. Hi-cap mags are not a necessity. HK is out because of cost. AO/Thompson is out because of weight. All others are in play. I recently saw an Iver Johnson 45 lower on a Mech-Tech upper on Gunbroker. I like the 1911 concept. Any opinion on the Iver Johnson 1911? Flint River Armory makes a piston drive that is appealing. Kriss vector is unique also. Like the GEN 1 over the GEN 2 because of the stock. Don't mind spending a lot less on a JR Carbine or a Hi-Point if reliability is there. Appreciate all input you guys can give. Happy shooting.

scott_in_oregon

I would take a look at the parts kits from Quarter Circle 10 or watch New Frontier Armory they are supposed to be releasing AR parts in .45 as well.  Both are great companies and would allow you to build your way.


Also would look at Macon Armory.  They are a member here (Mad Machinist) and I have heard CS is great.  .45 is their thing.

Thank you much. I will check them out.

Ask ten people, get ten different answers. I will only reply with personal experience. I am not an expert but I have owned a dozen (or more) different PCC's. Of the ones I currently keep I would state the following:

Over all my Just Right Carbine has the highest round count. Its stone cold reliable and shoots straight. It gives me zero drama and just works. Its a smooth shooter and as it uses AR furniture and trigger parts you can tune it for your tastes. Oh, and my 21 year old grand daughter loves shooting it. She just likes it as it just plain works and hits the target.

My Beretta Storm CX-4 is high on my list for being "handy". Short, light, and a good shooter, it is 100% reliable and accurate. Trigger is not the worse but not the best. Its OK after just a few minutes of  DIY work. Had it for years, nothing ever broke.

I have a High Point, just because. I got it on sale for $218 a couple of years back, they aren't that cheap now, but they are low priced. I works, period. Its not the prettiest thing, it doesn't have 30 round magazines (20 is tops right now) but for a range toy or truck gun they get the job done. As one of the guys on the High Point forum says:

"A High Point is like a fat chick: She will eat whatever you feed her, go bang anytime you want, but you don't want your friends to see you out with her."

Lots of other choices out there and I have more than these in the safe. But I got the feeling you didn't want to invest a ton of money, that you just wanted something to play on the range with.

I vote for the Flint River Armory CSA 45.  

I may be a little biased, but I'm loving mine with the BFSIII binary trigger.

if you are looking for a range toy, there is nothing wrong with a Mech Tech...you keep the same fire control group you are used to with a 1911 receiver... slightly different with a Glock or SA...I have an NFA lower AR9 I built for USPSA PCC, but if you are not going that route, the MT is an inexpensive alternative

Cosmetically I like the JR Carbine out of the 3 you mentioned. AR furniture is also a plus. I watched a video on u-tube for breakdown and cleaning and it looked fairly simple and straight forward. Can you tell me the difference between the Gen 2 and the Gen 3 versions. Thank you very much for the input.

The JRC went through some changes over the years as they "perfected" it. They added a feed ramp-magazine stop as some of the old ones had feed issues. They worked their way through changes to buffer weights and buffer springs to get the best combinations. They figured out ways to make magazines work better for the .45 models. They have some videos on their website that explains some of this.

While I love 9mm carbines I waited for a couple years on the JRC. I am happy I did as I got one of the later ones a couple of years back and it has been stone cold reliable from day one. I even shoot it with cheap Korean imitation Glock magazines and it works just fine. Smooth, reliable and accurate, priced right. All I could ask of a firearm.

There are several Gen 2's and Gen 3's on Gunbroker. Gen 2's seem to run a little less. I'll call JR Carbines and talk to them and see what they have to say. Thanks for your info.

I love my JRC; it's about three years old. She never misses a beat.
I remember I called the office and asked about SBRing and they said it would run fine; no mods were needed but the warranty would be voided: so what!

This is in 9mm.

I have a JRC and a High Point, both in .45.

The High Point is crude & heavy but has been 100% reliable with AE, Speer, Perfecta, Aguila, Wolf Steel case and some of my reloads with cast lead 200 gr. slugs. Mags were a little rough out of the box as the follower would sometimes hang on the mag catch cutout but a cycling hem and a little dry lube fixed that. Accuracy is pretty close to the JRC @ 50 yards.

I REALLY like my JRC, and the accuracy with some 185 gr loads I have. But I had to spend some time getting the reliability dialed in. Even after bending the springs in my factory Glock G21 mags as recommended by JRC, I'd still get fail to feed when I had more than 7 or 8 rounds loaded. My factory JRC mag wasn't modified so check that if you buy one. But it did come with the heavier spring, which I had to add to my other Glock mags to get them to run at all. But still occasionally had an issue with rounds coming up too high and getting stuck on the upper edge of the chamber. bending the rear of the feed lips helped but some 230 gr ammo would still misfeed til I took a dremel and rounded out the upper edge of the chamber.

Now it's 100%, and I also have SGM hi cap mags with Kriss springs that can run up to 25 rounds reliably. But it took a lot of time & effort to get to that point. I think mine's considered the gen II .45, it's got the mag stop to prevent over insertion and the heavier buffer to slow it down but not the QD buffer tube.

Personally, I think the magwell's not angled as far as a Glock pistol, so the rounds are coming up too high out of the box.

Never had the HP apart for a detail cleaning so can't comment on ease of disassembly, the JRC is pretty simple if you have an armorer's wrench, pull the tube and the buffer comes right out. but neither is as easy as blowback AR.

I contacted JRC today and they told me the Gen 3's are supposed to have taken care of the feeding problems. Going to a local gun show Saturday and will check out availabity.

Good luck...hope you find what you are looking for.

Had my 9mm out yesterday and as always, 100% reliable and smooth shooting compared to the other PCC's I had out.