Thinner?

I have a horsehide summer special clone and jmcustom aiwb 2.0 for full sized berettas. 1911s are sooo much more comfortable to carry.

Dang skippy, I used to carry my 92 fairly often before I got into Glocks but a 1911 is easier for sure.

After getting back into the 1911 world after 20+ years, I have been very surprised to learn that my full size 5" 1911 (Dan Wesson A2) conceals just as well as my G19. Maybe even better IWB since it is so much thinner. Just so easy to slide that 1911 behind my hip vs. my Glocks.

Now the weight is a different story since 40oz empty vs. 22oz...A good belt is key for CCW a 1911.

I am not planning on selling my glock 17's,  I am just giving them to the wife who is proficient with them.  One for upstairs, one for down.

The rest of your story is very similar to mine.

Sorry, the knocked-out-tooth-emoji was supposed to make clear I was pulling this thread’s leg.  I’m pretty sure my fully loaded M9A3 is at least 44oz and with a TLR-1 HL is almost twice as thick as a 1911.  It was a poor attempt at a joke.  

I agree that 1911’s are both thinner and easier to carry because of that fact.

No worries. The berretta is lighter, ill give you that.

It's been a while since my last post. I've been on a trip for work. I hate Chicago. I got home yesterday and actually got some range time in before dark. However, the entire range session was with my Glock 17. I was missing it a lot. I really like the RMR for certain things. I forgot how 'easy'it is to hit a 100 yard full size target with an RMR on a full sized pistol. Focus on fundamentals and make the shot. RMRs certainly have their spots, but I honestly think I prefer to have my pistols with irons. I think an RMRed 1911 would be the shiz though.

I after running a little over 100 rounds through the Glock, I cycled some carry ammo in it and ran a few errands with the wife. I loved having a weapon light on the gun and a backup light with me. I completely forgot how uncomfortable the Glock w/ an X300U-B was. I really missed the 1911 last night. The Glock went back in the safe and the 1911 came back out.

The ol girl is starting to look more and more well used. I absolutely love this gun. I really wish it had a light rail. I would honestly pay a significant amount of money if I could swap it to get one with a rail, but not enough to sell it and get a Nighthawk Thunder Ranch 1911... I think I'll just get another 1911 haha

Looking good.

My light bearing holster is sooo much bigger than i like carrying on a regular basis.

I need to put some dcc clips on it.

I hate iwb light bearing holsters geeze! I just carry a handheld it works well
And doesn’t make my holster huge lol.

I do handheld. I don't really have a need for a WML outside of the home.

Me to but i kinda handicap myself. Its my thing
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Boomer here

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Another couple hundred rounds through the ol 1911 this weekend. Lots of drills at 50-75 yards on full sized steel targets. I’m really getting to the point of being pleased with my trigger control. I can make hits at 50 yards consistently on a full sized steel plate. The drills I’ve been primarily running is anywhere from 25-75 yards, draw from concealment quickly, slow down and make a hit on the target, keep the gun on the target, then re-holster. I’ve gotten away from shooting on paper out of sheer laziness. I need to get back into running paper targets and knowing exactly where I’m hitting. I really love shooting steel, but I need to be more focused on running specific drills again. I’m doing lots of one handed strong hand shooting. Overall, I’m pleased with where I’m at with the 1911. The crisp trigger was a stumbling block for me at the beginning, but now I’m grown to like it.

With how much I’ve been shooting lately, I picked up a Dillon 650 all tricked out. I had a 550 that I ended up selling for the 650. I’m having a hard time buying enough components to keep feeding the 650. That’s right where I want to be. Now, I just need a bigger media tumbler.

The 1911 definitely gets dirtier than a Glock. I ran about 500-600 rounds through it without cleaning and you could feel the slide loosing lubrication and starting to stick. It didn’t malfunction, but I suspect it would have if I’d had kept going, but maybe not. Bullseye powder is pretty dirty too. Overall, the Baer has been a very reliable gun. I’d certainly put my life on the line with it. It really has got my excited about shooting pistols again.

I hope to get to shoot at a local IDPA or USPSA soon. I haven’t had much extra time to shoot anywhere but at my own range. I’m very excited to get to the NRA convention this year. Anyone else going?

keep up the good work!

a couple of suggestions so far, don't rush the gun back into the holster. I was doing drills like that and would find myself trying to reholster before the last steel fell. Not ideal with a miss. If your gun needs to come out it needs to stay out until you're done with it. IDPA and USPSA won't ever have you holster on the clock.

Also try the same drills with a 50 cent piece sized shoot-and-see target at 3-5 yards. They are actually as big a target as a steel at 50+ and will give you feedback. I'd train with 4" steel almost exclusively when I was doing 3 gun. Then when you get to the match using 8" they look like monsters.

Nice

Im headed out to shoot this morning as well. Im going to stick with my 1911 for a couple weeks. Last time i shot it i found i was dumping my first shots after shooting DA revolvers for a long time.

I think ill primarily focus on 3x5 cards at 7 yards with steel at 25.

Felt good. Only missed when i pushed a little to fast. Got a lot of sub 2 second hits on 10x12 steel at 25 yards from concealment.

My wife came and shot too while my son watched Sesame Street in my car.

Then took a walk
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@03RN Awesome man! I love it when my wife shoots with me. What ammo do you carry with? I've been carrying with Federal HST 230gr JHPs

She had a blast with my .357 M92. It was her first time shooting a levergun

230gr Gold dots. I think i have 4 boxes left. Then i have 1-2 boxes of 230gr +p hsts.

I hardly ever shoot them so i wont need anymore for a while.

I might buy some xtps to load and just switch over when i start loading for .45 auto.

Love the training and sharing of good info that is going on here.  I got out myself this last week 3 times.  Albeit twice with the duty gun and once with the 1911.

Never enough time for the 1911.

The black slide with OD green lower looks great.  I’ve wanted a Colt rail gun in that color scheme.

Just curious redbeard, why shoot from such a distance?  I only ask because you seem focused on carry and drills related to it. Getting proficient 25 yards and in is a higher priority, no?  Don’t get me wrong, my favorite thing to do at the range is “the walk back”.  Just making hits at five yard intervals until I can’t anymore.

All that to say, why worry about making hits at 50+ yards with your carry piece ?

I can only speak for myself but there have been plenty of instances where longer range precision with a carry gun has been necessary.

@Winchester01 Thanks for the kind words!

@NoDakWolfPack Good question. Clint Smith told us that all shooting is precision shooting, it's only on occasion that you must be surgical. I think it's important to understand your capability to shoot at 50 yards. I hear people say that if you have to make a defensive shot at 50 yards, you're wrong. I completely disagree. Some buildings such as auditoriums, churches, arenas, and warehouses all have big open spaces. I am commonly in a building with rooms over 50 yards long. If an active shooter scenario took place, could I protect my family and stop the threat? Churches are one place I go where there are often corridors where my line of sight exceeds 50 yards. I always thought a gun fight would be within 7 yards, I'm starting to think otherwise. Active shooters are becoming more and more prevalent. You can most certainly make a legal case that you were justified to make a CLEAN 50 yard shot.

I said CLEAN, because you must know what your capabilities are. Another thing Clint Smith said in class was that it's better to watch innocent civilians be murdered rather than you make a mistake a shoot an innocent person in the process of taking out the treat. That's somber to hear and has humbled me. You can't understand what your capabilities are unless you practice.

I am working on shooting while moving. That's a difficult one to get down with pistols.

Agree on 50 yards not being excessive, that seems like a short distance to me and my common destinations! Good shooting, and loving the worn in look on the TRS!

Question you have your rear sight moved to the right, were you hitting left?

The more I am shooting my DW Vigil I have started hitting to left of the target, 10" plate at 20 yards.  Not sure if I started pulling but I am right handed so shouldn't the pull be to the right or what, if that makes sense?  Maybe over thinking, twitching I don't know?

If I had to make a shot with a pistol at 50 yds, I’d want a 1911.  Sounds like you’ve got the right weapon for carry.

yes

me as well

Jerry Miculek made a 200 yard shot with a J frame revolver upside down with his pinky finger.

@JimmyAR I'm honestly not sure. I typically adjust windage on a bench, but after thinking about it, I never did on this pistol. Either way, it never really bothered me and it's dead on with me and other shooters. If you're having trouble getting the 'Nth' degree of accuracy out of your sights, I'd suggest shooting off a supported rest or have a buddy verify your adjustments. Coming from shooting 9mm Glocks for so long, I have to admit, I was flinching a lot at first. I don't think it was necessarily recoil related, I think most of it had to do with the trigger. Since I shoot pistol right handed, most of the time I 'jerk' I pull my shots to the left.

@Bradd_D Jerry also made a 1000 yard shot with his 9mm revovler. I went out and bought that same model revolver and I couldn't hit anything at 1000 yards haha. Must have been the Indian, not the arrow.

Plus if you're comfy hitting a small target at 50 yards, shooting the same size targets at 5 yards is so fast it feels like cheating!

Wife woke me up from a dead sleep to say she heard a crash downstairs. Rip open gun safe and out of all the options, grabbed my TRS. Turned out to be the kid's suction cup toy holder falling in the bathtub and not billy badguy but still reassuring to have a chunk of steel that I know can shoot in my hands over anything else.

That's always scary. I had two instances in my life where I thought someone was in the house. Once a car pulled into the driveway and a window shattered (turned out, we think it was the dogs running to the window to see who pulled in the driveway), I was about 13 or 14 and I ran upstairs to get dad's Glock 30. I hid in a corner and waited for someone to come up the stairs. Pretty scary, but I remember the security of knowing I had a firearm I could defend myself with and dogs that would have barked if someone bad was actually in the house. No, my father didn't keep it in the safe and yes, he let me know where it was at. He trusted me with it because I respected firearms and he knew I could defend myself with it. Another instance was when we came home and doors were wide open. I had thought someone had broke in, but it turns out we must not have shut the doors all the way. I've had plenty of instances of stray dogs or coyotes come after our chickens or pig in the middle of the night, but that's never as scary as the thought of a badguy in your house.

@steviesterno16

I've seen this pic numerous times and everytime I see it I say, "wow" THATS what a 1911 should be. I seriously love it, no homo and dont tell my DWs I've got a twinkle in my eye! Ok now with that being said, back to a solid thread.

@samsgreen50 thanks! I've seen this style and these grips and thought they were cool since I was like 15 years old. Took the plunge on the gun when my first son was born, and the grips when my second was born. Never knew how I could spend that much money on an accessory but I'm at the point in my life where I want less stuff but stuff that's perfect to me than I do want a pile of stuff I may never use. That said, it turns out once you scratch that itch another starts to develop....

Need a "This Is The Way" patch.

My .02

50 yards is NOT an out of the question defensive shot. We train at 100 yards. Why? It's good information to have, knowing what your carry piece will do at distance. Especially if you spend time in the outdoors, having some strange scenario where you have to engage at a distance is completely reasonable. In fact, I bought a 10mm 1911 for woods carry, partially for it's ability at distance.

More importantly...distance magnifies flaws. I spent time at the 300 yard range Friday with my 450 Bushmaster bolt gun. If you knew where I hunt, a 300 shot is never going to happen. But tightening my skills up at 300 makes 100 seem like a piece of cake.

Shooting my 1911 at 50 yards makes 7 yards ridiculously simple.

OP, your pistol is absolutely drop dead gorgeous. Would love to find one like that someday. Very much enjoying this thread.

This thread is fantastic OP, im off to buy a 1911 to go with my RD701 now.

Good thread. Thought I'd throw this in here.

Shot .45 1911's with irons for a few years. Really love a .45 but when I started shooting over 15k rounds/ year, 9mm became much more affordable. After dabbling with some 2011's for a bit I then went to Glocks for a few years. Really do think Glocks are great but something was missing. That inherent awesomeness that a 1911 provides.

Now, full circle. IMHO, double stack 9mm 1911's (2011's) with a red dot really have it all. Still get that awesome 1911 heavy feel with a superb trigger, optic cut and a 20 round capacity, or more. The best of all worlds.

My Placeholder until my Firehawk arrives
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Should arrive in about a month (Not my pic but almost exactly what I ordered)
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Well, hell. I just pulled my stainless Commander out of the safe and dusted off my IWB rig for it. I think I’m gonna take a break from the M9A3 for a bit.

I carried a beretta for a long time before a started to carry a 1911 again (was my first carry gun). It was eye opening at how much more comfortable it is day to day. Yeah its half the capacity and a few oz heavier but its slimmer, as is the spare mag. Enough that i really dont see me going back to any double stack for iwb carry.

Owb carry for the zombie apocalypse i may prefer the 18+1 of the Beretta.

My very first carry pistol was a Norinco 1911 I bought for $289.00 + tax back in 1990, right after I turned 21. I carried it in a cheap ass Uncle Mike’s IWB holster for years and years, until I sold it off to buy a Polish Radom VIS-35.

I carried a stainless Beretta 92FS for some years after I got rid of the Norinco, and then moved on to a Colt Defender.

I’ve carried my 2.5” Model 19 a time or two, and plan to get a nice IWB holster for it someday soon. It’s a helluva pistol, and has the sweetest trigger of anything I have ever picked up before or since.

My stainless Commander was my carry gun of choice for years until the advent of the A3, but not a day goes by I don’t miss carrying a 1911.

I swap the flat MSH out for an arched version, and then the pistol fits me like a hand made glove. It’s a feeling I’ve never gotten out of any other handgun.

I think you and I are gun brothers.

I started with a springfield mil spec at 16 that my mom did the paperwork for. I carried it after my discharge for years but switched to a g19 then a m92 then back to the 1911. Ive been on a revolver kick for the last 2 years but still grab a 1911 at times.

I just restaked the plunger tube on my loaded. I'll shoot it tomorrow to make sure its gtg. Man it feels good in my hand. Its been disassembled for to long

Crap. That reminds me, I have a Colt Officers Model in storage with a loose plunger tube that needs attention.

It’ll have to wait til I get home from deployment, but I’m definitely gonna fix that little pug nosed hog leg up and update the barrel bushing so I can carry it.

Let’s see those rigs guys! I've had zero experience with the Beretta M9s, but it sounds like carrying them is similar to Glocks. People ask me if I’m a 1911 guy or a Glock guy, I honestly love shooting them both. I enjoy the nostalgia, the craftsmanship, the feel of two pieces of steel reciprocating on a thin film of lubrication, the thought of the barrel lugs and slide timed perfectly with the cam linkage to drop the barrel under load, just everything makes the 1911 a cool gun. It’s the same reason I enjoy mechanical watches, carbureted engines, mechanical fuel pumps, manual transmissions, steam engines, and the like. I like those things, but at the same time I’m not going to say they’re better than the modern technology of this day. Maybe the best way I can put it is like this: My venture into shooting 1911s is like learning to drive an old muscle car. In order for me to learn to drive, I’m going to understand how the carburetor works, how the engine works, how the suspension works. That way, when I want to push the performance of the car, I understand it’s limitations, I understand what it was originally designed for, and I understand it’s not the same as a modern car. However, that old muscle car can still hang with the modern cars with the right work behind them. While I’ll be grinning from ear to ear in either a 1960s Nova or a 2020 Supra, there will always be more heart in that old muscle car. I have a passion to understand that heart of America’s handgun and I’ve tried to convey my story of learning it.

I still shoot my Glocks better hahaha. I decided to finally post some of my groups. How embarrassing it is, but I think it’s good for humility and to show progress. This is my Dot Torture from 3 yards. You can defiantly tell that my groups are generally low. I know I’m jerking downward causing this. I didn’t really take my time though the Dot Torture and I certainly caused myself to speed up when I should have slowed down some. I tried to use Clint Smith’s favorite 5-letter word… L.O.G.I.C..   He says take your time, don’t rush your shots, but don’t go so slow that you’re getting it the way and you’ll get shot. Just use Logic. I know I rushed some, but that’s part of it. I’m embarrassed with this Dot Torture, but I know I have room to grow. I can shoot the same drills with my Glock 19 or 17 and clear it fairly easily at 5 yards. I hope to get to that point.

You guys get bonus points if you shoot and post your Dot Torture results with your 1911s! Only rule is you get one try per day. You gotta shoot it ‘cold’. Let’s see how you guys do.

Was going to shoot my loaded today but after i restaked my plunger tube i had some lock tight seep to the trigger rails. I bent it but didn't realize it untill i was loading up this morning.

Just a reminder that if you're using a thinking mans gun then you need to think

I did a variation of the Dot Torture today. Clam shells at 15 yards with my M19.

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Only had a few minutes before supper and didn’t have a dot torture target but here’s what I made happen at 15 yards with a decent cadence. Six 7 round mags worth, Love this thing.

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Can do better and should blah!!!

Great write-up. This thread helped me into two 1911s from Berryville, AR in three weeks. Thanks, OP.

Millennial checking in with my first post here. I’ve had my ACW Classic Carry for about 3 weeks now and have been carrying it everyday. My other daily is a Glock 19. I Enjoy the 1911 so much more that Glock has been given backup duty.