Posted: 10/13/2008 7:20:27 AM EDT
| Thinking about getting a full size 1911- whats the best out there right now? who has the best service.... |
|
Springfield or Colt. The Springfield service is fantastic, I've had to use it once and it was fast and painless. There was a problem with the staking of the plunger tube on my GI, it came a bit loose on the safety end, so I called Springfield up and had a UPS calltag the same day. Never had to use Colt service as I don't own any but have fired and handled a few. I've (personally) never fired a reliable Kimber. My data set is only about 3 or 4 pistols from different people/ranges, but I don't like the fact that they leave their barrels unfinished to make them look like more expensive stainless steel barrels. That's just stupid. I'd buy another Springfield in a heartbeat. |
| I personaly would not buy a Kimber. they make a special pistol for leo's that aren't available to the general citizen in california. I like Ronnie Barrets and STI's approach, If the citizens can't have them I won't sell to state agencys either. I like my RIA and Charles Daly also the Springfield, For the money Charles Daly Tactical Has a lot of the desiriable features on it, They shoot really well. FWEIW my opinion. |
|
Springfield, Colt, Dan Wesson and S&W are all good pistols for the money. My top pick is Springfield and their US made guns (NM prefix in the serial number). All of SA's mid-tier 1911's like the TRP and Operator series are US made. Running a close second would be Dan Wesson and Colt. I'm not a huge fan of external extractors on 1911's, so I tend to shy away from S&W's. I own one and it's a good, well made pistol. Just not my cup of tea, but that's a personal preference hang-up. Kimber... not so great. Their reputation for shoddy QC, unreliability, poor finishes and hit or miss customer support is enough to make me avoid future purchases. I've owned several Kimbers over the last few years and traded them all in for other handguns. Not one of my Kimbers ran properly and being returned for service didn't fix the problems as I had hoped.  Of the other 1911's I own, and there are quite a few, not one of them outside of the Kimbers required warranty work. YMMV |
|
Ok, I'll start by saying I am a Colt guy. Please, don't bother flaming me. First, Colts can be finicky, just a fact of life. I have some that only like certain particular magazines and they have problem if you try to change mags between them. Also, I have found that they don't like after market mags like the Wilson Combats. Again, many others will have different experiences. That being said, I carry a Colt. All my Colts are race guns and are not GI spec so I expect them to be more finicky. However, with the above said, they are all reliable. My brother-in-law like the Springfield. He had no problems with it what so ever. I had a Kimber and it was a good gun. Never a problem. I sold it only because I was not a fan alloy frames (I sold my Colts that were alloy too). As far as MIM goes, Colts have lots of MIM parts in today's production too. I cannot tell you how many Colt plastic main spring housings I have replaced too. |
|
It really depends on which model you are looking at from each manufacturer also depends on how much you are looking to spend also there are some good choices that are left out by simply looking only at springfield, colt and kimber. I own one kimber and one springfield. I sold the colt to my BIL cause he is a good guy who was in love with it. I had a charles daly that I put in the scrap so it wouldn't get someone killed by it's unreliability. my next 1911 will be an operator my kimber warrior is a great pistol and I have had 0 problems with it. That said it was new in '05 and I understand that folks have had problems with kimbers of more recent vintage. If I did not have any 1911's right now and knew what I know now, I would find a Springfield Professional or a Wilson CQB. I suppose that would be cheating though. |
The second you shot off your mouth about all the Colt "MIM" stuff you lost any semblance of knowledge. Colt has one or two MIM parts and thats it. Of all the production 1911s above, Colt has the least MIM by far. As much as I'm not a fan of plastic MSH's, Ive NEVER seen one break. OP, buy a series 70 repro, no 80s bits if you don't like them and I'm very happy with mine. One thing you need to do is inspect them tho, as much as I like Colt, sometimes I less then impressed with their machining and cosmetics. One can be PERFECT and the next, bleh. |
I'm pretty sure he meant for custom work, not that it will need work. As in, if you're definitely going to be sending it off anyway, get the Colt as the better base gun, while Springfield offers pistols like the Loaded, TRP, etc. out-of-the-box. |
None of my three Colts have proven finicky in the least. The only problems I have experienced have either been faulty mags/mag springs (1 defective 47D, 1 weak-sprung 47), or ammo/recoil spring issues when working my handloads (mainly stovepipes when I've been working on the lower end of the power spectrum). Zero ammo/recoil spring issues when using factory ammo (including Hornady TAP and Speer Gold Dots in addition to the run-of-the-mill FMJ). |
That is precisely what I meant.  I know I love my 70 Series Gold Cup. |
Gotcha, you are right they are not frilled out but even my cheapass 1991 eats ammo extremely reliably. I have a couple decked out 1911s and tho I like them, I still really enjoy a classic 1911 design without many frills. |