Every time I am in a gun store I can't help but look at any 1911 style guns they have. I have a Colt Combat Commander in 45 with the satin nickle finish and some work done to it. I also have a Para Warthog in 45 and an FIE in 380 that is like the Mustang. I am considering a Taurus they have used for $400 as a government slide range toy and I really want a Springfield. Stop me before I buy again!

I am sorry I am not stopping you from getting a 1911... But I will stop you from going for the taurus and recommend you go for the SA instead.  Maybe you might save your money and get a nicer 1911 something in the higher range.

I'd skip on past the Taurus and get the Springfield. Or save up and buy another Colt. Or...

I was looking at the Taurus as a government length range toy that has alot of custom features without a custom price. I know Taurus is not well thought of in general but I have read good stuff about their 1911s. They also have a S&W and a Sig but have not heard much good about Sig 1911s either though it sure does look pretty! The other thought was when I had a buying bug and I didn't know what else to get I would order a Para GI expert.

Part of what is helping drive the buying bug is I have a $250 credit at the shop. They had a nice Kimber Pro CDP2 that I liked alot but passed as it was a 9mm. Perhaps I will just put that credit towards an MSAR that I have been wanting.

Friends don't let friends buy Taurus.

Listen to EdgecrusherXES_45. A taurus that you can afford now is not worth buying. Save up for something that has more quality put into it.

Here's one of the Springfields I like and then the government length here

Number Available: 0

I have been messing with the S&W down at my friends shop. Some folks are not excited about the extieror extractor (non traditional) but the rest of thae gun seeems to have lots of the right stuff for a reasonable price. I would look at them.

Kimber learned from that mistake and S&W needs to learn also.... JMB did not design it that way for a reason.

That's just on gallery of guns, I might check with my dealer to see if he can get one still and a price. Don't crush my dreams man

You guys are killing me...I am in a buying mood now and am pricing out an MSAR and had my debit card pulled out to buy some parts for my 10/22. I still haven't done anything but am thinking the position another 1911 would have and the only thing I can come up with is a range toy. I carry my Para in the winter and the FIE or an HK P7 in the summer. I have the combat commander in the nightstand, so I don't realy have a purpose for another 1911 other than I want one and a range toy.

I have the disease too.  I have bought two 1911s in the past two weeks.  Thinking about getting another one on payday in two weeks.  I am hooked.

The Taurus is a great gun, I don't care what anyone says.  I will vouch for my PT1911 any day.  I think my PT1911 shoots every bit as good as my Kimber, and twice as good as my Springfield GI.  I have heard people say they have had problems with their Taurus, but what manufacturer can you say no one has ever had problems with.  Taurus has a bad reputation, but chances are that anyone that just bashes on the PT1911 hasn't fired one.  It is a sweet little gun, especially for the price.  

I will say though....I will never buy a used gun of any kind.  You don't know it's history.  

Springfield are sweet, but stay a grade or two above the GI.  I mean it's okay, but not much more than just okay.  I can't get mine to feed hollow points out of any magazine (including Wilson Combat).  May just need some more break in.  I would not trust my life to my GI........I would easily trust it with my PT1911........and of course my Kimber too.   I just don't carry my Taurus because I had a high polish blue finish put on the slide, and it's too pretty to go into a holster.

Buy more and more 1911s until you are broke


That is my plan.

Or sell everything and get one or two pistols.  Start with the highest quality 1911 you can manage, with all those pistols sold plus a bit of new cash.

Just my opinion.  I am always amazed when someone has several thousand dollars tied up in guns, but not one of them is top quality.  An SKS plus a cheap AK plus an Olympic Arms AR equals roughly a Noveske factory rifle; I know some people prefer to have three guns, but I don't get that approach.  Just sayin', do what you want.

Please tell me what all these custom features are, besides ambi-safety that falls off, and so-so checkering......



I own one. Guess what. I've fired it. Maybe I got a lemon. It's a good shooting gun with a good trigger pull when it's not broken. My wife loves it , so I gave it to her.
TAURUS CS SUCKS! I know this from first hand experience. I won't bore everyone here with the details, 'cause most people here are tired of hearing it, but do a search for my threads (I don't know how or I'd post links).

OP, buy a SA MilSpec or something else if you want to stay in that price range. I've seen them cheaper than the Taurus. Don't be fooled by all the "custom features" that don't exist. IMO it's just sales hype. If you want real cheap with reliability, people love RIA.

a-bare

Until you get into triple digits on 1911s, you don't have a problem yet.

Seriously, there was a guy on another site a couple years ago who laid out all his various USGIs for a "family photo", and he couldn't get them all in the picture without shooting the pic from out in the hallway.

I guess maybe I should add in that some of my motivation for the Taurus would be to play with some gunsmithing and refinishing without feeling like I was destroying something nice, that cost me a bunch of money, or I needed to get operational again in any kind of hurry.

What's the point? Just get the better gun to begin with and there won't be a need to play around trying to smith it. The MC Operator is one of the best production pistols you can buy, period.

Well I guess that is some of the point is that I want to play with it a bit. I have the Colt and the Para as well as a bunch of other pistols that work and I don't have to play with nor do I want to in that I feel I would be destroying something of value. I know if I want to just buy something and not muck with it it would be the Springfield. That's why I am leaning towards a Para GI expert at some point in that I wouldn't feel bad tearing into it.

My approach is to just gradually go up in quality with each gun that I buy, but still build a collection.  Also, it is nice to have a few different levels of quality for different situations.  I am not going to use a $2500 Ed Brown or Wilson as an every day CCW because I would be too worried about wearing off the finish or getting rust, or getting it stolen (I have to leave my CCW in my truck while at work).  I carry my Kimber now, because it is of decent quality, and is reliable enough for me to trust it.  My Taurus is just my "fun" shooter for when I want to go shoot a few hundred rounds. And My GI is my "beater" that I can take out and shoot in the rain and not care.

Also, if I send one gun to get work done, I still have more at home and am not without a firearm.

To each their own, and I understand your point.  I will eventually get my Ed Brown, or Wilson, but not at the expense of selling off my current guns.

I think it is possible that you got a lemon........Or maybe I was just lucky enough to get a good one....either way.

Mine is fairly new, it was manufactured in 2008, so maybe the latter ones are better due to the company working out kinks.  

Granted I haven't had it for years and put thousands of rounds through it, I have shot it quite a bit, and have never once had any type of hic-up.  

I know all the "old-school" shooters will bash Taurus all day, but I will never sell mine.  It shoots awesome.

I would do this too..no offense or anything..but the 1911s you already have are bottom of the line..and a Taurus is just continuing that trend. Sell 'em..put the money towards a semi-custom.

After all the taking up I did on my Taurus.........these guys are right in a way.  

I love my Taurus don't get me wrong, but it WAS my starter 1911.  Since then I have bought a couple more, and tried to go up in quality with each progressive purchase.  Although the GI was a downgrade in quality from the Taurus IMO.  My "Baby" is my Kimber right now.  Next I plan on aquiring a Springfield TRP, or Operator as my 4th.  Then I will be set for a while until I can save up $2500 for an Ed Brown.  I plan to keep building my collection, but don't plan on dropping $500-600 on a RIA or something cheap.  I won't buy another until I can drop $1300 or more.

Since you already have a couple "lower tier" 1911's (even though Colt is nice) I would probably just save the $400 and try to save up to at least $1000 and get something nicer.  

I wouldn't sell the guns you have though. Unless you aren't that attached to them.  Just save up a little longer and get a Kimber or a nice Springfield.

I wish I had reached out to someone before my 1911 problem got the better of me.



Alas, I've just resigned myself to the fact that the addiction to 1911's will be eternal.



My problem's even worse, theyr'e all Colts

SWEET COLLECTION MAN.

I hope to have mine up there someday.  I should be up to 4 pretty soon, but after that it will be slow going.  I love the one on the top of the pic.

You have a problem when you start running up the credit card. Don't talk to me about problems.

My first Springfield was a Loaded model. That was my first 1911 in fact. It was good. I tricked it out with some Wilson and Ed Brown stuff. I poured enough into it that the total investment ended up being little over $1000. I eventually traded down in worth.

My current, and only, 1911 is also a Springfield (I really like their products). It's a lightweight Champion Operator. I paid just under a grand for it new and I feel that it is a cut above the Loaded even after I put in the Wilson barrel and Ed Brown bushing and little extras. I never had any trigger work done on the Loaded.

Go with the features you want and the highest quality you can afford. You'll never regret paying for quality.

No offense taken by any means but I love how people throw "tiers" around and place the value of a gun as the direct cost. I can tell you that all three of the 1911 pistols I have run 100% for me and I shoot them pretty well. Sure, they don't have Ed Brown or Kimber written on the side of them but they go bang everytime and would kill somebody just as dead as if I shot them with a 2K+ custom gun. Oh, and I can carry and shoot them and not cry is something happens to them.

It is no longer my job to carry a gun for a living and hope to never have to use one in anger/defense but if I do I feel pretty confident that my "bottom of the line" will work when the trigger is pulled. I'm not shooting competition with it and don't need to spend a bunch of money to show off gun porn. It is not a matter of spending money...see my previous post about where I said I might just order an MSAR that I have been wanting. It's seeing value for my dollar and having something fun to tinker with.

Nice... mine aren't all Colt, however. I have one SA Milspec, and a Kimber Series 1 from 1998 or so. My new total is

Kimber Classic Custom Target
Springfield Milspec w/Marvel Unit 1 .22LR long slide conversion
Colt MKIV, Series 70 x2
Colt Gold Cup National Match
Colt Golf Cup Trophy
Colt Delta Elite
Colt WWI Replica O1918
Ed Brown Kobra

...with an additional two being built by Miller Custom, and one of the Series 70's headed off to Berryhill for a MEU(SOC) conversion.

No, I'm not nearly finished collecting 1911s. Not by a long shot...

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Yeah bro.....just go with what you feel on this one.  I know you came here for advice, and you got a bunch of varying opinions.  That is all they are OPINIONS.  Everyone views things differently.  You just have to take them for what they are worth and make your own decision in the end.  

You already know my opinion, I have posted a few times on this thread.  Do not sell your guns.  Especially if you shoot good with them and trust them.  There is no sense in that.  

If you already know you want to buy the Taurus...........go for it.  As I have stated, it is a fine shooting gun.  Love mine to death.  I would buy a new one instead of used though.  However, if you want somthing of higher quality save up a bit more and drop $800-1000.  Get a Kimber or Colt, or Springfield (operator or TRP).  

But if you are simply asking if the Taurus is worth $400..........it certainly is.