Buy or build 1911 advice

[Casualty]

I am interested in getting my first 1911. I've always wanted one, but never wanted one bad enough to spend the money. For the sake of this discussion, I'm ignoring the expensive brands. While I'm sure they are nice, I won't be spending that much money on a pistol any time soon.I would really like to build an 80%, but they seem to cost the same, or more than many of the common 1911 models. Which leads me to my question: Should I buy a basic/cheap/budget 1911 to upgrade myself, or buy an 80% frame, and buy the "good" bits and pieces up front?

I'm a bit undecided if taking one apart, and doing upgrades would scratch the "build it" itch. My long term goal is a competition capable pistol, although I am not intending to use it in any competitions. I just want a really well tuned 1911, that I can impress myself with. Hand fitting, tuning, and modding are not a problem. I have a lathe, milling machine, and other tooling to make any modifications that might be required.

It's worth noting that I am a 1911 noob, although I have been doing some research as I try to figure out what to do.


ETA:
Should I just buy something like this, and upgrade as desired? I would rather have a 5" model, but 4.5 is probably close enough for now.

https://www.migunowners.org/forum/sh...-475-No-Trades

[Scoop]

You said "expensive", but you never mentioned a budget. In the 1911 world, you can get in for as little as $500-600 or spend thousands upon thousands.

My long term goal is a competition capable pistol, although I am not intending to use it in any competitions. I just want a really well tuned 1911, that I can impress myself with.

You're not going to accomplish this with a sub $1K pistol. "Really well tuned" without "finicky" requires quality machining and manufacturing, which is something you're not going to get out of a RIA, EAA Girsan, or even a Ruger SR1911, Springfield Armory Mil-Spec or even a Colt Combat. Sure, you can get "moderately OK" or "better than average" depending upon your choice, but not competition grade, ultra reliable.

Someone wrote that inexpensive handguns are like inexpensive lawn mowers: They are inexpensive for a reason.

FWIW, service and support from the manufacturer is typically in line with the amount of $ you spend on the firearm, too.

[HKmanlp1]

Just be patient, save about $1300 and get a Springfield TRP. The TRP is a real nice entry level 1911.

[Casualty]

There isn't a firm budget. The only thing I'm really sure about is that I don't want to buy something turn key, where all of the upgrades are already done.

It sounds like an 80% is the way to go here. I can fit it myself, and choose the parts I want from the start.

[JimSig]

Well, in my humble opinion, a properly tuned 1911 is the most interesting gun to shoot and enjoy. If you are seriously thinking about purchasing your first 1911 and you are on a budget, then just go ahead and purchase a 1911 within your allotted budget. Building a 1911 takes a lot of finesse to have what you are really looking for a fine end product. To me personally I always wonder why people always give an advise to buy a very expensive high end 1911 for someone who just want to try the platform.. I fully understand the quality and the craftsmanship characteristics of high end 1911s but truly this is a personal preference that requires alot of taste maturity on the user side to appreciate such qualities.

Go ahead and buy a 1911 in your budget and you can always upgrade it or sell it and buy something else.. Here are some of the features that you can upgrade and some of the things that you can not upgrade or are a pain to upgrade, so if you want these features make sure they exits in the gun you buy.

Features that are difficult to upgrade or sometimes cost a lot to upgrade:
1. front sights: a post front sight is really difficult to upgrade, and choices are limited. Some options are to re-mill the slide for a dove tail to upgrade the front sights but if you forsee sights upgrades in your future buy a gun with some sort of slide cuts for the front sight.
2. Beaver tail grip safety.. Buy the desired feature as some people like the extended feature and you might find that if you buy the regular one and want to upgrade later to an extended beaver tail you might want to modify the frame.
3. ejectors are relatively tricky to replace as you need to drill a hole in them for fitting.. But all cheap or low cost 1911 have reasonably good ejectors and when the time comes to replace them you can send it to a local gunsmith or a friend who is savvy can replace it for you

Features that are easy to upgrade:

1. Trigger internals to smoothen the trigger pull.. You can easily replace all trigger internals for around $130 *Ed Brown kit) for a superior trigger pull and for all machined durable internals to replace any MIM parts
2. Slide stops, thumb safeties, pins etc.. all easy to replace with high qualty parts and reasonable cost
3. grips
4. extractors, slide plates, springs etc.. all easy to replace with high quality parts once needed

Over Rated features that alot of high end 1911s owners like to brag about:
1. Slide to frame fit: yes it will enhance accuracy on the expense of initial reliability and break in period plus the extensively high price tag associated wit it. For most shooters this features added accuracy is way beyond their shooting capabilities. A little loose fit will increase reliability and the accuracy effect will not be distinguished by 99% of shooters.

bottom line of my advise go ahead and buy a 1911 within your budget and enjoy it to introduce yourself to the platform.. if you are thinking of upgrading it then make sure that the gun has the extended beaver tail grip safety if you like that feature and slide cuts for the front sight (in case you want to upgrade or change the sights in the future), everything else is easy to upgrade.

Few models that come to mind with associated budget:
cost efficient models: ~ $400 - $500 are Tisas by CDS imports (Turkish), RIA, ATIs and American Classic (Philippines)
Mid Entry models ~ $600 - $800: Springfield, BUll Armory,
Upper MId Entries: ~ $1,000 Sig Sauer 1911s, Smith and Wesson, Colt
HIgh end entry: ~ $1200 - $1500 Dan Wessons, Springfield TRP, STIs, Fusion

Above $2000, the sky is the limit but then you really really have to be willing to pay for what you think is what you want like Night Hawks, Ed Browns, Cabot Guns, Les Baer,

[jiw275]

Great advice.

[december1979]

https://www.remarms.com/handguns/mod...11-r1-enhanced

This Remington is a great entry level 1911, I had one for a short time but was impressed with the quality. I would not attempt to build a 1911 unless you have significant experience in building 1911's.

[crankythunder]

I do not know if they are still making them but they might be available.


This is the recommendation I got direct from Brian Zins, might want to google Brian Zins if do not know who he is.

The Springfield Range Officer is the pistol to get for Bullseye Competition. You got a good solid gun right out of the box and then take it to any competent Bullseye Pistol Smith and have him work on the accuracy and trigger. KC Customs and Clark are two of the more famous 1911 pistolsmiths but they have a long wait time and there are many others that are competent.

Another option would be to purchase a Les Baer 1911 from Champions Choice although the wait time could be a while.

Realistically, most 1911 bullseye competitors are making their own ammo specific for their firearms, over the counter 45 ACP ammo is just not good enough for bullseye competition accuracy wise. There are a few boutique ammo manufacturers that cater to the Bullseye Competitor but they are very expensive, especially considering the amount of ammo a serious competitor burns through.

Personally, I compete bullseye but cannot afford 45 ammo with the amount of shooting, practicing, and competition that I do. I stick with the 22LR and even so, I go through between 10,000 and 20,000 rounds a year.

For what it is worth, the CMP just announced that they have Federal 40 Grn standard velocity 22 LR ammo available at $360.00/case of 5,000 rounds. I think that it is CCI Standard Velocity (Federal Ammo and CCI are under the same holding company). I ordered two cases so we shall see.

I see that you are in Lansing and I am on a Winter Indoor 22LR Bullseye Pistol Team based in Lansing. Let me know if you are interested, we are just getting ready for the winter season.

Regards,
Crankster

[joepistol]

.." I would not attempt to build a 1911 unless you have significant experience in building 1911's. " Truth.

Building & fitting a 1911 to be both accurate & reliable isn't something a new-to-1911's will be able to do.
Just fitting a barrel to the slide (properly) takes more work than you could imagine.
You may be able to fit pieces together, & it may work..but it's probably not going to be very accurate and/or reliable.
Too many variables in getting parts fitted PROPERLY for someone inexperienced in working on them to "build"one.

I didn't save it, but recall reading an article written by someone that thought they knew 1911's well enough to build one.
Wanted to learn to work on 1911's, so bought a kit and was started to build it.
Made for interesting reading, was a lengthy article, the "builder" describing his work & problems he had with his build.

If you do attempt to build one, I encourage you to post your experience during the process.
I believe it too, would make interesting reading.

[Model12gunner]

I am currently building an 80% Commander and it is a satisfying feeling creating a firearm to your own specifications. On thing that didn't occur to me was how much quality jigs for finishing the height dimension, drilling pin holes and cutting slide rails costs. These add enough to step up $300 plus in the purchase of a complete gun. As mentioned in previous posts, I have purchased factory guns and they will shoot better than I can. The recommendations to buy a factory gun to see how you like the platform are good suggestions, we all have had experiences where a firearm may not have lived up to our expectations. Just some of my experiences to give you a little info to consider. Good luck whichever way you proceed.