Help Me Choose a 1911 Pistol

[PHOENIX PHIL]

Does anyone have any experience with the Colt Delta Elite?

 

[Ridgewalker]

Sig makes some good shooters as well in 1911s.
Please don't waste your money on a Taurus! They talk about all their upgrades, but internally they don't have standard parts and I've had to wait months to get their replacement parts at which point I traded it in at a big loss.
My only complaint on the Kimbers I've owned are the PM parts that you will wind up replacing with machined parts (Brownells has some good replacements).

As far as the Delta Elite, I've only shot one at the range. Worked fine, after all it's a 1911!

The 10mms I've shot had noticeably more recoil than the 45. Competitively you will need to download them to stay on target as well as the 45, IMO. The only 10mm that didn't recoil more was a high capacity Witness. It was too large for me to grip well though.

 

[firehuntfish]

Phil,
I am fortunate enough to have an indoor range close by that has a huge selection of guns to rent. We also have a range master that we know, so I was lucky to have shot at least a dozen 1911's before I bought one..... For me, the Kimber in .45 was beyond compare hands down. No other model I shot had the factory trigger that was as crisp as the Kimber. The combination of the weight, balance, and trigger was perfect for me. My groups with the Kimber were far better than all of the other that I shot. My wife shot it very well and fell in love with it also.

I bought her an Ultra Carry II, and I bought a Pro Carry for myself. Both in stainless.. It is my everyday carry gun. I would recommend shooting one before you buy anything.

 

[Old welder]

I currently shoot a Remington R1. Some people like em some don't. I love mine. Think I paid 600$ for it and for the cash it's the best out of the box shooters I have owned. You can get a enhanced model with adjustable trigger in stainless for just a bit more. For the most part they are all customizable with Wilson combat parts or most other brands. I have never fallen into the stigma that you have to spend thousands to shoot well. That being said, a good shot will benefit from a great gun. But a bad shot will still be a bad shot with a 3000$ dollar piece.

 

[Bullthrower338]

Phil,
There are several very good 1911's in your price point. STI makes excellent pistols as does Sig, I just bought a Sig Max 1911 with some great features for less than 1500. Les Baer Premier II
is a little above the budget number but well worth the extra money and comes with an accuracy guarantee. I wish I could shoot as good as my Baer is capable of. Feel free to contact me when you decide to buy and we can see what kind of deal I can get you.
Cheers,
Cody

 

[Mr. 16 gauge]

I have a Springfield Armory 1911 in .38 Super; my friend has the Kimber in .45 ACP........both are great guns and hard to beat. I personally love the .38 Super cartridge, but ammo/brass can be difficult to find.....you might wish to stick to the .45 or 9mm for starters, esp. if you don't reload.

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

Go with your gut -
1911 will be a lifetime lasting purchase.
Like the Ruger 1911's.

For the money, the Ruger 1911 does look like a good value.

http://www.realguns.com/articles/329.htm
http://www.realguns.com/articles/768.htm
http://www.realguns.com/articles/894.htm
http://www.realguns.com/articles/895.htm
http://www.realguns.com/articles/480.htm
http://www.realguns.com/articles/696.htm
http://www.realguns.com/articles/839.htm

Hickock45

 

[mdwest]

Does anyone have any experience with the Colt Delta Elite?

If you absolutely must have a 10mm.. the Delta Elite isnt a bad choice.. Ive never owned one.. but I've shot one.. and handled a few.. they seem to be reasonable for the price..

Im not a fan of Colt Series 80 pistols in general though.. So for me at least I would consider other options.. I think Rock Island Armory and a few others still make 10mm 1911's that are more in line with traditional 1911 parts just beefed up to handle the 10mm round..

 

[ChrisG]

First off, $1500 will buy you a nice 1911 and a lot of ammo for it. As far as make, I would have to say, bang for your buck, Springfield Armory is the way to go. The Kimber's I've fired are hit and miss. Some of them are great and some are definitely not. for $1100-$1400 I would want a gun that worked right out of the box. Springfields are forged frames and even the mil-spec shoots well and is legitimately well built.

Secondly, I would stick with the original 1911 concept - 5" barrel, link pin, and barrel bushing. It works. These shrunken and modified jobs all have given up something to get that end result. You probably won't get one of those 100% reliable out of the box. Don't get too hung up on accuracy out of the gun, unless you have a gun tuned by a competent 1911 smith, it isn't going to shoot any better than any other run of the mill $1000 handgun. I know people will disagree with me here but, a 1911 isn't really all it's cracked up to be in terms of accuracy unless its been built with that in mind. Easier to shoot oweing to the single action trigger pull and hefty weight, yes, but more inherently accurate, no. In fact, I don't think they are all they are cracked up to be interms of a weapon either but that is another story and I don't want to start an angry slinging contest here.

Your choice of .45 or 9mm is kind of a personal choice. The .45 is slow, heavy, recoils about 2x what a 9 does and the rounds are about twice the money. 9mm is really the best choice for a range gun IMHO. Actually, from an engineering standpoint, it is 10x the round that a .45 is. It feeds better, handles higher pressure, shoots flatter, and penetrates better than the .45. The .45 was the result of a man designing a round in the 20th century while still thinking like a man in the 19th century. The 9mm was the result of a man designing a round in the 19th century and thinking like a man in the 21st century.

Oh no... I've probably just ticked off all the .45 lovers...

Anyway, none of this is intended to offend, and whichever you choose, I would say you still made a good choice. I own a 10mm and I love it but it's no fun chasing brass around the range, and ammo is expensive. If you want the power, buy the .45 and someday, get a .45 super barrel for it.

Sorry for the long winded response, to sum up I guess, I'm voting for a Springfield 1911, as they are well made and leave you enough money for lots of ammo and range time!

 

[Shootist43]

I am a competitive pistol shooter and earned my Distinguished Badge in 1994. If you are looking for the top of the line there are two sources I'd recommend. Accuracy X and Chambers Custom. Either can provide you with a pistol that will out shoot anything else on the market. Of the two the Pro Plus from Accuracy X is probably the best buy, it can be used for Bullseye with optics, and CMP with Iron sights. Anything else on the market now days is run of the mill.

P.S. I sent a Les Bear Custom off to Chambers before I even shot it.

 

[edward]

i have a kimber super carry pro,45 cal.nice carry handgun.the grips are giraffe bone,leather,elephant hide.

 

[Rob404]

I have 2 45ACPs my carry piece is a Springfield Arms XDS,and a Smith and Wesson 1911

 

[firehuntfish]

i have a kimber super carry pro,45 cal.nice carry handgun.the grips are giraffe bone,leather,elephant hide.

That is a sweet rig Edward!

 

[ArmyGrunt]

i have a kimber super carry pro,45 cal.nice carry handgun.the grips are giraffe bone,leather,elephant hide.

View attachment 177290

Purdy stuff!

 

[larry4831]

Fair enough, Justin can handle that I believe as he has shot my .357 revolver. Justin wants the 10mm and looking at reloading it would seem to make things easier with a progressive loader that we have the same caliber.

If I were you I would think about a Dillion press ,they work without a lot of problems and if something breaks just call Dillion and they'll replace it, I've done it several times. But it was just little things . You could buy a box of 180 grain or 200 grain 10 mm and find someone with a pistol and have them let you fire it, you and your son ,to make sure you like it. I live here in Alaska and there are people who carry the 10 MM for bear protection. Now in my opinion the 10 mm is not a bear stopper. However, with a Glock you have 16 rounds so you can pump a lot of lead at one time. My Glock pistols are a model 20 and a model 29, 5 inch barrel and a 2 1/2 inch barrel. Glock does make another 10 mm I think it might be the model 40 or 43 I'm not quite sure, but a lot of guys are buying it to hunt deer with because it comes with a 6 inch barrel. The gun club you mentioned, there are probably guys there that have a 10 mm and I'm sure they would let your fire it. That is what I would do. Make sure you like it.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

If I were you I would think about a Dillion press ,they work without a lot of problems and if something breaks just call Dillion and they'll replace it, I've done it several times. But it was just little things . You could buy a box of 180 grain or 200 grain 10 mm and find someone with a pistol and have them let you fire it, you and your son ,to make sure you like it. I live here in Alaska and there are people who carry the 10 MM for bear protection. Now in my opinion the 10 mm is not a bear stopper. However, with a Glock you have 16 rounds so you can pump a lot of lead at one time. My Glock pistols are a model 20 and a model 29, 5 inch barrel and a 2 1/2 inch barrel. Glock does make another 10 mm I think it might be the model 40 or 43 I'm not quite sure, but a lot of guys are buying it to hunt deer with because it comes with a 6 inch barrel. The gun club you mentioned, there are probably guys there that have a 10 mm and I'm sure they would let your fire it. That is what I would do. Make sure you like it.

It will definitely be a Dillon. It's been many years, but a friend of mine had one and it was the trick. Besides that they're located in my backyard.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

i have a kimber super carry pro,45 cal.nice carry handgun.the grips are giraffe bone,leather,elephant hide.

View attachment 177290

Very nice!

 

[Ridgewalker]

X2 on Dillon. Anything goes wrong/doesn't work they have super people quick to help.

 

[larry4831]

It will definitely be a Dillon. It's been many years, but a friend of mine had one and it was the trick. Besides that they're located in my backyard.

Thumbs up to that brother, you can't go wrong now !

 

[larry4831]

Very nice!

Phil, it's also very easy to change tool heads for other calibers. I have five other calibers that I load for and use the Dillion for. Also, out of all my 10 mm pistols I like my Kimber's the best and I shoot them the best but a lot of people like the Glock pistol. They are a lot cheaper. By the way, the next Dillion press I get I think I'm going to get the 650, it's a very nice press . I have the 550 B right now and there's nothing wrong with that one but I'll just have 2 presses mounted .