My beef with the M-1911 and concealed carry
I'll admit it I don't have any desire to carry a M-1911 from any manufacturer. There are too many issues that I personally have with this particular gun. The first issue is a matter of weight, the standard weight of a 1911 is 38 ounces unloaded on average. This weighs in about 15 ounces more than the firearm I carry the Taurus PT-145, also a .45 caliber pistol http://www.taurususa.com/products/product-details.cfm?model=145SSP&category=Pistol . Anyone who has ever carried concealed can vouch for me that weight is a serious issue to consider when you are going to be lugging a firearm around tucked in the waistband of your pants. The next issue is one of cost. A M-1911 is going to cost you at least 500 USD and this price is just for the fire arm not for the ad ons you will need later if you are truly concerned with self defense here is the link to Springfield Armory and their M1911 section http://www.springfield-armory.com/prod-pstl-1911-GI.shtml. The Taurus will cost you roughly the same amount but the Taurus comes ready out of the box to do one very important thing Feed Defensive Ammo. Most 1911s do not come this way they have a shortened feed ramp probably due to copying the original design by Browning, or the fact that in all of the years that the Unted States used this model as its military issue side arm(Military weapons can not use defensive ammunition because it would be considered a war crime under the Geneva convention). There are some companies like Kimber that have 1911s that feed hollow points and the like out of the box, but it is far from the norm and you will have to spend around 500 USD more to have a gunsmith make it feed defensive ammo. Size is another issue with the gun the M1911 is a large frame revolver and the fact of the matter is it is very hard to conceal large guns especially is you are not a large person or not in the habit of wearing a jacket of some sort everywhere you go. For all of the size the M1911 only gives you 7+1 rounds my Taurus is a 10+1 and about half the size. My last issue with the M1911 is its cocked and locked safety. I have never liked and probably will never like this type of safety, the fact of the matter is that this safety just isn't as safe as others no safety is 100% reliable. When I have the Taurus loaded with one in the pipe it is every bit as safe as the M1911 because of a firing pin block safety. Unless that trigger gets pulled all the way back it is not firing and it has a very long trigger pull, basically until the trigger is touching the frame, it also features a manual safety lever if you should choose to use it but in the heat of an attack it is just one more thing you have to remember before you are ready to fire. Having said all of these negative things about the M1911 I would like to point out that my dislike for them comes from my concern with self defense. They are just not a practical for carring concealed.
posted by CL203 @ 4:19 AM
7 Comments:
I just packed my Colt Series 80 .45 this weekend (open carry) and was shocked to see the scratches it left on my car's leather seats. Back to my Glock, fer sure!
BTW, I see you haven't discovered Blogger's Link button yet. Just copy the URL, highlight the text to contain the link, click the button that looks like a chain, and paste the URL into the resulting window.
Hope this helps. Nice blog!
Ahem. The 1911 pistol is not a "revolver", it is an automatic pistol.
The Taurus Millenium is a sharp-looking carry pistol, but not all is well in Dodge. You might want to check out this page here: http://glocktalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=340762&highlight=taurus+millenium
Nothing really wrong with anything you say (i.e. I'm not on the 1911 is the end all and be all bandwagon). They're simply too expensive to build to be right for everyone.
However. There are $500 1911's, out of the box that WILL feed JHP loads reliably. (Assuming feed friendly hp's like 185 grain silvertips, or Speer 230 grain gold dots, and timed releast magazines, like Wilson's).
Now that Llama has gotten their heads out of their asses, and have a taurus like warantee they'd probably the cheapest JHP feeding 1911...get one...try it, if it doesn't work, make them give you another.
I severely question the need to run JHP's anyway though...have ever heard of a documented case of 230 grain ball failing for a civilian CCW holder? I don't think that carrying ball, in 45acp is THAT bad. Do I think everyone should carry ball...of course not. But if someone buys a ~$280 Argentine contract 1911 and wants to carry it with ball...hell, who cares, its still a big hole. You have 8 or 9 in a single stack 1911...put two in them and be done with it.
Your weight comparision ignores aluminum frame/shortened guns...i.e. a S&W 1911SC commander length gun, with scanadium frame is 28oz. That also happens to be a ~$700 pistol that has about all the useful bells and whistles.
I know that the M1911 is an automatic this blog is done at 4:00 am on average after a long day, and when I noticed the mistake blogger would not let me go back and change it. My reason for wanting the defnsive ammo like jhp or jhs is to avoid hitting your target and the next three people behind him because while you may be justified in shooting the man threatening you with a gun the little girl playing in her yard behind him is another issue entirely that is where the negligent assault and possible manslaughter charges come in.
Its not THAT much of a difference as far as over penetration between high quality JHP and 230 grain ball...we're talking the difference between 12-18" and 20-26" in bare gelatin, which unless you have particularly well fed crack addicts in Columbus is 12-14" is STILL out the other side of the torso. More important though is what happens when some JHP loads pick up enough cloth to turn into FMJ's as far as over penetration. The liability issues on overpenetration can be over emphasized, as a quick search of LEXIS doens't show that to be much of a buring legal issue. Well as long as you HIT the intended target...if you MISS them, then your stray round tags someone else, you have a severe liability problem.
Having said that, I should have emphasaized that there are ball profile defense loads that feed reliably in anything that runs ball. Heck, if over penetration is a big concern, blazers or magsafes are probably the most effective at reducing that risk. Not cheap though. But then again, since they're ball profile I don't see the point in training with them. There are also the various polymer ball JHP's. Oh and the nifty Federal expanding full metal jacket stuff...
There's the start of an interesting argument about whether the police should have some Armon Piercing capability in their pistols over at my blog now...which is sort of the flip side to the over penetration business: http://bobgolding.blogspot.com/2005/03/quick-thought-about-school-shooting.html#comments
*The Hague convention proscribes expanding ammo, not the Geneva convention.
Sorry for the nitpick...
Nate
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