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After 5 years of shooting various pistols (usually 9mm), I am finally starting to be seduced by the 1911. For years I purposely stayed away, fearing the rathole of acquisition addiction that plagues my guitar hobby. I sold one of my Sigs recently leaving a hole in my collection and am looking at my first 1911.

Anyone have any recommendations for a quality model in the 700-1000.00 range? I don't mind used and I don't want to be cheap on my first pass as that always causes me to buy more in the long run.

I always said every red blooded american male should have a 1911..........and a Browning Hi Power........its a right of passage........ I had two. Springfield and Kimber. The original Kimbers made in Oregon. I sold the Springfield and kept the Kimber. Simple, "series 70" no firing pin safety, dependable and plane Jane.........i think I would lean toward the Springfield though. No Para's no Taurus........IMO.........My first post BTW, here from Florida......never know when i'll be driving through to see my brother in San Antonio..........

Be warned...It's a really bad addiction, like Lays potato chips, you can't stop with just one. What are you going to use it for? For the price range your talking about you could pickup a new Springfield Loaded model. I have the loaded target that I shoot single stack with and just love it. I've never had one problem with it from day one.

The STI Spartan is a great bargain in 1911 pistols. You get a hand fitted gun for well under a grand. They are a little on the plain side but they shoot like their higher priced brothers. Look into one I am delighted with mine.

My pistols are used for monthly range sessions and as concealed weapons. The 1911 would be in the rotation (I limit to 3 pistols) so it would be well used. I think this is going to be tough...so many good choices it seems. This could be as bad as my Telecaster addiction.

I agree with shooter4 on the series 70 Kimber. I have a 1997 Stainless Compact that has had many thousands of rounds through the tube. Bought it used 4 (?) years ago through my ffl buddy that took it in on a trade from a local leo.... and I may have paid a bit over market at $700, but got 7 magazines, Galco IWB holster, two boxes of ammo and some cleaning supplies (thrown in) in the deal. The gun has very little appearance of wear even today. There are a lot of quality used 1911's around if you know what you're looking at. Also several models offered by Kimber fall under the $900-1000 range, including at least one with CT grips. And, I would place Springfield a close second for quality in that price range, although I'm really not impressed with the appearance of the "loaded" model. Sig builds some very nice pistols as well, but I'm not sure if any would fit the price.

If you plan to keep it, and possibly hand it down, get the very best you can afford... even if you have to take out a loan. You won't regret it!

surv

shooter4 wrote:I always said every red blooded american male should have a 1911..........and a Browning Hi Power........its a right of passage........ I had two. Springfield and Kimber. The original Kimbers made in Oregon.

I never felt comfortable buying a handgun made in anti-gun New York.

MoJo wrote:The STI Spartan is a great bargain in 1911 pistols. You get a hand fitted gun for well under a grand. They are a little on the plain side but they shoot like their higher priced brothers. Look into one I am delighted with mine.

+1

Stay away from Llama no matter how cheap.

Just bought a Springfield 1911A1 in Stainless. You can buy those new for about $600 if you shop.
Nice tight gun with good parts. Works well stock, but it's also a good base for a buildup as you figure out what you want.

I also like the Sigs. The GSR Revos are a pretty darned good deal for what you get for the money.

And don't be badmouthing the Llamas, they were built to a price, just like Rock Island.
The later ones work fine, and the older ones were really nice weapons. They just lost their way from about 1970 - 1990, though there were some good exceptions even then.
Any Llama with "Max" in the name is late enough to be decent, using standard 1911 parts.
I have 8 or 9, and they are keepers. I'm as proud of my 1940s .380 Llamas as I am my Sig or Colts

I like the look of the Springfield Mil Spec models...and I saw a nice one in the classifieds. I think I will make a run at this (or similar) model.

Take a look at Para, the GI Expert is less than $700. I bought a SSP a few years ago for around $700 and it shoots great. I can hit something out at 100 yds with it, close up even better. Tight gun that shoots everything. You wont be sorry.

webb3201 wrote:I like the look of the Springfield Mil Spec models...and I saw a nice one in the classifieds. I think I will make a run at this (or similar) model.

Very wise...

"Keep it simple, keep it clean, keep it in the ten ring..."

Oh man, thats a good one...Somebody write that one down...

webb3201 wrote:I like the look of the Springfield Mil Spec models...and I saw a nice one in the classifieds.

that may be the one I bought last week

webb3201, I would suggest you decide if weight and /or length are issues in your decision.
Steel vs alum alloy frames, SS, parkerized, nickel, blue? 3", 3 .5", 4" 4.25", 5", longslide?
Oh my gosh.....I'm gonna have to buy another!
Seriously, I own one or two in each size. I carry them in a type of rotation. I carry
a Kimber Ultra or Kimber Pro CDP 75% of the time. Extremely accurate guns and I have
had no problems with either from day one. I also carry a Dan Wesson CBOB that I like
very much (check the features/parts this gun comes standard with)and the DW customer service is very, very good.
You're going to love the 1911. Like others, I am warning you, they are an addiction.