As I write this, strapped on my side in a Safariland duty holster is the pride and joy of my handgun collection, a blue steel Kimber Custom II in .45 ACP. Call me a traditionalist but with the possible exception of .38 super, 1911s are supposed to be chambered in forty five.
I am a deputy sheriff in southwest Texas. I work all hours and much of the time alone out here in this desolate, unforgiving, border country. Many times the only immediate back-up I have are my defensive weapons. They have to (as Clint Smith would say) run. This Kimber does. I’ve owned various makes and models of John Browning’s timeless classic and this pistol is the only one to date that literally “takes a lickin’ and keeps on a tickin’.” I’ve run thousands of rounds through it and it just keeps on goin’ like the Energizer Bunny.
I’ve been a lawman in Texas for almost eleven years. I am a state certified firearms instructor and an avid gun enthusiast. When allowed to carry my choice in side arms the resounding winner has always been and always will be a cocked and locked 1911. Col. Cooper, among others has long recommended this pistol, provided one achieves the necessary skill to handle it properly.
You already know the reasons why or you wouldn’t be on this site. There is no need for me to reiterate. But what you may not know is how certain 1911 variants have performed in the field.
Allow me to educate you on the few I’ve carried and shot in the real world.
The Les Baers and Wilson Combats are no doubt fine pistols, but they are a little out of my public servant price range. So these will not be expounded upon. However the Colts, Springfields, and Kimbers, three top names, will.
The vast majority of 1911s I’ve owned have had a horse on the side of the slide. Sound familiar?
Colt has apparently gone through various stages of inconsistent quality control. Overall they have produced good products, but their have been exceptions and unfortunately I have had some of the latter.
My first Colt was a beautiful 70 Series Government Model. I was a fool to give it up. But as nineteen-year-olds often do, I traded it when the Series 80s came out thinking rather, naively that “new” meant “better.” Wrongggggg! I had one blue steel, two stainless Governments, and they were all finicky about ammunition. I don’t mean I was experimenting with exotic bullet shapes. All of them had trouble digesting various brands of factory hardball. And yes, I had them polished, ported, honed, slicked, tensioned and tweaked and they still had trouble.
The sights would come loose. The rear sight would begin to slide in its oversized dovetail following a couple hundred rounds. And then even the front sight went.
I had a Combat Commander that wasn’t finished when it left the factory. The extractor hadn’t been stoned and rounded properly and the gun just locked up tight about every third round. It didn’t require much to fix, but when you shell out six hundred bucks for a brand new Colt, you expect it to do better than that.
Then there’s the satin nickel Commander I had, beautiful gun. But looks don’t save your butt in a gun battle. After about four hundred rounds the hammer started falling to half cock quite frequently. Its trigger work needed work. These were all brand spanking new guns. Colts no less. I had a stainless enhanced Government Model once. After about a thousand rounds one of the ejector posts sheared off. A thousand rounds means just about “broke in” but shouldn’t mean “broken.”
So I decided to try a Springfield Mil-Spec. Now this gun resembled the 70 series Colt in quality and workmanship, but after about five hundred rounds, I was cleaning it and the whole ejector fell out. It wasn’t pinned like they are supposed to be. It had simply been lock-tighted in. I called Springfield and they said what I knew they would, “Send it in and we will fix it for free.” Well, I don’t know about you, but I don’t like being without one of my guns for two or three months. My attitude is, “It should have been done right to begin with.” I can understand parts breakage after a lot of service and wear, but not after just a little use.
I was in a quandary. These aren’t just “nice to have” guns. I am betting my life on them. They have got to work. I could care less about academic accuracy, I need a semi auto that goes “bang” each and every time I press the trigger. 99 percent reliability just don’t cut the mustard when your butt is on the line.
As previously stated, I can’t shell out fifteen hundred bucks for a pistol. And, by gobs, you shouldn’t have too. I hear raves about Wilson and Les Baer but c’mon, a month’s clear wages for a handgun? Hey… my kids gotta’ eat too.
So I vowed to try the Kimber. I have never looked back – Good looks, accuracy and most importantly, reliability. What good is the rest if it don’t shoot and shuck? Nope, Kimber isn’t paying me and they didn’t give me the gun. I paid over eight hundred bucks for it with night sights and tax, half the price of those high dollar ones I mentioned earlier.
I live and work in the real world. I don’t make a lot of money. If I win the lottery I’ll probably be calling the boys in Arkansas or putting in my order to Baer, but I still have my doubts if they are going to be a hair better than my Kimber.
Lets just put it this way: the Kimber is the one I’ll be riding the river with.
Deputy David L. Wood, Edwards County Sheriffs Office, Rocksprings, Texas U.S.A.
Custom Classic (1997) – around 15K rounds. This started out jamming a lot. Over time it did break in, but it always jammed more than I was comfortable with. This seemed independent of slide releases, magazines, or ammo. I finally decided I could not get enough in trade for it, so I made a project gun out of it. It is currently being fitted with a ramped bull barrel (which won’t load SWC yet – but I won’t blame that on Kimber). I suspect an overly tight barrel was the cause of many of my problems – but no proof.
Kimber Compact
Compact Custom (1998) – around 10K rounds. I LOVE this gun. It has fed and grouped wonderfully from the day I bought it new to replace a COLT Officers Model that gave me nothing but trouble. I reload range brass, so I have some feeding problems – but I can honestly say that with the Compact, all the problems can be traced to my reloads.
Stainless Gold Match (1999) – around 1K rounds. As you can see this one is brand new. It groups wonderfully, and feeds everything but by reloading mistakes (see above).
Stainless Steel Colt Gold Match 1911
As you can see, I keep buying Kimbers. There must be something to them that makes it worth working through the early feeding problems. My experience has been very good on later product.
I picked up a Kimber Custom Carry, 4″ barrel, a while back and it is now my favorite carry gun. Used, it cost me about $450. It’s a little heavy, BUT it’s steady on target, fast for the second shot, and has never had a single malfunction. I carry it cocked and locked in an IWB holster behind my right hip. Easy to draw standing, sitting, or driving. Most of the time I forget it’s there, but occasionally there’s a little nudge to remind me it’s there. As a sage once remarked, “It’s supposed to be comforting, not comfortable.”
My other former carry guns include a Glock. For backup when I anticipate the possibility of a serious social situation, I use a Taurus 85UL in .38 Special, another fine weapon which actually fits very nicely in my shirt pocket in a little holster I had made for it.
If you get a holster that has a leather shield between the butt and your back, you’ll never know you’re wearing it.
I have two Kimbers, albeit both compact models, and would not part with them for anything… My Compact Combat Carry is a matte stainless slide on a black lightweight frame. However, my all steel Compact Custom is roughly analogous to the Custom you are considering, and my experiences should apply.
I’ve had no problems with rust with the finish (black oxide, actually) on my gun. (Others – one person in particular – have reported quite the opposite with their finish, but from what I hear, I believe my experience is more typical.)
To put it in context, my gun was used for daily IWB carry for about a year and a half. This included one wet Seattle winter – 9 months. – and all the usual “body contact” from IWB carry. Now I have switched to carrying the Combat Carry. More for it’s weight and features (sights, safety, etc.) than for it’s finish. I should also point out that I am a believer in cleaning and oiling. Since it’ was my carry gun, I kept it clean. An average of twice a month I would clean it to insure function. (Strip it, remove lint, etc. , clean and re-oil, reassemble.) As a final step, I’d rub the entire exterior with a lightly oiled rag. This may have contributed to no rust, but to me it’s just *normal* maintenance.
As to your other questions: 1) I found mine to be *more* accurate than a Colt. Just doesn’t have a Horsey on it. 2) Magazines are totally interchangeable. 3) Parts (if designed for a 1911) will all work. Some of them may require the “usual fitting” but that’s true of *all* 1911’s including Colts. 4) Since the standard 1911 parts work, they are *very* readily available.
The Springfield Government Model 1911A1 is a great gun for target and competitive shooting, but it’s a really big gun, weighing 39 ounces empty. Its size makes it hard to conceal and it’s something of a burden to pack around all day. Although I love the performance of the pistol, I found myself longing for a smaller, lighter 1911-pattern gun, having the cool custom features that everyone likes in a 1911 and yet a reasonable price tag. At the same time, I didn’t want one that would be so small and light that it would sacrifice accuracy or be unpleasant to shoot.
I searched the Web, went to the gun shows, and cruised the shops looking for this “best of all possible worlds” .45. The Colt Commander was ok, but the finish and detailing were not where I thought they should be. The Colt Defender looked too fat and I was concerned that it might be too light to shoot comfortably. The new Colt CCO looked like it was made of plastic even though it isn’t. Additionally, I have some political issues with Colt at the time. The Springfield Ultra Compact and Champion just looked like chopped down Mil-Spec. The Springfield V-10 was attractive, but the barrel porting is not something I like and it disqualifies the pistol for IDPA shooting. The big-name custom shop pieces, such as the offerings from Wilson and Baer, while gorgeous, were just too doggone expensive. (I even tested a Glock 30 but found it too fat, too ugly, and lacking in accuracy. I will say that the Glock 30 is a nice pistol to shoot that’s easy on the hands but the Un-Safe Action trigger makes me nervous.)
I walked into one shop and the proprietor asked me what I wanted to see. I said, “A compact .45.” Without hesitation, he reached into the case and retrieved a Kimber Custom Compact. It was parkerized with diamond checkered rosewood grips. I liked it right away. The Custom Compact is a hybrid: an almost Commander length slide and 4″ bull barrel with an Officer’s grip. It takes Officer’s magazines, and comes with one 7-round Shooting Star. (I bought 3 more McCormick 7-round Officer’s magazines so I’d have an adequate load-out for IDPA. Even though the Kimber mag is a Shooting Star, there is a slight difference in the cutaway on the left side and when I first put the mags in the gun, they didn’t want to lock back the slide. However, in range testing, the McCormick mags functioned properly with no failures to feed or lock back.)
Other nice “custom” features on the gun include the McCormick skeletonized hammer and trigger, extended beavertail, checkered slide release and mainspring housing, McCormick Low Profile combat sights, overall de-horning, and single recoil spring. Since the Compact uses a bull barrel which aligns directly on the slide, there is no barrel bushing. Take-down is accomplished by locking back the slide and placing a small wire “disassembly tool” in a hole in the guide rod. With the “tool” in place, you gently release the slide lock and ease the slide forward, which traps the recoil spring and causes the guide rod bushing to slip out of the slide. Then the slide stop is removed, and the slide, guide rod and spring, and barrel can be removed for cleaning. I didn’t really like the wire tool disassembly arrangement, but after seeing the way the gun performed, I came to view it as a necessary evil to accomplish the reliability and accuracy that the gun displays.
Although I had read a couple of glowing reviews about this particular pistol, I had some apprehension about buying a Kimber product. I’ve followed their triumphs and defeats fairly closely. My first experience with a Kimber was with a Classic belonging to a colleague in a tactical shooting class. That particular pistol was an absolute jam-o-matic. While it could have been operator error or a poorly maintained pistol, it was a bad first impression. I was aware of problems with slide stops on some of the early models, of some after-market mags not locking back, and the sight problems with the early production Gold Match models. Most disturbing was buzz I continued to pick up about their customer service and custom shop. Personally, I don’t see how a service/custom shop can function without a test range, and it’s my understanding that the Kimber shop does not have a range for sighting in and reliability testing. With that said, the overwhelming majority of Kimber owners report tremendous satisfaction, accuracy, and reliability with their pistols. Since I know several decent 1911 mechanics, I decided to take a chance on the pistol with the idea that if I did get a problem gun there would be local technical support to iron out the problems.
Putting the Custom Compact through its Paces
The pistol has performed superbly. At four hundred rounds through the gun, it has experienced no stoppages, failures to feed, or malfunctions of any kind. Test ammo was Fiocchi 200g jhp and my own reloaded hardball.
At the outdoor range, shooting at thirty yards offhand, I could keep the shots in a saucer-sized area (A-zone on an IDPA target) with most grouping in a very tight little pattern two inches below center. I tried to jam it by shooting “gangsta” style, weak hand, rapid fire, and upside down. There were no stoppages. In the indoor range, shooting at 15 yards offhand, ragged holes were easy.
With reliability, accuracy, and magazines tested, the next step in checking out the pistol was to run it through an IDPA match. My scores were excellent, especially considering that it was a new gun with a longer Chip McCormick skeletonized trigger which has a different feel than the short trigger of the M1911A1. What I noticed the most was how quickly the pistol acquired the target and got back on target during double taps. The purpose of the tapered bull barrel design is to help in this regard because it adds some weight to the muzzle and balance to the gun.
One would not think that the reduction of six ounces of weight and an inch in slide length would make a huge difference in the way the gun carries, but it does. The handle is .4″ shorter than a government model, sacrificing one round in the magazine but adding to the concealability. At 34 oz., the pistol is on the heavy side, but with a good holster, it is not uncomfortable to carry for extended periods of time. The holster I selected for it is the Galco Quick Slide. It is quite comfortable and offers excellent concealment.
Is the Kimber Compact the “best of all possible worlds .45?” If it isn’t, it’s pretty darned close. When you take in the whole picture of appearance, features, performance, and cost, it looks like one of the very best options.
Kimber 1911 Pistol with New Parkerized Finish
Three Years Later…
I felt that it would be worthwhile to update my original review of the pistol which has become my favorite handgun, the Kimber Compact. I bought it in the summer of 1998. I wanted a 1911 that was smaller than a Government Model but sturdy enough to stand up to a lot of match shooting and training sessions. At that time, this meant either a Kimber Compact, a Colt Compact, or a Springfield Champion (at that time, the Champion was a Mil-Spec with a 4″ barrel). Of the three, the Kimber appealed to me most, and I was intrigued with the new builder of 1911-pattern pistols. This was before Springfield Armory and Colt had seen the light and started to add the “custom” features to their guns such as extended beavertails, extended manual safeties, and snag-free combat sights. (Compare the sights, grip safety and magazine release of the Colt Compact to the Kimber.)
I haven’t been sorry.
Since ’98, the gun has been my constant companion for matches, training session, backwoods expeditions, road trips and daily carry. I have lost count of how many rounds the Compact has sent downrange, but I estimate it in the vicinity of 10,000. Spending as much range time as this with the gun has given me a certain confidence in it and comfortable familiarity that I don’t have with other pistols. I know it will put the rounds where it is aimed. I know it will go “bang” every time. I know it takes me exactly 1.43 seconds to get it out of the holster and put two rounds into the A-zone of a target. I don’t have to think about drawing it, sweeping the safety off, getting the front sight on the target and squeezing the trigger. My muscles have all that memorized. Actually, I don’t really have to use the sights because I know by the feel of the gun where the bullet is going to go. It isn’t fussy about ammunition. I have run all sorts of loads and bullet shapes through it, and it handles them all with equal aplomb. I have compared it head-on with hand fitted custom jobs costing three times as much and found that it compares quite favorably.
Troubles
Reliability: When the gun was new, it was perfect. Unlike many new 1911 pistols, it did not experience feed failures. Somewhere around 3,000 rounds I began to experience feed failures and an occasional premature slide lock. This really distressed me because the gun had been so clean up to that point. It took me a couple of months to scope out the problems. As it worked out, there were actually three problems rather than one.
The first problem was, that after thousands of reloaded rounds, the seating die on my reloading press had backed out just a bit and I was cranking out rounds which were too long. A second, and the most important problem was that my recoil spring had begun to spread out at the rear, to the extent that the slide would bind on the spring when it went fully to the rear during the recoil cycle. I may have exacerbated this problem by putting my recoil spring in “backwards” meaning the open end of the spring to the rear. (Note to Compact owners: the open end of the recoil spring goes toward the muzzle end and the closed end of the spring goes to the rear.) I always had doubts about the “metal injection molded” slide stop, and at this point in the gun’s life, it was beginning to look a bit battered. A fresh Kimber recoil spring, installed correctly, and a Wilson Bullet-Proof slide stop coupled with an adjustment of the reloading press, solved these problems. The second Kimber recoil spring lasted about another 2500 rounds when it too began to spread out at the back end and bind the slide even though it was definitely installed correctly. This time, I replaced it with a Wolff 22 lb. Commander spring and I have had no other problems since. I will add that when I needed customer support from Kimber, I got it promptly and it was helpful.
Finish: The gun came with your basic black phosphate finish. I have heard the Kimber phosphate finish criticized by more than one user, and it didn’t hold up for me. The Kimber phosphate finish does not seem to be as deep and tough as the mil-spec parkerization of the GI guns. During one camping trip, the gun was laying in the tent in a leather holster during a bad rain. The tent leaked and unfortunately, a pool of water gathered and soaked into the holster while I was asleep. By the time I discovered the problem, the chemicals in the leather had stripped a section of the finish off on the left side. I did my best to touch it up with cold blue, but it never looked really right. Finally, the rear stake of the plunger tube came loose and I knew it was time to go to a gunsmith. I had the gun parkerized by a local ‘smith, Danny Jackson, who really knows how to do a park job. Click here for before and after pictures of the parkerization.
“My Gun”
The Compact remains my favorite gun to shoot, the most familiar in my hand, the most trusted member of the arsenal. Were the proverbial doo-doo to collide with the air circulating device, it’s the handgun I would want at my side because I know that I would have the best chance of getting the job done with it.
“…I have now fired more than 1,500 rounds during my test and evaluation of the Kimber Compact Custom. There have been no stoppages of any kind…This is the first production-series compact caliber .45 ACP M1911-type pistol that requires no custom gunsmithing to bring its reliability up to acceptable standards. It’s ready to go, right out-of-the-box, and, like the full-size Kimber Custom Classic .45, it has all the custom features you need on a fighting .45. In conclusion, the Kimber Compact Classic .45 is simply outstanding.”
Since the days of Jeff Cooper at Gunsite, the pistol du joir is the 1911. Today you will see various makes and models as many of the instructors use the weapon they are issued by their agency when teaching at Gunsite.
As stated the 1911 is the preferred handgun, if you ask Ted Yost the preferred weapon is a shotgun of the 12 gauge size in models like 1100, 1187 or 870; but the 1911 is the handgun of choice. Over the years there have been a number of incantations of the Gunsite Service Pistol. Over that span they have been made on Essex frames/frames, Colt’s, in the recent past Springfields and currently on some of the finest frames and slides in the world; Caspian.
Known through out the IPSC community for the starters of the wide-body race guns Caspian has some of the highest quality steel, alloy, stainless and now titanium frames in the world. Ted wanted to return the GSP to being made with American parts since Col.Cooper is once again seen on the grounds of Gunsite. The other reason for using Caspian Ltd is they have as exacting standards as Ted and the rest of the Gunsite Staff.
Having a quality frame and slide is great, but you need other high end parts to make a 1911 to meet the Col’s and Ted’s standards. To make a shooter a hand fitted NM Kart barrel and bushing are used, tool steel hammer, disconnector and sear, Videcki trigger, Novak bar-dot (Trijicon tritium) Sights, Wilson thumb and grip safety, Wolff Springs, and quality steel small part (not MIM parts) . All of these parts are then hand fitted and lapped to extol the maximum accuracy and the main ingredient the ability to go bang EVERY TIME the trigger is pulled.
Unlike years gone by where the frame and slide were high end “National Match” sets with stock barrels and parts, all of these are frames and slides to Gunsite Specs then hand fitted, just like any high-end competition type pistol. All of the Gunsite GSP 2001’s or Marksman, are built one at a time, test fired one at a time and sent to you one at a time, unless you ordered more than one.
Well after Ted and the boys polish and grind and sand, and blue; you end up with a fine 1911.
Gunsite MM-1 Pistol Review
Yes it goes bang when the trigger is pulled, and it feeds everything that says 45ACP on the brass; and yes it looks good too. The burning question though is how’s the accuracy? Well, as you can see in the attached photo, not bad. That’s a 9 round group at 20yds hand held slow fire from a Weaver stance and it measures just over 1.5″, again 9 rounds not 5; I’d say that’s good enough. The average nine round group that this Commander Sized Marksman was 2.75″. Ammuntion used was Blackhills 230gr FMJs, Corbon230JHPs, Blazer 230gr JHPs, Winchester 230gr SXTs, International 175gr Frangible HP, which gave the best group out of this Gunsite Marksman.
The Gunsite GSP/Marksman can be had as the base model, the Marksman1(tested), and the Expert. The MM1 and Expert are upgraded Marksman with stippling or checkering, Tritium inserts, ambis are added to the Expert as well as the top of the slide being serrated. As with the GSP’s past all sharp edges are removed and a quality deep blue finish is done. The Marksman Line comes with a lifetime warranty and they will stand behind the product.
While you are checking out Gunsite either in person or on the web, make sure to look at the ProShop. They carry fine reading, videos to help you practice at home (they are not a replacement for on hands training), and holsters and belts from a number of manufacturers.
With the MM1 here I used Gordon Davis belt and his version of a Yaqui Slide. The GD yaquis Slide is by far the best I have seen or used as the rear belt loop is off set from the holster like a pancake holster where a true Yaqui Slide has the belt tunnel under the back of the slide. The offset controls the way the pistol rides in the holster and does not feel like it is going to roll over like many Yaqui Slides do.
Mating it to a proper sized Davis belt completes the set and gives the Marksman a solid place to travel.
Long known as the Mecca of shooting schools, Gunsite Training Center could soon be know for its Custom Shop’s work. Headed by Ted Yost the Smithy Shop builds firearms that do one thing, go bang when the trigger is squeezed. This is the most important feature of any firearm, be it duty, self-defense or competition. The shop limits its work to real world handguns, race guns need not be sent here.
Needless to say the preferred handgun is the 1911, but the Smithy will do a nifty job on a High Power, a Remington 870, and when it breaks pretty much whatever the students are using. This does not mean you may not have to wait a day or so if you need parts to fix you blaster if you are attending Gunsite for a course, have no fear the shop probably has a pistol or two to loan out.
Gunsite 1911 Pistol
As the shop’s work has progressed, they are now building 1911s that work and at reasonable prices. The bread and butter model is the GSP, Gunsite Service Pistol. Sporting what a fighting firearm needs and nothing else this is a kick ass deal at $995.
So what does a little over a grand with shipping get you, first of all a 1911 that goes bang, each and every time you pull the trigger. But you want more, okay here goes;
Novak front and rear sights with Trijicon tritium inserts, high ride, posi-grip beavertail, single side tactical thumb safety, all sharp corners beveled and broken, F/R cocking serrations, hand fitted slide to frame and hand fitted barrel and bushing. Topping off the package are the laser etched Gunsite logo stocks.
Gunsite 1911 Pistol
As for the shooting of this pistol, it will shoot 3″ groups at 25 yards no problem.
“Ah,” you say, ” That’s terrible for a competition pistol.” A Bullseye gun this ain’t. It is a duty/self-defense piece, and that is combat accurate; bearing in mind the primary function of this is to make a loud noise every time the trigger is pulled. Will it shoot better, yes. With nearly 20 different loadings at 15 yards this pistol shot on the average of 2″ or less for 8 rounds offhand. That should meet the needs for an IPSC, IDPA and duty/self-defense pistol. Check out Gunsite’s web page for more details, www.gunsite.com.
I bought my gun used from Duncan’s Gunworks in San Marcos, CA. The pistol was originally purchased by someone for self-defense purposes. After firing the gun at the local range the buyer decided that it was “too much gun” and traded it in for a 9mm pistol. Thus, when I bought it I saved about 200 dollars (at the time, 1997) over the price of the gun new.
I owned and shot this gun “as is ” for two years until I met a gunsmith who works at the Oceanside Shooting Academy in northern San Diego County. This fellow gave me some much-needed advice on my shooting style and suggested that some relatively low-cost improvements to my M1991-A1 could improve the gun and my shooting tremendously.
The gunsmith installed did a trigger job, bringing the pull down to about 3.5 lbs. A competition trigger was ordered from King’s and installed. A match quality barrel bushing was installed over the original Colt barrel (the gunsmith advised me NOT to change barrels as the Colt barrel is as good as anything out there in his opinion). A full-length guide rod and new (heavier) recoil spring ordered from Wilson Combat. A new set of sights was installed to replace the GI sights. These were white three-dot sights… no illuminated night sights or anything fancy. Lastly a set of Hogue wrap-around grips were put in place.
I suggested several other “trick” improvements… new mainspring housing, Meprolight sights, beveled magazine well, competition hammer, extended mag release, ambidextrous safety and beavertail grip safety. My gunsmith advised me not to bother. His mission was to make a Colt M1991A1 shoot accurately. His opinion was that if I wanted all those goodies I should spring for a Kimber or Les Baer.
Well, the results were a gun that cost me $365.00 to start and with about $250.00 in improvements shoots as well as the guns owned by my friends which include Kimbers, Springfields, Les Baers, Ed Browns and Colts with hundreds of dollars of improvements. This gun shoots the eyes out of the targets and is dependable as hell with every kind of ammo that I’ve fed it.
The moral of the story… the “low end” Colt M1991A1 with very little modification can be made to shoot like the race-guns that cost much, much more. I must admit that I am not yet satisfied, however… I am considering having my gun re-Parkerized or perhaps even blued. Why? I don’t know… as the English mountaineer said… “Because it is there”.
I bought a Colt M1991A1 Commander about two years ago and it’s one of my favorites. The Commander is basically the same as Colt’s full size 1991A1 except the barrel and slide are about 1/2″ shorter and it comes with the Commander-style hammer instead of the traditional spur hammer. It uses the standard 1911 magazine (and it will rust if even slightly ignored). I got mine in parkerized matte blue finish, which is probably why I got it for only $360! Surprisingly, it’s a very reliable gun even with UMC ammo. It has the series 80 slide with firing pin block.
I went to Wilson Combat’s site to dress it up with an extended slide release and high-ride beavertail grip safety. As far as I’m concerned, Wilson’s is a 1911 owner’s paradise and their customer service is excellent. BTW, I got Wilson’s book, “The 1911 Maintenance Manual” and decided to try my hand at complete disassembly. It only took about an hour to disassemble, and about 5 hours to get back together. Talk about stress!
I purchased a Colt Gold Cup Series 80 Mark IV in .45ACP about 9 months ago. It is stainless with Elliason adjustable sights and a rubber grip that wraps around the front strap. The finish is very good with Colt’s match trigger, match barrel and combat hammer. It’s a very good looking package.
The gun came with Colt’s blue hard case, two stainless magazines, bushing wrench and the owner’s manual. Colt includes two recoil springs with the gun, one for normal loads and another for +p loaded ammunition.
The cost was right at the $800.00 mark (spring of ’99). I have about 1200 rounds through the gun now and am pleased with it’s overall performance. The gun had only one stoppage so far and that was a stovepipe type jam within the first 50 rounds or so using Hornady’s +p loaded XTP Jacketed Hollow Points. Since then, no stoppages with any ammunition.
The only other problem I had concerns the Elliason rear sight. The rear sight is partly retained on the slide with a small steel roll pin that can easily break if you are not careful handling or carrying the gun (my range bag is a soft case). I recommend a hard case or a holster for carrying the gun to the range if you have the Elliason rear sight.
Overall, I have noticed that the slide is a tight fit and the barrel bushing is tight enough that it requires the wrench to disassemble. Accuracy is easily less than a 2″ group at 25 yards from a bench rest. The balance of the gun is excellent and contributes to a pleasurable experience when shooting. This gun is worth a look if you are thinking of a 1911 style gun in it’s price range.
