Kyratshooter's experienced evaluation

[tsitenha]

Kyratshooter what do you rate the Remington 1911R1.
I was thinking of saving up for a Colt Combat Elite but was also thinking of the Remington as a now purchase?

[kyratshooter]

I have no experience with the Remington R1. They are still a bit scarce in my area. I have owned several war production Remington 1911 pistols down the years and Remington did as well as anyone on a GI spec gun.

The R1 seems very close to that, a GI spec gun, except for the dovetailed front sight and scaloped ejection port.

Keep that in mind, It appears a milspec piece. It is not a target pistol, it is not a miniature CCW pistol. It is a big old hunk of 1911 engineering that will put a .45 slug somewhere near where you aim and do massive damage. It's purpose in life is to go bang with each trigger pull. That's it!

It is also going to be expensive. All my normal scources have "Call for price and availability" instead of their normal "click here to purchase" icons.

If I were buying a stop gap pistol until I could get a new Combat Elite (which I would not buy) I would take a step "backward" and purchase a RIA or some other GI clone gun. The Rock Island pistols have a good rep as milspec hardware and will make a good backup or turnover gun if you wish to sell after you get the more expensive pistol. Kahr is now owner of the Auto Ordenance company. I always had good luck with the AO pistols and Kahr has probably addressed some of the QC issues AO once had. You can always get your cash back out of a cheaper gun and you might not be able to turn over a more expensive Remington at a moments notice.

I have gone astray from the old school arena in my own .45 hardware. My last .45 purchase was a Tarus OSS 24/7. Anything I ever had to doctor, modify, repair or wished they would do to the 1911 they already did to the OSS. Of course they stopped making that model soon after.

My own hand built, ivory gripped 1911 has been religated to "Sunday go to meeting dress up hardware". Special occasions and such.

I have discovered that it does not matter what anyone else is carrying; Baretta, Glocks, Rugers or whatever... when The 1911 appears it still gets instant attention.

[Daniel Nighteyes]

I have discovered that it does not matter what anyone else is carrying; Baretta, Glocks, Rugers or whatever... when The 1911 appears it still gets instant attention.

Absolutely. My favorite, for some reason, is the Combat Commander. I have two of 'em, both Series 70.

There's no accounting for taste or personal preference, ya know...

[tsitenha]

Kyratshooter may I ask why not the combat elite? Other than the price.

[kyratshooter]

Kyratshooter may I ask why not the combat elite? Other than the price.

In the attempt of make the weapon idiot proof, lawyer proof and liberal anitgunner friendly they have overcomplicated the design.

There is now a whole generation of shooters that do not know what a properly tuned Colt trigger feels like. They think they do, because they paid big money for the Colt name, but they don't.

The 70 series was the last of the basic Colt designs. The only thing they had that complicated the mechinism was the spring loaded fingers on the collet bushing. (The Commander model did not even have that if memory serves me. The Commander bushing is shorter than the standard model and I do not think the tried to make it with the spring fingers.) Even that seemingly simple change caused big problems. The fingers would fatigue and break off inside the slide. Most heavy use shooters swapped the spring finger collet out for a standard GI collet.

Yea, I know folks that have had one for years and never broke a collet finger, but they were not shooting them the way we were. At that point myself and some of my friends were running 2,000 rounds a week through our competition pistols. The first time we had to take a completely reworked (about $3,000 in that rework) 1911 apart with a fiberglass mallet every collet bushing in the gun club disapeared.

Then came the 80 series with the bogus trigger and God only knows what they have done to it since. Many people that once did excellent work on the Colt 1911 now will not touch the Colt made guns. It is much easier to build a good shooting clone.

I have no adverse reaction to expensive weapons. Many of the souped up 1911 pistols of numerous brand specifics are worth every penny of their extravigant price. Some of the Springfield Armory stuff is excellent.

This is just my opinion. If you want the Colt buy it. But if I bought one I would put it in the safe and never shoot it!

One of those Colts I wore out in the 80s was a Satin Nickel steel framed Commander. I paid less than $200 for it new. Now it is running way into a 4 diget number as a collector item if in mint condition. Unfired Colt Pythons from that era are paying for kids college educations.

[tsitenha]

Thank you Kyratshooter

[ryaninmichigan]

Mark me down for owning and loving the RIA tac. It eats what ever I put in it and I can hold groups the size of my fist at 25 yards all day long. Is it pretty maybe not to some bu tit goes bang eveyrtime. I also paid less the $500 for it....

[kyratshooter]

the one most important factor in choice is insuring that weapon is GI compatable. That way any parts you find on line or at a gunshow will be interchangable or need only minor work with a file to make them fit. I am not sure all the clones will do that.

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This pistol was my last build from when I was doing 1911 work. My eyes were going bad and I wanted a last build as my carry gun. (It has become a safe queen and I now carry a P3at) It is a clone. There is no brand marking on any part. The frame has only a miniature serial number that is not easily seen. I do not think there are any two parts on that pistol that came from the same supplier. Frame from one, barrel from another....yet it all comes together and works. That rear sight is an melted MMC and the front is a shotgun beard. The front has been replaced with a fiber optic now. It is not a target gun. It is built as a close range personal protection device and the only thing I was worried about was my bad eyes being able to pick up the sights instantly. The wear shown is from nearly twenty years of carry and shooting. the compensator and extended mag are due to its use as a home protection pistol for the past few years. It has since been replaced in that role by the OSS.

If you buy a clone that accepts GI parts you can turn it into a racegun one part at a time, and build it the way you want it, right on the kitchen table. I am not sure if there are any U-tube clips on 1911 trigger jobs but every other pistol made has them. A good trigger on a 1911 will do wonders for your shooting. It is like finding the ammo a 22lr like to shoot. Suddenly you have a completely different gun!

So you mess up a sear while you learn? Big deal, a new sear is $5, same for the disconnector. You mess up the hammer, no problem you wanted another one anyway and they are $25 at the gun show for the fancy pierced ones, $15 for a standard.

But not on the new models! The new models have a new series of internals that do not interchange with GI parts.

Oddly, thought the Remington is a clone there are people reporting that it wll not accept standard 1911 magazines. If you use only the two that come with the gun you would never know. If you are a competitioon shooter it puts you at a disadvantage. The old Llama pistols would not use the GI magazines either. I know the Springfield, AO and RIA pistols do use standard mags. We are talking about the same problem folks run into with the Ruger Mini14. Where a fine GI mag for an AR will cost $5-10 Ruger sets their own price on the only thing that will work in their rifle. I have a bos of 1911 mags, most GI, most picked up for $5 and all of them working.

[Wildthang]

The 1911 pistols are a thing of beauty, and are awesome guns, but now that Glocks have been made, I dont know why people even bother buying the 1911's, other than the fact that they are a beatiful weapon that shoots OK.
I try to choose my guns for performance, and to suit as many purposes as possible, and the Glocks will shoot after they have has 2000 rounds shot through them, and covered in water and dirt. They are an ugly pistol, but they are the only semi auto pistol that even comes close to being as dependable as a revolver in my opinion.
All but the most modified 1911's seem to get finicky after a couple of hundered rounds and begin jamming or fail to feed, well at least the ones I have owned.

[kyratshooter]

Is there the possibility of having a discussion of the 1911 without the word GLOCK sprouting up? We are aware that Glocks exist but they have now been surpassed by several more user friendly designs.

I know that God and Satan are both mentioned in the same Bible but that is no excuse!

Yes, the 1911 is far from perfect. Browning did not like what the government did to his design and went on to deveop the Highpower. Then CZ improved the design even further as the CZ75 and my OSS has features a Glock owner only dreams of having, like a safety.

1911 models are like 1932 Fords. You can build a hot rod on another frame, but it just is not the same.

Ever seen a Hells Angel on a mo-ped?

[ryaninmichigan]

Is there the possibility of having a discussion of the 1911 without the word GLOCK sprouting up? We are aware that Glocks exist but they have now been surpassed by several more user friendly designs.

I know that God and Satan are both mentioned in the same Bible but that is no excuse!

Yes, the 1911 is far from perfect. Browning did not like what the government did to his design and went on to deveop the Highpower. Then CZ improved the design even further as the CZ75 and my OSS has features a Glock owner only dreams of having, like a safety.

1911 models are like 1932 Fords. You can build a hot rod on another frame, but it just is not the same.

Ever seen a Hells Angel on a mo-ped?

Funny but true. I carry a full size 1911 cause it has been proven in battle. I was the only one in my CPL class to shoot one. Just something about it. How many race guns are Glocks anyway?

[kyratshooter]

There are a lot of people that shoot Glocks in steel challenge in the minor power catagory. Of course when they are tightened up enough to meet the accuracy requirements they jam as much as any other simiauto and loose that "reliability edge" that gives Glock lovers shivers and giggles.

Glock has its own promotional shooting team just like the other Mfgs. A couple of years ago they had a girl that was tearing up the circuit with a custom tuned Glock 18, full auto with 30 round magazines.

If Jerry Miculek ever retires they may win something. All the big name shooters are sponsored by one or another of the gun companies.

[Wildthang]

There are a lot of people that shoot Glocks in steel challenge in the minor power catagory. Of course when they are tightened up enough to meet the accuracy requirements they jam as much as any other simiauto and loose that "reliability edge" that gives Glock lovers shivers and giggles.

Glock has its own promotional shooting team just like the other Mfgs. A couple of years ago they had a girl that was tearing up the circuit with a custom tuned Glock 18, full auto with 30 round magazines.

If Jerry Miculek ever retires they may win something. All the big name shooters are sponsored by one or another of the gun companies.

Okay, I thought we weren't supposed to say the "G" word anymore

[kyratshooter]

Sorry, I got carried away during the rant!

Now the word is stuck in my head like a brainworm. I will have to go see the pastor, he can cast out all kinds of demons.

Did you guys know there has been all kinds of scandel involved with the G company and family? Hostile takovers, attempted murders, bribery of officials and insider trading of stock if I remember correctly. Quite the tabliod type drama.