A Nurse with a Gun

Friday, April 06, 2007

Dinosaurs

The 1911 is my preferred handgun. I shoot it better than any other handgun. I like it's simplicity. Click to enlargeI like it's adaptability. I like the caliber it shoots. It puts a big hole right where I want it to.

The 1911 carries concealed very well. It has aftermarket parts support that is only rivaled by a small block Chevy. The 1911 style pistol has a combat heritage that no other production pistol can match.

Some say a 1911 is overpriced. Others say a 1911 is unreliable. Most young shooters call it an obsolete dinosaur. I did once as well. Then I shot John Moses' creation. I was pleased, very pleased. Years later, I am not surprised that many modern marvels of ordnance have left my possession to find other homes, their place being filled by yet another example of a handgun design almost a century old.

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13 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Well said. There is nothing that approaches the quality of design and functionality provided by JMB. The 1911 is truly built to be an extension of the self.

4:14 PM  
Blogger Jonathan said...

It seems there are lot over-priced Mall Ninja 1911 Specials out there. I worry such tacti-cool modifications to the 1911 platform mess with a perfectly good design, and maybe make the platform unreliable.

I think a nice, economically priced, plain-jane stock 1911 with stock magazines would is a beautiful thing.

5:19 PM  
Blogger Gandalin said...

Xav,

Well said and well thought.

It is remarkable that a 100-year-old design is still the choice of any SF unit that gets to choose a sidearm.

Shows you how well Mr. Browning conceived and engineered his design.

Moreover, it shows how well he understood the problems that his design was intended to solve; and since those problems haven't really changed since then, the design still works.

5:21 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"most young shooters..."

That's me. I love my HK USP. I'm good with it. I shoot it a lot. It's my go-to-range, take-to-class, nightstand guard.

I got talked into shooting a Les Bauer rental at the range. Wow. I used to not take all that over analysis of a "good trigger" seriously. I still don't completely, I figure most guns are more accurate than me. But man...that's a surprise break.

I was bit by the bug. I did some research. I just bought a Springfield Milspec and put an ambi safety (I'm a lefty). I'm so very happy.

6:35 PM  
Blogger Matt G said...

"I first became enamored with the Colt .45 automatic some 30 years ago. Prior to that, however, I had bought nearly all of the old wives' tales that encouraged us to believe that semiautomatic pistols just weren't reliable. Worse than that, I was repeating those claims as if they were gospel without any investigation of my own. Fellow lawman Johnny Guest finally got tired of listening to me and gave me an old GI .45 and a couple of boxes of surplus ammo. As I recall, he offered to eat my hat if I could make the gun malfunction. Johnny Guest has never gnawed on a Stetson on my account, and I've been hooked on the 1911 ever since."
--Gunwriter and former Crocket County (TX) Sheriff Jim Wilson, about my father, and the 1911.

12:32 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I like you 9mm commander w/stag grips. What'll you take in trade?

2:37 AM  
Blogger Xavier said...

It's not on the barrel anaon. ;)

5:21 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

ive got plenty of them myself but currently have one up for sale. i dont ever shoot it. im going to use the money to build a CMP legal Service Pistol.

love the design, its a masterpiece

9:14 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

All this rubbish about the 1911, 45 being a dinosaur is a bit bewildering to say the least.

Rumor has it that the “NAVY” has bought up over four hundred thousand (400,000) of these precious semi-autos just from the start of this year alone!

Yup! You heard it right here, first! They’re going to melt them down to make anchors out of them!

L*O*L!!!


Lord forgive me…I just couldn’t help poking a little fun out here amongst the faithful. A little levity never hurt anyone. I too have a couple (a dinosaur & Gold Cup) that I shoot not as well as I shoot most other guns but that’s my fault for not practicing enough.

A fellow shooting buddy told me that the 45 was going to be more difficult to shoot with consistent accuracy than my other guns I use and it is so true, in my case. I will be trying that “1911-firing-pin-stop-modification” X was kind enough to post on here and with a lot more practice and a little less felt recoil I should do a tad better than I’m doing.

Happy Easter to one and all.

Ronaldo

9:42 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The Easter Bunny got me a Colt Combat Commander, oh boy! She's a beauty!

9:29 AM  
Blogger The Conservative UAW Guy said...

Best.
Design.
Ever.

I often ask people to think of a machine that someone has designed, that 100 years later is still being made the same way. (Not including "classic" revolvers.)

With the exception of the 1911, I'm still thinking.

8:01 AM  
Blogger The Conservative UAW Guy said...

Best.
Design.
Ever.

I often ask people to think of a machine that someone has designed, that 100 years later is still being made the same way. (Not including "classic" revolvers.)

With the exception of the 1911, I'm still thinking.

8:02 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

JMB got it right first time, though I've got to say Tokarev did make some nifty mods on his version (like the removable hammer unit with attached feed guides).
Keith

11:49 AM  

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