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My Personal Path Away From The 1911
BY Hilton Yam
"It has been noted more than once that lately there seem to have been many MSW articles recommending against the use of the 1911 as a service pistol. This is not really a new trend, and even since the days of the 10-8 Forums we have always cautioned folks that the 1911 is not for the casual user.
Starting with IPSC back in the 80?s, I traveled a long road of being a devoted user of the 1911 in both competition and duty applications, a builder of custom 1911s, and a designer of 1911 components. The last 15 years or so had seen the 1911 absolutely dominate my existence, and everything I did seemed to revolve around the gun. With all this devotion to the 1911, it is even more telling then why I went away from it...
http://modernserviceweapons.com/?p=6631
He pretty much echoes what Vickers told us in last fall's 1911 "Operators" class.
If I were maintaining a fleet of handguns for a police dept, etc, I wouldn't go with 1911's. Simply too labor intensive. The various polymer guns will run rings around the old warhorse in that environment. Too many things can go wrong with 'em. Loose plunger tubes. Loose ejectors. Battered and weak extractors. Cheap mags. The user has to stay on top of spring maintenance, particularly on the less than 5" guns. (Wilson's adaptation of the Glock flat wire recoil spring has improved that situation though. Spring life is MUCH improved.)
Since I'm a bit of a mechanic AND I buy fairly high end 1911's, I get away with running them for my personal use. But in all honestly, my ol' 2007 Wilson CQB has required no work done to it. (Neither have my other ones.) It simply runs, provided I feed it quality ammo (meaning, my lame reloading QA dept doesn't somehow miss a loose lock nut on the taper crimp die and subsequently turn out several hundred improperly crimped reloads.)
The old CQB has fired many, many thousands of rounds and has needed no work at all. (Many training classes as well.) It's still running the original extractor!
I remember one slightly irritated adjunct instructor at TR when both my brother's and my CQB wouldn't cooperate in setting up a malfunction because they would both feed empty cases out of the mag without a hiccup. (They were supposed to hang up.)
Team Wilson knows how to set up a 1911 (and Bill Wilson is living the good life as a result.)
I don't run 1911's 'cause I think they make me a better shooter. Age and eyesight are my limiting factors. The trigger's great on the 1911, but truthfully, I shoot my Glock 19 just about as well.
In all honesty, I admit that those few who have approached me for advice on "what carry gun should I get?" I unhesitatingly tell 'em, "Get a Glock 19."
Money is better spent on training, practice and ammo.
But I like my Wilsons.