There’s something about shooting 1911s that reminds me how much I love the platform. No matter how many times I divest myself of them, sell them, I always seem to end up back with them. In fact, I’ve done some of the best shooting of my life with 1911s of various flavors.
The 1911 has a lot going for it, and here are five reasons why I just can’t seem to quit the platform.
1. Shootability
Right up front, here’s where it is for me. The 1911 platform lends itself to being easy to shoot. Regardless of the chambering, whether it’s .45, 9mm, .40 S&W, or .38 Super, 1911s just tend to be easy to shoot. Part of it’s the steel frame, part of it’s the (generally) light single action triggers, the fact that the grips give you tons of gun to hold on to; 1911s are just easy to shoot well.
2. Endless customization
One of the great things about being a 1911 armorer is that if there’s something about a 1911 I don’t like, I can probably find parts to make it into something I do like. Don’t like the sights? Change ’em! Don’t like the trigger pull? Change it! Hell, if you’re a proper crazy person like me you can even buy a part to disable the Series 80 safety that a lot of modern 1911s have.
3. So many flavors
So maybe a Government sized all steel .45 ACP 1911 isn’t your flavor. That’s fine, because you could get a Commander sized aluminum frame 1911 in 9mm instead! Or a double stack 6 inch gun in .40 S&W! While the 1911 tends to run the best in it’s intended format as a 5 inch .45 ACP, you have so many options when it comes to selecting your 1911 to the point where it’s easy to get decision paralysis. Do you want a Colt Defender in 9mm? Do you want a Springfield Operator? So many choices.
4. Pop culture and historical connections
Magnum P.I. World War II. Last Man Standing. SWAT. Jeff Cooper.
The list of famous movies, famous people, and historical events that the 1911 has been involved in goes on and on and on forever. Whether you’re a fan of the classic GI models used in World War II or Vietnam movies or modern 1911s like the ones used in SWAT or Battlefield Hardline, there is a fictional universe where you can watch your favorite 1911 play. That doesn’t even touch on the real, legitimate historical connection that the 1911 has to some of the most important military events of all time; or it’s connection to some of the founding fathers of modern pistol shooting. Let’s face it, the 1911 is as important to the development of the shooting sports as the Modern Technique itself.
5. John Moses Browning
Need I say more? Only the greatest firearms inventor of all time. JMB.
I really do love these guns, ever since I shot my first one years and years ago, and I continue to love it to do this day. I also hate it a little bit, but honestly you can’t love anything and not hate it a little at the same time. Why do you love it?
