Colt 1911 .45 ACP - Last Man Standing (1996) Discussion

[–] word2urmommaz 18 years ago

My favorite is personally the classic colt version of the weapon. i have shot one before and it was a load of fun.

Only the penitent man will pass *Indiana jones
All you can get in a hurry is trouble

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[–] Tanaro_Fubine 18 years ago

Judging from the appearance of the size of the barrel bore, and the size of the cartridges he had laid out, they looked more like 38's than 45's to me. Anyways, who makes the best is very subjective. Some will say Kimber, some will say Wilson some will say Sig etc. Learn enough about this doing your own research, instead of deciding later that you would've gotten something else if you knew as much then as you will later. I'm now wishing my 1911 was a 9mm instead of a .45, because 9's are half the price of 45's and ammo prices are going through the roof.
By the way, that ultra cool double shoulder rig is available through the Idaho Leather Co.
http://groups.msn.com/IdahoLeatherCo/customleather.msnw
They put them up for bid on Gunbroker.com too.

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[–] EASportsRacer13 18 years ago

Easy...Springfield, SMith and Wesson or Kimber.

All under a grand and have waaayyy more features than a COlt. COlt is just a name and Para Ord is full of trouble.

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[–] gtrpup2 17 years ago

I own a Springfield and love it, to own the colt model comparable would of cost triple what I paid for mine. Para Ordinance's are pieces of junk.

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[–] Lscivichatch92 17 years ago

hard to say who makes the best, but from my experience and what my friends and I have agreed on, Kimber makes one of the best, just very expensive. I personally love my springfield. Sig is also very good. Just do youself a favor and save yourself the trouble of the crappy para ord. unless you like to unjam your gun every mag.

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[–] hondo551 17 years ago

Bought my first handgun in 1972. Colt Government Series 70 .45 ACP. $125.00. Jammed twice from my negligence. On one occasion an intruder in the middle of the night beat a hasty retreat when he heard the sound of the slide slamming a round into the chamber. Going through two self defense/combat courses about 20 years apart, it never failed, it always hit where pointed. 15 years ago I had a custom conversion done on it by a man who specializes in combat .45s for law enforcement. It incorporates many of the bells and whistles found in todays 1911 clones. It's gotten sweeter with age and still beats the pants off of the single and double action revolvers and semiauto 9mm I own. Wife says she may bury it with me, and that seems fitting.

Now as to the .45s used in the movie, unless I'm mistaken, those .45s didn't exist in the timeframe portrayed. I may have to take another look at my DVD, but unless I'm mistaken, Bruce's .45s have lanyard loops in the mainspring housings. Story is post WWI and pre WWII, undoubtedly in the 1920s. Prior to WWII the only lanyard loop found on a .45 was in the base of the magazine which could make it rough on the palm when loading. Rather than putting rings on a multitude of magazines, the U.S. military in WWII had it put on the mainspring housing to cut costs and improve the design. It's the only 60 year old part on my Colt!

Somehow I would have expected Walter Hill to pay closer attention to it, but then Ford and Hawks and Hathaway and McLaglen and Kennedy never seemed to pay much attention to the Duke's 1892 Winchester either. Hollywood!

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[–] vice69 17 years ago

so Hondo, you have a 1911 in your house for self defense and when an intruder breaks in you intimidate them by chambering a round instead of having it condition 1? are you trying to get hurt or killed?

Ah-Choo! Sorry, I'm Allergic To Bullsh!t...

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[–] Trench_Phantom 16 years ago

I find Para Ordnance, Springfield Armory, Wilson Combat, STI and several other makers of 1911s quite on par with one another and their Colt father. I can't say anything about Sig's 1911 personally, but hearsay has not been favorable for the most part.

I have a very nice Springfield Armory Trophy Match from their custom shop in .45 ACP and it's an excellent pistol. It will take 10 round magazines or 14 round Para Ordnance mags (like the P14 uses). Here are some pictures:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/donkeypunk/tm1.jpg?t=1238162635

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/donkeypunk/SA1911_4.jpg?t=12381 62512

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/donkeypunk/noir1911.jpg?t=12381 62202

I wouldn't mind having a 1911 in .38 some day.

A good friend of mine has an excellent Colt Lightweight Commander, which is very customizable and sturdy in stock condition.

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[–] Kzgirl91 17 years ago

My response will be the most usefull. The original Colt M1911A1 is the best. I have one from 1913 and it shoots very accurately and unsurpassingly reliable. Plus the lack of a beaver tail grip safety makes it easier to safely uncock the gun with one hand. Some prefer Springfield armory for their .45s and they make them good. Kimber makes the more Race, target use guns with more accuracy and stronger springs so shells fall closer. Smith and wesson isn't as popular as the others but many find them good. Auto and para ordinance make them well but the leader is a crazy money grabbing brain washer so I don't encourage buying from those. (Unless you really want a Thompson SMG)And I've seen argentine make some. They work well but they just aren't as good.

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[–] fahrertuer 17 years ago

The A1 was put on the market in the 1920s and was not available in 1913. So yours must either be older or an M1911

But never the less a nice oeace of kit.

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[–] SpecialJack 17 years ago

you should check out mine, its had a lil bit of work done to it...well, more than a little.
First of all, the feeding ramp has been
polished to a mirror sheen. It's not going to have any feeding problems.
The slide's been replaced with a reinforced version. And it meshes
perfectly with the frame. The frame itself has been iron-welded and
scraped down multiple times for maximum precision. The front strap part
of the frame has been checkered to make it dig into the hand. That
prevents any slipping. The sight system's original, too. It's a 3-dot
type. It's got an enlarged front sight, giving it superior target
sighting capability. The regular hammer's been replaced with a ring
hammer. That enhances the cocking speed and increases the hammer-down
speed. They also reworked the grip safety to accommodate the ring
hammer. Looks like they eliminated it altogether. This is a tool for
pros. The thumbs safety and the slide stop are extended to allow for
more precise handling. The base of the trigger guard is whittled down,
so you can use a high grip. And the trigger itself is a long type for
easy finger access. The trigger pull is about 3.5 pounds. That's about
a pound and a half lighter than normal. The magazine well has been
widened to make it easier to put in a new magazine. The magazine catch
button has been cut down low to make it harder to hit by mistake. The
mainspring housing has been changed to a flat type to increase grip. And
it's even been fitted with stepping so that it doesn't slip from the
recoil when firing. On top of that, they added cocking serrations to the
front part of the slide. That lets you load and eject cartridges faster
in an emergency. Whoever did this is a professional. No question - this
thing could shoot a one-hole at 25 yards in a machine rest.

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] Gunmaster45 17 years ago

" you should check out mine, its had a lil bit of work done to it...well, more than a little.
First of all, the feeding ramp has been
polished to a mirror sheen. It's not going to have any feeding problems.
The slide's been replaced with a reinforced version. And it meshes
perfectly with the frame. The frame itself has been iron-welded and
scraped down multiple times for maximum precision. The front strap part
of the frame has been checkered to make it dig into the hand. That
prevents any slipping. The sight system's original, too. It's a 3-dot
type. It's got an enlarged front sight, giving it superior target
sighting capability. The regular hammer's been replaced with a ring
hammer. That enhances the cocking speed and increases the hammer-down
speed. They also reworked the grip safety to accommodate the ring
hammer. Looks like they eliminated it altogether. This is a tool for
pros. The thumbs safety and the slide stop are extended to allow for
more precise handling. The base of the trigger guard is whittled down,
so you can use a high grip. And the trigger itself is a long type for
easy finger access. The trigger pull is about 3.5 pounds. That's about
a pound and a half lighter than normal. The magazine well has been
widened to make it easier to put in a new magazine. The magazine catch
button has been cut down low to make it harder to hit by mistake. The
mainspring housing has been changed to a flat type to increase grip. And
it's even been fitted with stepping so that it doesn't slip from the
recoil when firing. On top of that, they added cocking serrations to the
front part of the slide. That lets you load and eject cartridges faster
in an emergency. Whoever did this is a professional. No question - this
thing could shoot a one-hole at 25 yards in a machine rest."
-Special Jack

Wow, are you Big Boss? Smart ass, you just copied the radio frequency from the game. Word for word too. That would be an awesome .45 to have though.

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[–] tc_rider 17 years ago

Take a good hard look at the S&W 1911's.

I bought the 1911DK model in Dec '05 and have probably put 5000+ rounds through it shooting IDPA matches. It has been utterly reliable and has all the custom bells and whistles. All I've had done is the additional of a fiber site on the front end.

Smith does have the external extractor and as far as I know, they are the only ones who have gotten it right the first time.

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[–] Draconian_Clown 17 years ago

Ha! My favorite would the ones he used in this movie. You simply cannot beat the 1911 that never runs out of bullets and never misses.

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[–] manic_matviyko 17 years ago

I bought a Colt 9MM, the gun was pretty in-expensive; the ammo is ridiculously in-expensive.

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[–] foob-5 17 years ago

My response will be the most usefull. The original Colt M1911A1 is the best. I have one from 1913 and it shoots very accurately and unsurpassingly reliable. Plus the lack of a beaver tail grip safety makes it easier to safely uncock the gun with one hand.

Best? Best for what purpose? Colt doesn't even manufacture the original design since forever. Your post is just your way of bragging about what you own. Sad really.

1. It's not reliable. That's why EVERY 1911 gunsmith offers a reliability package.
Some more obvious design issues
-seated angle of magazine makes feeding unreliable (guess they didn't have JHP then)
-weak extractor
-no firing pin block safety (may or may not be that important)
There are others.

2. You aren't supposed to manually decock the gun. You are suppose to use the thumb safety, that's what it's there for. If you don't trust it, then you ain't trusting the design.

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Anyway, the best 1911 is the one built custom for you. The one that fits your hand and your shooting technique. The type of mag well, the type of checkering, slide serrations, grip size, grip contour, trigger type, trigger pull weight, ambi mag release/safety or not, barrel length, caliber, type of sights, barrel material, receiver/slide material, magazine capacity etc. Also depends on what you want the firearm for. Increasing combat reliability means decreasing accuracy. You don't want a match barrel and bushing custom fitted when going to war.

If you are only considering production firearms, it's hit and miss. Colt, Springfield armory, norinco, S&W, taurus, kimber are all good enough most of the time. I'm sure I left out some other big companies.

For smaller shops, Les Baer, Wilson combat, cylinder and slide, EGW, are popular.

For custom gunsmiths, Ted Yost is most famous. There are many others, a firearms forum can give more info.

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Finally the most important thing is practice. Top shooters in the country shoot thousands of rounds a week. But they dry fire twice as often. Attend an IDPA and see how well you do compared to others.

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] foob-5 14 years ago

Yes they do, and they did when you posted this in 2008 too.

No the original design has no firing pin block safety.

That's a load of horseshìt. My Colt Goverment Model which I bought new 20 years ago, and is still in stock configuration, has never malfunctioned in any way, shape, or form.

I see, your experience with one firearm makes you an expert on the issue. At least provide some evidence that isn't your opinion. I mentioned how ALL 1911 gunsmiths provide reliability packages.

Horseshìt on both counts.

Heh great argument. I'll let others talk to other 1911 owners on other firearm forums and make their own decision on this.

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[–] 14 years ago

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[–] dbphotowa 17 years ago

Without a doubt, the best made M1911 pistol in original configuration is this...

http://www.wilsoncombat.com/p_classic.asp

Guarenteed 1-1.5" Groups @ 25YDs

One of the most accurate production .45s on the planet!!

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[–] 17 years ago

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