IIRC we’ve discussed this topic in the past in the 18-year history of this blog, but I’m reminded of it because I’ve been carrying a 1911 .45 auto, my favorite for many decades now and my preferred carry on duty for 43 years as a sworn police officer. I’m wearing it now partly because it’s the season for my favorite match, The Pin Shoot and it lets me re-acclimate. It’s the ideal gun for Pin Shooting, blasting heavy bowling pins off a table as the clock is running, because that shooting format was designed around Col. Jeff Cooper’s triad for winning gunfights: Accuracy, Power, and Speed.
The short, straight-back press of the 1911’s trigger is conducive to accuracy. Its .45 ACP cartridge – I use Federal HST 230 grain hollow points at the +P velocity of 950 feet per second – is ample for power. Speed is facilitated by the pistol’s natural pointing and low bore access, which reduces muzzle jump.
Three years ago Bill Wilson – national champion shooter, one of the all-time great pistolsmiths, and now a manufacturer of what many believe are the best 1911s on Earth, the Wilson Combat brand – hosted me for a discussion on Wilson Combat’s YouTube channel on the topic of “Why Carry a 1911.” It’s now over two million views, and you can find it here:
Individual preferences invite controversy, and as always, we invite your comments here.
:::: sigh :::: There’s always some ‘new wonder catridge’.
The .45 ACP, originating in 1904, supposed to be better than the 1901 9mm Parabellum?
Us traditionalist stick to the old ways! 🙂
Seriously: neither catridge would have been so popular, for so many agencies, individuals and armies, without a lot to say for them.
BUT the “Nostalgia; a quality 1911 in a quality leather holster… as opposed to a plastic gun in a plastic holster.”
That’s like chosing your parachute by the colour.
The 1911 is not at all a worse choice because of his words though.
Interesting that we are discussing a 1901 invention versus a 1904 one.
Like the Old Irish Saying goes: ‘data is flying, but cars aren’t’.
(HOW DARE YOU SUGGEST I MAKE THEM UP!!)
Lots of stuff going through the airwaves, but physical inventions have practically stopped.
We expect the world of 2100 to be astounding. But that’s 75 years from now.
75 years ago we had nukes, space travel (the nazi rockets left the atmosphere). You got around by car, tram, train, ship, plane.
The microwave is the only non data moving item I can think of offhand you have in your house now, you couldn’t have had then.
Great improvements in technolgies.
But where are the new ones?
Bladerunner was set in 2019. So where’s my flying car and replicant Daryl Hannah?
njk
In New Jersey, we are limited to ten-round magazines. Would I rather carry ten rounds of 9mm Luger, or ten rounds of .45 ACP?
I’d rather move to a free state. Although I understand why some people can’t.
Low before it was the in thing, I milled the back of the slide to mount as low as possible with no adapter plate a Burris fastfire. I had it so low you could still point shoot via sighting down the top of slide. A Para P12 with a ramped 45 barrel and 4 inch slide was my concealed carry, with two spare tuned magazines In a cross shoulder document bag.
Mas:
When Colt first introduced the Delta Elite, I used the full power Norma 10mm load (“Uncle Jeff’s” original load) on pins in one match that year. My goodness, that load threw the pins off the table, usually blowing out the back enough to make it unusable after one hit. That said, too much recoil added unwanted time to the clock. The pistol held up fine, and I eventually ran out of my entire stock of that Norma load. I hope you and yours have a wonderful Independence Day.
I am most comfortable shooting my Colt Series 80. It’s a great gun to learn to shoot. Unfortunately, as I get into my later 60’s, all my previous injuries rear their head and say ‘remember me when you…’. I may buy a 1911 9mm.
When I am out of the house I believe my most likely risk is a grappling-distance risk. As a result, I carry a J-frame 38 special in a IWB holster. I am thinking of carrying the 1911 as backup in a shoulder rig in cooler weather or a small 9mm on my left side during summers.
At the age of 73, I have now been carrying a concealed firearm for 50 years. For the first half of those years, I carried a Smith & Wesson revolver. I was always concerned about the complexity of a semi-auto. In the 1990’s, I became good friends with a homicide detective with a big city P.D. He carried a 1911 off duty and well, he convinced me to give the 1911 a try. Patriotic fellow that I am, I thought what a way to honor our service men and women who carried this same firearm for some 74 years into battle during WWI, WWII, Vietnam, and many other conflicts. So today, my EDC is an Ed Brown government model in 45acp.