"entry level" 1911a1?

[tboesche]

Rock Island for the Win. I carry my full size everyday.

[The Annoyed Man]

I didn't misrepresent anything.

The Springfields didn't work.

All of the Taurus (Tauri) were flawless.

If I didn't urge someone to research the Taurus, I would be guilty of a misservice.

Mike, I'm not meaning to say that you misrepresented anything. I'm sure that you told the absolute truth of your experience. Please accept my apology if my intent was not clear to you.

My own experience with SA's customer service (in repairing a broken hammer foot on a brand new M1A) was exemplary. And my own experience of owning a Springfield 1911 has been one of great reliability and accuracy. The point I was trying to make is that ownership experiences from owner to owner, and brand to brand tends to run across the spectrum. For instance, I've read some bad things about Smith & Wesson customer service. My own experience with them was very good. In fact, they went well beyond what I expected or had asked for.

I have no problems with Taurus 1911s either. My son's is a very well made, very accurate pistol. I don't carry it because it belongs to him, not me. Some day, I'll likely buy one, and I have no problem recommending them to others. That said, my son's Taurus is running today thanks to a rejected part from my stainless Kimber. The short story is that the OEM Taurus part (the slide stop pin) was MIM and it broke in half during a range session. I had a spare Kimber part (also MIM) which I had removed from the Kimber and replaced with a new one that Kimber sent me at no cost immediately upon phoning them, because the original wasn't working in my gun. But the "defective" part works fine in the Taurus, and has for about 18 months now. Go figure.

Other members on this board have sworn by Sig GSR 1911s. The one I had was a piece of crud. I got rid of it and will never buy another one. But note that in my previous post, I didn't even mention that one. The reason I didn't was because my reaction to Sig 1911s is a subjective one, based on my personal experience with one. Someone else may have a very different perception of Sig 1911s, and their mileage may vary. Others have had bad experiences with Kimber guns and their customer service. My experience is the exact opposite, but I'm not saying that those who had bad experiences are misrepresenting. I'm saying that everyone's perceptions of a company or its product, good or bad, are subjective based on their individual experiences. At the end of the day, the objective quality of a company and its products is based on the totality of all of those subjective experiences, and whether the good outweighs the bad, or visa versa.

Again, I apologize for any perceived offense. It certainly was not intentional.

[CompVest]

Good post TAM! Basically you can find a good story for every bad one you hear. I even have stories of "bad" guns sold that just by being owned by another became a "good" gun! So find what you like at a price you are willing to pay.

[timdsmith72]

So find what you like at a price you are willing to pay.

There it is.

[Jeremae]

The STI Spartan can be had in the $500 range (almost) and is an excellant gun right out of the box and a good platform to start building a custom gun.

[The Annoyed Man]

Here's a member who is having reliability issues with his Taurus 1911 right now.

[CompVest]

The STI Spartan is a good buy and an excellent 1911 but it is in the $700 range.

[74novaman]

I love my Rock Island 1911A1 GI model.

[GrayHawk]

Saw this this morning. I don't know the seller or anything about the gun, but seems to be in your price range. Seems to be a lot of folks that love their RIA's.
http://texasguntrader.com/index.php?a=2&b=63622" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[cbunt1]

I'm not a 1911 "expert" by any stretch, but I am a 1911 lover, and as such, I've messed with quite a few of them.

Barring any major frame or slide damage, most anything "wrong" with a 1911 can be fixed--so I don't have any hesitancy to buying most any of them, especially new.

I stumbled across some Citadel 1911's a few months ago that were retailing for $469 at a gun shop in the Conroe area. As I understand, Citadels are currently out of production, but I have no doubt you can find them in dealer stock. I've looked at Government (5") and Officer (3") sized guns in the line (I don't think they have them in commander-length).

I found them to be very nice guns for the price. I was most impressed with the crisp triggers with no significant creep.

The Citadel full-size has some good "upgrades" from the standard 1911-A1, including an extended ambi-saftey, and a beaver-tail grip safety.

FWIW, 90% of the reliability problems with 1911's can be cured with either magazines or ammo changes. Every gun has its preferences, but I've seen very few that won't run reliably with Winchester White Box fed from Wilson or McCormick magazines.

And, if it helps you to know this, I'll tell you: The only reason I haven't picked up one of the Citadel units is that I just keep putting it off--but one is definitely on the "want" list, and I intend to put one in the stable....