4" Barrel in 1911

[Geister]

Hey, do you all find the Bobtail very helpful for concealment? It appears so since it takes away an edge that might just pop through a shirt.

[KBCraig]

Geister, that's the only reason for a bobtail. It does reduce printing. Other than that, it doesn't add function.

Folks who have examined their grip realize that a bobtail doesn't remove anything they'd have been holding anyway.

Kevin

[carlson1]

Concealment and on mine it removes a "bite" in the palm of my hand during shooting.

[MrDrummy]

Have y'all ever seen a bobtail treatment on a officer's grip?

[dws1117]

Have y'all ever seen a bobtail treatment on a officer's grip?

There was a thread recently on Thehighroad concerning this. The concensus was that it wouldn't an easy thing. First you'd have to fabricate your own MSh as noone makes one. Second you'd have to do your own experimenting with the mainspring because the full sized bobtail uses an officers model spring.

It is a terrific design. As KB mentioned, it's only purpose is to prevent that point from printing and aid in concealment. I personally really like the way it fits in the hand. It does have a slightly different fell when compared to a standard grip. Some like it, some don't. It's great to have options.

[longtooth]

Write it on the wall somewhere & come back in 2 yrs. Someone will have one out. It will happen. Bettcha.

[Diode]

Write it on the wall somewhere & come back in 2 yrs. Someone will have one out. It will happen. Bettcha.

No Doubt....

[Geister]

Which 1911s usually come with the officer's grip? Besides the Officer models, of course. Do most of the carryKimbers come with the officer's grip?

I am assuming that most of Springfield's selection come with the full-size grip.

[remington79]

the 3 inch barreled (Ultras) Kimbers come with an officers grip as do some 4 inch barreled Kimbers.(refered to as Compacts in the Kimber catalog)

[Geister]

I stopped by the gun store today and took a look at some 1911s. I love how slim the gun is; it makes it seem so easy to carry concealed. No double stacked magazines for me.

Would a 5" barrel 1911 really be that much harder to carry? I am guessing not. Just from the look of it I don't see how that extra inch would hurt my holster selection.

[TX Rancher]

I think you may get all sorts of opinions on 5 vs 4 vs 3 for the 1911’s. For me personally, I prefer a 4 in over the 5 in for concealed carry, but that’s just a personal opinion based on comfort. For IWB the extra inch tends to poke me and in general gets uncomfortable after an extended time. When I carry OWB, the 5 in, for me, is harder to conceal. When it comes to open carry, it's always the 5.

It works out this way for me... for concealed carry I very rarely carry my 5 in. The duty generally falls to my 4 in with an officer length grip (note the grip length...to me that's a big issue for concealment and a drawback to the "Full Size" 1911) or my Kimber Ultra with the 3 inch. Of the two, the Kimber wins out more often then not. It also wins out quite often against the Glock G19, but I have to admit my G26 is coming up on the curve lately.

But over time, the 1911 has graced my holster more then any other pistol (for concealed and open carry) with the 3 & 4 inch models winning out for concealed.

I’m sure I’ll catch some flak for the 3 in on reliability, but mine meets all my requirements in that category…I’m willing to bet my life on it.

My suggestion is try on both the 4 and 5 and see how they "feel". The longer, the better. If your in my neck of the woods, you're welcome to try em on for an extended period (as long as you have a valid CCL )