High quality 1911's - Too tight for CCW?

[dec0y]

Hi all,

I am on the cusp of picking up a 1911 for primary concealed carry and I just wanted to gather some opinions on the subject of 1911's with tight tolerances. (Currently looking at the Dan Wesson bobtail)

It has been said that these "accurized" versions of the 1911 are fickle when it comes to operation in less than ideal environments (sand, dirt, mud, rain, etc.). What is your opinion?

I assume they will require more diligence with lubrication and cleaning than other handguns with looser clearances, but does this have any effect on how your treat your carry gun?

To put it lightly, I do not want to end up with a safe-queen/range-gun that never sees any holster time because it is too tight to run under sub-optimal conditions.

Thoughts?

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[JD]

In short, I think it's a load of "dookie" If the gun don't run, there's something wrong with it and it shouldn't be carried.

While they do take a little work to get a good cleaning done, a good 1911 should run well wet or dry.

As for the sand, grit, mud, I don't think it will matter. I don't get it, if they are incredibly tight, then all that grit and muck shouldn't be able to get in there right????

Unless you plan on fighting in mud covered jungles, or the deserts if Iraq, I wouldn't worry about it. (and even then I don't think you'd have a problem)

I've had some 1911s that didn't work right or meet my expectations, I got rid of them.

[David in FL]

Welcome to the forum!

You don't get to sell too many $2000 handguns if they don't go bang every time someone pulls the trigger.........

[AKsrule]

Welcome to the forum!

You don't get to sell too many $2000 handguns if they don't go bang every time someone pulls the trigger.........

Most of the current D Wesson pistols RETAIL at just under $1k
These are Not Custom but rather "low production number" guns.

All DW guns are now Marketed by CZUSA.

Dan Wesson

[Redneck Repairs]

If your DW runs fine , if not it can easily be made to , most times by you . given the price range of 1911s tho i would not consider a dw a high end pistol . That dont make it bad , it makes it a 1911 lol .

[hondaman]

You should check out the EMP it is a nice shooting 1911 in a 9mm now also in a 40 cal.

[mavrik46]

I carry either a Kimber or a Les Baer, and I don't think that they come any tighter than a Baer. No problems whatsoever.

[Agave]

My cheap Springfield has gone bang 100% of the time shooting everything but cheap reloads. I can't consistently hit B targets at 50 yards like I can with a S&W 10, but it is accurate enough.

[QKShooter]

A 1911 does not really NEED a super close fit of the slide to the frame in order to be an adequately accurate firearm. Especially for self defense purposes.

The barrel needs to be a good fit to the slide with a snug "bushing to slide fit" and the barrel needs to be a close fit to that barrel bushing.

As long as the slide goes into battery consistently and the barrel locks into the slide lugs consistently also - the gun will shoot with good accuracy even if the slide rattles a bit.

That being said there is something real nice about owning a beautifully assembled 1911 that is carefully fit together with no appreciable slide to frame play.
These days with all of that computer advanced CNC precision machining it's possible to have very close slide/frame tolerances without functional reliability suffering.