So....in other words your definition of "reality" regarding the 1911 is whatever Larry Vickers says about the 1911?
No, my definition of "reality" about the 1911 is partially informed by genuine subject matter experts who have a wealth of experience using the 1911 as a combat sidearm over a number of years.
Once more for clarity:
Mr. Vickers worked in a unit that legendarily used the 1911. While in that unit he had to learn the 1911 in and out just to keep the weapons up and running given their op tempo and the number of rounds they fired downrange. He got good enough to win an award for his 1911's from the American Pistolsmith's Guild, and the guns he built now command extremely high prices in the market. They are sought after by 1911 aficionados. As a guy who kept guns running in a unit with more operational experience with the 1911 than anybody since WWII (perhaps even including WWII) and who has trained literally thousands of people who use the 1911 as a sidearm he's probably supervised more rounds downrange through various 1911's than just about anyone else currently above ground.
You can ask practically anyone who makes 1911's (Bill Wilson, Lynn Freshley, Jason Burton, etc) or who knows them really well (Ken Hackathorn, etc) whether or not Mr. Vickers knows his stuff on the platform and they will answer in the definite affirmative.
Listening to the man about a platform he knows well would be a wise move.
My personal experience, while nowhere near as significant, has led me to the same conclusions....but even if it hadn't....even if every 1911 I ever touched was reliable and happy I would *STILL* pay very close attention to what Mr. Vickers has to say because my experience level with the platform will never come anywhere close to where his is. My personal experience with a few dozen 1911's over the years doesn't measure up to that standard.
Some people know more than I do....and know more than you do. Some people have more experience than I do...and more experience than you do. It would be wise to listen carefully to what they have to say.
For the vast majority of folks that carry a full size 1911 or...a more compact 1911 - their "reality" is not using that firearm defensively by having to go out and dispatch 3,000 bad guys in the desert with an improperly lubricated firearm.
No, the average user will not be firing 3,000 rounds through a handgun to defend themselves....nor does the average soldier find himself needing to fire a few thousand rounds during an engagement.
...and yet military personnel kept experiencing serious malfunctions or problems getting their weapons into action because the military taught that you should use only the tiniest amount of lubrication on issue guns as possible. The result: Lots of malfunctions and problems when it came time to use the weapons to put down a threat. Strangely enough those who learned to generously lubricate their weapons had far fewer problems when it came time to actually use the weapon to stop a threat.
Imagine that.
Proper lubrication is one of *many* factors involved in getting optimal function from a 100 year old pistol design. Those who are relying on that pistol to save their life in a critical moment would be foolish to ignore the input of people who have lots of experience actually deploying that weapon to save their lives.
So if a person carries and shoots that firearm in the world of their personal reality and they have absolutely no function related issues at all with that handgun...then that firearm is functionally perfect for their personal reality and their individual life situation.
...even if "their personal reality" is exceptionally limited?
Again: We're talking about the 1911 as a combat sidearm here...a weapon meant to drawn and used to put holes in vital bits of a bad guy's anatomy in a moment where you are facing the possibility of death or great bodily harm....just how much compromise are you willing to accept in that moment?
People who do not understand how a 1911 works and how to keep it in optimal working condition....people who want to treat a gun like a lawnmower...shouldn't be using a 1911. They should be packing one of the other options on the market that will tolerate being treated like a lawnmower. Someone is infinitely better off with an "ugly" 9mm Glock that will go bang than a cool looking snake-skin patterned 1911 that has feed issues when they are facing someone who is trying to kill them.
The site *is* named "Defensive Concealed Carry", right? A site dedicated to employing a handgun as a means to stop the hostile actions of a criminal aggressor? People like Mr. Vickers and Mr. Hackathorn (and others) have experience using the 1911 platform for just that purpose and as such it would be wise to pay attention to what they are saying.
Compact and all "less than full size" 1911 pattern pistols have certain physical characteristics and idiosyncrasies that could possibly make them less reliable than a full weight slabsides.
I would never argue that fact.
By using the term "possibly" you are arguing that fact.
The feed path of a 1911 is more complicated than on more modern designs like Glocks. That's just the simple truth of it. This core issue makes the weapon more likely to have feed issues.
With a 5" gun using an in-spec recoil spring, a properly tensioned extractor, ammunition designed for reliable feeding, and a good magazine (most 1911 mags are crap) you have the best feeding scenario possible with the 1911. If the recoil spring tension is off a bit, the gun will probably still run fine. If the extractor tension is off a bit, the gun will probably still run fine. If the magazine springs are weak, the gun will probably still run fine. On a 5" gun with Wilson 8 rounders generally the first sign of trouble is when the slide stops locking to the rear on empty rather than a feed issue.
When you chop that 5" gun down to a 3" gun you've dramatically complicated the feed process. Now everything has to be darn near perfect if the weapon is going to feed reliably. If your mag springs are weak then it's a lot less likely to get that next round up in time to be stripped by the faster moving slide. If the extractor tension is out of spec it will be much more critical. Etc. You have FAR LESS room for error, and that assumes that the gun worked from the box...which, given my experience with compact 1911s is HARDLY a guarantee. I don't know of a single 1911 maker out there who produces 5" guns that run all the time.
I've been in training with practically every brand of 1911 imaginable, and I have yet to see a single brand that didn't have a malfunction of some sort...and that includes a lot of well-known, high-dollar makers.
They ARE much less tolerant of being poorly built.
Yes...and even less tolerant of being poorly maintained. Here's the question:
How does the average gun owner spot a poorly built 1911? Answer: They can't because they don't know what a properly built 1911 is. Half the companies making a 1911 these days don't know what a properly built 1911 looks like, so how on earth is the average joe supposed to figure it out? How does the average joe know that the hole for the extractor is drilled improperly into the slide? How does the average joe know that the feed ramp was done improperly on the gun?
All of those considerations are going into the statements Mr. Vickers made on the show, and they are behind his advice that most people are better off selecting something other than a 1911 as a sidearm.
As a guy who has carried a 1911 for YEARS, I agree with him 100%.
To get a 1911 to run with acceptable reliability as we currently understand it requires an end user who knows the platform well enough to buy one that works initially and who will perform the required maintenance to keep it in optimal working condition. Everybody isn't like me....everybody out there isn't willing/able to switch out mag springs every 6 months, recoil springs every 3,000 rounds, or check/adjust extractor tension with every recoil spring change. Everybody isn't willing to put 500 rounds of carry ammo downrange with the weapon to check for feed and function in the gun. (230 grain Winchester Ranger HP)
Obviously the entire firearm industry of 1911 gun makers disagrees with him also...because they are still making compact version 1911s that multitudes of consumers "out there" are extremely happy with and are not having a whit of functional trouble with.
The firearm industry is loaded with dysfunction. Take Sig as an example. They imported the management from Kimber, who promptly scuttled their legendary QC and replaced it with efforts to make rainbow colored firearms in an effort to boost their profits. It worked. Sig is now at record levels of profitability...and their QC is in the toilet. They ship more lemons out now as a percentage than they ever have...and yet they keep selling guns.
Most consumers are, to put it mildly, unsophisticated. We've all been there. When I first got into guns I didn't have a clue. It took lots of years, wasted money, and lessons learned the hard way to correct that. Most people do not go through that process. I have a family member who bought a Beretta .380 25 years ago and they just finished the FIRST BOX of ammunition they bought with the gun last week.
I went through over 4,000 rounds and 2 formal training courses with my carry gun in just the last 30 days.
Most people haven't put the time and effort into learning that I've put in...and yet when it comes time to actually use a firearm for the purposes of defending their life, they'll need it to work every bit as much as I will.
...so frankly I don't put too much stock in the marketing nonsense. Yes, people are buying compact 1911's...and web boards are full of people asking why the gun they just spent 1,000 dollars on doesn't work....and then a few months later you see that they've sold the micro 1911 and bought a Glock, and now all 1911's suck horribly and Glocks are the greatest things ever because their gun didn't work, etc.
It's a lot of the blind leading the blind out there. If people would actually listen to people who have useful knowledge....people like Mr. Vickers...more often than not they'd end up with a happy outcome.