Wow this went sidways. Ok, I started a thread to get some info on a possible gun purchase and it has boiled way over into a gun control debate. Only in America right. I only want a 1911 so I can with more precision pick off drunk drivnig illegal Mexican aliens who are speeding the wrong way down the interstate like guided missles targeting pregnant women and mothers of 3. Based on my needs is the Tarus 1911 a good choice for me?

You realize, of course, all the "anti-gunners" here are only joking, right? This is a pretty gun-friendly crowd with a lot of hardware.

I'm sure it is. Like others have said, Taurus quality has improved immensly in the last few years. They now make a quality gun in every model they produce. The price is right, and 1911 technology is so well established that if they just followed the accepted standards, they really could not have gone wrong. Just pick one up and have fun. Don't mind us...

If you hang out here on PPOT long enough, you will eventually get used to your threads going off on wild tangents. That's what we do best. Your questions will get answered, on anything from guns to quantum physics, but it's up to you to seperate the wheat from the chaff. And there is a lot of chaff around here.

KWM,

I think you might want to look at a Springield or Kimber. While those guns are probably not much more accurate out of the box compared to the Taurus, if you want to have the gun accurized later, the gunsmiths will be happier with a Pringfield or Kimber as a starting point.

Price wise, you're looking at $450 to $550 for a Springfield 1911. They are very well built right out of the box.

Good luck and have fun.

I would be kind of curious to see how the Taurus 1911 stacks up. Almost too good to be true -

supposedly everything on it is hand-fitted and tuned so it's actually supposed to work right.

As of Taurus the company, a few years ago I picked up a millenum 45 that cracked it's firing pin safety release after 10 rounds, had to send it back and that took 2 weeks. I sold the gun immediately after that.

Springfield is a gets pretty good reviews and I'd check out a lightly used Colt, or even a Para. Those can be had for a few dollars more.

rjp

Having thought about it more this weekend (and, thankfully having missed the intervening "discussion"), I'd say spend the extra ducats (probably not too many of them) and get one of the following:

HK USP .45 -- I've got one and love it. Out of the box, as accurate as many "accurized" 1911s. You can also get it in Compact.

CZ 97B -- If I didn't already own the HK, I'd buy one of these in a second. The CZ 75 SP-01 I recently purchased is the best made anything that I own. And I don't buy junk. You cannot go wrong with the CZ. Get it in black polycoat. FWIW, I will envy you if you get one of these!

OK, if you're still just hooked on 1911...

I think very highly of Kimber. I wouldn't recommend you buy one, however. Very spendy, IMHO. Worth the $ if you're an avid/competitive shooter, but otherwise you can buy a good chassis and "upgrade" over time w/ a whole bunch of Cylinder & Slide parts.

As a non-1911 devotee, if I had to buy a .45, I'd get a Springfield, and spending as little as possible on a gun I'd like, I'd get a Springfield Armory 5" hi-cap (currently going for as little as $489 on gunsamerica.com).

You've got many, many options in Springfield .45s up through $550. You can't go "wrong" with a Springfield .45, and you can upgrade the heck out of it over the course of your ownership.

Nothing "against" Taurus, mind you... but if I was spending my money, in the sub-$800 range, I'd get a Springfield.

Good luck.

JP

JP, how can you endorse HK as not too expensive and then say Kimber is too much $$?? Around here most HK .45's are $800-$900 in a store. They can't be that much less online. At least Kimber makes a ton of different levels of fanciness for 1911's. You can get one for $600 or spend 3x that. But HK, as great as they are, ain't cheap.

CDNN has the best prices anywhere for HK.

Rick -
True 'nough about CDNN. It's a great resource. Sometimes, though, they have weird colored guns at great prices (not a fan of "tan" polymer handguns, or OD frames either).

I'm not saying (nor did I mean to imply) that HK are "cheap"... I said "I'd ... spend the extra ducats" and get an HK. I bought mine when it was ~$600 a few years back (new), so I don't know what they cost right now, but (typing away on non-site restricted personal laptop in my office...) there's a LNIB V1 USP .45 for $600 right now on gunsamerica.com. And an OD LNIB for $625.... and another V1 for $645, etc....

As I mentioned early (and often) I'd rather buy good used (if I can wait for the right specimen) so this would be how I'd do it.

I'm just not hot on Kimber... I respect the heck out of them, but they're like Glocks AFAIC: Give me the $ for a great Kimber/Glock, and I'll spend it (plus a few extra $, if necessary) on something else that I actually dig. They cost more than I'm willing to pay for what I'm getting. That's "spendy" to me.

JP

+1 on CZ weapons - the most widely used PD gun in the world, also don't forget the SIG's. As long as you stick with the traditional models (not the 1911's - ) you're good. If it wasn't for the fact I'm a Southpaw I'd probably be using SIG's as personal defense instead of the Glock.

My Glock was FREE from my brother who's nu wife freaks at the mention of the word "GUN" she's Canadian - that's her excuse..

I had a USP Compact, it's like a GLock that actually shoots straight, I miss it - I sold it before I knew better (it was first new handgun when my skillz were nonexistent)


Sig Sauer - I love shooting 'em but reloading a bastard being LH.

rjp

I hope CZ makes a better 1911 than they do shotguns. Their shotguns double fire and are very "soft" inside, not lending themselves to any real use.


Complimentry real 1911 picture. Not my choice as a carry, too big.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1174339312.jpg

I was at my brother's place in Florida during the summer; the sun was pretty intense. The black firearms laying in the sunlight all became too hot to hold comfortably.

I'm thinking about getting another Glock 26; I think it's going to be a tan colored one!

Tupperguns

That's interesting news about the CZ shotguns... I'd not heard anything bad about any CZ. I'll ask around to some of my true gun crazy friends.

CZ makes a coach gun I almost bought. Gorgeous 12 ga, double barreled... mmmm. That was just a bit of an indulgence at the time. Once the Alfa is finished, I might get myself one as a gift when there's a few hundy lying around.

The "hot" gun in the sun thing hadn't occured to me... Makes sense. Thinking....

Nope. Still wouldn't opt for a tan gun.

JP

I've heard CZ made some poor quality stuff way way back when. But of their recent stuff, I've heard nothing but great things. They are on my to-buy list.

And how many times do you have guns laying around in direct sunlight for long periods of time? I have a polymer SIG Pro 2340 in .357SIG and it's one of the best bangs for the buck you can get. I got it for $450 used and it came with about $200 worth of ammo, four hi-cap. mags and two holsters. It shoots great too.

The CZ shotguns are very nice looking, but then so are Italian cars. CZ stopped production for a while to address the problems. Do a search on CZ shotguns and go to some of the shotgun forums for the ugly truth.

My crazy Czech buddy Peter (literally crawled under the wire in '72 and didn't look back until he was in Dutch Harbor, but that's another story...) has a beautiful Brno bolt gun in .30-06. He looked long and hard once he was a U.S. citizen to find the right one. He tells me Brno is the prefered mark back home; CZ was always considered somewhat behind. That may have all changed by now, but that is his take on it. I'm not even sure that Brno makes anything other than rifles, so that may also be moot to this discussion anyway.

CZ makes a fine gun,,,,other than shotguns. They just haven't gotten that right yet. Of course it's really a Huglu and only imported by CZ. Seems Turkey has the corner on gun making these days.

I just picked up an old cz52 that's fun to shoot. After a few more rounds of practice I might actually start hitting something. :( Needless to say, it's a bit different than the glock. That would be the tupperware gun.

I dont get the fascination with 1911's, or all .45's for that matter.

I have the idea CDNN sells a lot of closeout/discontinued models. Some bargains to be had if they have the model you're looking for but their inventory is not like the full stocking wholesalers.
I'm glad you guys are out there shooting, at least nobody's talking about their Hi-Point.
Jim

I have been using a CZ Redhead deluxe O/U 20 GA with interchangable chokes for shooting/hunting the past 2 years(it was won at a banquet dinner) and I haven't had a single problem.