Is a 1911 practical in 9mm?

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noi

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I just love the 1911 design. I however also love 9mm (mostly for the price), but im always left wondering if I am not doing the gun (or my money spent on the gun) justice in not getting it in .45.

How many of you have a 1911 in 9mm? Do you like it? Do you have it in a full sized 1911 frame? Regrets?

I guess this would also be a good time to ask you guys what some cheap (cheap but not garbage) .22 conversion kits for the 1911 frame are for ultra cheap plinking?
 
I have one in 9mm and I have no regrets. It shoots really well, and is comfortable to shoot. Due to magazine capacity restrictions I see no need for a pistol that could accomodate large capacity magazines, so I am quite happy shooting with the 1911.
 
I don't have a pistol on the 1911 platform yet, but when I do it will be a 9mm.
 
What is your definition of practical?
All you can do is take it to the range and shoot paper.
Get the 9mm. All 45 ACP leaves you with is less money in your pocket and more recoil. About the only advantage it does have is you can say "Dude look how big of hole I made in the paper compared to your 9mm, HA"

500 rounds of American Eagle 9mm- $140
500 Rounds of Americal Eagle .45ACP- $250+
Thats practical.
 
i own an sti trojan in 9mm and i dont regret my decision at all, maybe one day i'll collect a 1911 in 45 as well, but right now i really love the one i have
 
The 1911 is a great platform and it just feels so right. It is pretty as well, nice to look at. This platform has improved a lot over the years. Going back, I'm guessing 25 years, if you bought a 1911(Colt), you had to send it to the gun smith first to have it's various issues resolved. In the past the recoil springs didn't work well unless the gun was .45. Basically the gun was designed as a 5 inch bbl and in .45 and that is how it worked best. I have read two books on the 1911 both written by Patrick Sweeney. If you were to buy the first book don't bother with the 2nd as it is mostly a repeat. I guess we are lucky to have so many great choices available and have the $$ to get the gun we want. I think this is an anniversity year for the 1911 and if you could get one of those it would have more value.

JimmieA.
 
I have an older NP-29 that has been worked over and it is a great pistol. Functions 100%, accurate and very soft shooting with 9mm in a heavy steel framed 1911.


Mark
 
evilhaze said:
What is your definition of practical?
All you can do is take it to the range and shoot paper.
Get the 9mm. All 45 ACP leaves you with is less money in your pocket and more recoil. About the only advantage it does have is you can say "Dude look how big of hole I made in the paper compared to your 9mm, HA"

500 rounds of American Eagle 9mm- $140
500 Rounds of Americal Eagle .45ACP- $250+
Thats practical.
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Price isn't everything. Its a lot of fun shooting different calibers. It gets boring shooting the same caliber over and over. Its fun to take something else to the range and have fun with.
 
evilhaze said:
What is your definition of practical?
All you can do is take it to the range and shoot paper.
Get the 9mm. All 45 ACP leaves you with is less money in your pocket and more recoil. About the only advantage it does have is you can say "Dude look how big of hole I made in the paper compared to your 9mm, HA"

500 rounds of American Eagle 9mm- $140
500 Rounds of Americal Eagle .45ACP- $250+
Thats practical.
Click to expand...

This is definitely one side of the argument. But my take on it is also the fun factor. If cost is your only concern, then why not just buy a GSG1911 in .22? .45 Auto has more bang, and is more fun to shoot in my opinion. In my mind the 1911 is best in .45 - louder, heavier hitting, and yes...more expensive. Don't get me wrong - a 1911 is a fine weapon in any caliber, but I love my .45, because after all, I can say, "Dude look how big of hole I made in the paper compared to your 9mm, HA" To be honest, I bought my 1873 in .357 mag because I don't reload, and like the .357/.38 option, I just wouldn't shoot it that much in .45 LC due to price.
 
I have a 1911 in .22, 9mm, and 45.

If money was no concern, I would only be shooting the .45, it is fun fun fun!

But it is a concern, so the .22 and 9mm see the most action. Sometimes you just want to dump 5 mags down range as fast as possible and the .22 is most economical, plenty of fun, and you dont have to chase brass.

I guess this would also be a good time to ask you guys what some cheap (cheap but not garbage) .22 conversion kits for the 1911 frame are for ultra cheap plinking?
Click to expand...

my .22 is a GSG 1911, great little gun for less than a pricey conversion kit. GSG also offers conversion kits for under $300 though
 
I have an STI Ranger II (Commander size) in 9mm with an Armco trigger job and it is amazing. Virtually no recoil and it has a bushingless bull barrel which is extremely accurate. I also just ordered a Kimber Stainless II Target 9mm. I have the same gun in 45 and liked it so much I wanted the 9mm as well.

Overall I've probably got about ten 1911s including a Colt Gold Cup, Springfield Armory, Ruger SR1911 and 4 Norincos including a 9mm NP-29. I probably shoot the 45s more because I find them very accurate but I also like the 9mms and don't regret buying them. Since I reload both calibres and cast my own bullets the cost difference is not a big deal for me but it can be if you're buying commercial ammo. I suggest you try each and decide which you prefer and then get into reloading. A lot of fun for not a lot of money.

As for conversion kits, if you've got lots of cash go for a Marvel if you can find one and the Tactical Solutions units are supposed to be good as well. Before I bought my Marvel I had a Jonathan Ciener Platinum conversion on my Springfield Armory and it looked and worked great. However, Ciener is one of the world's biggest asses and I wouldn't buy another one just because he's such a jerk.

However, as someone else pointed out, for what you will pay for a high end conversion you can buy another gun like the GSG. If you find it doesn't do the job you can always sell it and move up to one of the pricier units but you might find you'll be perfectly happy with it and you've got two complete guns.
 
noi said:
I just love the 1911 design. I however also love 9mm (mostly for the price), but im always left wondering if I am not doing the gun (or my money spent on the gun) justice in not getting it in .45.

How many of you have a 1911 in 9mm? Do you like it? Do you have it in a full sized 1911 frame? Regrets?

I guess this would also be a good time to ask you guys what some cheap (cheap but not garbage) .22 conversion kits for the 1911 frame are for ultra cheap plinking?
Click to expand...


If you want real justice.....
Get them both!!!

I love my .45ACP but can't shoot it all day long which is when the 9mm fits the bill nicely:)
 
Is a 1911 practical in 9mm?
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 Are you kidding? Practicality is the only reason to own a 1911 in 9mm. Seriously.

Practicality in the sense that 9mm ammo is cheap to reload and brass is free for the picking.

We all love the 1911 45 ACP but....high cost of ammo makes it almost prohibitive for me to shoot even my own reloads. (truth is, reloads is all I shoot in any caliber) Commercial bullets (heads) are 130/1000 for 45s vs. 751000 for 9mm.

With 45s, I pick up brass after every magazine and I still lose some. With 9mm brass, I pick up when I feel like, or sweep during cease-fire. The brass bin always has more 9mm than any other caliber.

I also cast my own bullets, but 230 grain 45s are almost twice the cost of 125 grn 9mm. It's only 1 cent difference but finding Wheelweight at all, is a big challenge these days...

Now a 1911 is .22 is rather useless, IMO. Had a .22 conversion, didn't care for it. Just shoot airsoft.

My Norkie 9mm 1911 is arriving in a couple of days according to CP Tracking info, courtesy of Ryan at SFRC. Needless to say, I am stoked! I can now shoot a 1911 without feeling guilty spending too much.
 
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You can do the math several ways:

It depends on how old you are and how recoil-friendly your body is. Once you get over 50, you're not going to be a big fan of beating yourself up with stiff recoil. If you have wrist or other issues, that time will come much sooner. While some recoil is "fun", a whole bunch is just painful and counter-productive. That will decide the "Major" caliber for your 1911 platform. 9mm is soft shooting, .45 is harsher.

Now for the economic justification:

At a minimum of $220 / 1000 rounds (AE or PMC 9mm here) you would only need to shoot 2000 rounds to spend $440. That's roughly the minimum cost of factory .45 here -- for 1000. So that's your figure for ammo cost.

OK: So buy the .22 top end for your .45 for those days that you're "saving money", and really save money. You can tell yourself that for every 1000 rounds of .22 you shoot, you've saved about $400 in .45 auto, or a smaller amount of 9mm. So you could theoretically shoot that much .45 now, since you "saved" it. Shooting 1000 rounds of .45 should take you a while. I put maybe 100 rounds of 9mm and 50 rounds of .38 down range -- along with another 100 rounds of .22 -- and that's a range day for me. I shoot the .22 in the middle of the other "bigger" calibers and I find my accuracy improves. That, after all, is the goal of shooting: the fun of getting better at it.

So buy what it is that you really want, then buy the .22 top end, and know that you will shoot cheaply and improve trigger control, etc. while snapping off the .22, and then work on the recoil management, target acquisition, etc. with the "major" caliber.

And you'll have the economic justification ready should you need to supply it. Fun and fiscally responsible, now how could you not buy that?
 
1911 in 9mm is a fine firearm--fun and economical to shoot--I have a 45 also and with reloaded ammo it is not that expensive to shoot.

The absolute best 9mm platform in my opinion is the Browning hiPower for recreational shooting.
ymmv
 
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