Best 45acp for the buck

Looking forward to seeing your pics.

I've got a 9mm version coming to me. I don't care for the rail, but a 1911 with a fully adjustable bomar-style sight for that money?

Hard to go wrong. I'll never put enough rounds through my pistols to come even close to wearing one out, so I don't even care about those metallurgy debates that come around regularly. They make 1911 with aluminum and even polymer receivers. Given that, steel is steel, to me.
 
hercster said:
If I'm not mistaken, the manufacture of pistols at least under the Para name will soon be discontinued as the company is absorbed into Remington. Based only on my reading over the past several years, Para is a mixed bag. Many posts will speak for the quality of Para when they operated in Canada followed by a pretty bad slide in QA when they located in the Southern US. Many people look to an older Para manufactured in Canada and avoid the US made guns.

In terms of value, you might take a look at SeraPhim Armoury who have a pretty complete line of 1911's with good specs.

SIG's have a good rep and my personal experience with non 1911 SIGs has been very good. Depending on the model you choose, the SIG's have a different slide profile which impacts holster choice. They also have a number of "classic" models where the slide is the same as all other 1911's. SIG's also have an external extractor as compared to the conventional internal extractor on most 1911's.

Kimber's are a mixed bag to many people. They are fairly pricey and it seems you either love them or hate them. Any kind of research will give you 100's of posts to read on Kimbers.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the input. I'm definitely not ready to do any tinkering so I'm looking for something that's good to go right outta the box.
 
Depending on the usage.
For general pinking and home modification project - Norinco 1911 is dirt cheap and begs for mods.
If you need a serious rig for, say, IPSC play, then STI makes very good ones for half the price of a custom SVI.
 
Get one of Gunnars tuned Norcs. Mine's the Commànder, tuned and tightened for 400 shipped. 4lb trigger, ext. Slide & safety, slim grips and oversized mag release. Not quite as sweet as the STI I had, but at 1/3 the cost, pretty darn close!
 
hercster said:
If I'm not mistaken, the manufacture of pistols at least under the Para name will soon be discontinued as the company is absorbed into Remington. Based only on my reading over the past several years, Para is a mixed bag. Many posts will speak for the quality of Para when they operated in Canada followed by a pretty bad slide in QA when they located in the Southern US. Many people look to an older Para manufactured in Canada and avoid the US made guns.

In terms of value, you might take a look at SeraPhim Armoury who have a pretty complete line of 1911's with good specs.

SIG's have a good rep and my personal experience with non 1911 SIGs has been very good. Depending on the model you choose, the SIG's have a different slide profile which impacts holster choice. They also have a number of "classic" models where the slide is the same as all other 1911's. SIG's also have an external extractor as compared to the conventional internal extractor on most 1911's.

Kimber's are a mixed bag to many people. They are fairly pricey and it seems you either love them or hate them. Any kind of research will give you 100's of posts to read on Kimbers.
Click to expand...

My understanding is SeraPhim is just one more name for the same group that make SAM and many others from that country .
 
If youre looking for a bottom dollar gun that functions flawlessly, look no further than Armscor/Rock Island. I have a Rock Islamd 1911 government model in 9mm(the .45 is the same price, I just didn't want to pay so much for ammo). Bought it for only $500 and it functions very well. Only gripe with the Rock Islands is that the finish isn't the most durable thing out there. Should probably cerakoate it after a couple years.
 
Last edited:
The best bang for the buck is the gun that's ready to use out of the box without spending hundreds, or even thousands of dollars on the parts and gunsmithing necessary to get it to where you want it. Logic suggests that a Norinco 1911 is an expensive gun, unserviceable out of the box, and certainly every bit as costly as a similarly equipped Kimber; it just depends what you require and how far you're willing to go with it. The least expensive .45 is the one that you can purchase for less than $1K, and put to work right out of the box. Its probably a Glock, or other similarly made striker fired guns, but they aren't 1911s, and to me the 1911 trumps all others. I like Colt, the 1911 I own is a Colt, but if I was shopping for a new 1911, it would either be a Kimber or a Springfield.
 
bjjzak said:
Get one of Gunnars tuned Norcs. Mine's the Commànder, tuned and tightened for 400 shipped. 4lb trigger, ext. Slide & safety, slim grips and oversized mag release. Not quite as sweet as the STI I had, but at 1/3 the cost, pretty darn close!
Click to expand...

The STI's are still a pretty good value i.e. Spartan, would buy another in a heart beat..
 
hercster said:
If I'm not mistaken, the manufacture of pistols at least under the Para name will soon be discontinued as the company is absorbed into Remington. Based only on my reading over the past several years, Para is a mixed bag. Many posts will speak for the quality of Para when they operated in Canada followed by a pretty bad slide in QA when they located in the Southern US. Many people look to an older Para manufactured in Canada and avoid the US made guns.

In terms of value, you might take a look at SeraPhim Armoury who have a pretty complete line of 1911's with good specs.

SIG's have a good rep and my personal experience with non 1911 SIGs has been very good. Depending on the model you choose, the SIG's have a different slide profile which impacts holster choice. They also have a number of "classic" models where the slide is the same as all other 1911's. SIG's also have an external extractor as compared to the conventional internal extractor on most 1911's.

Kimber's are a mixed bag to many people. They are fairly pricey and it seems you either love them or hate them. Any kind of research will give you 100's of posts to read on Kimbers.
Click to expand...

Correct, Para production is moving to Remington this year.
Seraphim are just SAM pistols, some have slightly different specs then Wolverine offerings. Given the choice I'd buy from wolverine as they stand behind everything they sell.
I'm running 3 SAM'S from wolverine now, a 9mm SS Commander, .40 GOV, and a .45 TB.
No issues with any of them
 
Last edited:
Hitzy said:
Correct, Para production is moving to Remington this year.
Seraphim are just SAM pistols, some have slightly different specs then Wolverine offerings. Given the choice I'd buy from wolverine as they stand behind everything they sell.
I'm running 3 SAM'S from wolverine now, a 9mm SS Commander, .40 GOV, and a .45 TB.
No issues with any of them
Click to expand...

The quality and value of the Filipino guns are widely reported as excellent. There are three advanced plants there that produce under various brand names sold world wide. Together they produce more 1911's than all the US manufacturers combined. You will see them in the US under many Brands including ATI, RIA, Citadel and many others. It seems that S.A.M. pistols get an outstanding review every time.
 
hercster said:
The quality and value of the Filipino guns are widely reported as excellent. There are three advanced plants there that produce under various brand names sold world wide. Together they produce more 1911's than all the US manufacturers combined. You will see them in the US under many Brands including ATI, RIA, Citadel and many others. It seems that S.A.M. pistols get an outstanding review every time.
Click to expand...

I also have an STI Spartan IV which is made by Armscor but has STI guts and tuning, great shooter, but the SAMs are a bit better finished.
SAM are sold under ATI in the US and they also make the Iver Johnson line of 1911's.
Armscor have been around the longest, and make the RIA and Citadel and High Standard brands as well as a few others.
Mepro is sort of the newer 1911 maker in the Philippines and I'm not sure if they are imported to the USA in any big numbers.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom