Team Sergeant:
You do know that SIG stands for "Sure Isn't Glock."
[snatching up laptop, running away at Mach 4, diving in trench, resuming typing]
No, just kidding, SIGs are great, and if they put a thumb safety on their DAK 220 or if the firearms instructor will sign off on the single-action 220, I might even consider retiring my 1911.
kgoerz:
That was moi who suggested Shooters Pawn. And when you ask Greg how much, and he says "oh, don't worry about it," make him take your money!!! I think I have succeeded in paying him a total of $5.00 for fixing my 1911s and my match AR. One of these days I'll get even with him!
APLP:
It's true that few departments authorize, and fewer departments issue, 1911s for on-duty open carry. But mine is one of them. Everybody says "liability" but I don't see how. If I ever get asked in court why I carry a 1911, then I'll follow the advice of constitutional scholars in the Bronx: "yiz gotta ah-TIC-ya-late." You can do about anything so long as you can articulate the reason for doing so.
My reasons are that (1) I can hit with the first shot and every shot because of the 1911's trigger design, thus reducing the chance of "airballs" hitting innocent persons, and this is the same reason the FBI HRT carries 1911s, and (2) the manual safety enables me to cover a subject with the safety on, providing protection against negligent discharge while being ready to fire almost instantly, and also the safety will slow down or prevent a criminal from making it fire if they disarm me in a fight. Last year one of my brother deputies had his SIG 220 taken away by "Bonnie" while he was handcuffing "Clyde" and the only reason why he is still with us is that they did not totally feel like killing him right then. Mas Ayoob is not perfect but I get a lot from his work, and he says no officer has ever been killed with his own 1911.
My reasons against carrying a DA/SA pistol are (1) after you fire the first shot from a "safe" DA pull, you are now running around with a cocked gun in your hand--just like a 1911--except you're still thinking that it's a "safe" gun, and (2) it's very possible to forget to decock before holstering under stress, whereas if I forget to wipe the 1911 safety back on before holstering, it still has the grip safety and the Safariland SLS rotating hood blocking the hammer. There's no free lunch in firearms design.
Kimber:
Many autopistols need some break-in. I got a Walther P5 and it jammed twice per magazine for 50 rounds, but since then it's eaten anything. But most shooters don't know that. Why don't YOU do the break-in!?
After you do that, then show me how you can make a 1911 malfunction by squirting too much oil in the RIGHT PLACES, such as slide rails. I think the "excessive lubrication" problem is people lubricating the wrong places, such as the firing pin channel. Since somebody has already dropped the name of Vickers, he told our carbine class last year that "excessive lubrication" is a myth, unless you're using the wrong lube for the environment, and that someday he's just going to throw a gun in a tub of oil, drain off the excess, and show that it works fine.
Everybody:
When you take your gun to UPS for shipping and they ask you what's in the package, answer "machine parts." Show me where that's illegal.