Would you rather have a 1911 in 9mm or .45 Pros and Con?

[Millie]

I have one in each caliber, and I love them both. The 9mm is my best gun to shoot.

 

[Pierre]

If we are strictly talking 1911, and not a 2011, I'm with the .45 over 9mm all day long. Given the single mag capacity of both, even if one chooses a longer mag, I'll load 8 .45's over 8, 9 or 10 9mm's. I do have several Tisas models.....the Stingray in 9mm and Tank Commander and the Raider in .45. I'm absolutely impressed with the Stingray in it's build quality, weight, and accuracy, but it doesn't sway me over to preferring it over a .45 which I have carried for over 30 years. With some +P or +P+ .45's, and one backup mag, I have felt pretty secure in knowing the target is going to have a bad day. For a really concealed situation, I carry a S&W 3" with an 8 rounder in a Milt Sparks Versa Max. The weight of a loaded Govt or Commander all steel gun in .45 still puts a grin on my ugly mug. They must be on the right belt for the extra weight, IMO. A Milt Sparks takes care of that issue. I in no way would put down a 1911 in 9mm as it can often come down to the individuals strength, size, and ability to handle the recoil, gun weight and other obvious factors. I've had several people at my range shoot the Stingray in 9mm and the next time I would see them, they had purchased one, and the grin on their face was quite present. If .45 went away tomorrow, I'd be packing the Stingray, but having reloaded .45 for over 30 years, I'll be keeping one on my side, and it's most likely a Baer Super Tac or a Springfield TRP full rail Operator (and occasionally my Sig P227), and they all take +P just fine.

Concur...but have a question. I've had the worse luck with 8 round mags...rounds want to nose dive regardless of which 1911 I try, even my friends 1911? Tried numerous brands of 8 rd mags no luck.
For concealed I like the Sig 938...shrunken 1911.

 

[50GI-Jess]

Hi gang,
The never ending debate. Depends what it's used for. The 45 is a must have, in order to have a piece of history in your hands. The 9 is kind of the same on a budget for ammo etc.
However ! the 9mm is far from anti American, since it was indirectly invented by Americans, but developed in Imperial Germany around 1902.
This due to the American Army complaing to George Luger about the bottlenecked .30 Luger cartridge.
George Luger still wanted to win the US Army test trails, so by request, he came up with the 9mm Luger in order to stay in the trails.
Longer story, but this is the 9mm background.

 

[Snowman45]

While I can't say that I never carry a 9mm, I can say I never carry a 1911 in 9mm. I guess I'm too much of a traditionalist, but for me 1911 means .45 ACP. I even have some concern over a 1911 in .38 Super.

 

[Pierre]

Concur with most of you guys...home defense 1911 45...again to me 1911 means 45.
But considering what's going on in this crazy time with the present administration. A Glock 23 in 9mm is an excellent choice. Being that most law agencies issue Glock 23s or Glock 17s if in a bad situation there will always be mags and ammo available. Plus most people carry Glocks...

 

[Southern Shooter]

Concur...but have a question. I've had the worse luck with 8 round mags...rounds want to nose dive regardless of which 1911 I try, even my friends 1911? Tried numerous brands of 8 rd mags no luck.
For concealed I like the Sig 938...shrunken 1911.

I bought an OEM 8-round flush fit magazine for my Tisas Service Model 45 ACP and it functions flawlessly. I bought it at CDNN Sports for $14.99. They still have them in stock. Just type 310 in the search bar and go straight to it. I really like the flush fit, it just looks better than the bumper pad below the grip. Hope this helps.

 

[Pierre]

I bought an OEM 8-round flush fit magazine for my Tisas Service Model 45 ACP and it functions flawlessly. I bought it at CDNN Sports for $14.99. They still have them in stock. Just type 310 in the search bar and go straight to it. I really like the flush fit, it just looks better than the bumper pad below the grip. Hope this helps.

I tried CDNN that's usually my first choice along with mag warehouse, tired Kimber, Wilson Combat regardless of gun or brand...maybe the way I hold my tongue...Now I do have a stronger recoil spring on my pistols...

 

[Pierre]

On another note...what ammo do you guys use for your carry 1911 (45)? My choice is the Gold Dot...

 

[Southern Shooter]

I tried CDNN that's usually my first choice along with mag warehouse, tired Kimber, Wilson Combat regardless of gun or brand...maybe the way I hold my tongue...Now I do have a stronger recoil spring on my pistols...

I don't know but it seems like a stronger recoil spring could possibly not let the slide come back all the way not letting it strip the next round correctly. How does it do with 7 round mags? Have you tried using a standard weight recoil spring with the 8 round mags? I always slap the full mag in my hand to make sure the shells are seated against the back of the magazine.

 

[learning]

Bruce Gray kindly made several for me and I must admit that i very much prefer the 1911 in 9mm. I find them to be very accurate, fun, forgiving and less expensive to shoot.

 

[Stuartg74]

My 1911 is a Tisas 1911 duty 9mm, I shoot about 300 rounds a week, my opinion is my pistol to me is sport & defence, i'am not spending double the money to shoot at paper targets. If it ever happens I need it for defense it will do the job.

 

[grainfed]

Peirre........I've had the best overall success with Tripp magazines for the .45 AND do not discount ACT mags. I use those for my S&W 3" .45 and they are 7 rounders. They have a really nice follower design which I like over any other magazine follower. I've had issues with Tripp 9mm mags, talked to Virgil Tripp several months ago about it but he never called me back. Must have been bad phone service in Alpine where he lives. I then decided to order some Tisas 9mm mags from SDS and bought 6, ran all of them and they work perfectly. I like the design of that follower also. No nosediving like others I have. I tried them in my Baer Monolith Stinger 9mm and they functioned great. So far I'm sold on those Tisas 9mm mags but again, I don't shoot 9mm nearly as much as .45.

With regards to ammo, my #1 is also Speer Gold Dot .45+P and the same for 9mm for carry and my .45 reloads for the range. The Speer feeds in all my .45's EXCEPT for the Tank Commander. It would not chamber that round so I will get around to checking the feed ramp angle soon. I think it is off and too vertical. I did not try any other brand as that brand is what I go with 100% of the time. I feel just about any branded HP round is fine as long as it feeds up the ramp of any 1911.

So for 9mm, I go with the Tisas mags and for .45 it's Tripp and the ACT mags for the small 3" .45. All the .45's are in Milt Sparks holsters. I do have some TT Gunleather holsters from Tim and carry H$K (mistake intended) in his holsters......and for a difference at times I carry my S&W Night Guard .45 revolver in a custom made Adams Leatherworks holster. That Night Guard get the Speer Gold Dots also.

 

[dennishoddy]

My 1911's are in .45 ACP or 10mm. Unless at a BBQ event where one carries open in a fine hand tooled leather holster, they sport 10 round Tripp Cobra magazines. One in the tube and ten in the mag doesn't make me feel short on ammo for defensive purposes. Of course they don't conceal well with that mag hanging out, but they aren't carried concealed typically. I have a couple striker fired M&P's for USPSA in .40 and 9mm for the record, but to me, recoil isn't an issue if one maintains the proper grip

 

[grainfed]

Agee 100% Dennis. BTW, did you get some bad twisters up your way? Looked like Hollister and a few other towns might have been hit bad. '

Also I forgot to add in the above diatribe that I bought some LOC black cerakote 1911 solid brass grips, scribed some bobtail lines, cut that area off and made them to fit my Stingray. Made the LW Stingray damned perfect in feel and weight with those heavy brass grips. Texture is really nice also. They added 8 ounces to the grip area which seemed to take even more recoil out of the 9mm standard recoil.

 

[Newtire]

With the prices these days why not just get both? I have two Tisas Stingrays, one in 9mm and on in .45. My third 1911 is a Ronin in 9mm.

I agree about getting both. Whether you reload or not, 9mm ammo is pretty cheap and (if you load your own) empty brass is laying everywhere on the ground. The 9mm eats lots less into your lead supply. I'm not saying that you shouldn't have a .45acp, just that you need a 9mm to be able to shoot more. If I could only have one, it would have to be a .45 but since you can have them both, why not?

 

[Pierre]

I don't know but it seems like a stronger recoil spring could possibly not let the slide come back all the way not letting it strip the next round correctly. How does it do with 7 round mags? Have you tried using a standard weight recoil spring with the 8 round mags? I always slap the full mag in my hand to make sure the shells are seated against the back of the magazine.

Oh yea learned to slap those mags in the Corps...no problems what's so ever with the 7 rd mags. You are correct I need to try the 8 rounders with a std weight spring. Even when I slingshot it by hand that round hit low and jams the gun?

 

[dcoffman]

My only 9mm 1911 (Valor Commander) is now 9x23Win .. being a longtime reloader it has become a favorite.

 

[Southern Shooter]

Oh yea learned to slap those mags in the Corps...no problems what's so ever with the 7 rd mags. You are correct I need to try the 8 rounders with a std weight spring. Even when I slingshot it by hand that round hit low and jams the gun?

Here is something else I just thought about. Check to see if the heavier recoil spring is tuned to the proper length.
This video shows how:

 

[Pierre]

Here is something else I just thought about. Check to see if the heavier recoil spring is tuned to the proper length.
This video shows how:

Thanks...Hadn't seen that before. When I used to reload I had different springs for different loads. Especially target loads.

 

[Airdale26]

The 1911 frame as originally designed was for the 45 ACP. The 1911 frame has had individuals who have desired to have the frame tailored to 9mm, 40 cal, 38 super, and 22LR. While some will think this the most horrorable thing to do to 1911, but in reality it shows the versatility of the frame to accept such changes. So While I prefer the 45 ACP to change the frame to anything else it is up to the beholder.