Which 1911 would you buy for <$1000?

[El Chapo]

On 9/28/2025 at 2:44 PM, Sheriff Dill said:

I really like my Tisas. It shoots very nice and was $500 new 

 

I agree with this.  I have their 2011 and it is incredible for the money, $520.

[Totes Magoats]

34 minutes ago, Waimea said:

Can you recommend good ones?

 

I like the Tripp Research Cobra magazines with the hybrid followers.   They have been great for me in both production and custom 1911's.  

 

They also support our club's annual match with donations.

 

Totes

[Boggus Deal #64218]

43 minutes ago, Totes Magoats said:

 

I like the Tripp Research Cobra magazines with the hybrid followers.   They have been great for me in both production and custom 1911's.  

 

They also support our club's annual match with donations.

 

Totes

The most expensive magazines out there and you have to pay extra to have them weld the base plates on just to be sure they stay on…

[Joe LaFives #5481]

Tisas' are made in Turkey.  I have a difficult time supporting that country anymore since Erdoğan took over. 

[El Chapo]

19 minutes ago, Joe LaFives #5481 said:

Tisas' are made in Turkey.  I have a difficult time supporting that country anymore since Erdoğan took over. 

 

Is the Brazillian government better?  Most SA 1911s are made in Brazil.

 

That said, when I'm shooting my 2011, I'm not thinking about what country it came from.  Stacatto ruined STI and their guns are not competitive in today's market when I can have this, complete, for a thousand dollars with magazines.

[Three Foot Johnson]

I bought ten Tripp Cobras before Boggus Deal told me Checkmate was the way to go.  FWIW, I've never had a problem with the Tripps.

[Boggus Deal #64218]

42 minutes ago, Three Foot Johnson said:

I bought ten Tripp Cobras before Boggus Deal told me Checkmate was the way to go.  FWIW, I've never had a problem with the Tripps.

If they work for you, great!!! Just keep an eye on the base plates. Typically, the front will start coming loose and when you go to load one with the slide open, the body will go up and tie up the gun while the base plate, spring, follower and ammo will shoot out onto the ground.

[Joe LaFives #5481]

7 hours ago, El Chapo said:

 

Is the Brazillian government better?  Most SA 1911s are made in Brazil.

 

That said, when I'm shooting my 2011, I'm not thinking about what country it came from.  Stacatto ruined STI and their guns are not competitive in today's market when I can have this, complete, for a thousand dollars with magazines.

Well Brazil doesn't persecute Christians so yes. 

[El Chapo]

10 hours ago, Joe LaFives #5481 said:

Well Brazil doesn't persecute Christians so yes. 

 

It's your money to do with as you see fit.

 

Someday I'm going to have a whole safe full of custom 1911s.  I just hope there are some decent gunsmiths left by then.

[Joe LaFives #5481]

37 minutes ago, El Chapo said:

 

It's your money to do with as you see fit.

 

Someday I'm going to have a whole safe full of custom 1911s.  I just hope there are some decent gunsmiths left by then.

And hopefully that will make you happy.   Perhaps.

[El Chapo]

1 hour ago, Joe LaFives #5481 said:

And hopefully that will make you happy.   Perhaps.

 

After 20+ years doing this, I'm somewhat particular so I've at least reached a point where I know what I would want and so a fully custom gun would be fun for me.  I'm not sure it'd make much difference in performance though, as there are so many nice 1911s at every price point at this point.  That wasn't always the case.

[Griff]

On 9/30/2025 at 1:45 PM, El Chapo said:

Most SA 1911s are made in Brazil.

... the Philippines.  Armscor...  AKA Rock Island.  and various other brands from several importers.  You'll also find their parts in several other brands of 1911s.   10 or 12 years ago I won a Taylor's Tactical 1911 as a door prize.  After getting a minor action job and reconfiguring the ramp to feed all of the different .451/2 bullets (about a even ½ dozen in the 45Auto, 45Colt and C45S from 160 to 230 grains) I load, it's been flawless every time I taken it out.  So much so, that a year later I bought another identical pistol to have a backup... just in case.  So far, it hasn't been needed.  They're in the safe right along side a Colt Gold Cup, a Colt 1911A1 military issue, a Colt Combat Commander, a Rock Island GI model and a custom gun I built on an Interarms frame from the 1970s.  I mostly run Chip McCormick Shooting Star mags... but have a few others that I will run.  I experienced a failure to feed once... solidly based on limp wristing the gun. Most magazine problems can be traced to bent lips or follower.  I carried military issue magazines for nearly 30 years until I had to re-align the lips every couple times I used 'em.  I never mastered the technique to re-harden them.   

[El Chapo]

10 hours ago, Griff said:

... the Philippines.  Armscor...  AKA Rock Island.  and various other brands from several importers.  You'll also find their parts in several other brands of 1911s.   10 or 12 years ago I won a Taylor's Tactical 1911 as a door prize.  After getting a minor action job and reconfiguring the ramp to feed all of the different .451/2 bullets (about a even ½ dozen in the 45Auto, 45Colt and C45S from 160 to 230 grains) I load, it's been flawless every time I taken it out.  So much so, that a year later I bought another identical pistol to have a backup... just in case.  So far, it hasn't been needed.  They're in the safe right along side a Colt Gold Cup, a Colt 1911A1 military issue, a Colt Combat Commander, a Rock Island GI model and a custom gun I built on an Interarms frame from the 1970s.  I mostly run Chip McCormick Shooting Star mags... but have a few others that I will run.  I experienced a failure to feed once... solidly based on limp wristing the gun. Most magazine problems can be traced to bent lips or follower.  I carried military issue magazines for nearly 30 years until I had to re-align the lips every couple times I used 'em.  I never mastered the technique to re-harden them.   

 

I have an STI Spartan 9mm (made by Armscor) that I've been shooting for about 15 years.  It probably has 20,000 rounds on it, and it's been generally good, although the original slide that was on the gun had the firing pin hole drilled crooked and I had to have the slide and barrel replaced under warranty.  Unfortunately there's no more STI and the Spartan is long gone but it was a good gun for the money, an Armscor slide and frame with STI fire control. 

 

For Wild Bunch I'm using a mix of gi-style magazines since modern magazines are banned.  Most of them are branded Wilson Combat because they were on sale.  For everything else I use Tripp Research magazines.  In the past I have used Chip McCormick and Wilson's modern type magazines as well.  The Tripps are probably my favorite, although I like the plastic follower in the Wilsons as well.  I have replaced the springs in my Tripp mags though because nothing lasts forever.  They have been dropped literally hundreds of times and they're still working fine.

[DeaconKC]

Check the sights on a 1911 as the ones that copy JMBs originals are horrible for older eyes. SA, Ruger, Tisas and Rocks all have models that will still work in Traditional WB. If you find an older Remington or ATI, some of them were good on sights as well. Mec-gar's 7 round magazines are good to go as well. The Colt 1991s had good sights too.

[Boggus Deal #64218]

25 minutes ago, DeaconKC said:

Check the sights on a 1911 as the ones that copy JMBs originals are horrible for older eyes. SA, Ruger, Tisas and Rocks all have models that will still work in Traditional WB. If you find an older Remington or ATI, some of them were good on sights as well. Mec-gar's 7 round magazines are good to go as well. The Colt 1991s had good sights too.

Would you show me the Traditional legal Ruger, please?

[DeaconKC]

15 minutes ago, Boggus Deal #64218 said:

Would you show me the Traditional legal Ruger, please?

You're right, there isn't one. I would've lost money on that bet! 

[Boggus Deal #64218]

2 minutes ago, DeaconKC said:

You're right, there isn't one. I would've lost money on that bet! 

If there was one, I want one!

[Whitey James]

I have been shooting Metalform mags in WB with no issues. They make the OEM mags for Springfield. All of the other mags I had been collecting had been Wilson Combat 47d mags but are not WB legal. I’ll have to give the Check Mate mags a try 

[Hashknife Cowboy]

I have seen these in that price range and highly recommend these....

 

https://ruger.com/products/sr1911CommanderStyle/specSheets/6702.html

[Kingsley]

Nice commander. 

[watab kid]

this has been enlightening , ive not thought to buy a 1911 lately [need to shoot what i have more] but a question jumped to my ,mmind in reading this thread -

 

is the M1911A1 SASS acceptible [its the wrong era] i wou;ld have thought only the M1911 would be sanctioned ??

[Ol Salty Sailor]

https://www.impactguns.com/semi-auto-handguns/springfield-1911-defender-mil-spec-45-acp-5-barrel-wood-grip-black-parkerized-carbon-steel-slide-706397926588-pbd9108l

[JJ “Reb” Wainwright 110206]

On 9/30/2025 at 6:00 AM, Waimea said:

 

Can you recommend good ones?

And ones to stay away from?

@Waimea  I have always had very good luck with Chip McCormick and Wilson Combat 1911 mags. I use only Chip mags for WB, and just about everything else. My two cents.
 

Good luck out there. 
 

JJ

[Ol Salty Sailor]

14 hours ago, Hashknife Cowboy said:

I have seen these in that price range and highly recommend these....

 

https://ruger.com/products/sr1911CommanderStyle/specSheets/6702.html

The commander size isn't legal, the barrel must be 5" long.

[Dusty Sights, SASS # 2782]

1 hour ago, watab kid said:

this has been enlightening , ive not thought to buy a 1911 lately [need to shoot what i have more] but a question jumped to my ,mmind in reading this thread -

 

is the M1911A1 SASS acceptible [its the wrong era] i wou;ld have thought only the M1911 would be sanctioned ??

From the Wild Bunch Shooters Handbook: "The term “1911 pistol” herein refers to the 1911A1 model as well as its clones."

[watab kid]

1 hour ago, Dusty Sights, SASS # 2782 said:

From the Wild Bunch Shooters Handbook: "The term “1911 pistol” herein refers to the 1911A1 model as well as its clones."

that answers my question , thank you , id like to hear the logic behind it but since ive no dog in any fight here ill accept the answer and not question the 
"period correct" exception of this rule , 

it does call in to question some of their other rules i thin but im really not trying to start a war here , i just was thinning and analyzing - again no complaints just questioning the reasoning based on other regs , 

 

im a 1911 guy , i have always seen the differences between the 1911 and 1911A1 - not just physically but also  historically 

[Boggus Deal #64218]

5 hours ago, watab kid said:

that answers my question , thank you , id like to hear the logic behind it but since ive no dog in any fight here ill accept the answer and not question the 
"period correct" exception of this rule , 

it does call in to question some of their other rules i thin but im really not trying to start a war here , i just was thinning and analyzing - again no complaints just questioning the reasoning based on other regs , 

 

im a 1911 guy , i have always seen the differences between the 1911 and 1911A1 - not just physically but also  historically 

There’s not a whole lot about a game where you run around on the ground shooting steel targets being chased by a guy with an electronic timer that’s “period correct”. The A1 was allowed because of availability. For every true 1911 and clone  made, there are probably a couple hundred A1 and clones made. 
 

[El Sobrante Kid]

11 hours ago, watab kid said:

that answers my question , thank you , id like to hear the logic behind it but since ive no dog in any fight here ill accept the answer and not question the 
"period correct" exception of this rule , 

it does call in to question some of their other rules i thin but im really not trying to start a war here , i just was thinning and analyzing - again no complaints just questioning the reasoning based on other regs , 

 

im a 1911 guy , i have always seen the differences between the 1911 and 1911A1 - not just physically but also  historically 

 

Because..... it's a game.

[Griff]

8 hours ago, Boggus Deal #64218 said:

The A1 was allowed because of availability. For every true 1911 and clone  made, there are probably a couple hundred A1 and clones made. 

This↑↑↑!

[Whitey James]

The 1911A1 is closer to the original 1911 than the Ruger Vaquero is to the Colt SAA. I think some allowances have to be made in order to have enough shooters to support the sport.  
you don’t have to shoot a mil-spec 1911 unless you want to shoot traditional and everyone I shoot with between two clubs shoot modern/two handed. 
I bought a Colt government model series 70 with zero bells and whistles in case I ever do get the urge to shoot traditional 

[Boggus Deal #64218]

25 minutes ago, Whitey James said:

The 1911A1 is closer to the original 1911 than the Ruger Vaquero is to the Colt SAA. I think some allowances have to be made in order to have enough shooters to support the sport.  
you don’t have to shoot a mil-spec 1911 unless you want to shoot traditional and everyone I shoot with between two clubs shoot modern/two handed. 
I bought a Colt government model series 70 with zero bells and whistles in case I ever do get the urge to shoot traditional 

Come shoot in New Mexico. There are some darn good Traditional shooters.

[Whitey James]

2 hours ago, Boggus Deal #64218 said:

Come shoot in New Mexico. There are some darn good Traditional shooters.

That’s a heck of a drive from Nashville! Maybe one day I’ll make it out that way to shoot a match

[John Kloehr]

The thread turned into a wide-ranging goldmine, Treat this post as a general thanks to the many contributors.

[Abilene, SASS # 27489]

12 hours ago, Boggus Deal #64218 said:

... For every true 1911 and clone  made, there are probably a couple hundred A1 and clones made. 
 

Or a couple thousand.  I am not aware of any currently produced 1911 with the original frame besides the Cimarron made by Armscor.

[Abilene, SASS # 27489]

I do find it amusing about the magazines.  A few years back, Tripps were all the rage.  I have had very good luck with Chip McCormick, Ed Brown, and some Italian mags.   The only problem I've had would be when one doesn't drop free and I've never been organized enough to figure out which ones.  Ed Brown continues to have their trade-in policy which is a great deal.