bigdave101
HONOR
LOVE my SR 1911 COMMANDER IN .45ACP.....
Comparing Ruger SR 1911 to other major brands
- Thread starter GHEN
- Start date
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GHEN, it's hard to get an objective answer because of emotional attachments. Ruger was the bargain when it first came out, that was the claim to fame, a good shooter for a reasonable price. Those days are over.
Here's were we stand today:
Kimber = junk
Colt = over rated/over priced
Ruger = no longer a value
S&W = paying for the name
Springfield Armory = best 1911 for the money
You want a name, buy the Ruger, looking for value a Rock Island will shoot just as well for half the price.
I like Rugers. I have only 19 Ruger 1911s, some of which are limited edition.
I do some of my best shooting with them. I used my 9mm light weight "commander" at Front Sight (600 rds. in 4 days) having shot only a box or so out of it. It ran great. I cleaned it after the second day but probably could have not bothered.
Now that Ruger seems to be back in production of 1911s, the prices have come down. Just check prices on Gunbroker.com. Supply is beginning to match demand.
Terry T.
I do some of my best shooting with them. I used my 9mm light weight "commander" at Front Sight (600 rds. in 4 days) having shot only a box or so out of it. It ran great. I cleaned it after the second day but probably could have not bothered.
Now that Ruger seems to be back in production of 1911s, the prices have come down. Just check prices on Gunbroker.com. Supply is beginning to match demand.
Terry T.
Paul B
Hunter
My only contact with a Ruger 1911 is the one owned by my son in law. No chance to shoot it but it seems to be a nice well made pistol.
My experience with the 1911 may not be all that much but for years I carried a Ithaca made milsurp 1911 that shot better than it looked. It was carried legally and illegally when I lived in California. Legally at the range but illegal every place else.
When I was growing up in San Francisco, I used to speed hour in F. Bob Chow's gun shop. I guess the old boy took a liking to me so I got to carefully look and handle a lot of guns.
He was a builder of custom made 1911s and rival the Pachmeyer guns very closely. Over the years he made a couple of customs for me, one like a jewel and another for carry and hard usage. The hard use gun first. The second, while not all that fancy is my picnic gun. Just simple utilitarian beauty. Both guns are very accurate with my cast bullet loads, usually the H&H #60 or a clone (SAECO #068). One load the hard use gun loves is a 200 gr. Lyman SWC, #242460 IIRC.
Another half 1911 is based on a Colt Gold Cup slide on a Caspian frame. Using a 200 gr. cast bullet load over 5.0 gr. Unique, that hybrid will do 2" and sometimes less at 50 yard when shot from a Ransome rest. All I'll add about that is the Caspian frame is rather on the rough side. Be that as it may, that gun is one hell of a shooter.
Paul B.
My experience with the 1911 may not be all that much but for years I carried a Ithaca made milsurp 1911 that shot better than it looked. It was carried legally and illegally when I lived in California. Legally at the range but illegal every place else.
When I was growing up in San Francisco, I used to speed hour in F. Bob Chow's gun shop. I guess the old boy took a liking to me so I got to carefully look and handle a lot of guns.
He was a builder of custom made 1911s and rival the Pachmeyer guns very closely. Over the years he made a couple of customs for me, one like a jewel and another for carry and hard usage. The hard use gun first. The second, while not all that fancy is my picnic gun. Just simple utilitarian beauty. Both guns are very accurate with my cast bullet loads, usually the H&H #60 or a clone (SAECO #068). One load the hard use gun loves is a 200 gr. Lyman SWC, #242460 IIRC.
Another half 1911 is based on a Colt Gold Cup slide on a Caspian frame. Using a 200 gr. cast bullet load over 5.0 gr. Unique, that hybrid will do 2" and sometimes less at 50 yard when shot from a Ransome rest. All I'll add about that is the Caspian frame is rather on the rough side. Be that as it may, that gun is one hell of a shooter.
Paul B.
Paul B
Hunter
"You want a name, buy the Ruger, looking for value a Rock Island will shoot just as well for half the price."
A couple of years back I was helping out a group of Japanese tourists who were at the range. The two fellows really didn't know much about guns but were helping the tourist to shoot firearms, something they were not allowed to do in their home country.
One of the firearms they brought with them was a new in the box RIA. That gun jammed with ever round fired. I even tried magazines from my Colt Combat commender and eliminated faulty magazines as the problem. I ended up doing the shootind demo with my Colt. We explained as best as possible that sometimes guns come from the factory and needed to be broken in before they would shoot reliably. They absolutely loved that Colt Commander.
That group had just popped up at the range and when I saw the trouble they were having with some of the guns, I "butted" in and asked if I could help. Got a very relieved yes. Other than the RIA not working the rest of the shooting worked out great.
T His was not meant to be a dig at the RIA. Sometimes a gun needs a longer break in period. Sometimes the problem is something else. The gun would not work with my magazines yet the RIA magazines function perfectly on my Colt. I tried to talk them out of that gun just to see if I could fix it. One thing I notice while messing with it, the slide appeared to be exceptionally tight. I think a little work with some very fine valve grinding compound would have squared that gun away.
Paul B.
A couple of years back I was helping out a group of Japanese tourists who were at the range. The two fellows really didn't know much about guns but were helping the tourist to shoot firearms, something they were not allowed to do in their home country.
One of the firearms they brought with them was a new in the box RIA. That gun jammed with ever round fired. I even tried magazines from my Colt Combat commender and eliminated faulty magazines as the problem. I ended up doing the shootind demo with my Colt. We explained as best as possible that sometimes guns come from the factory and needed to be broken in before they would shoot reliably. They absolutely loved that Colt Commander.
That group had just popped up at the range and when I saw the trouble they were having with some of the guns, I "butted" in and asked if I could help. Got a very relieved yes. Other than the RIA not working the rest of the shooting worked out great.
T His was not meant to be a dig at the RIA. Sometimes a gun needs a longer break in period. Sometimes the problem is something else. The gun would not work with my magazines yet the RIA magazines function perfectly on my Colt. I tried to talk them out of that gun just to see if I could fix it. One thing I notice while messing with it, the slide appeared to be exceptionally tight. I think a little work with some very fine valve grinding compound would have squared that gun away.
Paul B.
eveled
Hawkeye
- Joined
- Apr 3, 2012
- Messages
- 5,610
Remember how excited we all were when Ruger finally made a 1911? Were does the time go?
Comparing between two colts, a Kimber Custom Carry and a SR1911, I shoot the SR better and is just more comfortable in the hand. It's also tighter but with a stiffer spring that I had hoped would lighten up but hasn't in 8 years. Very tight gun.
