1911 on a budget...

[TSB]

Not trying to sway you one way or the other, your choice. 

I did a little research on the Sig 1911 line of guns and found that they buy Caspian slides and frames and fine tune them with aftermarket parts from top suppliers.  They are well made from the reviews I found and well worth the money!  I understand that their master pistolsmith is well known though his name doesn't come to mind.  They actually have a "Siggy" look to them.

I think Jaybethel has one!

Tim

[Fox_Hound]

Yeah, I LOVE the looks on the Sig 1911 line. Classic enough for the purists, new enough to look racy. I really like them. I have heard a few complain about reliability issues with the Sigs. It's between Sig and Para for me at this point. But I mean hey, there both great guns.

~Fox

[jaybet]

I think Jaybethel has one!

Tim

YUP!!! It's my favorite gun too. By my experience with this thing, I love it, it looks good, feels good shoots good...I can't shoot anything more accurately...

I am not familiar with Paras, but my Sig 1911 is a nice piece. Anyone who has ever fired it has raved over the (factory) trigger.

I paid about $760 for it and chose it with a Kimber in my other hand.

[tombogan03884]

Not trying to sway you one way or the other, your choice. 

I did a little research on the Sig 1911 line of guns and found that they buy Caspian slides and frames and fine tune them with aftermarket parts from top suppliers.  They are well made from the reviews I found and well worth the money!  I understand that their master pistolsmith is well known though his name doesn't come to mind.  They actually have a "Siggy" look to them.

I think Jaybethel has one!

Tim

I'm not to sure about the Caspian slides, in 05 I took a tour of the CNC dept for a job interview and they had 3 machines turning out 1911 slides, running 2 shifts.

[Rastus]

$1,000 burning a hole in your pocket?

Go buy yourself two Glocks...... Full size .45 and subcompact 9mm....... No need to thank me!

Man....you Glock guys.  Out to conquer the world...

[Sponsor]

[ericire12]

Man....you Glock guys.  Out to conquer the world...

I say, "Why buy one great gun, when for the same price you can have two great guns"..... full size .45 ACP for home defense & 10+1 9mm subcompact for concealed carry..... its a no brainer to me.......

[TSB]

I'm not to sure about the Caspian slides, in 05 I took a tour of the CNC dept for a job interview and they had 3 machines turning out 1911 slides, running 2 shifts.

I defer to your knowledge on the slides Tom.  I tried to find the review in Shooting Times but can't find the link.  I may have misread it.  I would move to NH in a heartbeat to do modeling work for Sig and I don't even own one!  Now that would be a way to make even a modest living.

Tim

P.S.  Further research confirms what Tom mentioned about the slides.  The very early versions of the GSR may have had Caspian slides and extractors but no one will confirm it.  Regardless, the GSR won the "Handgun of the Year" in 2004.  That's enough endorsement for me, I just can't buy one in MA...

http://www.handgunsmag.com/featured_handguns/granite_061404/

[bbbean]

My first 1911 was a used stainless Springfield I found online for $400! It came out of the box shooting well, and some VERY minor tweaking from my gunsmith (less than $100), and it still shoots like a dream. Granted, there aren't that many nice 1911s with great night sights, thyroated barrels, tweaked slides and trigger jobs on the net for under $500, but they are out there if you're determined or lucky enough.

I know that STI, Springfield, and Kimber all offer nice packages under $1000, and I wouldn't rule out the Springfield mil-spec for around $500.

Another thing to consider iw where you want to save the money. You might consider buying a much nicer 1911 in .40 or 9mm. I have Springfield Loaded 9mm that is a sweet shooter with most of the bells and whistles straight out of the box, and while it ran me around $900 when I bought it, its obviously MUCH cheaper to shoot than my .45s.

[Big Frank]

All 3 of my .45s are high-cap Paras. They give you a lot of bang for the buck. The Limited models cost more but have a lot of custom features standard. The only non-custom pistol that would compare to it is the Taurus PT 1911 which is a lot cheaper but not as nice as the Limited Paras.

[saltydogbk]

Right now I'm looking at that Para that weighs 24 oz. in 45acp, but until the gubment bails me out, I'm out of luck.  But I do own a PT1911 and a Springfield officers model.  Between the two, the one I would not give up is the PT1911.  Love that gun. Just my $0.02