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Slims · 02-19-2007, 07:02 PM

If you aren't experienced with handguns or you won't be practicing with it much, then I wouldn't recommend a 1911.

The 1911 platform is great, but it can be finicky, you are limited to 8 rounds in most instances, many guns (especially those in your price range) are finicky about feeding hollowpoints, and the manual safety is great except it has to be off when you load and unload the weapon. I have a springfield operator and I get nervous about accidentally bumping the single action trigger every time I load the weapon in my home.

Personally, I really like an external safety, but I have recently begun to really appreciate the newer weapons out there with no external safety. You give up very little by ditching the external safety (if the pistol is stored in a holster nothing can get to the trigger anyway) but you have one less thing to screw up in a panicked gunfight...a lot of people forget to put the safety off in a panic and never get a round off. This is particularly important if you are not going to be able to practice as much as you like. I was in college too, and I remember how little I could go shooting...and I was a gun nut who made it a priority.

A good quality 1911 is going to run you far more than 600 dollars. However, you can get a really nice glock, XD, or S&W M&P for less than that with all the extras.

In the end it is going to boil down to personal preference. Online advice is great to a point, but you will have to decide what is right for you.

If you want to have an external safety, consider an HK USP...You can get the external safety, a good magazine capacity, and rock solid reliablity. They are a bit pricey, but if you look around I am sure you can find one in your price range or close to it.

Next to that I would recommend any other big name-brand polymer pistol...Glock, XD, or a S&W M&P.

Hope this helps,
Greg

02-19-2007, 07:02 PM	#6 (permalink)
Slims Eccentric insomniac Location: North Carolina	If you aren't experienced with handguns or you won't be practicing with it much, then I wouldn't recommend a 1911. The 1911 platform is great, but it can be finicky, you are limited to 8 rounds in most instances, many guns (especially those in your price range) are finicky about feeding hollowpoints, and the manual safety is great except it has to be off when you load and unload the weapon. I have a springfield operator and I get nervous about accidentally bumping the single action trigger every time I load the weapon in my home. Personally, I really like an external safety, but I have recently begun to really appreciate the newer weapons out there with no external safety. You give up very little by ditching the external safety (if the pistol is stored in a holster nothing can get to the trigger anyway) but you have one less thing to screw up in a panicked gunfight...a lot of people forget to put the safety off in a panic and never get a round off. This is particularly important if you are not going to be able to practice as much as you like. I was in college too, and I remember how little I could go shooting...and I was a gun nut who made it a priority. A good quality 1911 is going to run you far more than 600 dollars. However, you can get a really nice glock, XD, or S&W M&P for less than that with all the extras. In the end it is going to boil down to personal preference. Online advice is great to a point, but you will have to decide what is right for you. If you want to have an external safety, consider an HK USP...You can get the external safety, a good magazine capacity, and rock solid reliablity. They are a bit pricey, but if you look around I am sure you can find one in your price range or close to it. Next to that I would recommend any other big name-brand polymer pistol...Glock, XD, or a S&W M&P. Hope this helps, Greg __________________ "Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery." - Winston Churchill "All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act out their dream with open eyes, to make it possible." Seven Pillars of Wisdom, T.E. Lawrence