[PalmettoTree]

I'm thinking about buying a 1911. I was set on buying a 45 but saw a 9mm in a 1911 profile (if that is the correct way to put it). Since I have a 9mm Ruger and a 45 S&W governor I'm not sure what to do. The governor needs 45 Colts or I must use an adaptor so it hardly helps cut down on the different Amos to stock. So the 1911 9mm seems logical. But a 1911 that is not a 45 hardly seems like a 1911 but I'd likely buy a lighter shorter barrel anyway.

So what should a short fat old man buy in a 1911?

 

[Ripon]

My favorites are 1911s in 9mm. Before the boat accident I had a Kimber, Colt and RIA that is my outdoor open carry weapon. I am still hoping for a series 70 commander (4.25 inch) in 9mm some day.

One negative is you can't throw a Kimber 22 Conv on them very easy. I've had the RIA worked on to make it so but don't reccommend.

 

[LunaticFringeInc]

1911's come chambered in a whole host of calibers with the 9mm Luger, 45 ACP, 40 S&W, 9mm Largo, 10MM, 451 Detonics, 400 Corbon just to name a few. 1911 refer more to the design vs caliber although 45 ACP is probably the most common and the original caliber its chambered in.

 

[Moonshinedave]

Brother Palmetto, I'd buy what I wanted, you are thinking too much. I've heard this from my friends, "why did you get that?" "you should've got this.....ect" I figure it's my money, I'll get what I think I want, I strongly suggest you do the same.

 

[PalmettoTree]

I just got the notion that a 1911 is a 45. I usually do as I please but just wanted to check. Sometimes designs are better for particular calibers.

 

[Old Man]

I have 1911's in 45ACP,40S&W,9mm. They are all great! My 9mm is springfield. Great firearm. Get what you like!

 

[Ripon]

If you ever get a chance to pick up a Kimber dedicated 22LR in 1911 you won't mistake it for a 45 after picking it up. I'm likely to sell mine and buy a 45 to GI with the conv kit.

I just got the notion that a 1911 is a 45. I usually do as I please but just wanted to check. Sometimes designs are better for particular calibers.

 

[BigCheeseStick]

Budsgunshop has (or had last week) a 10mm 1911 on sale CHEAP!

This isn't the 1911, but 16 rounds of 10mm!?! That's more firepower than all of Italy, in your right hand!

Glock 20 10mm 15 Rnd Fixed Sights $545.00 SHIPS FREE

 

[retired guard]

My favorites are 1911s in 9mm. Before the boat accident I had a Kimber, Colt and RIA that is my outdoor open carry weapon. I am still hoping for a series 70 commander (4.25 inch) in 9mm some day.

One negative is you can't throw a Kimber 22 Conv on them very easy. I've had the RIA worked on to make it so but don't reccommend.

The 9mm Commander was Bill Cosby's carry in the show I Spy. I've had some friends who had this they swore by it and I must admit it shot sweet made me wonder how it would be in forty?

 

[pastornator]

Why downsize? Stick with the caliber that actually works for defense work. 9mm equals 38 special and that is a low power round.

 

[BigCheeseStick]

9mm is a round designed to meet FBI windshield penetration requirements when cops and agents were getting out gunned back in the Chicago gangsta days. The .38's, and .32's they were carrying literally bounced off the "new" safety glass in automobiles. For personal protection 9mm is even more useless than .223. The small bullet is propelled at such high speed it doesn't expand at all before passing through a human body (unless your shooting through a windshield first). YEARS of field experience and testing have shown the ideal speed a bullet should be traveling to maximize damage to a human body is aprox. 850fps. EXACTLY the speed of most 230gr HP .45 ACP rounds (not an accident). OR, if your concerned about .45's recoil impeding follow up shots, the hand guns being to heavy / large a weapon for practical CCW. Look at .380 ACP. Same bullet as a 9mm, but traveling at appropriate speeds for maximum damage to a human torso.

Personally, living in SC, I carry a Ruger LCP. If I were in MI in the winter, or anywhere people were wearing multiple layers of heavy clothing, and I had heavier cloths to support the weight and hide the MUCH bulkier weapon. I'd have the G30 on me for added stopping power.

REMEBER: Handguns should only be used so you can fight your way to a proper long gun (in the trunk of your car?). ONE shot of 12ga 2 3/4" 00 buck is equal to NINE rounds from a 9mm pistol in bullet diameter and velocity. All hitting at the exact same time!

https://www.swatmag.com/articles/9mm-vs.-.45-here-we-go-again

 

[jimb1972]

If you get one in .38 super you could have a 9mm barrel fit and have a pretty easy convertible between 9mm and .38 super. 9mm is more powerful than .38 spc. and .38 super is pretty close on the heels of the .357mag.

 

[Rigged for Quiet]

Budsgunshop has (or had last week) a 10mm 1911 on sale CHEAP!

This isn't the 1911, but 16 rounds of 10mm!?! That's more firepower than all of Italy, in your right hand!

Glock 20 10mm 15 Rnd Fixed Sights $545.00 SHIPS FREE

I'm not a 10mm fan, but that made me laugh, lol.

 

[csi-tech]

Anything .32 and above will get the job done. I saw a store clerk get murdered with a Lorcin .25 and every round went completely through him.
I have a 4th model Smith and Wesson top break .32 from the 1800's that was standard issue for Police back then. Don't buy into the knockdown myth. I've seen many of the tiny ones, including a single shot from a .22 kill a human. shot placement is all that matters.

 

[retired guard]

January 1973 the Aryan Brotherhood had a family tiff at the Arizona State Prison in Florence. Six shots were fired the result four killed two wounded. The shooters weapon? A .25 automatic. His ammo hardball. Do I carry this? Nope. It demonstrates any caliber can succeed just as a recent shooting by a police officer of a felon 13 times with a .45 acp(The felon then went to the hospital) shows any caliber can fail. Real life may be a ballistics laboratory but we are still accumulating and interpreting the data. The three main factors in determining stopping power are shot placement shot placement and shot placement. Whether you cause CNS disconnect bleed out or structural failure with one shot or twenty, you gotta get the job done.

 

[rice paddy daddy]

9mm is a round designed to meet FBI windshield penetration requirements when cops and agents were getting out gunned back in the Chicago gangsta days. The .38's, and .32's they were carrying literally bounced off the "new" safety glass in automobiles.

Say what?
The 9MM Parabellum (the correct designation) was German in origin and the handgun that fired it was the P-08 Luger. The model P-08 refering to the year it was adopted by the German army - 1908.
You MAY be thinking of the 38 Super, or the 38/55 revolver round, but not the 9MM.
And there was no "FBI windshield penetration requirements" in the 1930's. That didn't happen until after the famous Hollywood shootout in the 1980's between the cops and Matix and Platt.

 

[PaulS]

The 9mm is just slightly less powerful (velocity with bullet weight) than the 38 Special +P rounds. The 38 typically is both a few fps faster and the bullets weigh a grain or two more.

The 38 Special went through the same "windshield test" as the FBI uses to rate all there guns and it was found that the typical "police" round (200 grain LRN) would bounce off the windshield at certain angles. The 9mm did not but then either does the 38 Special +P. The 1911 45 ACP was replaced by the 357 Magnum but that was "difficult" for some officers to control so they went to the 9mm. The 9mm was replaced by the 10mm for a short time but it was also "difficult" for some officers to control - surprising considering it is a ballistic double of the 357 Mag. The 40 S&W replaced the 10mm as the gun they now use - which is the ballistic twin of the 45 ACP.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

 

[bigdogbuc]

Good Question Palmetto! Here is my train of thought, which sometimes goes off the rail, but anyway, here it goes.

I personally look at anything that is not a true 1911, as in original manufacture with Colt on the side, or with changes approved by the man himself, as "Patterned" or "Cloned". I had a Norinco 1911A1, full sized, built right from the blueprints of Colt, made in China, and it was a clone. And honestly, it shot better than the Colt 1991A1 I used to have.

Anymore, the term 1911 is simply a descriptor of a firearm that we instantly recognize in our brain, copied after a pattern of the Original 1911 that we all know, love and hold dear to our hearts. It's like saying "I want a gun." We all know what a gun is, but what type? With that said, a handgun patterned after the dimensions of this iconic masterpiece, commonly referred to as a 1911, regardless of the caliber, is a fine, fine thing to own.

I simply prefer the more traditional approach and prefer using the round that was originally designed for it, not saying that is better, or worse, than any other caliber. So get what you're comfortable with and enjoy that 1911.

 

[Doc Holliday]

I love the 1911 and the 45acp round but if you like a 1911 in 9mm then I say get it.....

Doc

 

[Smitty901]

Big fan of the 1911 45. However if you want a full size 9mm there are better options.
Weapons like the SR9 Ruger would serve you much better at a lower cost.