Swift | Silent | Deadly


1911


Carry 1911 Review: RIA TAC Ultra CS 9mm

Pistols of the 1911 persuasion are not generally at their best when forced into the budget category. Notoriously finicky eaters by nature, their reliability is usually directly proportional to their cost, and cheap 1911s usually suffer in the “fit and finish” department, as well. Usually. Rock Island Armory has a strong reputation as an affordable 1911 that is still a solid shooter. I decided to test out the RIA TAC Ultra CS 9mm 1911, and here’s how it did.

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Best 1911 Magazines: Wilson Combat ETM Magazines

I have a deep body of experience with the 1911 handgun. I am one of a fairly small group of U.S. military personnel to deploy with a 1911 pistol well in to the 2000s, and  trained with it for tens of thousands of rounds. Since that time I have used a lot of 1911 pistols. One question this experience has definitively answered is the best 1911 mags: Wilson Combat ETM magazines are the best 1911 magazines, period.

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Defensive 1911: Managing 1911 Safeties

The 1911 has a two manual safeties that must be disengaged simultaneously to operate the firearm. These safeties are often misunderstood or simply misused.  Managing 1911 safeties effectively and reliably is paramount to deploying the defensive 1911. There are hardware and software issues that go into managing these safeties, and today we take a look at those factors.

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Reasons to Consider the 1911

The 1911 isn’t recommended by gun writers and YouTube people much anymore. I think this is because of a unwritten rule I’ve observed in the gun world that says, “if it’s not suitable for everybody, it’s not suitable for anybody.” I don’t agree with that. Nor do I agree that the 1911 is the “ultimate” handgun. The 1911 can be a viable option, but it has some serious limitations. Here are some reasons to consider the 1911 when weighing defensive handgun options.

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Defensive 1911: Dropping the Slide

The 1911 design is, as most of its more emotional followers are quick to point out, over 100 years old. Mostly I don’t care about that at all. It’s interesting but it’s not better because it’s ancient any more than your Glock is better for being filthy or Austrian or grey in color. However, I do care about that in as much as the old design requires some special considerations in use and handling. Today I’m going to talk about one of those: dropping the slide on the 1911.

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Defensive 1911: Cleaning & Maintenance

The 1911 is not a platform that suffers long periods of inattention gracefully. It has to be cleaned and lubricated at least somewhat regularly in order to keep running efficiently. This is in contrast to a lot of guns that will keep running notwithstanding a dearth of maintenance. Let’s look at cleaning and maintenance of the defensive 1911.

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Defensive 1911: 1911 Reliability

Some of you have expressed interest in the defensive 1911. Some others have written in with more general questions about 1911s. These days there aren’t a whole lot of people – at least people of my generation – taking 1911s very seriously. Today I’m going to talk about some reliability factors of the defensive 1911, maybe a few things to think about before taking up the 1911.

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