I guess there is just Para Ordinance, STI and the other (SVI)?

I think a double stack 1911 would be awesome. Sure, it'd be a little wide and heavy, but the 1911 with the capacity would be great.

With everyone producing everything 1911 and everything AR-15 these days, I am surprised the concept has not been exploited/tested by more companies.

Ninety eight percent of the people I've spoke to personally who have owned Para's say they're horrible; only two people have said they like them and one of those had his worked over by one of the best 1911 'smiths in the business. The other was a race gun in 38 Super for USPSA Open, built by a local gunsmith back home.

I hear STI's are great and they build a lot of guns. I've never heard a good review of the Springfield Armory models they built a while ago.

I'd be nice if Colt made one that ran 100%

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Cheers, Charles
SWCA #2442

Too wide and heavy for most shooters,I think.The old single stack fits my medium/large hand just right.

love my super hawg.

We used to build race guns on the old Para frames, mostly .40 and .45. They always worked for me, having big hands....I liked having 16 rounds of .40 available!

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Even older, even crankier....

The double stack 45 are heavy and wide.

A single stack fully loaded 1911 is a heavy pistol. Double stacked, it's just to heavy for what it offers.

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<><

To me, the 1911 fits my hand and has about perfect grip angle. I had a Para LDA 14 45. They don't resell well. I won't buy another double stack 1911.

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Luke 22:36

too heavy and too wide is a weak reason given that HK and Glock both run double stack in there 45 offerings.
the usp and glock mags are standard parts that will fit these guns without question.
When you double stack a 1911 .. youve jumped off the reservation and standards no longer apply.
Sure you might find a pile of spare mags but they might not work in your particular gun.
single stack 1911 mags, on the other hand are fairly standard and will work without question.

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it just needs more voltage

Kinda like holding on to a baseball bat from the fat end. The standard 1911 platform has proven to be a winner for over a century. If it ain't broke, why try to fix it?

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Pack light and cinch tight.

Ergonomics...plain and simple. Though I carry a Glock 21 for a duty weapon, I much prefer the way a single stack 1911 fits my hand.

Definitely ergonomics. The single stack 1911 frame with the flat mainspring housing fits just about any hand reasonably well. I have pretty large hands and find the double stack grip a bit unwieldy. Also, a fully loaded DS 1911 is very butt heavy, not the best for holster carry.

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Virtue,Liberty & Independence

I agree with post #6.

The 1911 is perfect as it is, though maybe a tad heavy. The Commander takes care of that, particularly if you also have a steel gun to practice with. If you need a double-stack gun for competition, that is a different thing.

A Sig 227 is pretty close to a double stack 1911

I liked my P13. I'm sorry they don't fit your little girl baby lady hands.

Oldest son had a Para a few years ago and got rid of it for one reason, trouble keeping pants up with pistol and a spare mag. He is not wimpy as he is 6'2" and 240 lbs it was just the weight. May be better in a shoulder rig????
Larry

The grip feels like a 2x4. That also makes it not so great holstered at your side.

Whatever.

I can grip a basketball, and I carry a double stack Glock 21 .45 ACP, but that doesn't mean it feels great. The single stack 1911 DOES feel perfect.

My measurements say the Para double stack is only 1/8" wider than a single stack 1911. How that 1/8" feels like a
2X4 is beyond me.

A 1911 is what it is. Changing the dimensions changes it to something else.

Marketing, market studies, etc. If there were enough demand, manufacturer's would oblige.

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GOA
USA Shooting Supporter

Maybe not a 2x4 (the Glock 21 feels like that), but it doesn't feel right.

This^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The 1911 is old and outdated. It's popular because it's a beautiful classic.

Changing it to be more modern, tacticool, or whatnot would kill it.

Read this question out loud and try not to slap yourself. "Why don't they put a polymer frame on the 1911? Wouldn't it be lighter, cheaper, and easier to carry?"

the original point and click interface, by Smith and Wesson

Been done.

Wilson Hi-Cap Polymer Frame 1911

Well Nevermind then.

the original point and click interface, by Smith and Wesson

And: Rock River Arms Polymer 1911

I don't know why but the idea of a polymer frame on a 1911 makes me want to cry in disappointment.

Just put in a long extended magazine if you want more rounds, or learn to reload fast. Reloads under one second are achievable.

Or, for another measly 1/8th" +- more than the Para you could have this:

I am more than pleased with my Para 16-10mm. Fits me well and is a good bumming in the woods gun. Conealed carry, no.

I LOVED my double stack Para . . . until I shot it in competition. That extra 1/8" or whatever was enough that it torqued around in my grip just a tad . . . just enough to start making me miss in a steel match.

Now shooting at the range? It was a tackdriver. But at high speed it changed, IN MY HANDS, into Mr. Hyde.

Also, as others have correctly observed, it weights a lot fully loaded. I sold it to someone with hands much larger than mine who loves the Paras and has zero problems shooting them. He got a fantastic firearm too!

HUMMMM---that post went to cyberspace.
Feelings are personal.
I have xlg hands and I can't stand Glocks as they feel akward.
I use standard wraps under the grips in my golf clubs---except for the putter. I like the feelings in my hands and fingers. One extra wrap of tape under the grips feels akward.
When you up-size any kind of grip----guns, golf clubs, pistol grips---you transfer the feelings from your hands and fingers to the wrist and fore arms. You can hold better with these muscles but you loose feelings and therefore, contol.
I us short GI triggers in my 1911's because I have better feelings.
Sigs ar just about as big as I like and 1/32 nd of an inch---the amount of tape that one extra wrap of tape under a golf grip produces---is feelable.
I don't care for Glocks or Para's or double stacks for that reason.
It aint cause I got bird sized hands.
Blessings

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TEXAS, by GOD

My brother has the double stacked Kimber he likes real well but uses it for target shooting and doesn't carry it as it's too heavy and bulky. It was a gift to him as a returned favor and a nice one at that. I've handled it but never shot it and it felt comfortable enough in my big hands. I do prefer the standard 1911 though and can't see the double stack in my future unless I was gifted one as he was.
I like the idea of that many rounds of 45acp in a gun but can't imagine carrying anything bigger than a Commander size 1911 personally.

With the 8 round magazine and one in the pipe, the standard M1911 offers a lot of firepower.

... and it fits my little girl hands so much better!

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You're shy a few manners.

Same reason the 10mm isn't all that popular. The grip is just too big unless you have large hands. The .40S&W was an attempt to correct this....

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Dean
SWCA #680 SWHF #446

For single stack, I just go outside the box with my 4506 no dash-love a decocker.

I carried a Para LDA 14-45 for work briefly, it weighed a ton, too much for the capacity advantage. I've been carrying a FNP45 Tactical for a couple of years now and it's much better. Fully loaded with 16 230gr rounds and with a Trijicon RMR02 mini red dot mounted on it it weighs less than my Springfield 1911 did when loaded with 9rds. Plus the grip is less bulky than a double stack 1911 or G21 and it has the same grip angle as the 1911. I still prefer a 1911 for general use and usually carry a Commander off duty.

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Don't kiss smiling dogs!

This is the only double stack .45 ACP worth having (50 round drum in lieu of 30 round stick):



Although I'd take an M3, M3A1, or Stemple 76/45

Ergonomics, and magazine reliability. The market is so small that the cost of developing a magazine that works worth a hoot is pretty much unreasonable. A duty worthy 1911 is nearly hand built, and doing so with a double stack becomes almost a complete custom proposition. At $2K+ per example, one is spending 3-4 times the cost of other platforms. That's money that could go into training and ammo.

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NHI, 10-8.

I don't know how long ago you mean, but I've owned several SA 1911s, and they were great pistols. Of course, the ones I owned were made within the last three years.

Maybe if you were nice, Colt would build you one!

It is a solution to a non existent problem. It is a 45 ACP after all & not a 9mm.
Beruisis

I currently own two of the double stack or wide body as some call them 1911's. I bought them new for under $600.00 and out of the box they were great guns except for one thing. They liked to eject the case so hard that it bent the **** out of them and you couldn't reload them. Which I reload so I had to get that fixed. I have big hands and I like the grip on the double stack SG/Para guns. The para mags also fit the SG guns as well. I find a regular 1911 feels too lite for me. I have since built my two SG's up and just absolutely love them. They came with MECGAR mags which I was never to found off, but I've never had a problem with them.

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5

I had Wilson Combat build me a 45 ACP Stealth Defense pistol on a new ParaOrdnance frame way back about 20 yrs. ago. It's a great pistol but HEAVY. Fill a mag up with 230 gr 45 ACP, load up and put that on your belt all day. Don't forget a spare mag full. It's all just too much of a load for civilian carry. Makes a heckuva bed side gun or a truck gun though.

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Bob.
SWCA 1821

If Colt built a double stack 45 1911, of equal quality and reliability to STI's 2011, you would not be able to afford it.

I bought a Para-Ord frame right after they came out with their first change (they slimmed it a bit). Put a Colt slide and Bar-Sto barrel on it. Very nice gun, NOT too big for my not overly large hand. Better than a Beretta 92FS, anyway. It is hard for me to see how anyone is going to make a double-stack easier to get a hand around than the P/O.

As pointed out above, fifteen rounds of .45ACP have their own weight issue independent of any miracles in gun weight.

Isn't that a 9mm?

I hate to say this, but if you want a double stack 45ACP, the Glock 21 is affordable and reliable. The polymer frame really helps with the weight. The grip is fairly large, but not as bad as the Para Ordinance. Magazines are affordable.

Yeah: I know. It's a Glock. It's an imperfect world. You can do way worse than a Glock 21.

Yeah, but it's a 9mm. And when it came out in 2009, it cost "only" about $2300. So thanks, but no thanks.

They do. I have one.

Another option might be the Wilson Combat KZ-45. It's a 10+1 gun in .45ACP, no longer in production and less expensive than the Spec-Ops9.

For more info check the old Wilson Combat website:

http://www.wilsoncombat.com/kztest.asp

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Jorge

I have an STI that I use for USPSA limited class and high cap. class in a local match. Feels great , shoots great , I Like it a lot.

Wouldn't want it for a carry gun, way to big and heavy. Of course I feel the same way about a full size steel 1911, to big and heavy, at least for me as a EDC gun.

My normal carry is a S&W m60. If I carry a 1911 , it is a 3" alloy frame Kimber. ( and yes , it is dependable)

A 1911 as standard has as natural a grip as can be made on a 45acp pistol.

The double stack versions are exactly the opposite of that. If I wanted to have the sensation of holding onto a piece of lumber there are better choices.