The Commander was a backup conceal carry gun?? or a reserve gun in the rear with the gear?

The original Commander was a lightweight 9mm. I almost bought a Colt...but in the end came home with a 4" Springfield compact.

It has a fancy dual stage guide rod, integral feed ramp, is a bushingless design with a cone style barrel, and uses the Officer frame size.
20160106_101822(1) by Slick_Rick77, on Flickr

Rick, I really like that! Do they make that same configuration in .45 ACP?

I "experimented" with several versions of Colt 1911s in the late 70s and 80s my last two Colt 1911s were Commanders.......... one with alloy frame and another all stainless. At that time I felt the Commanders were the best practical 1911 for concealed carry..................

Today my only 1911 pattern gun is a Sig C3 CCO.

early 38 super commander, 1950. This one has gone down the road.

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Charlie

Replaced it with a 90's 45 acp version. Got the Birdseye maple from masterbuck54 yesterday at local gunshow.

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Charlie

What is the best commander for under $1k? Any reason to not buy a Ruger with an alloy frame?

In 1975 I bought a brand new Colt for $175 in a gun shop in Wisc. It was a blued Commander. Kept it for a couple of years and the sold it to finance something else. Since then I have had about 50 more M1911's over the years, but never another Commander.

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

My only Commander - I don't shoot it as much as I should because unless I put a big band-aid on the web of my hand I'll bleed all the way home.

I still love it, though, and carry it often.

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“What you got, ain’t new.”

In 1972 while I was working at the Mercedes dealership in San Francisco, I commissioned F. Bob Chow to built a fully accurized Commander. He argued with me for two weeks before finally taking the order. Wonderful pistol that had to succumb to the need for $$$$ to start a business. Always had that gun in my mind so went and bought an STI Lawman 4.0 that is not disappointing at all. Here's the day I got it and sighted it in at 50 ft.

Stu

I think Ruger's 1911 style pistols are good. Ruger casts the plunger tube as a part of the receiver, rather than staking on a plunger tube. As someone who has had a plunger tube come loose, I see this as a benefit to buying a Ruger. Ruger also uses either ramped barrels or places a titanium insert in the receiver feed ramp, depending upon caliber, so there is no gouging of the feed ramp in the receiver.

The exact same. Range Officer Compact.

Colt, Springfield Armory, Ruger, Rock Island Armory. Take your pick. Sigs are nice, too, at the 1k mark.

I will be posting an ATI 1911 Commander that I will be upgrading here in the near future. My goal is to see if I can make a $400 dollar gun into a gun that performs like a $4000 dollar gun. I will probably use new Wilson Combat parts and possibly a new Nighthawk barrel. I can tell you right now that I probably WONT achieve $4000 dollar top shelf 1911 perfection unless I change the barrel to a match grade but it should be at the very least entertaining and nicer pistol than what I started with. Stay tuned and thanks!

I can probably make the ATI Commander perform like a $1000 dollar gun but to make it perform any better I will need to get a match barrel and dove tail the sights to install some much better sights. The rest of it as long as the gun isnt a piece of junk should be easy to do.

IMG_0738 by Dandy Randy, on Flickr
Since I am looking into fine tuning the Commander style 1911 I wanted to give an update on one of them. Ive had my Desert Eagle for over a year now and it has performed excellent! I have to contribute the excellent quality, reliability, and accuracy to the maker. Bul LTD is an Israeli company that have been making race guns since probably the 90s. There claim to fame was the makers of the first polymer framed 1911 known as the M5 Commander. Good luck trying to find one of those! Im a big fan of Israeli made firearms seeing that the Galil, UZI, and Jericho, to name a few, are some of my favorite guns ever made. Overall Im very happy with this pistol and it came with a sweet Magnum Research knife too that you can put your own 1911 grips on!

I also want to talk about the 4.25 inch barrel of the Commander style pistols. Im mostly going to touch on accuracy of the Commander barrels. Sometimes you see 4 inch barrels too but mostly in the Springfield Armory and Kimber variety and most of those will be bull barrels. Which leads me to my next subject.

Bull barrels??? What are they? What do they do? And do they do things better? A 1911 Bull barrel has no bushing. The fat barrel itself works as the "bushing" to lock up the gun in the front of the slide. Supposedly they claim to aid in accuracy. So far I think more or less that is a true statement. They are probably more easy to manufacture since there void of having to match up a bushing to them. Either way I like them and the only drawback I could possibly see with them is they can tend to be more difficult to take down since they are usually accompanied by a captured recoil spring that needs a special take down tool. Thats not always the case though. Some do and some dont need a tool. Overall I like them and I think they should work well for anyone. Also there maybe the possibility of more environmental contaminants to get into the pistol via the front of the gun due to and depending on the design. Depending on the application they can do things better for you. I see lots of "fancy" target guns with them so that leads me to believe they can do things better for some people.

Match grade barrels? Are they worth it?? In many ways the barrel makes or breaks a gun so when a barrel is "shot out" usually it means it has become a paper weight. I do like match grade barrels and I think there worth the extra money to buy that feature in a Commander. Ive had good luck with normal milled barrels however every match grade barrel I ever had in a gun did there part of accuracy very well as long as I did my part. Regular barrels can be hit or miss. Ive had very accurate "regular" barrels and Ive had some that cant hit the broadside of anything properly. If I was looking for one thing in a gun it would probably be the "match grade" featured barrel. Wilson Combat and Nighthawk Customs makes a very nice aftermarket match barrel.

"Regular" 4.25 bushing barrel. In my experience with the 1911 the best "regular" barrels in the accuracy department seem to mostly be of the Colt design. If you have a Colt barrel you cant go wrong and in my opinion seems to be the "best" option on the Colt 1911s. HOWEVER everything else can be upsetting on the Colt pistols. One being the multitude of machining marks I tend to see on the inside of the Colt 1911s. Dont get me started on that!

Polygonal barrels???? Umm sure lets talk about those. This refers to the grooves and lands inside the barrel and how there cut. Poly cut barrels are different than straight cut barrels. The easiest and quickest way I can explain them is a poly groove is more of a rounded hump cut instead of the traditional sharp straight cut if that makes any sense? Im not really going to go into length on them because good luck trying to find one for a 1911 however Ive had them before and they seem every bit as accurate as they claim to be.

I recently bought a 1911SC. love the gun but still working things out. I like the looks of the Remington LW exec and the Ruger LW commander. I have a Colt commander I need to get around to shooting.

Y'all know by now that I'm a 1911 kinda guy. I currently own 4 Commander sized pistols. All Colts.
A series 70 Combat Commander .45acp
A Series 80 Combat Commander .38 Super
A pre-70 1952 Commander .38 Super

And then there's this one. Its been my EDC for over 20 years.
1959 Colt Commander .45acp with some light modifications.



I own 1911s in pre-70, 70 series and 80 series configurations. Frankly, I've never found any real difference in the triggers of any of them.

I had a Rock Island Commander .45 that was an incredible gun for the money, I paid under $350 brand new about 5 years ago, and it was excellent in about every way. It kinda bugged me that it had a spur hammer and I think Commanders should have a ring hammer like the original so I sold it. I should have kept the gun and changed the hammer and sights.

The first Combat Commander that I owned was back in the late 80's, great gun but back then I was young and traded a lot, I picked up another a couple of years ago to relive my youth

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Life NRA, Life TSRA, C&R FFL

Commanders are just about perfect in size. I let my wife shoot my Dan Wesson commander in 10mm, and she did great with it!

Wow, this has been a very educational thread for me. I own a couple of full size 1911's (because I was told all real American gun owners should have at least one) but I have not really been schooled on series 70 and series 80 and what is a "real" Commander and what is just a look-a-like and other tidbits that serious 1911 fans understand.

Some of the discussion here about Colt Commanders reminds me of discussion I once read about "there is no such thing as a .45 Long Colt". Who knew?

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Live long and prosper

My RIA commander, no pony, 9mm, and it will shoot as well as anything all day long...

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I just bought an American Classic Commander slightly used. I'm going to fire it for the first time this afternoon.

You guys are killing me.

I carried a satin nickle Combat Commander .45 on a narcotics/OC task force in the mid-80s. When I went back to my department I had to conform to the DA 9mm regs and the Commander went to buy my wife a deer rifle.

Without getting into the "collectible" market that Colts now occupy, I'd really enjoy a replacement, but with the 1911A1 grip and absent the "shark fin" grip safety. Does anybody make one these days? All I can seem to find are in the modern/flashback configuration.

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I need ammo, not a ride.

Decades ago, Colt did mate a Officers Model slide with a Commander frame. It was called the Lieutenant Commander.

It was a concept before it's time, nobody ever heard of them. However today you have lots of the custom makers doing this exact same configuration. One of the terms I have heard for this configuration is Concealed Carry Officers or CCO.

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"Acta non verba"

Star PD!

Regards,

Tam 3

My Ruger commander LW is my EDC . No issues yet (knock on wood) and if I do my part and concentrate, so about half the time, I can hit my steel target that is about 12"x 12" shaped like a ram. This is standing 2 handed at 50 yds. First shot hit 90% of the time. I have a Colt Gov't series 70 that will feed empty brass and is far more accurate then I am. The LW Commander is a joy to carry in comparison and a bit easier to conceal IWB.

I have always loved Commanders... It was the first gun I wanted to buy for myself, and I've probably had at least a half-dozen Colts over the years, Commanders and Combat Commanders, and at least four Kimber Pros. For the first half of my career, I carried some variant of Combat Commander as my duty sidearm.

I always liked the short cycle time compared to a full-size Gov, and losing that 3/4" on the front made them easier to carry.

These days, all the Colts have passed out of my hands, and the current stable includes just two Kimbers and a Ruger (9mm).



Though I miss my Colts, the Kimber CDP Pro is my all time favorite EDC gun. It's just perfect, right out of the box. I've thought of trading the SIS a few times, but I can never make myself go through with it... you just don't see them around much, and I know it would be difficult to replace.

I'm on the hunt to put a Colt Commander back in the safe... I have a friend I sold one to almost thirty years ago that I'm working on buying back...

CCO refers to a Commander slide on an Officer frame.

1951 9mm Commander, 2nd year production. I have the Coltwoods.


"The Colt Commander was Colt's Manufacturing Company's candidate in a U.S. government post-World War II trial to find a lighter replacement for the M1911 pistol that would be issued to officers. Requirements were issued in 1949 that the pistol had to be chambered for 9 mm Parabellum and could not exceed 7 inches in length or weigh more than 25 ounces.

Colt entered a modified version of their M1911 pistol that was chambered for 9 mm, had an aluminum alloy frame, a short 4.25-inch barrel, and a 9-round magazine. In 1950, Colt moved their candidate into regular production. It was the first aluminum-framed large frame pistol in major production and the first Colt pistol to be originally chambered in 9 mm."

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This is a SIG model C3 (concealed carry compact).

No feed ramp on the bushing 4.25" barrel.
Alloy officers frame with checkered front strap. The butt is smoothed at the break but not really rounded.

That SIG slide profile with external extractor is nicely smoothed. Three dot sights.

All in all, a beautiful pistol that carries well.
If you see a SIG 1911 that you like? Buy it then and there because they are like the flavor of the month with SIG. The C3 is no longer made.

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Colt XSE Lightweight Commander.

The XSE line featured "many options that shooters want" like a full length guide rod, sights, hammer, beaver-tail safety, ambi safety and front cocking serrations. Double diamond checkered rosewood grips rounded out the package.

I had the ambi safety changed out and put a pair of stag grips on it. I'm ok with the full length guide rod and front cocking serrations. I mean, I don't hate them and it's the way Colt shipped....so I'm good.

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I don't carry a 1911, but if I did, and I have considered it, I would've gone with the Sig 1911 Traditional Compact, a CCO with the standard 1911 slide shape. Had pretty much everything I could want in a carry 1911 out of the box. But alas, it, too, was discontinued.

My first centerfire handgun was a series 70 Lightweight Commander passed down by my dad. Still have it of course.

Wow! Looks exactly like a Springfield Armory Government Model!

Perhaps an "oops" with the pic?

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VCDL, GOA, NRA

My Commander. Damn good carry gun, if a little heavy.

The commander size just hits my sweet spot on feel and I shoot both better than anything else I have. Sig Tacops in 45 and DW Specialist in 9mm pictured. Rail preferred only because they see duty on the nightstand.


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This one has/is my everyday carry gun since the early 80's. It wears Mastadon Ivory. Before that it was a 1911. I have a series 70 blue gun but these days it is home to my Colt conversion kit. Some really nice guns here-- Dont forget to VOTE!

ati commander 1 by Dandy Randy, on Flickr
Just received the new ATI Commander and it looks well machined and put together. This is going to be my "UPGRADE A CHEAP 1911 COMMANDER" project. However I already see some problems. The grip bushings are not machined well and look like an odd size. There not the slim ones and there not the normal size ones and they seem like a size somewhere between that??? The good thing is I might be able to use slim grips on this gun right out of the box however I HATE slim grips! I am changing out the bushings to standard Wilson Combat size. Also I went ahead and put in a Wilson Combat spring kit. After all that I will see how the gun shoots. Besides the grip bushing everything else looks good. I like the sights there easy to see unlike the old GI tiny thin blade like style these are fatter. I heard this gun shoots low so we shall see how it does. I dont think Im going to make a marksman pistol out of this gun but hopefully it will be better than it was at the end of this journey.

Wish you luck with your project.

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

Yes Im going to call it the Poor Mans Special Project

I have built M1911's for less than $275 in parts, but that was in the late 18980's. I can remember paying $75 for Caspian frames. To me it was fun taking a pile of parts and assembling/fitting them into a functioning pistol that shot as well as one from any of the big manufacturers and custom guys. Enjoy your "Poor Man's Special Project".

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

The two I showed in Post #45 have gone on to new homes.

Replaced by Dan Wesson ECO .45 and Valkyrie Commander 9mm, both with WoodCaliber grips:

I carried my Star PD on a recent weeks vacation trip. It will slide in a front pants pocket just fine, 45 hole in the bbl. weighs 25 oz. Nothing more or less than you need.

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Charlie

My LW Commander acquired just a few days ago. I'll be shooting tomorrow, hopefully.

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" I don't recall, senator."

How does the inside of that Colt look? I dont buy the iconic Colts anymore because I keep finding them with way to many machining marks inside the frame and I personally dont find that acceptable for what u pay.

ATI Commander by Dandy Randy, on Flickr

So we are back with the Commander series of pistols. I just finished the upgrade process on the new ATI Wilson Combat Commander Po Man Special. I was going to lower and flare the ejection port but after shooting the gun it does not look like its necessary plus I would have to re-parkerize the pistol. Maybe many moons down the road Ill do that but not now. I may put in a new extractor though. I did have a failure to eject but not on live rounds it was on my heavily worn plastic snap caps. I believe the FTE was due to worn out and damaged old snap caps and not the pistol extractor. I had 100% reliable on all 500 FMJ and HP rounds. Had one issue with failure to eject magazine but that was due to a knock off rip off "Colt" junk magazine I had layin around for many moons. They work however the metal and paint was very thick on the mag so it got stuck in there. Stay away from those knock off "Colt" mags! I can tell you later how to identify them if anyone is curious. Basically if the price is too good to be true its probably a fake Colt mag.

In the past 6 years I have been trying out and evaluating many pistols shotguns and rifles. Its been mostly pistols since I am an avid pistol collector however all these firearms are NEW model guns. With that being said I will be posting a list of what I have found to be EXCELLENT quality, value, and reliable firearms. Since we are talking about the "Commander" style guns I will start with those. First on the list is no surprise to anyone if you been following my posts.

1. Dan Wesson Pointman Carry 45 acp:
If you want a gun that will outlast you and all your children until the sun blows up and destroys this planet get a Dan Wesson enough said! All forged steel frame slide and parts that are hand fitted something you dont see in manufactures any more. 70 series and easy to work on. One thing people might find negative on them. Tight tolerances because these are hand fitted semi custom guns! Do not take the gun right out of the box and shoot it unless you enjoy sending the gun back due to galling warranty work and wasting peoples time. The slide must be greased just use what Dan Wesson recommends. TW-25 grease or FP-10. If you got a prob with that dont buy one! The only Commander on the list that comes in the 10 mm Panzer Anti Tank howitzer round but good luck trying to afford the money for one.

2. Colt Commander:
Very reliable and they use pretty decent parts with no need to upgrade anything unless you want to. Slide to frame fit is good and they are forged nicely. Something to be aware of is that most NEW Colt Commanders will be 80 series. Downside is only one year warranty and MACHINING MARKS MACHINING MARKS MACHINING MARKS ALL UP IN THOSE SUCKERS! For what you pay it shouldnt look like a caveman milled the inside of the frame with a triceratops bone and a rock.

3. Springfield Armory Range Officer Series
Good reliable guns with a good warranty. 70 series guns and easy to work on deal with. Nicely machined inside and out however frame to slide fit is always terrible on the back side of the guns and extractors always stick out. Once again for what you pay someone should of fit those properly. Also they use lots of MIM parts and less forged parts unlike the above mentioned makers. One feature I really like about SA 1911s is the fact they use ramped barrels especially on there light alloy framed guns unlike the above mentioned Colt that does not put ramped barrels on the light aluminum frames which I personally think is a VERY BAD idea.

4. ATI and Rock Island 1911 "Commander" Series Philippine Guns
Excellent value for what you get. The machine work is very nice inside and out. I believe S.A.M. use old Colt equipment left behind in the Philippines. If thats the case I think Colt needs to get there equipment back from them because there work in the States has been piss poor! Guns are easy to upgrade and all of them are usually 70 series style. Rock Islands tend to be very accurate however I dont care for there weird billboarding they put on the guns. ATI accuracy can be hit or miss with slightly spongy triggers. Decent parts however you might get a junky part here and there that needs replacement. Don't have a clue about Metro Arms but Im sure there about the same and someone can chime in on those.

5. Magnum Research Desert Eagle
Excellent 1911 series of guns! For what you pay they seem to be nicer than the more expensive Colts in many ways mainly in the fit and finish department. Accuracy and reliability seem to be good! Downsides is they have cast frames which usually translate to not a problem. Also they have bull barrels which not everyone is fond of and they have the DREADED COOL GUY FRONT SLIDE SERRATIONS.

6. Kimber Pro Series
Decent value, reliability, and quality for a gun that is less than a thousand bucks. Slide to frame fit is EXCELLENT with all parts fitted quite nicely. Kimbers milling machines seem to be very good. No need to modify the guns any since they come with decent parts out of the box with match grade barrels already installed. On the reverse side of the coin upgrading will be difficult on these guns. They use the "Schwartz style" firing pin safety which is okay but hard to deal with when gunsmithing. Once again they use ramped barrels which is a really good thing however most difficult gun on this list to disassemble due to there captured guide rod design and unique features. If you got arthritis or weak hands this is not the gun for you!

7. S&W 1911 E Series
One of the best guns on the list. EXCELLENT forged and fit guns. The only 1911 gun on the list with an external extractor. I like that feature! EXCELLENT warranty and customer service. Downside they have to many goofy features that will appeal to small crowds. Goofy front slide serrations and all bobtailed which is a feature that will limit grip options for you. Has the dreaded "Hey bonehead dont do stupid things with guns!" label on the side.

8. Ruger SR1911 "Commander"
Excellent caliber choices on this model! They got the 45 tyrannosaurus killer and the 9mm Farfegnugen. Excellent customer service and warranty. Very reliable and may be the most reliable 1911 on this list. I think its mostly due to sloppy frame to slide fit. Every SR1911 I ever had shaked more than a Mexican maraca. They come in ghetto shoe boxes though which for what you pay should be better. Also they have the dreaded "Hey bonehead dont do bonehead!" under the dust cover which bothers me.