Sam Colt or John Browning?

[JohnHL]

Whose hands do YOU have?

Arguably the two most iconic American handguns, the Single Action Army and the model 1911.

The SAA has always felt awkward in my hands.

With a low grip, my pinky curls underneath.

With a high grip, my thumb crowds the hammer.

Either way, my trigger finger bends at a contorted angle.

OTOH, the 1911 fits perfectly in my hand.

All fingers securely grasp the grip and my index finger falls naturally on the trigger.

I know there are grips available to make anyone's hand fit any gun.

But I am talking here about the standard SAA grip and the original 1911 grip. (NOT the Army redesigned "A1".)

So let's hear your opinions.

Do you share Sam Colt's manual dimensions?

Or are your paws more like John Browning's?

John?

 

[ImprovedModel56Fan]

I'm not sure that the 1911 is the best gun for me, but it is very good. The SAA suffers from the difficulties which you describe, but it does recoil in an acceptable fashion.

BTW, the 1911 fits my hand well for target shooting, forced into my right hand by my left hand, but draw from a holster works best with a 1911A1. The front of the grip should be stippled or checkered, and the grip safety works fine with no additions.

Other folks will quite properly report differently.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

I prefer a 1911A1 frame and 1911 flat mainspring housing. I had several Colt Walker clones and those grip frames fit me fine, but the SAA frame is to effeminate for my hands.

Bill Ruger comes in ahead of Sam Colt's number of designs, and I prefer his Standard and Bisley grip frames' fit to my hand.

Ivan

 

[PALADIN85020]

This M1911A1 has been my "go to" pistol since 1961. It's a WWII Ithica that I had accurized when I was in the Army, and further customized when I was in the Army National Guard after active duty.

When I pick it up (or any other 1911) it's like shaking hands with an old friend. I carried it on active duty and afterwards in the Guard.

Although I have several single action revolvers s and shoot them easily, none can compare with this 1911A1 for a natural grip or ease of use and firepower.

John


(Click for larger image)

 

[Bullet Bob]

The standard 1911 grip was influenced by the army. JMB's 1909 prototype had a nearly vertical grip angle of 85 degrees.

The Trials of the M1911 | An Official Journal Of The NRA

 

[Patrick L]

My opinions are derived from extensively shooting a pair of 1911s for over 30 years, and handling perhaps half a dozen max SAAs over the same 30 years.

Guess which way I'm voting??

I'm sure if I tried, through custom stocks or some such thing I could feel the same way about the SAA. Just never really traveled that road.

 

[Modified]

Man, I don't know what you are talking about. My old SAA fits my hand quite nicely (perfected at colt in 1920):

But then again, so does my old 1911 (from 1915):

In all seriousness however.

The plowhandle grip is excellent for it's original intended purpose. The rolling action helps the shooter when shooting a hand cannon from horseback with your off hand because your main hand is filled with a sword.

Some people like the rolling action so much they would even grind off (as a writer in American Rifleman touting this set of modifications) the "much cussed hump":

Personally, I love shooting an SAA with my pinky wrapped underneath the grip. If find it provides a great deal of stability, and while it initially feels odd, after a bit of practice it became my preferred way of shooting anything with a plow handle (unless its flinging .44 mag down range).

The 1911 is a wonderful size in my hands, and I quite enjoy shooting a good 1911. The single stack is also nice because it means you can still play around with the stocks you put on it to better fit your hand if you like.

But really, there's no comparison between the two. It's apples to oranges and the correct answer, as always, with fine old guns is; Own and enjoy both.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

Neither one ever worked that well for me.
I've shot way more Ruger Single Actions than I have Colts.
So if I go with JMB design that fits my hand the best, it's the HiPower.

 

[Farmer17]

I'm not too crazy about the feel of a SAA Colt but its almost a 40 year older design than the 1911 and it was introduced when repeating handguns were in the infant stage. Compared to the competition in 1873, it did quite well at the time and still doing pretty good 150 years later.

 

[Miracle Man]

I basically grew up with the 1911

John

 

[mikerjf]

Combat Commander, with the arched housing. But "best fits my hand" overall would go to the 1934 Beretta.

"Col. Colt made all men equal, but John Browning gave them two more rounds."

 

[Empe]

I've never handled much less shot a SAA Colt but I do have a Colt 1911 and find that after I installed an arched mainspring housing it fits my hand quite well.

 

[SnidelyWhiplash]

While I'm not inexperienced with the SAA…the 1911 platform fits my hand like it was born part of my arm and hand.

While Sam Colt was a smart man he was first a promoter. John Browning was a true mechanical design genius.

 

[Muley Gil]

My first centerfire handgun was a .45 Colt Old Model Ruger. My second was a Essex frame .45 1911 with the long trigger & flat mainspring housing.

I've also owned a Colt New Frontier and a USFA .44 Special single action.

I like 'em all.

 

[Farmer17]

No question the 1911 fits my hand better than the cowboy revolvers. It fits my hand better than most other guns, but the Browning high-power and the Smith & Wesson M&P 10 mm are tied for number one with the Smith & Wesson having the better trigger and more ergonomical thumb safety.

 

[.357magger]

Are you kidding?

Samuel Colt or John Browning?

The obvious answer is YES.

 

[Echo40]

John Browning was an absolute genius, a visionary who was so far ahead of his time that well over a century later, firearms are still using modified versions of his designs, and despite all the attempts to make handguns more ergonomic, the original 1911 is still widely considered to be one of the most comfortable feeling guns in the hand to this very day.

'Nuff said.

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

Different strokes for different folks..........

 

[boykinlp]

MY EYES, MY EYES!!!
Larry

 

[robvious]

sorry Colt fans... Mr Browning for the win... for me at least.
Much prefer a 1911 grip to a SAA... but to be honest... Browning Hipower for the win

 

[Grayfox]

I've had a long time love/hate relationship with the SAA, Ruger and other plow handle grip revolvers. Off and on, I've owned about a half dozen of them over the years. I love the idea of them, but a lifetime of hard work has left my hands a bit worn and arthritic. The middle finger of my shooting hand won't quite close all the way. The result being the back of the trigger guard beats the hell outta that knuckle. It only takes about one cylinder full to have it bleeding.
I do have a Urberti Schofield clone that I can shoot pretty well. But that's an all together different thing.

OTOH, I'm a devoted disciple of Brother John. The 1911 fits me like a glove. Must be why I have about 20 of them.

 

[jeffrefrig]

I like the grip panels on that 1911 up in post #7 from Modified.
Either SAA or 1911, I shoot them both equally all over the paper! One foot groups is a good day for me!

 

[Bald1]

My hands are more like John Brownings. But apparently they are identical to Mr Smith's and Mr Wesson's. Middle initials K.

 

[1911haulic]

1911 for me!

 

[crazyphil]

Here, on the left, is a picture of my series 80 Gold Cup. Notice that
I prefer the circular hammer. 2nd from left is one of it's favorite
holster rigs. A Brill-Persons by Red Nichols, along with his Sidewinder
belt. 3rd from left is a carved and laced Heiser model 728 which, I
think, is not too hard on the eyes.

 

[Heinz]

I am in the 1911 camp. I always liked the grip on the Colt 1860 Army much better than the smaller navy style grip on the SAA

 

[jaguargolf]

1911A1 with Arched Main Spring Housing w/ lanyard ring. I've set up all my 1911's this way, except for my round heel Kimber Super Carry Pro and a Lt. Wt. Commander that I bought used but had been to Wilson Combat. I didn't want to mess with what Wilson had done until I put a few thousand rounds through it. I grip a 1911 w/AMSH correctly first time every time and never have to re-adjust my grip.

In the past year I've had a a Colt Lt Wt Commander .45 ACP and a S&W hard chromed Model 40 .38 Sp w/grip safety secret service grips available to me whenever I am out and about.

I never had a problem holding, shooting, aiming a Ruger single action. Never had access to a SAA.

 

[erikpolcrack]

For me, it's Browning all the way. I did have one of those Taylor Company 44 Mags with the larger grip frame - I think it was modelled on the Dragoon, Walker, or 1860 Army. It felt much better in my hand than any of my SAA Colt types. Never fired a Bisley. Both my Blackhawk and my Super Blackhawk fit me better than my Colts.

 

[Buford57]

I've had a SAA Italian clone, a Combat Commander and Ruger XR3 and XR3-RED gripped SAs and currently have a BHP and a Ruger Vaquero 1.0. All handled well enough, with the BHP the best of the lot for fit, but the cream of the crop was the M39. And while I'm on the subject, the absolute worst, the gun I could not hit with to save my life (which was its purpose) was a 469. I sold it and went back to a revolver until I could find another 39.

 

[Gamecock]

Sammy wasn't involved with the Colt 1873 SAA. He died in 1862.