Which 1911 for conceal/carry?

[gkitch]

for what its worth

I have two carry 1911s. The one usually carried is a Colt stainess Officer's ACP. I put a long trigger in it and nice wood grips. The Holster is a belt type by Milt Sparks and is quite comfortable, but I need some cool weather to cover it. It has always been a good shooter.
A friend passed and left me a Colt Commander, the LW Enhanced version. I liked it but it jammed. A talk with some experts indicated that such is a common problem on older aluminum frame 1911s and is fixable. I sent it to Cylinder & Slide and they made it work, so now I sometimes carry it. Just be aware that an older LW gun could have this issue, although I doubt it would be a problem with the newer S&W guns.
I prefer Wilson or Shooting Star magazines.

 

[getoff]

i have a Kimber procarry II. 4", mag well, trigger job, wilson combat commander hammer, grips from nineteen11.com(waspnest), and an IWB from dwightsgunleather.com., some chip mc cormac 8 rd. mags in a double mag pouch. alot of punch, and makes me feel warm and fuzzy with all that .45acp around...

 

[J. W.]

My current carry is a customized Colt XSE Commander. I've carried Governemnt model 1911's as well.


CCO sized 1911's are the perfect combo for CCW, IMO. the reliability and sight radius of a commander with the concealability of the officer sized frame. S&W's ES is an example of this configuration. Kimber and Sig also make 1911's in this configuration. Les Baer makes a CCO as well but your getting into a pretty pricey semi-custom gun there.

 

[10ring]

For me, I would pick different guns for plinking and for carry. In the 1911 category, I think a 5" all steel gun with good sights, possibly adjustable, would be the way to go. For carry, I would go with a Commander size gun with an alloy frame. Personally I am not a big fan of the .45 ACP in a 3" barrel.

I suppose a steel commander-sized gun would be a compromise between the two?

If you are willing to spend more than you would for a "basic" gun, the new scandium-framed E series 1911 looks like it could be a good carry choice, and I like the looks of the new E series 5" stainless model.

 

[iLikeOldGunsIlikeNewGuns]

I've carried a full 5" stainless steel SW1911 every day for about a year and a half now, and I love it. Might be on the heavy side for some folks, but I don't mind it at all, and I can conceal it easily in an IWB holster. One thing you mentioned in the original post is that it will also be a plinking gun. Keep in mind that the lighter the gun, the more recoil will be felt in your hand.

 

[TOM BECKWITH]

Smoothed out Para P-13 - capacity, reliability, but a little heavy (13+1 and 2 13 round mags)