Question for the 1911 owners

[Seanaldinho]

Hmmmm. I was there in the " '70s" " and the Turks wouldnt even allow us to bring in our own shotguns to hunt with. Since it was only USAF in country, and we were armed with S&W revolvers as handguns I think Daddy might be telling you a tale. Unless he, and you, are Turks. And he was a Turkish cop. No. I see your a USAF Brat. Even the pilots would have been armed with S&W M-56s and I dont ever remember a pilot even carrying them. USAF adopted revolvers in the early '60s.

Better sit down with Daddy and have a talk. The Turks went ape at the thought of any kinda gun they didnt know about in country. As in "Midnight Express" ape. Thats what Military Juntas and Martial Law means. He told one truth tho. They were "wild days".
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He told me this story when I was very little I may just remember incorrectly and he bought it post Turkey. He wasnt a pilot though he was Special Forces.

Now I feel stupid 

[Slash27]

My first and only 1911 right now is my Springfield TRP.

Absolutely love this firearm.  Its my go to gun if anything happens

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Where's that drooling emoticon?

[Rich52]

He told me this story when I was very little I may just remember incorrectly and he bought it post Turkey. He wasnt a pilot though he was Special Forces.

Now I feel stupid 

We didnt have special forces. We did have Para-rescue and they carried what "we" carried. GAU's/M-16s, M-60s, M-204s, M-15s....ect. They were very elite but werent considered special forces in those days. They mostly rescued pilots down. Now they are far more jack of all trades in the special forces family.

Dont worry about it. When my kid was a baby I told him I was with Neil Armstrong during his famous walk. Just remember your on the internet and I wish I had a knickle for everyone claiming to be ex SF, instead of those like me who admit they were only illiterate grunts.

[Gman]

I remember about 10 years ago Kimber made far better pistols than they do now.  Around the time the Warrior came around the production quality took a nose dive, at least to the ones our shop were getting, and we were the Canadian National distributor for their handguns and rifles.

I still like my warrior, it's seen hard use, and I have a TLE 2 that I used for single stack shoots around here with many thousands of rounds through it, I can't be exact, but very very few malfunctions of any sort with it.

There are SO many good manufacturers now...I've been running a NightHawk custom gun for a while now, and it by far is the best 1911 I've owned.  It's a semi-Bull barrel 1911, not a bushing barrel, sort of an integral bushing, and I think that it's the way to go for a carry/duty 1911.  It locks up in such a precise unique way, that there are many competitions where this pistol is disqualified as it gives the shooter "too much of an advantage".  

I also shot a couple of 1911s that Larry Vickers had at a course I did on explosive entry, pistols that were built custom for SF personnel, and they were by far and away the best in terms of trigger pull and functionality, but they weren't for sale or based on any model that you can just go out and "buy" like a NightHawk.

As for AR15's, a previous poster (BillyD) made a great analysis of most of the current manufacturers, but he missed the best one IMO.  Of course, I am biased a bit, my friend and former instructor Kevin Boland is their military sales rep now - Knights Armament.

You said Ar15??!

[Seanaldinho]

We didnt have special forces. We did have Para-rescue and they carried what "we" carried. GAU's/M-16s, M-60s, M-204s, M-15s....ect. They were very elite but werent considered special forces in those days. They mostly rescued pilots down. Now they are far more jack of all trades in the special forces family.

Dont worry about it. When my kid was a baby I told him I was with Neil Armstrong during his famous walk. Just remember your on the internet and I wish I had a knickle for everyone claiming to be ex SF, instead of those like me who admit they were only illiterate grunts.

He wasnt a PJ he was a attached to a GLCM truck and provided perimeter security. They put him under the SF veil I guess.

[SFRT - Frenchy]

We didnt have special forces. We did have Para-rescue and they carried what "we" carried. GAU's/M-16s, M-60s, M-204s, M-15s....ect. They were very elite but werent considered special forces in those days. They mostly rescued pilots down. Now they are far more jack of all trades in the special forces family.
 
Dont worry about it. When my kid was a baby I told him I was with Neil Armstrong during his famous walk. Just remember your on the internet and I wish I had a knickle for everyone claiming to be ex SF, instead of those like me who admit they were only illiterate grunts.

Ahah +1
In the Air Force I was an intelligence officer on a 'fusie commando' training camp. But in the AF the ' commandos'  (all but one unit) are just the grunts that guard the ABs. Next thing I know I'm introduced as a SF. I barely knew how to shoot a Famas

[Masherbrum]

I remember about 10 years ago Kimber made far better pistols than they do now.  Around the time the Warrior came around the production quality took a nose dive, at least to the ones our shop were getting, and we were the Canadian National distributor for their handguns and rifles.

I still like my warrior, it's seen hard use, and I have a TLE 2 that I used for single stack shoots around here with many thousands of rounds through it, I can't be exact, but very very few malfunctions of any sort with it.

There are SO many good manufacturers now...I've been running a NightHawk custom gun for a while now, and it by far is the best 1911 I've owned.  It's a semi-Bull barrel 1911, not a bushing barrel, sort of an integral bushing, and I think that it's the way to go for a carry/duty 1911.  It locks up in such a precise unique way, that there are many competitions where this pistol is disqualified as it gives the shooter "too much of an advantage".  

I also shot a couple of 1911s that Larry Vickers had at a course I did on explosive entry, pistols that were built custom for SF personnel, and they were by far and away the best in terms of trigger pull and functionality, but they weren't for sale or based on any model that you can just go out and "buy" like a NightHawk.

As for AR15's, a previous poster (BillyD) made a great analysis of most of the current manufacturers, but he missed the best one IMO.  Of course, I am biased a bit, my friend and former instructor Kevin Boland is their military sales rep now - Knights Armament.

You said Ar15??!

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I have been seriously looking into a Night Hawk GRP Recon for about six months now.   You might have just pissed off my wife and I thank you for it.   I was looking at Kimber as well and noticed some similar trends in "service issues".   A few of my friends have sent their back for work.   

[Rich52]

Ahah +1
In the Air Force I was an intelligence officer on a 'fusie commando' training camp. But in the AF the ' commandos'  (all but one unit) are just the grunts that guard the ABs. Next thing I know I'm introduced as a SF. I barely knew how to shoot a Famas

Actually after Basic SPs took a 4 week technical course at LackLand and then a 4 week combat course at an army camp outside SanAntone called "Camp Bullis". We were  trained in infantry tactics and shot our weapons a lot, including hand grenades and even a 0.50 Browning. We were not only responsable for base Law Enforcement but we guarded all USAF special weapons and special weapon delivery platforms. Nobody got near them unless we said they could. I also worked special weapons convoys on TDYs.

So I guess we were more then just grunts. "Grunts" dont have TS clearances. But one thing we didnt have since the early '60s was 1911 pistols.

[Slash27]

   I was looking at Kimber as well and noticed some similar trends in "service issues".   A few of my friends have sent their back for work.   

Mine was crap and I can't tell you how dissapointed I was.

[PFactorDave]

It's unfortunate that so many good gun makers sacrifice the quality that they built their reputations on in favor of more mass production and increased sales.  Kimber is far from the first company to go down this road.  Too bad really.