What’s Wrong with 1911 for Survival?

I love how consistent you have been over the years advising your readers to rely on the Glock. I agree with your assessment concerning reliability/durability, availability, weight, etc. All things considered the Glock is simply the right answer. I’ve got a 1911 and have used that design ever since I was 12 years old, but it just shows a lack of understanding for someone to recommend the 1911 to someone who is new to firearms and needs something simple and reliable. Just knowing what “the extractor tension test” means is enough proof that the 1911 is for the dedicated hobbyist and not for the beginners first pistol. I feel bad for people who are new to firearms, need one, and are fed tons of well meaning but convoluted information about what is “best” from so called “experts” who have confused their personal hobby with someone else’s practical needs. Indeed you are correct: the answer is simple for the beginner; the answer is Glock 19.
-Charles
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My first serious gun was a Norinco 1911. At the time internet was still pretty new and there simply wasn’t the massive amount of information that is available today. Back in those days if you wanted to learn about something you bought these things called “magazines” (for you kids, its like a website or blog, but printed in paper every month or so) Guns & Ammo Magazine said the Norinco 1911 was great for a “street custom” and that’s exactly what I did. I took a perfectly functional 1911 that never had a hiccup and spent almost a thousand dollars worth of dual tone finish, hammer, sights, trigger, springs, guide rod, walnut grips, fancy torx screws, brand name magazines, etc. After enough messing around I managed to end up with a gun that jammed more often. Cutting a couple loops from the new recoil spring helped greatly. Going back to the original guide rod solved the problem completely. At the end of the day the only thing that made a real difference was the nicer sights I installed. The rest was mostly cosmetic. Here it is in all its glory:

In my case as well, for years this was the only handgun I used. I learned to love the 1911. Learned to shoot it, clean it, repair it.
But a Glock it is not, Most of the parts required careful hand fitting. Every spare part in the Glock just drops into place. Even then the 1911 is less reliable and more sensitive than the Glock. It’s heavier, holds less rounds and in those 500-1000 round weekend classes you’ll get cut and scrapped by every single sharp edge of the gun. You shoot slower with the single stack 1911, need to reload more often and unless you have a big magwell its harder to reload too compared to that huge gap where you slap Glock magazines in.
You mention Glock 19s for beginners and that is true, every single person I taught how to shoot for the first time they all shot better with Glocks. But that doesn’t mean its not a gun for elite shooters too. In fact Navy SEALs recently adopted that same Glock 19 as their sidearm. Most world class professional shooters from the tactical community that I know of also use one kind of Glock or another, mostly 19 and 17.

Gun nuts, we love all kind of guns. Shoot as many as you can, collect tons of them, but when it comes to your sidearm, make sure it’s a Glock.
FerFAL
 Fernando “FerFAL” Aguirre is the author of “The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse” and “Bugging Out and Relocating: When Staying is not an Option”.