1911 $1000 plus. What are you using?

[Hoss Shoer]

I’ve been using a Springfield Armory loaded target 1911 for Wild Bunch. Recently I’ve been looking around at what could possibly be the next level 1911.  I know that there are plenty to choose from in the $3000 plus range. I’m curious what you are using in the $1500-2500 range and why. 
thanks in advance. 
Hoss Shoer 

[Garrison Joe]

What's your most important requirements that a new gun would have to meet?   In other words, what fails to give you full confidence with that Springer you have? 

My experience is that if the gun runs reliably, I can tune the rest quite easily to satisfy my operation of it.

good luck, GJ

[Jorge]

Agree with GJ.

I have used STI, Colt, Ruger, and Rock Island 1911's with success, and I see many others using 1911's costing less than $1200.

It is your money, and it is nice to have a nice 1911, but you might be overspending for Wild Bunch.

Just as important may be producing good quality ammunition that always functions in the 1911.

[Jorge]

And, I forgot to mention that GOOD magazines are a necessity!  Spend extra on them.

[Burt the Undertaker]

Other than personal preference, there isn't a need to run an expensive 1911. I agree with Joe and Jorge, tuning the pistol, quality ammo and reliable mags are the important parts.

[Dantankerous]

Hoss Shoer,

I have been out of WB for a few years but when I shot more often than not I used a Springfield Armory GI. Not the current Mil-Spec model, but the older GI model. It worked great and I think I paid $400ish for it probably 2015 or so, maybe earlier. I sold it. Wish I hadn't. I have only one 1911 currently and it is the Colt WW1 1918 reproduction. Super nice gun and it wasn't cheap. It indeed falls into your price range. I have used it in several matches and it has been 100%. I'd prefer to not use it in competition however. Do you need an expensive 1911 for this game? No, but it should be reliable and sometimes, sometimes it might be expensive to get to the reliability we want. I am currently looking for another 1911 and will most likely spend over $1000. Why? Because that is just the price range anymore, if you don't count Tisas, etc... which may very well be an excellent choice but I have never personally seen one. Do we have a want for an expensive 1911? Well maybe so! If you want it, buy it. It won't instantly  make you a better shooter of course, but it will be satisfying. 

[El Chapo]

In that price range, my choice would be a Dan Wesson.  To answer your question, I'm not using a $1500-2500 1911 in WB.  I do shoot a Nighthawk in USPSA.  Before last year, I was shooting a $600 STI Spartan for USPSA for a long time.  My WB gun is a Kimber that is 25 years old.

Edited 8 hours ago by El Chapo

[Griff]

Quite frankly, if I were to get another 1911, whether for WB or just plain to own... it would be Colt's 1911 Classic.  MSRP of $1,069.  6 of my 7 current 1911s can be used for WB as is... 2 in modern, 4 in Traditional, only 2 of which are Colts (a GI issue & a Gold Cup).  However the ones I use for WB are a pair of Taylor Tacticals.  One that I won in at a match (finished in the right placement)😉... and another that I bought as a backup.  The model I have is no longer available.  The frame is patterned like a 1911, not a 1911-A1, so it doesn't have the chamfered area by the trigger, which for folks with shorter fingers is an issue, me, not so much.  IME, any 1911 in anything other than a full race gun needs a couple of things to make it reliable... 1 - a slight alteration to the ramp to feed a wider variety of bullets, and a trigger job, crisper is how I describe it.   Magazines should not be an after-thought.  I have gotten by for the past 15 or so years with CMC "Shooting Stars".  Others prefer Tripp Research, (now CobraMag).  You cannot go wrong with em.  I have one very similar to them, an 8 rounder, marked as a KimPro TacMag.  It's been a reliable mag, but I don't have it as my 1st string of mags.