Are "budget" 1911s worth throwing money at?

[ZoidMeister]

My money is with Zoid on this. Of course, your gun your money. And I am not putting down the more budget minded 1911's, I had a RIA, had no issues with it, it worked great (and loved the cheaper mags..) I just think I would rather start with a better base gun if I was going to drop some serious money on some work.

One thing I thought of, is you should ask your 'smith of choice what they think about what gun to use for a base gun. I don't know of any, but there could be possible issues with specs or materials used that might not work well with custom work. (just a thought, gunsmith I am not...)

And in the end, it is your gun, so have gun with it!

Of course I wouldn't let this guy work on anything MORE expensive than a Ruger . . . . . . .

 

[tomrkba]

Yes, up to a point. I try not to exceed half the value of the gun in gunsmithing fees and stay local to avoid the $75 each way shipping cost. I try to buy guns that have features I need like decent sights and ambi safety so I can get the trigger worked on.

I do not consider changing the grip panels as part of this since I have several sets.

 

[Tail Gunner]

Like most things in the shooting sports, the answer depends on the user and his/her objectives. I am a shooter, so collecting, trading and resale are not a consideration. I have never sold a firearm, but I have gifted many to family. My hand-me-downs are popular items. I answer the "Pop haven't you worn that pistol out yet?" question often.

I have an RIA with 10,000 rounds through it. As parts wore out, or were unacceptable, she got a new barrel, barrel bushing, fire group, hammer, beaver tail, thumb safety. Another consideration has to be whether you do your own work (I do). If you don't (and amateur smithing is not a hobby in itself to you), an expensive hand trophy is probably more cost effective in the long run.

For me, the RIA range beast (it even made it into competition once when my match gun glitched, and has faithfully served home protection duty on occasion) at $429 has been a great shooting option and smithing test bed. Very accurate and self-customized to exactly fit my hands/grip.

 

[HiVel]

I like my Colts and Les Baer best.

 

[mm1911]

The Comet Custom Carry thread got me to thinking last night, are the import/budget/value rated 1911s worth throwing money at for more than basic upgrades? I know @Joe C bought the ATI as a test mule and the CCC work was done as a shop project, but I haven't seen any discussion regarding fixing any factory defects the ATI may have had.

I've had a handful of RIA pistols and while they've been solid and serviceable, I've never considered having one upgraded cosmetically or sending one off to have match grade parts installed.

Discuss...

I have several RIA's, Kimber Custom 2's, couple series 70 Colts, a Desert Eagle(Bul Ltd)and a Wilson EDC X9 and by far my favorite is the Desert Eagle 5". So far only thing I've done is Dawson FO front sight but I am gonna throw some dollars towards it, gonna have it black intruded and while apart gonna do some polishing. It was 750ish and came with fixed blade knife which has 1911 grips on it. I shoot all my IDPA matches with it. I personally think the budget ones are certainly worth spending money on but it doesn't take long before you are up there with higher end 1911's that may already have upgrades you want, especially if you have to pay someone to do them vs doin it yourself which I can't yet

 

[quantico]

i did a norinco and made an amazing gun out of it. it was not cost effective, but i am never selling it. it was done as a custom fit gun for my daughter.

i have RIA ten mm that i don't think i will ever modify , but since its a carry gun i would spend money for a trigger or sights or reliability.

 

[Gunny]

My two cents.

I'm not looking for value, though I have some that are, in firearms. My concern is use first and foremost. Hands down, the very best out-of-the-box .45 I have is my R.I.A. 1911 GI CS. At 4-5 times the price, my Colt custom shop performed a tad better but I really bought it because it was just so damn good looking.

I won't change a thing on the Colt and little on the Rock to make it just what I want. For one thing the grips, though looking nice, really suck! The smooth hardwood gives me no confidence in maintaining a good steady grip. They are about as useful as the faux ivory U.S.M.C. grips I have on one that are for looks and it only goes to the range.

For just $20. I can change them out and they'd be just fine. Of course I didn't go cheap here because I wanted other than plain black. That's about it though. She doesn't need a trigger job, feeds and ejects reliably and consistently. From a 3 1/2" bbl. shooting sub 3", 5 shot groups out to 15 yds., only a little bigger at 25, I have no complaints at all. That was on day one and I've been able to trim it some since then.

If you're looking for a pretty gun that's going to make you money R.I.A. probably isn't for you. On the other hand if you want the best bang for the buck and a blank canvas to make just what you want it the way to go.

 

[quantico]

i spend more than that for high quality grips, they are my interface with the gun. a carry gun has to be controllable and reliable , accuracy is nice to a point , but able to be shot quickly and make reasonable hits fast is the point.

 

[Babboonbobo]

As I mentioned earlier the experience I got cutting on my "cheapy" ATI is worth more than the value of the firearm, that's my case!
If you are paying to have it done yeah use a better base! If you like to tinker and don't want to screw up a $600-1000 gun the buy a cheapy and learn how it all works!

 

[Gunny]

i spend more than that for high quality grips, they are my interface with the gun. a carry gun has to be controllable and reliable , accuracy is nice to a point , but able to be shot quickly and make reasonable hits fast is the point.

Agreed. I said I could have not that I did. Must have left out that I took some time and found a nice set of G10 grips. I have those on others and am quite happy with the controllability.

In the past I've used pr. of Colt checkered rubber grips. When looking through the myriad of choices, a pr. similar to those came up in my search thus the price knowledge.

Your concerns parallel mine. I want the gun to function reliably and be controllable. The majority of work done to my guns is in that vein, very little is cosmetic. Accuracy, of course I always look for the best groups but am also a fan of the school of the "paper plate." Pie plate for handguns or rifle accuracy, 10" for hunting.

 

[Roger F. LaFerriere]

A $600 RIA with $1200 in work will not retain its value as well as a $600 Colt with $1200 in work.

Very true, I bought a RIA FS GI a few years back and it has turned out to be a terrific gun. I like nice guns, but I have a hard time justifying spending more than $1200-$1500 on a 1911. You can improve a $600.00 RIA for little money. The frames, slides and barrels are good quality parts that you can strip the original finish from and then hot rust blue for $20.00 and a pair of nice, custom grips and you have a good shooting, nice looking gun for $600 and a few bucks (I paid $479.00 for mine). I shoot 230 gr. FMJs out of mine, it shoots every time, I can put 8 rounds in the head of a silhouette target at 25 ft. I use it as my DC and if I'm ever involved in a shooting it won't hurt$$ to turn it into the PD as part of the investigation. I put one together for my son and I'm now finishing up a couple of oak and leather gun cases for us.

 

[Roger F. LaFerriere]

As I mentioned earlier the experience I got cutting on my "cheapy" ATI is worth more than the value of the firearm, that's my case!
If you are paying to have it done yeah use a better base! If you like to tinker and don't want to screw up a $600-1000 gun the buy a cheapy and learn how it all works!

Just what I did plus.

 

[quantico]

i spent more than two years working on a norinco to make it awesome and learned how to fit and measure and understand how many parts work and get fit into a 1911. i ruined some very expensive parts along the way, but i learned a lot. that was well worth the cost. i have showed my custom norinco to quite a few gunsmiths and they were pretty excited how well it turned out. my daughter saw me build her a gun over several years and she picked out every part. so she has a lifelong memory of her custom dad built pistol.

 

[Glockmeister]

Depending on what the objective of your 'budget' piece is going to be used for. Personally, I would not throw money at a gun which has an industry reputation of/for being sub-par in reliability or quality simply 'because'. However, I picked up a stock standard 1911 Norinco very cheap a few years ago. I thought it would serve as a good base on which to practice my amateur gunsmithing skills. Its mil-spec finish was drab and quite frankly ugly. But to my surprise, the Norinco was as reliable as a train. It swallowed anything and everything. After spiffing up the aesthetics by glass beading the frame, polishing the slide flats and some Ed Brown accessories, sights and a pair of double diamond wood grips, I felt very comfortable with this on my hip. Because I did all the work myself, besides the bluing finish, I would draw the line there however because it would defeat my initial 'budget' intention.
I would suggest you firstly determine what your end objective for your purchase is going to be - is it going to be used for plinking, competition shooting or EDC. Do a bit of research on the type of firearm you're interested in and check out all its pros and cons. Make your decision based on the/your best outcome.
Needless to say, if it's for your protection - 'buy the best reliable brand that you can afford'
Good luck and happy hunting!

 

[Bender]

Very true, I bought a RIA FS GI a few years back and it has turned out to be a terrific gun. I like nice guns, but I have a hard time justifying spending more than $1200-$1500 on a 1911. You can improve a $600.00 RIA for little money. The frames, slides and barrels are good quality parts that you can strip the original finish from and then hot rust blue for $20.00 and a pair of nice, custom grips and you have a good shooting, nice looking gun for $600 and a few bucks (I paid $479.00 for mine). I shoot 230 gr. FMJs out of mine, it shoots every time, I can put 8 rounds in the head of a silhouette target at 25 ft. I use it as my DC and if I'm ever involved in a shooting it won't hurt$$ to turn it into the PD as part of the investigation. I put one together for my son and I'm now finishing up a couple of oak and leather gun cases for us.

Personally, the value of a pistol has no impact upon what I carry. If I have a pistol confiscated, the idea of a good pistol sitting in an evidence bin will be the last thing I'll be concerned with. I am going to use the best tool for the job that I have.

 

[pistolpete]

I would use a Colt or SA at least. Colt if possible. Especially if planning on spending a good sum on it. You may plan on never selling it but, what if? The difference in cost won't be more than a couple hundred bucks between a Colt and an RIA.

 

[Bender]

I've been thinking this over a bit.

If one wants to learn the ways of the 1911, as in do some work on their own, this may make sense. A guy could get a acceptable, working pistol, at a lower price point. This would, in fact, lower the cost of learning. If one was setting out to do that, a lower-cost pistol would make a lot of sense, to a point. And that point is many of the lower cost 1911s simply aren't machined to a quality standard or to original specs. This might cause more issues and could be troublesome for a new home builder.

There is also the point to be made about the cost of this investment. A lower cost pistol is not going to retain its value that a Colt or Springfield would. If viewed from simply a learning experience, the investment idea would not carry a great deal of weight, in my opinion.

There are a few very talented home Smith that I keep an eye on. MosinVirus, PJ and AzPoolGuy are a few that come to mind. It would be great to hear their opinions.

 

[azpoolguy]

If resale is a concern then I would start at the Springfield Mil-Spec price point and then go to a Colt from their. I have heard some guys complain about Caspian frames and slide as budget builds versus JEM also. If you just want to learn basic smithing and the price of entry is a concern then go for a budget pistol. But it may or may not be to spec but then you run that risk with a Colt or Springfield as well. You just have a higher likelihood of getting a better starting point with a Colt.

It if you want to build something to shoot go for it. I shoot an expnensive Glock better then any of my custom 1911s. Have you seen the amount of money some guys put into Glocks? They are supposed to be perfection to begin with.

 

[ThePlumber]

If one wants to learn the ways of the 1911, as in do some work on their own, this may make sense. A guy could get a acceptable, working pistol, at a lower price point.

That is what I told my brother, after we went to the U with @Joe C

Get a cheap base and just go to town on it. That will have to wait until I have the time, though.

 

[awp101]

I'm glad this has generated some real discussion with brand snobbery (which is sometimes justified) taking a backseat.

My personal starting point if I were buying a new pistol to be sent out for a light fluff and buff and reliability package would be one of the Ruger offerings. Looking at something used in that price range I'd start with a SA or Colt or a used Ruger can be had in the new RIA price range.

If I'm doing a mostly stock build myself and not sending it out for anything, I'd look at the Fusion line of kits. I've tried a RIA build kit and it's *OK* but still beyond my level of patience.

If I were sending a bare frame and slide out, it would be a JEM.