For our first anniversary, my wife decided to let me buy my first hand gun. I took several months deciding first on a budget, second how much over my budget could I go without breaking the bank. Then finally which hand gun should be my first. After some time, I fell in love with the Moses M Browning designed "1911." Most people know it as a ".45" or "the Colt .45." Simplistic design, smooth functioning, and 75 years of continual use as our military's hand gun of choice won my appreciation and made it my first love in hand guns.
Even though I had narrowed down the field to a particular design, I still had many options. Browning designed the 1911 in the late 1890's. He had been successful in selling rifle designs to Winchester and Fabrique Nationale of Belgium. And with a great knowledge of design and manufacturing capability he set out to design a pistol that would use the expended gases leaving the cartridge to cycle the gun, effectively a "semi" automatic, or Auto reloader. Through expensive testing and design two new creations came forth, the .45 acp cartridge, and the m1911 that would fire them. From 1911 to 1985 the M1911 and the m1911a were the service hand gun of the us military.
In recent history 1911's popularity has grown. Since 1985 when the military changed to the Beretta 92 f and f/s model, the public has demanded that more and more gun manufacturer's make 1911's. In war times, Colt, Springfield, were the largest suppliers of 1911's and other companies such as Remington Rand, Singer sewing, and Ithica Gun Company, and Union Switch Signal also produced a limited number of 1911's. Today Springfield, Colt, Kimber, Rock Island Armory, Remington, Para Ordinance, Smith & Wesson, Sig Sauer, Taurus, STI, all produce significant quantities, not to mention the many many custom makers that produce incredibly high quality versions.
With all of these options and for as long as the weapon has been manufactured one would suppose that the cost of a 1911 has declined to a low cost weapon. Take into account the relative simplicity of the design, in the simple mind of the consumer there should be no reason why a 1911 should be considered an expensive weapon to own.
Yet this seems to be another surprise all 1911 owners must deal with. Their are different levels of quality but the average price for a model slightly better than the M1911a military version is about $800-900. Comparable Polymer guns such as the Glock can be had for between $600-700. Prices go up, and up from there, a slightly less custom version of the Kimber used by the LA SWAT team retails for over $1,200. The Springfield TRP Operator with Full Rail I purchased Used still cost over $1,500. (6 years ago.) And Fully Custom competition models can easily cost over $5,000.
Once I had my gun, I needed everything to go with it. First on my list was a holster. It seemed logical to me that you would need a holster for a gun. How else would you carry it at a shooting range? I searched the internet for days. I found that my TRP Operator with the Full Length Rail was somewhat unique. Many 1911's had 3/4 rails that would end about an inch before the end of the Barrel, but mine continued all the way to the end. I loved it. It was the single biggest reason I choose this 1911. I didn't know anything about Springfield, or TRP, or any thing else. All I needed to know was that I liked my gun.
Because of the long rail, I could not find a holster that would accommodate my gun. After much searching, I came to the conclusion that I would need have a custom holster made if it was so important for me to have a holster. The Cost was a little more than I wanted to spend, and I worried that I would not get what I wanted. This was a somewhat rare gun, how many holster makers would have a mold to use to make it in the first place. I resolved that it would be better if I could just make my own. I looked up Tandy Leather in Clovis Ca, and drove there the next Saturday and asked for everything I would need to make a holster. I bought some leather, shears, some thread and needles, and also 2 books. "How to sew by hand" and "How to make a holster" both by Al Stohlman I think. I spent $100. That week I made 4 holsters.
They were all crap, and I have destroyed them all.
The next Saturday, I went back and spent another $300. And to this day I can not leave the store without spending at least $100. I continued to make holsters, for my gun, for close friends and family. Some of those holsters I have confiscated due to how terrible they are. Most just have specific instructions to just stay put away till I'm really famous, and they might be worth something. About a year after I started I made the Black and Brown one on the front page. That was the first holster I was happy with. I call it my #1 and I still wear it every time I go to the range.
Even though I had narrowed down the field to a particular design, I still had many options. Browning designed the 1911 in the late 1890's. He had been successful in selling rifle designs to Winchester and Fabrique Nationale of Belgium. And with a great knowledge of design and manufacturing capability he set out to design a pistol that would use the expended gases leaving the cartridge to cycle the gun, effectively a "semi" automatic, or Auto reloader. Through expensive testing and design two new creations came forth, the .45 acp cartridge, and the m1911 that would fire them. From 1911 to 1985 the M1911 and the m1911a were the service hand gun of the us military.
In recent history 1911's popularity has grown. Since 1985 when the military changed to the Beretta 92 f and f/s model, the public has demanded that more and more gun manufacturer's make 1911's. In war times, Colt, Springfield, were the largest suppliers of 1911's and other companies such as Remington Rand, Singer sewing, and Ithica Gun Company, and Union Switch Signal also produced a limited number of 1911's. Today Springfield, Colt, Kimber, Rock Island Armory, Remington, Para Ordinance, Smith & Wesson, Sig Sauer, Taurus, STI, all produce significant quantities, not to mention the many many custom makers that produce incredibly high quality versions.
With all of these options and for as long as the weapon has been manufactured one would suppose that the cost of a 1911 has declined to a low cost weapon. Take into account the relative simplicity of the design, in the simple mind of the consumer there should be no reason why a 1911 should be considered an expensive weapon to own.
Yet this seems to be another surprise all 1911 owners must deal with. Their are different levels of quality but the average price for a model slightly better than the M1911a military version is about $800-900. Comparable Polymer guns such as the Glock can be had for between $600-700. Prices go up, and up from there, a slightly less custom version of the Kimber used by the LA SWAT team retails for over $1,200. The Springfield TRP Operator with Full Rail I purchased Used still cost over $1,500. (6 years ago.) And Fully Custom competition models can easily cost over $5,000.
Once I had my gun, I needed everything to go with it. First on my list was a holster. It seemed logical to me that you would need a holster for a gun. How else would you carry it at a shooting range? I searched the internet for days. I found that my TRP Operator with the Full Length Rail was somewhat unique. Many 1911's had 3/4 rails that would end about an inch before the end of the Barrel, but mine continued all the way to the end. I loved it. It was the single biggest reason I choose this 1911. I didn't know anything about Springfield, or TRP, or any thing else. All I needed to know was that I liked my gun.
Because of the long rail, I could not find a holster that would accommodate my gun. After much searching, I came to the conclusion that I would need have a custom holster made if it was so important for me to have a holster. The Cost was a little more than I wanted to spend, and I worried that I would not get what I wanted. This was a somewhat rare gun, how many holster makers would have a mold to use to make it in the first place. I resolved that it would be better if I could just make my own. I looked up Tandy Leather in Clovis Ca, and drove there the next Saturday and asked for everything I would need to make a holster. I bought some leather, shears, some thread and needles, and also 2 books. "How to sew by hand" and "How to make a holster" both by Al Stohlman I think. I spent $100. That week I made 4 holsters.
They were all crap, and I have destroyed them all.
The next Saturday, I went back and spent another $300. And to this day I can not leave the store without spending at least $100. I continued to make holsters, for my gun, for close friends and family. Some of those holsters I have confiscated due to how terrible they are. Most just have specific instructions to just stay put away till I'm really famous, and they might be worth something. About a year after I started I made the Black and Brown one on the front page. That was the first holster I was happy with. I call it my #1 and I still wear it every time I go to the range.
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