E228: The 1911 – Love, Hate, Myth, Practicality, and Best Basics

In this episode, Justin Carroll drops back by to talk about the 1911 pistol. The US government paid a LOT of money teaching him to depend on one. And he shares real-world use lessons learned.

For those who don’t know, he’s a former Marine Recon, Marine special operations, and former government alphabet soup guy who ran a 1911 and many other guns for a living.

So Justin has just a wee bit of experience with what works and what doesn’t. And today he’s going to share with us some basics about the reality of depending on one and must have options for neophytes.

The 1911 pistol is a deep part American lore. If you’re a child of the 70’s and 80’s, you probably have at least one grandfather who used one in war. And your dad might have used one in a “conflict” and most likely had a 1911 as his one go-to handgun for home defense. For this reason, many of us lust after them even though we’re converts to the Tupperware warrior guns like the Glock.

But there’s still that lust begging to be satiated. So today we talk all things 1911 so you can decide if it’s right for you and what to look for.

The 1911 For Beginners Topics Discussed:

• The number one must-have feature on a 1911
• John Browning’s invention Vs. the modern striker fired pistols
• The secret to how the US Marines keep their pistols running in top condition
• Understanding the limitations and setting expectations
• High-end custom 1911s
• Off the shelf Vs. DYI
• Different types of sites and why ledges are important
• Why night-sites
• Skeletonized hammers
• Skeletonized triggers
• Justin’s essential feature list
• Pistol sites
• Beaver safeties

Episode Resources:

• Justin’s Revolver Blog – The Revolver Guy
• The Revolvers for Survival Episode
• Gunsmith Course mentioned in this episode
• Book mentioned: Survival Guns by Mel Tapin