Best overall pistol for my scenario?

Jerry also does custom WC, LB, etc., doesn't he? :foot: Unless a specific circumstance warrants my carrying it, it will mainly for home defense.

Anyways, here's my request to Jerry:

EB Kobra 5" barrel in Stainless Steel
No engravings on either side of the slide
Custom rib on top of slide
Flush barrel crown
2 extra magazines
"LAST NAME" engraved on the bushing
Recessed slide stop

Any other suggestions? Adjustable night sight?
 
Night sights are great imo. Not a fan of adjustables. Then again, I don't think I've ever seen adjustable night sights. Heh. I suggest Heinie Straight 8s. Assuming whoever teaches you to shoot teaches front site focus, the Straight 8s will be fine and less distraction in your peripheral vision than 3 dots.

And I like this commonly expressed gun adage, "Beware the man with one gun for he probably knows how to use it."
 
Ed brown Kobra carry or full sized would be my recommendation for a 1911 with that big of a budget but anything over 1k is going to be nice. I also like the HK 45C but I like American made 1911's more.

Edit: just saw what you ordered above. Nice choice, I'm jealous. Looks like you and I have the same taste in guns.
 
Last edited:
Also, I'd go for an ambi safety. If you're gonna train, you might as well train to shoot weak hand only. Ambi safety will make it easier to disengage the safety if you practice picking the gun up with the weak hand only.
 
knifenut1013 said:
Actually velocity is directly related to bullet weight. Chamber pressure stays the same. Recoil is a transfer of mass, what you are pushing out is pushing back. Yes, the faster its moving typically means more recoil but that goes back to moving mass. The bullet weight changes but you still cannot exceed the max chamber pressure for the cartridge.
Click to expand...

I believe we are on the same page with this, we were just isolating different variables. I'll amend my statement and I think we will agree.

What I should have said to make it as clear as possible is; Recoil is a factor of bullet weight COMBINED with bullet velocity, and velocity is a factor of chamber pressure COMBINED with bullet weight. Also you say,"Recoil is a transfer of mass". Recoil is a transfer of energy felt in the form of momentum. The gun's mass stays the same. The semi-auto absorbs a portion of the energy through the slide, recoil spring and shooter. Almost all the energy is absorbed by the shooter with a revolver.

Chamber pressure is a factor of chamber dimensions, powder charges, burn rates, friction from the surface area of the bullet that engages the rifling, etc. Hope this helps.
 
Last edited:
paltak said:
Jerry also does custom WC, LB, etc., doesn't he? :foot: Unless a specific circumstance warrants my carrying it, it will mainly for home defense.

Anyways, here's my request to Jerry:

EB Kobra 5" barrel in Stainless Steel
No engravings on either side of the slide
Custom rib on top of slide
Flush barrel crown
2 extra magazines
"LAST NAME" engraved on the bushing
Recessed slide stop

Any other suggestions? Adjustable night sight?
Click to expand...

Sounds great! I agree with ambidextrous safeties, and the strait eight night sights. I wouldn't go with adjustable knight sites as they can be fragile, you can always adjust your point of impact by changing the height of your front sight. You may want to think about a rear sight with enough ledge on it to be used to cycle the slide one handed using your belt, or shoe, or anything suitable in your environment. Enjoy your beautiful new 1911, IMHO after over 100 years they are unmatched.
 
paltak said:
With that in mind, I know this may sound impractical to some, I want a gun that I will enjoy shooting and take pride in owning.
Click to expand...

That doesn't sound impractical at all. There is a lot of pride in owning a nice 1911, or rifle or shotgun...

paltak said:
I've reached a decision :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup: It will be a custom order with all the options that I want and will take about 9 months. I'm confident I will be very happy with the outcome and I promise to bump this thread with the unboxing.

This thread has been a great journey and learning experience for me. I'm sincerely grateful for sharing your time and knowledge and ultimately leading me to what I feel is the right decision for me. I hope others have also learned a thing or two from this post as well. You guys are a great bunch! Thank you! thank you! thank you!
Click to expand...

It will be a long nine months, but it will be well worth it. I can't wait too see pictures when you get it
 
Thanks again everyone. The ambi safety will be added. I just realized my son is a lefty, in case he takes interest. I also plan to get a .22 convertion kit. Cheers!
 
paltak said:
Thanks again everyone. The ambi safety will be added. I just realized my son is a lefty, in case he takes interest. I also plan to get a .22 convertion kit. Cheers!
Click to expand...

Not sure if you're a 1911 purist and just want wood grips, but I noticed Ed Brown lets you pick VZ grips too, so I suggest you check VZ Grips page and look through their 1911 grips. They have a ton of different styles with different texturing varying from non aggressive to really aggressive. I'm a fan of the alien texturing, but they don't offer it for my gun unfortunately. The diamondbacks are great too, which is what I have on mine. Simonich grips are classic. I had a similar pair of grips from Hogue. Operators are also nice.
 
paltak said:
Thanks again everyone. The ambi safety will be added. I just realized my son is a lefty, in case he takes interest. I also plan to get a .22 convertion kit. Cheers!
Click to expand...

Are you ordering front strap checkering? I have one without and a couple with, and it makes a big difference. The most popular size is 30 lpi. I am use to 20 on the TRP which is really aggressive, too aggressive for some people. I find 30 not to be aggressive enough, maybe because ceramic and teflon finishes smoothes them out some. No worries, you are getting a stainless model so 30 may appeal to you. You can probably order 25 lpi, that would be about perfect. Just a thought.
 
eodtoad said:
Are you ordering front strap checkering? I have one without and a couple with, and it makes a big difference. The most popular size is 30 lpi. I am use to 20 on the TRP which is really aggressive, too aggressive for some people. I find 30 not to be aggressive enough, maybe because ceramic and teflon finishes smoothes them out some. No worries, you are getting a stainless model so 30 may appeal to you. You can probably order 25 lpi, that would be about perfect. Just a thought.
Click to expand...

The EB Kobra and Kobra Carry come with the snakeskin.

Dammit! The Kobra Carry with bobtail looks so sweet :)

@harkamus - I'm not a purist, I'm a newbie, LOL.. I'll make sure to check out the different grips. Thanks!
 
Last edited:
I think olive drab or just straight up black grips would set off the stainless steel nicely. Grips are one of those things that you can get for a gun to provide a little personality. Also, g10 grips are fantastic for grip. I hope VZ makes alien texture grips for the CZ line some day.

Repeatable shot to shot accuracy is a lot easier when you can maintain your grip. A lot of people shoot and constantly adjust their grip because they either have not learned to control recoil, haven't figured out how hard or soft to grip the gun, or just lose grip because of getting sweaty palms. I prefer medium to aggressive texturing, so g10 is my preference.

Also a ledge style rear is great for defensive purposes as was mentioned above. The ledge lets you rack the slide on your belt, shoe, or some hard angled surface in case your arm gets disabled. Yes, it's basically bordering paranoia, but if you need it and have it at the time, it could save your life. That said, I'm not that paranoid. ;)

Straight 8 ledge circled in red:
Heinie_Sights-Ledge.png


Front and rear sites:
341LedgeSE_web.jpg


Sight picture:
s8big2.JPG
 
Last edited:
Also, pick up a bottle of M Pro 7 and M Pro 7 LPX (to oil the gun) or Weaponshield. I like these two products because they are non-toxic. Frog Lube gets good reviews too, but is not as corrosion proof based on the reviews I've read. Frog Lube also works best if you heat your gun up, something I don't really care to do on my own firearms. Just a hassle.

I kinda prefer Weaponshield because M Pro 7 leaves a white residue unless you give it a good wipe down. However, M Pro 7 gets better reviews than Weaponshield based on my research. You can't go wrong with either. My main thing is using stuff that's non-toxic since I'm already dealing with lead from shooting. You will too. Hoppes is great...but that stuff is not good for you.

Ballistol is great too (also non-toxic), but it smells like armpit. Weaponshield is scented like cinnamon. Why? I don't know. M Pro 7 smells more like an actual chemical.

Since I've somewhat derailed this with newbie advice, also pick up a brass bore brush and brass or aluminum rod. Stay away from steel rods and brushes. They can damage the barrel bore over time.
 
I know absolutely nothing about customization and tricked out guns, but I do know that the 1911 is a fine platform, with years and years of battle proven performance. My Dad carried one in WW2, and although he had other firearms, never felt undergunned with it. Enjoy, and like others have said, practice, practice, practice. But that's the fun part anyway!
 
paltak said:
I realize many of you are avid shooters or competitors and that's great and I really value all the feedback. I'll never be either of those but instead I would like to learn the proper basic safety, maintenance, storage, etiquette, and along with some training I can effectively use the gun. I will do plenty of dry fire and go to the range about once a month. I would imagine many gun owners fall under this category, but I want to be a responsible owner above all else.

With that in mind, I know this may sound impractical to some, I want a gun that I will enjoy shooting and take pride in owning.
Click to expand...

you say that now, but odds are good that after it arrives and you start shooting you'll become an avid shooter and start feeling at least a little curious about all this competition stuff everyone's always going on about. stick with the dry fire, it's boring as hell but it makes you improve more (and faster) than anything else as long as you're doing it right (perfect practice makes perfect). don't worry too much about not being a responsible gun owner, you seem conscientious enough that I think you'll be a great gun owner. congrats on your decision, and don't forget to have fun with it after the long, dark expectancy.
 
As for sights I'm currently running Dawson Precision- tritium front sight with plain black "charger" rear. The charger rear sight has the vertical front edge with serrations to aid in charging the gun one handed. I'm hoping that I never need to use that feature... If you don't have any plans to compete then there's no need for adjustable sights.

I can't recommend the front dot, be it tritium or fiber optic, plus plain rear setup highly enough. It is incredibly fast on target, and you naturally focus in the front sight as you should. Despite shooting three dot sights for the previous fifteen years, I now find them slow and cluttered. I've got a dot/post setup on one gun, and I've shot straight eights before. There is no comparison, and all of my working guns will eventually be front dot/plain rear.
 
If all shooting encounters happened in day time in a brightly lit area, I'd definitely prefer dot front, blacked out rear.

Statistically speaking, most actual shooting encounters take place at night or in dimly lit areas. At least in my mind, having a one-dot or two-dot rear site will help in sight alignment.

Yes, the best case scenario is that you have a light with you to blind the sucker, but you won't always have that unless you mount a light to the gun.

EDIT: Scratch that. The best case scenario is that you have a light to blind the sucker and a laser sight like the Crimson Trace grips. Assuming you have the trigger control down pat, the laser will make sighting quickest if the perp is still advancing after a couple hundred lumens to the eyes. A laser won't help if you jerk the trigger. Seen it way too many times on the range. New shooters thinking they're all that and a bag of chips with lasers. The worst ones are the ones that miss the target or end up hitting the target in the next lane. So much for lasers when you don't have the fundamentals down.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top