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9mm 1911 reliabilty

Sld1959

Sld1959

Hellcat
I have shot 1911s for better than 50 years, but always in .45 acp. Until I bought the Browning .380 1911 which has been very reliable. Since dropping down in calibers due to arthritis and I sold my .45s, I have still had the yen for a 1911, which my .380 kinda scratched.

With it coming up on cooler weather I have begun thinking on a 9mm 1911. The two I have rather zeroed in on are the EMP 4" and the 4.25 Ronin.

I am kind of leaning to the Ronin, simply because I am not sure the EMP is that much better than the Ronin, but have never owned or known anyone with a full sized or commander size 9mm. But I have read or heard over the years how the 9mm has reliability issues in the 1911.

So, any experiences good or bad with 9mm 1911s. Especially reliability wise. Have they gotten to the point where they are worth putting everything on the line with?

And yeah, I have considered going to the striker Darkseid, but not ready to give up on the 1911 just yet.
 
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Sld1959 said:
I have shot 1911s for better than 50 years, but always in .45 acp. Until I bought the Browning .380 1911 which has been very reliable. Since dropping down in calibers due to arthritis and I sold my .45s, I have still had the yen for a 1911, which my .380 kinda scratched.

With it coming up on cooler weather I have begun thinking on a 9mm 1911. The two I have rather zeroed in on are the EMP 4" and the 4.25 Ronin.

I am kind of leaning to the Ronin, simply because I am not sure the EMP is that much better than the Ronin, but have never owned or known anyone with a full sized or commander size 9mm. But I have read or heard over the years how the 9mm has reliability issues in the 1911.

So, any experiences good or bad with 9mm 1911s. Especially reliability wise. Have they gotten to the point where they are worth putting everything on the line with?

And yeah, I have considered going to the striker Darkseid, but not ready to give up on the 1911 just yet.
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I am absolutely no expert but the Striker Darkside (I love that!) with it’s longish and , to me at least, ‘scratchier’ trigger pull just might turn out to be more of an aggravation to your arthritis than the 1911. Just depends on you and your particular situation. But the S&W EZ 9mm is something I’ve seriously considered.

Far as reliability, my Rock Island Ultra 1911 ( full size) in 9milly is fine to shoot. I’ve had no hiccups with it beyond the break in, and even that was totally minimal ( probably with some minor operator error thrown in - it was my 2nd 1911, very soon after my first)…. If RIA can make a good one, I’m sure Spgfld Ronin would be fine !
( I don’t know anything about EMPs. I have a Ronin though. Terrific shooter).
There’s also that muscle memory stuff. Would your arthritis be patient learning a (kinda) new toy ?
 
My Springfield Range Officer Operator and my Kimber Duel Tone 1911's are both 9mm, had just a few bobbles at first with the Kimber, but once I got some rounds through it, no issues so far. I just figured they just need broke in, so I don't think to much on reliability till after I get about 500 rounds through these pistols.
 
Annihilator said:
My Springfield Range Officer Operator and my Kimber Duel Tone 1911's are both 9mm, had just a few bobbles at first with the Kimber, but once I got some rounds through it, no issues so far. I just figured they just need broke in, so I don't think to much on reliability till after I get about 500 rounds through these pistols.
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I’ve got the Range Officer Target in 9mm as well and have never had the least bit of trouble with it. It is crazy accurate and really soft on your hands. I don’t think you can go wrong with the Ronin. Have you looked at the lightweight Ronin with the aluminum frame?
 
I have owned a RIA "Tactical" 9mm, a RIA .22TCM/9mm wide body, a Colt Lightweight Commander 9mm, and a Range Officer Lightweight Compact.

The only one I had actual problems with was the Colt; it shot patterns, not groups. Pretty sure it had either a bad crown or really poor barrel fitment, but either way, I didn't feel like getting to the bottom of it...it was completely reliable, feeding wise, though.

The RIA Tac had a few teething issues, but worked through it fairly quickly...occasional FTRB's, didn't like to feed JHP's until I put about 300 rounds of ball through it. The wide body doesn't care for 147gr loads, but runs like a champ with 124's and 115's...so I really don't think that's a major issue.

The LWRO is a dandy little piece. It was likely on its way to becoming my EDC until I picked up my Wilson X9. No issues other than on single failure to lock back on empty about 250 rounds in, and I think that was caused by the cheap factory mags (I run Wilson ETM's for carry).
 
My only 9mm 1911 is a Commander by Citadel (owned by Rock Island Armory). The Citadel is a basic no-frills Filipino 1911, and it has been 100% reliable. If Rock Island's off-brand can produce reliable 9mm 1911's, then I have no doubt that Springfield can pull it off.
 
wmg1299 said:
My only 9mm 1911 is a Commander by Citadel (owned by Rock Island Armory). The Citadel is a basic no-frills Filipino 1911, and it has been 100% reliable. If Rock Island's off-brand can produce reliable 9mm 1911's, then I have no doubt that Springfield can pull it off.
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Slight correction--Armscor is the parent company of RIA and Citadel; Citadel is actually the fancier brand, and RIA is the budget line.

I think they all come out of the same facility, and are built by the same people, though.
 
HansGruber said:
Slight correction--Armscor is the parent company of RIA and Citadel; Citadel is actually the fancier brand, and RIA is the budget line.

I think they all come out of the same facility, and are built by the same people, though.
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…and from what I can tell, RIA is the better known and perhaps more prolific of the two.
 
TidalWave said:
…and from what I can tell, RIA is the better known and perhaps more prolific of the two.
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They’ve been in the US longer; I think the first RIA 1911’s showed up about 15-20 years ago…I think I bought my first RIA—the baseline GI model—for $329 in 2003 or so.

Citadel starting showing up 5-10 years ago?

I remember Armscor 2911’s being around in the ‘90’s, but then they changed branding to Charles Daly briefly.

FWIW, Armscor/Charles Daly High Powers are some of the best non-FN versions made. I’ve got one sitting in the safe that’s going to get customized one of these days…
 
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