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AR15.COM
12/18/2008 12:01:29 PM EDT
Which 1911 would you buy for carry?

I've been told that bull barrel is more maintenance and less reliable than barrels with bushings. How true of a statement is this? Obviously, the Colt has 4.25" barrel with bushing, and Kimber has 4" bull barrel without bushing. Looking to get both in stainless steel.

This gun will be carried but also won't be treated like a queen... which is why I'm considering both in stainless steel instead of aluminium frame.
12/18/2008 12:06:41 PM EDT
[#1]
Quoted:
Which 1911 would you buy for carry?

I've been told that bull barrel is more maintenance and less reliable than barrels with bushings. How true of a statement is this? Obviously, the Colt has 4.25" barrel with bushing, and Kimber has 4" bull barrel without bushing. Looking to get both in stainless steel.

This gun will be carried but also won't be treated like a queen... which is why I'm considering both in stainless steel instead of aluminium frame.



The Kimber Compact will be more concealable, being on an officers frame, but you'll lose one round capacity.

I've not heard anything about bull barrels being unreliable.  My IPSC gun is a bull barrel, and I've not had any trouble with that.

I'd probably go with the Kimber for concealability, but this is going to come down to personal preference as much as anything.
12/18/2008 1:49:41 PM EDT
[#2]
The bushingless bull barrel is fine, don't worry about it. On the other hand, going to a short gripped officers frame doesn't get you much concealability and loses capacity and grip. If you have a nice FBI cant on your holster, you can conceal a full gripped 1911 very easily.

I had a Kimber Compact and moved up to a Kimber Procarry HD. Be sure to change out recoil springs as per the manuf recomendations. I didn't on my Compact and cracked the slide and frame. You can bet I change the springs on my Procarry every 800 rounds.

Gringop
12/18/2008 1:57:17 PM EDT
[#3]
The Colt Commander XSE would be my choice.
12/18/2008 1:58:08 PM EDT
[#4]
Colt FTW
12/18/2008 2:00:59 PM EDT
[#5]
COLT.
12/18/2008 2:02:04 PM EDT
[#6]
Kimber Compact was too small for my hands.

I went with the Kimber Pro Tactical II in .45.

The Colt was nice, but I preferred the bells and whistles that came standard on the Kimber.