Who carries one and your thoughts?
Our turkey patterning turned into pistol shooting this afternoon. Only gun I shot well was my brother’s 1911.
It got me thinking.

Ask Shaw. He ended with my compact 1911 after some horse trading.

I've heard reliability often drops off once you get smaller than a commander length.

I carry a kimber ultra 2. I love it. Haven’t had any issues with reliability. I shoot 185’s mostly, helps with the recoil.

The lightweight commander 4.25 inch is small as you would want.

Is it still considered a compact when a Keebler elf holds the gun?

I’ve never carried it, but I shoot it better than any other pistol I own. Mine isn’t technically a compact though. I believe it would be considered more of a commander. It has a 4” barrel, but it’s the standard height.

My Kimber Super Carry Pro is the most accurate centerfire handgun I've ever shot and carries very well. As for concealment, the rounded butt is a must. Aluminum frame and steel slide make it a great carry piece from a weight standpoint but a high quality holster is a must to get it all the way there.

I have a Colt Defender 45acp that has functioned flawlessly using Wilson Combat magazines. The factory Colt Mags suck!

Lots of compact 1911 pistols have a reputation for function issues. If you buy a Sig or a Kimber, those are not a factor.

A Glock 36 is the best compact 1911 sized pistol I have found. I've owned several new 1911's and just got tired of having to "tweek" them to get them to go bang every time.

I had a Springfield EMP that was a great shooter. Only thing it didn’t shoot was some reloads. Really hate I sold that one.

glocks are ugly, have no soul, and the company owner is a major POS who cheated his own family out of millions. I will never buy a new one, and I won't own a used one for longer than it takes me to trade it.

Good 1911 pistols require no "tweaking" to run correctly. They may, however, need a few hundred rounds to wear in the parts, which I do anyway with any CCW that I buy.

glocks generally don't need this, as they are deliberately made to slack tolerances, similar to AK rifles, which also suck and are ugly.

All that may be true but any stock Glock will have a much less percentage of failures compared to any stock 1911. I would also be willing to bet that a known Glock would fire a lot more rounds without any mishap,than any known,custom or whatever 1911. My little 36 has never in nearly 20 years failed to go bang when I pulled the trigger.

I just got a kimber pro carry custom shop1911 .45 in a big trade and thinking about moving it if you’re interested let me know. I can send you some pics

If the price is right this is THE 1911 for a carry piece.

Have one also

I don't carry it but have had a Colt Officers's Model for about 10 years. Heavy, limited rounds, challenging to shoot in that it takes me a couple of magazines to adjust to it after shooting the full sized guns. reliability has always been good, accuracy is great after I get it dialed in. Weight is a factor.We all open carry at Larry's and joke about you can tell who has a 1911 on that day because they have to stop every few steps and pull their pants up.

I don't know how many I have been around and shot going to be in the hundreds and hundreds but once you go smaller than a commander your reliability goes down I don't care who's name is engraved on the side of it .... even if it says Les Baer. I seems like they all feed ball ammo but I've seen a lot of jamming going on with one particular round vs another.... the more compact you get the more those issues crop up.

I too carry a Kimber ultra carry 2 and have zero bad things to say , it eats every thing I have run thru it. ,