Reeder Custom Guns - Consensus on Compact .45

What is the opinion on compact 1911 platform .45's. I hear both the negative and positive on the internet (imagine that). Some say the slide is too short to reliably eject spent casings and some are finicky about which ammo they will shoot. Looking at one of the Kimber 3" barrel compacts.

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hold on it, you have a strong chance of it jamming. We get folks in our gun shop quite often with problems with the short barreled 1911s and jamming. And 99% of the time it is because they are trying to shoot it with one hand or they are scared of it and are limp wristing it.

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works.

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day. No problems with feeding or ejection issues and have even fired them one handed. That said they are not comfortable guns to shoot extensively.

I have two friends with the new Smith and Wesson Shields one in 9mm and the other in 40 S&W and the grips on both of these guns are just to small for my hands. I can not fire a second shot with out completely re-gripping the gun.

It would be best to test fire before buying. I have rather large hands and the double stack frame of the WARTHOG seems to work fine for me, but the slim single stack compacts do not.

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I haven’t had any problems with my Colt Defender with factory magazines. However, I really wish Colt had done some rounding off and smoothing of sharp corners, especially on the slide. It ‘s really hard on leather holsters. So far it’s been a great carry gun and shooter.

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A lot less chance of "limp wristing" it which seems to occur mostly with the shorter barreled guns.

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a Ruger SR1911 Commander in all steel. It seems to be just a bit heavy. I'm paying the price since I wanted an all steel gun. It's a great gun , has most bells and whistles from the factory that most guys want and I haven't added anything yet, only thing I may add is night sights. A laser grip sounds and looks cool but may be more hassle than it is worth, great intimidation factor though.

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For a production gun. If you want a Cadillac, have Gary build you one how you want it.

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a Kimber CDPII with the 3 in barrel. I only shoot FMJ in it as it has a tendency to have issues with HP ammo. Other than that a 75 year old can shoot it albeit not comfortably. My other short barreled .45 is a Springfield Armory GI model micro. At least it started out that way. It was just flat out uncomfortable to shoot as the grip safety bit into the webbing on my hand. I replaced the trigger, grip safety, hammer and sear spring. I still had a few problems with it so I sent it to Kase Reeder. He worked his magic on it and now it is one of my most trusted guns. It is blued steel so it weighs more than the kimber and needs a holster on the belt for support. It cannot be carried in a coat pocket concealed. I shoot FMJ in it as well as I have almost always used FMJ as that was all I carried in the Navy (Seabees). I know for a fact that FMJ will put a man down just as good as any other 230 grain bullet moving at 800+ fps. This is just my experience with the guns that you asked about. It is only valid for me, but I like the one that Kase worked over. If I could get my money out of the Kimber I would.

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Consensus on Compact .45

on a short barreled 45 1911 if you don't put a good solid

On the other hand, the Colt Commander is the right size and

One reason I stayed with a SS frame vs alloy. Reliability.

I have had 3 Para Ordnance P10 Warthogs and carry one every

Colt Defender

I would stay with a Commander length barrel.

I currently have

I’m finding it hard to fault my Ruger Lw commander type

I have two micro .45's. The first is