The Secret to running a 1911
The 1911 Pistol is one of the most popular competition pistols in the shooting industry and on the firing range. Not only is it about nostalgia, but the 1911 is one of the most tweakable and customizable handguns you can own. Shooting a 45acp is not always the easiers, but you will have more fun reloading 45acp than any other caliber if you are a target shooter.
One of the biggest reasons people love shooting 1911s is the consistant trigger pull, I realize that the same can be said for Glock enthusiasts and they would also be correct. We won’t argue about thumb or grip safeties vs trigger safeties here, but there is a big advantage over anyone that tries to target shoot with a DA/SA pistol vs a 1911 or Glock. Consistant trigger pulls means zero adjustment and better accuracy. The secret to getting your 1911 to feed ammo correct is using Wilson Combat or Chip McCormick Magazines.
Suggestion for CCW are always need to be preceded by “for what environment”. Yes defending yourself from a BG is why you are carrying, but there are so many ways to carry a firearm that there is not a do everything gun. We don’t want to carry the smallest capacity and caliber into known hostile environments, but we have to be careful we aren’t overdueing it. What do I mean? I know what to look for when I am wondering if somebody might be packing. I’ve seen gangsters and drug dealers adjust their pants in the same spot and seem to move things which is a dead giveaway that they are packing.
With the advent of the accessorized rifle or carbine, people are putting so many things on rifles these days that need to be screwed on, locked in, and battery operated that Murphys law has some really cold things to say about this. Every screw on your carbine is going to come loose at some point and every battery operated device will fail at some point. I’ve seen a lot of accessories that fit in the pistol grip, buttstock or other areas and this is nice for some purposes, but any of those operators were spending more than a day with their setup, they find that they aren’t carrying enough tools sand gear on their guns to get through 48hrs of hard use.
Promag and Mec-Gar make decent magazines, I wouldn’t suggest them as primary magazines, but factory new magazines can be pricey. I would suggest regardless of which number of magazines you are normally carrying, keep 3 or 4 range mags for each handgun you own.
There are several well known secondary rifle and pistol magazines, but Factory magazines are usually the best to obtain. Factory magazines are made by the companies that manufactur the firearms and that’s usually where you’ll get the best magazines. There are exceptions to the rule with rifles. Magpul isn’t making firearms, but they do one heck of a job of making a reliable and durable rifle magazine. Sturm Ruger is the largest firearm manfacturer in the United States. They make more guns and sell more guns than anybody else.
Any experienced and well trainied CCW holder will tell you that it may be wise to change your holster or carry gun during the change in seasons. I’ve spotted more than a few CCW holders out in the open when it was pretty obvious that the machismo took the best of them and they just had to keep carrying that 1911 IWB at 5 o’clock in the summer months as they were 5’7″ and didn’t realize that when they were standing in line at the super market that I could see the T-shirt bunched up around the belt line.
Promag magazines have gone through the decades being one of the top end of the replacement or after marketa magazines and they are still holding up. Pistol reliability has drastically increased over the last 15yrs and so has the machining and manufacturer of rifle and pistol magazines. Whether you have a Keltec P32 or a Mini 14, you can find Promag magazines at a reasonable price and use them for primary or secondary uses. During the assautl weapons ban of 1994 until the sunset of the ban, 
The concealed carry market is exploding with various tactical apparel and holster designs. Most gun owners that are not in law enforcement have the ability to select whichever firearm suits there comfort level and that will change depending on the environement they are in. Sometimes the idea of getting a $150 or higher shoulder holster sounds like fun and you can announce to everyone in the room that you are carrying a full size handgun, but that’s not really concealment. It’s hard to really give suggestions on what is best for concealment, because some of the best shooters I know carry a small auto or revolver in a pocket and I wouldn’t want to mess with them.
We we get into discussions with people that are looking for clothing that doesn’t make them look like they are carrying a gun, we listen to what the customer has to say and then we give them some options. We realize that dressing all tactical and clipping a folding knife onto a front pocket is usually a giveaway, but there is more to think about other than “what if they think I look like I carry a gun”. Well, how many times have you seen an Obama hippy pot smoking hippy with a camoflauge jacket on or cutoff camo pants? Does he look like he’s easy prey for a robber?
Some users like to bash the clip on holster designs and the reality is that a clip on isn’t as secure as a paddle or belt design, but if you match the right belt to a holter, it is a fine CCW option, especially if you are going to be taking the gun and holster off while you are out. I personally prefer the vertical shoulder holster design, but I’ve been tempted to wear the Galco Miami Classic holster on occassion. They are defanitely one of the nicest shoulder holsters out there.