Agreed on all points.
I love 1911s. I used to carry a commander length Sig model.
I love the way they look, and I think they feel great. I'm probably going to get another for shooting in the "heavy metal " 3 gun class.
All that being said, nearly any modern striker fired pistol is going to perform better.
I also wouldn't want to be relying on 7 rounds of .45 for bear defense (depending on species and region).
If you want something that truly always works, and is adequate for bear, why not a glock in 10mm?

 

Although I wasn't specifically referring to reliability, in 38 years of shooting 1911s, I've never had any significant reliability issues. That said, I've always owned Colt, SA, or Kimber. Worn out magazines and springs past their service life are usually the culprit, though the early Kimber firing pin safeties were problematic. And we're not just talking casual shooting... competition, training, etc. At peak, over 5k rounds/yr.

What I was really referring to was the overall design. Pointability, good trigger, ergonomics, reasonably low barrel axis, etc. John Browning knew what he was doing, and in capable hands, it's hard to beat a 1911. There's a reason they still dominate in the competition classes where the rules don't favor striker guns. And they're still a valid choice for personal defense.

Nothing wrong with striker guns... I have a couple M&Ps I like a lot. Never liked the extreme grip angle of the Glock, though. And most shooters can't properly grip the large frames (20, 21).

Really, they're all just tools... if capacity is a necessary element, a 1911 probably won't be on your list. Speaking of mission, for bear, I'd be looking toward a .357 or larger revolver. .45acp doesn't pack the kind of punch I'd be looking for to stop a bear up close...

 

For bears I'd skip the 1911. I wouldnt want to trust my life to one and 45 isnt a very good anti bear caliber. 10mm or some over 30 caliber rifle cartridge, even 300lbk out a 3" barrel would work.

 

When I visited Kodiak, the local sporting goods store recommended a 45-70 guide rifle.

 

Not too many grizzlies in NY thankfully.

 

For the occasional bear encounter I prefer crew served anti-tank weapons and light armored vehicles. Anything less is foolish.

 

https://www.range365.com/best-bear-defense-handgun

No actual experience here, but I have an article archived that I've reference or linked in the past. All of this discussion assumes of course that you've taken the time to ACTUALLY THINK ABOUT what you're gonna do in a bear scenario. I replay things like this in my mind periodically. True, no grizzlies where I hunt, but thick with black bears. If you've never thought about what to do, you'll panic and after the first shot with your bolt-action, you'll try to cycle the action to get another shot while he closes the distance and is on top of you... dead.

But hte most important thing of all, completely outside of what caliber you bring, is that in order to use your pistol, you have to transition to it in time to actually use it.

Watch this video... Callahan fires a warning shot in front of the bear and rechambers in record time... how many people practice realoading like that? And then the bear comes into the camera's view... if the bear hadn't turned, he'd have had time to fire one more before the bear was on top of them, no time to transition to a pistol.

 

"Shoulda shot him a long time ago"... this was a guy with no plan.

 

Hunting bear with a recurve bow in open country is a plan... for suicide!

 

I have to believe he was just walking up the road to his treestand in the woods and saw the bear through all that logging scraps... nowhere to go. Nobody would be dumb enough to spot&stalk a black bear with a recurve down a damned road. EDIT: just read some of the comments... somebody said he was out hunting birds.

Problem is, unless you are a professional trapper or have some other occupation that puts you in country in a professional capacity, it's illegal to carry a handgun in Canada for wilderness defense. Also, I gotta assume he's not allowed more than one weapon on his person for whatever the season is... so he can't carry a bow AND a rifle.

Tabarnac!

Using a Firearm for Wilderness Protection - Royal Canadian Mounted Police

 

Just noticed that Schuyler in the past couple days added $20 the prices of their Aero lowers...
https://www.schuylerarmsco.com/fall-...-lowers-41-993

But Brownells still has them on bulk sale:
https://gun.deals/product/ar-15-gen-...o-precision-59

And PSA is holding strong at $39.99
https://palmettostatearmory.com/psa-...fire-1728.html

Prices on AR10 (thankfully DPMS-style finally won the platform war) stuff has also come way down in the past 6 months or so. I spent nearly $1000 dollars on my very modest .308 about 6 years ago... recreating it now would be about half if I skimped on the barrel.

 

Sixshooter with sixshooter circa 2018.

See also Halloween

 

https://gun.deals/product/bushnell-t...m-multi-x-6997
This is a crazy good deal if you're in the market for a no-frills bolt-action scope. Local Walmart here on Kauai had one of their unexplainable sporting goods blowouts here a few months ago and I actually bought this exact scope for that exact price... just couldnt pass up something to someday put on the kids first .243 or whatever. These Bushnells are better in every way than a Vortex Crossfire (if you need a comparison).

Otherwise, I haven't seen hardly any "smoking deals" in the biz yet... mostly regular deals. I was sure that there was gonna be a battle-of-the-cheapest-lower somewhere, but it never materialized. The normal offloading of blems and refurbs from some usual sources never materialized either. I was really hoping to see some Toolcraft nitride BCG's down near $50... plenty of places selling house-brand nitride in the $60-$65 shipped range in the past few months, but nothing that I could verify actual manufacturer.

 

I can't see toolcraft getting down that low. They make actual good bcg and there's a lot of work in those to make them correctly. Maybe some company that runs em loose and doesn't do any grinding after heat treat could get that cheap but they're going to have 2-3 times the clearance between the bolt and carrier and **** all for head space tolerance.

 

Was looking at a Ruger SR22, friend told me to look at the GSG Firefly. It seems to be a SIG Mosquito clone, but has mixed reviews about FTF/FTE.
Anyone have any experience with these?

 

Skip it even when sig was doing qc on the gsg guns they blew huge dicks. At one point a year or two ago when sig was clearing out the mosquitoes, if you returned one that didn't work they gave you a p250-22 and your choice of sigpro, wonder if they're still doing that. At least the 250-22 works. But the sr22 is a better gun and probably the best of the "combat" 22lr guns, besides maybe the Walther. But the target style 22s like the mkiv and the like are typically more reliable.

 

Ruger mark III?

 

I bought an SR22 for the reasons you mention. Also, it's great for teaching people with smaller hands how to operate a gun with a full set of controls. Mine would fail to cycle CCI Quiets about 1/30 times, which I don't mind in the least since it's good for practicing malfunctions. It's accurate enough with Federal Automatch that I don't bother with any other ammo unless I'm using the Quiets to teach on. I bought mine used with 3 mags and a Crimson Trace rail-mounted light (which sits in the box) for $300... probably have 1500rds through it and could not be happier.

I have a buddy with an SR22 and a Huntertown Arms suppressor, cycles the Quiets perfectly, if you're gonna go that route.

 

It cycles with cci quiets? Like the 750fts ones. The ones that seem feel a squib and are literally silent from my suppressed bolt gun.

 

Ruger is producing the mkIV now.
They are significantly easier to disassemble.
I do still love my MKIII, and will likely keep it forever.
It lives in the truck these days.