DoubleStar, maker of AR-15 pattern rifles (a buddy of mine just bought a DoubleStar recently) has announced that they will be releasing a 1911 pattern pistol, loaded out with bells and whistles. What’s a little odd though is that their press material is saying that this is their “first ever” handgun, but as The Firearm Blog has shown, a cursory trip through The Googles reveals 1911s bearing their logo have existed previously.
On to the gun however, it looks like a pretty generic “semi-custom” 1911.
It features 1913 rail, National Match stainless barrel, Greider trigger, Ed Brown’s Memory Grip Safety and choice of a square or round trigger guard. It will retail for under $1200.
I do like that the price point will be under $1200, which makes the gun sort of affordable; although I should point out that for less than $1200 beans, you could buy a Springfield Mil-Spec or a ParaUSA GI Expert and trick it out (with the exception of the rail) to the same level of customization as the the DoubleStar gun and probably pay a little less. Of course, not everyone wants to tinker with their guns – some people just want to buy a gun off the shelf that runs like a top. Hopefully when these DoubleStar 1911s hit the market, they’ll be accurate and reliable, because ultimately, that’s what everyone wants.
I still have a hard time grasping what makes a pistol worth $1200+ dollars. It’s *patterned* after JMB’s design, not handcrafted by JMB himself using nothing but his right foot and his incisors and forged out of pure platinum.
Supply and demand is the cause, but it forces many people like me, firearm enthusiasts with family and only one income, to rely on contests to hopefully score a decent price on a pistol.
Rails don’t belong on 1911s.
And neither do LDA triggers, for that matter.
I was just thinking about that, actually. I’m all put off by a rail on a 1911, but I’ve got a truly blasphemous trigger on a couple of my guns.
Skullz, all I can say to that is “Meh”. Glock could come out with a squared off, polymer 1911 and as long as it shoots reliably and is cost effective, I see no reason why not.
The good thing is that there are plenty of over priced 1911’s out there that conform closer to the original pattern if people want to buy them 😉
Robb,
You’re logic is correct. But there is nothing logical about a 1911. It’s an old design with a low capacity and finicky ammo tastes.
However, I love all my 1911s – even the Sig, which some say is not a 1911 because it has an external extractor.
As opposed to the Glock, which is a new design of moderate capacity that blows up if you feed it the wrong ammo?
Protip: I’ve owned Glocks and 1911s, I’ve got no dog in this fight.
I own Glocks as well. I like ’em, and I can shoot ’em pretty well – although I do compete with my 1911.
I’ve often said: even though I carry a 1911 every day, if the SHTF – I’m taking the Glock (after I grab the shotgun and rfile, of course) 🙂
My dog in the fight is that I’d personally love to have a handgun collection that would make Tam jealous and carry practically every one.
They’re hand guns. Underpowered, but effective enough to get the job done in a pinch. The irony of me carrying a 10mm is that the barrel is 3″ long, effectively canceling out a LOT of what makes the 10mm so kick ass.
One day I will stumble over a bag full of money that will allow me to purchase an STI / Dan Wesson / Kimber in 10mm. Hopefully, I’ll stumble across a pallet of cash so I can afford two and compete with them.
DoubleStar made a strippedframe and was advertised along with a DoubleStar stamped slide assembly in their catalog #8. The costs were $299 and $394 respectively. The classic stripped fram was also listed at $174.
No completed production 1911 has ever left their company until this year. I would assume they produced demos, trial and error versions and other pre-production guns that may have been seen from time to time.
Hope this helps.