What is the difference between a Commander and Officer size 1911? I think it has something to do with the grip length but i'm not sure which is which. Thanks, John

Grip size. Both have 3.5 inch barrels.

Commander has a 4 1/4" ,standard has 5"

Barrel: 5 in (127 mm) Government, 4.25 in (108 mm) Commander, and the 3.5 in (89 mm) Officer's ACP. Some modern "carry" guns have significantly shorter barrels and frames, while others use standard frames and extended slides with 6 in (152 mm) barrels The 1911 is made by many companys now. Commander and Officer should be colt named models.

ding, ding, ding, 243win is the winner here. There are several slide/bbl/ grip frame options from other manuf. You can get OM frames w/ Commander slides & vise versa. The 4 1/4". govt. model framed Commander is probably the perfect size for a CCW psitol, especially in alloy frame. Still, I have an OM & it's just as accurate w/ the shorter bbl. & the shorter frame helps w/ concealment.

For a short while one company made a "Commanding Officer's Model" (Colt?) with a OM size frame and a Commander slide/barrel. That would seem to be the best of all worlds for CCW if some one still makes something similar.

Kimber's pro model has the government size frame and commander slide; the Pro has the ultra (officers model) frame and commander slide.