I am looking to buy an automatic 45, and was wondering who the best 45 calibre manufacturer is. Can you help me?

Now you've gone and opened a can of worms!
This whole topic should generate a bit of debate but I'll go ahead and recommend Springfield Armory. Lots of Colt guys out there and lots of guys like Kimber and ultimately you can't really go wrong with any of these three so you really need to go looking at pistols and comparing features that you think you need or want with the prices that you may or may not be willing to pay.

Best of luck,

JohnTheGreek

I'd rather have one original pre-62 Colt than several of anything else.

The top of the line is a Tacticle Elite from Wilson. This is a full size gun. The SDS/Stealth is a 4 inch.

Infinity, hands down.
But if $3k for a pistol scares you, you can get a really nice Kimber for $800.

For the price IMO, Kimber. You may want to ask this question at the forums at www.1911.com
Don`t forget the Glock, Berreta, Rugers if your looking for a double action.

[ 10-11-2002, 04:38: Message edited by: Ol` Joe ]

Though I own a nice custom now that I put together with Colt, Caspian and Briley parts in 1994, if I had to buy one off the shelf today it would be a Kimber hands down.

For an off the shelf 1911 design I think Kimber is topps. Series 70 Colts are good guns to build a custom pistol on and still can be found quite easily. Although I second Jack on the older Colt guns. If your looking for a da auto I would look at the Sig Sauer 220.

[ 10-11-2002, 05:36: Message edited by: DavidReed ]

For 45 autos, there are 1911s and there is everything else.

In 1911's when money an obstical to you, the best is a Les Bear Custom. If money is a limatation, going with Kimber 1911 will make you very happy.

In the everything else catagory, the best is the H&K USP45 or a S&W Preformance Center 4500.

Kristofer

[ 10-11-2002, 10:50: Message edited by: KBGuns ]

OK:
Kimber, since I agree, for the money, it's great.
Still, have it ramped, and I put in Wolffe springs, with Chip McCormack thin grips. Very nice. Have the trigger tuned right off the bat.
Didn't like mine, since I'm used to custom quality triggers, in 45 Colt.

Les Baer, Wilson, and a few others can drain your pocket book.

I like the bull barrel bushings. Seem more accurate,with more weight forward. Nice for second shots.

Old Detonics are really nice, but parts are hard to come by, and no grip safety.

Cz 97B's maybe the best value in a tack driving 45, right out of the box, but, they are big.

Sig Sauers are wonderful, as are the old Browning BDA's(Sig Sauers in Browning clothing).

A whole bunch of people swear by Glocks, but I don't like the triggers, or the safety. Figure one day, I'm going to pull it out, the trigger will get caught, or hit accidentially and bang.
Same feeling I have about any double action 45.

Cocked, and locked, with a grip safety seems by far the safest carry. If the slide safety comes off, no problems. Grip safety is on, and you still have to hit the trigger, Hit the trigger, without gripping the safety, and no bang...
Carried a Detonics, without a grip safety, for a long time, but carried it empty chamber, and, when I was approaching a bad area, would chamber a round, and put the safety on.

The Rowland conversion is pretty cool, if you like braked 45's. Great for those days at the range when someone is assaulting you with a 357 snubby in the next stall.

45 Super looks pretty cool to me, and, it seems to me you can shoot it, if you get a government model you can put a 28 pound Wolffe spring in.

Kimbers, Colts, anything that uses the standard Browning design, and interchanges parts, is the way to go.

s
PS 3 inch barrels have a hard time getting enough velocity to open up the current batch of hollowpoints.

I would stay with at least a 4 inch barrel.

However, I have a Kimber Ultra Carry with a 3 inch, and love it. Figure it's still got a chance of expanding, and, it's still 45 wadcutter if the hollowpoint fills up...

[ 10-14-2002, 07:15: Message edited by: Socrates ]