Barrel length, 4" vs 5" in a 1911

[Stradawhovious]

I am going to purchase a new gun tomarrow (YEA!! ) and have the choice between the same manufacturer, model and features but two different barrel lengths. Has there been any indisputable evidence that the 1" difference in this model wil have a detrimental impact on accuracy at short distances (50' or closer) or is my main difference going to a 4" barrel simply nothing more than muzzle velocity (and about $275 in price ) If t makes a difference in the answer, and to spare people from asking the question, it's a Kimber eclipse II and a Kimber eclipse II pro.

[hammAR]

Usual questions: Are you going to carry or shoot targets?...........etc.......etc.......etc................

I carry a pro or commander size and have for over 15 years (with no sites, so lets not discuss sight radius )................

[Stradawhovious]

Usual questions: Are you going to carry or shoot targets?..

Ummm..... Yes.

[Aceq2jot]

I asked a lot of people when i was looking at mine and every one told me the same thing. A 4 inch commander is easier to carry than the 5 inch service model.
So i went with the 4 inch with the Crimson trace grips and can hit the terget just fine at 50 yds with the laser

[westhope]

I have 3 inch to 5 inch 1911's.

For competition a 5 inch is better for me because of th longer sight radius and somewhat better recoil control.

For carry, I found that a 4 inch carries as well as a 3 or 3.5 inch barrel. The officers grip works for me and prints less than the standard grip length. The disadvantage is that the officer's length grip holds one less round. You can get 8 round extended magazines for it but they protrude and print as much as a standard grip 1911. (Result: I carry the flush 6(7) round magazine in the gun and the 8 round extended magazine as the spare.)

The 4 inch 1911's are said by some to be as short as the barrel as can be made to function reliabily. My 3 inch and 3.5 inch 1911's work for me, but I did work to get them to function consistantly. The 3 inch Springfield micro required a lot of work to get it to function consistantly.

I would like to try a 4 inch "bob-tail" grip 1911. It prints less than the standard length grip but still holds 7(8) rounds. A reason to buy another 1911.

I just use my 4 inch 1911's because they feel and point the best for me.

The above are for my 45 ACP 1911's. I have a 3 inch Springfield EMP with a 3 inch barrel in 9mm. It works fine for me (it is sensitive to ammo). If they made it in a 4 inch barrel I would buy one (either 9mm or 40 SW).

[jac714]

I have 2 Kimber Pro Size 1911s, a Pro Raptor and a Pro CDP, I prefer the 4" for carry and IDPA, a 5" is a better choice for a Bullseye gun.

Having owned one I would be leery of cerrying an Eclipse, my experience is that while beautiful the polished black stainless tends to scratch easily in my experience.

Great guns though.

[cobb]

I use to carry a 5", but now mostly a 4". The whole reason for me was comfort when sitting in a vehicle, the 5" was long enough to be pushed upward when seated in a vehicle, thus causing the slide/hammer area to kinda dig into my side. A 4" doesn't do this to me, but to be fair, maybe if I change the location slightly, the 5" wouldn't have be a problem.

So that is some of the reasons that I carry a 4" over a 5".

[hicap45z]

I shoot 1911's ranging from 3" (Para Ordnance P10, AKA Warthog) to 5" and have found that the inherent accuracy of the guns is virtually the same. Tho only real difference in net accuracy is the sight radius. If you are blessed with "younger" eyes, I don't think you will notice any accuracy difference.
For muzzle velocity differences, I did some experiments with a chrono a few years back comparing various factory ammo out of 3.5" and 5" guns. Some ammo had a huge difference between the different barrel lengths, but some had virtually no difference. I can't lay my hands on the data right now, and I don't remember which brands did what. But if you are concerned with loss of velocity, you can get around that issue by doing some testing.

[selurcspi]

Hey, Whats wrong with a 6" or 7" 1911, they shoot pretty good, They make you limp a bit in an IWB, but think of all the extra MV

[JohninMinnesota]

I am going to purchase a new gun tomarrow (YEA!! ) and have the choice between the same manufacturer, model and features but two different barrel lengths. Has there been any indisputable evidence that the 1" difference in this model wil have a detrimental impact on accuracy at short distances (50' or closer) or is my main difference going to a 4" barrel simply nothing more than muzzle velocity (and about $275 in price ) If t makes a difference in the answer, and to spare people from asking the question, it's a Kimber eclipse II and a Kimber eclipse II pro.

mmmmmmmmmmm Kimber mmmmmmmmmmmmmm

[someone1980]

Hey, Whats wrong with a 6" or 7" 1911, they shoot pretty good, They mak you limp a bit in an IWB, but think of all the extra MV

You only have to compress the powder a little bit to get enough in there to make it go faster!

[selurcspi]

Hey, Whats wrong with a 6" or 7" 1911, they shoot pretty good, They mak you limp a bit in an IWB, but think of all the extra MV

You only have to compress the powder a little bit to get enough in there to make it go faster!

You still want to play games with reloading.....ROFLMAO.