Commander vs officer

[Tapout4892]

I find myself stuck between two types of 1911. The commander size and the officer size. I've held a s&w commander it was very nice. I've also held the spring range officer compact which was nice to. I'm looking at getting one of the two types but don't really know which one. I own two full size 1911 and have a hard time concealing them. That's why I want a smaller size to see how it will do. I figured I could ask the people of Indiana gun owners to see what there thoughts and opinions are on the two types.

 

[churchmouse]

Officer frame is short on grip length for my hands. Also 6 round capacity really bothers some of the "I have got to have over 15 rds." crowd...

 

[indiucky]

Commander size is dern near perfection IMHO....

Warren Oates approves this message...

As does Nick Nolte...

 

[bobzilla]

Colt made 7rd officers mags that worked quite well.... just saying. I'd love another Officers. Or a Commander. Or both. Yes, I'd love both. Who says I can't make a decision!

 

[Tapout4892]

Yeah I'm not really into the whole more bullets... we gotta have more bullets. I'm not really expecting to get into a fire fight. But you don't really see commander size 1911 anymore well unless your willing to pay top dollar for high end

 

[churchmouse]

Yeah I'm not really into the whole more bullets... we gotta have more bullets. I'm not really expecting to get into a fire fight. But you don't really see commander size 1911 anymore well unless your willing to pay top dollar for high end

I believe the Springfield Champion is Commander length.

 

[Tapout4892]

Commander is what the 4inch barrel with full length grip. Isn't the champion the one with the rail on the bottom of it

 

[88E30M50]

I have two CCO sized 1911s and they are by far, my favorite carry option when compared to the full size. Both of mine sport 7 round mags in an officer sized grip under a 4.25 inch barrel wrapped in an aluminum frame. They carry really well. I run ultra thin grips over Pierce finger grooves and the gun disappears when carried IWB. My main carry 1911 sports standard grips over the finger grooves and feels great for general carry and plinking. I really want to carry a full size 1911 but as much as I've tried, I always seem to end up with a back ache despite running top notch carry leather. I've come to carry full size in a shoulder holster though but for regular carry, the officer sized 1911 is hard to beat. There are few downsides to one unless you have huge hands like CM.

 

[indiucky]

Isn't the champion the one with the rail on the bottom of it

Thanks...

The thought of a rail on a Commander size 1911 just made me throw up a little...That's just...Wrong.....

 

[churchmouse]

Commander is what the 4inch barrel with full length grip. Isn't the champion the one with the rail on the bottom of it

I have a Champion with no rail.

 

[Tapout4892]

Cool I'll have to look into the champion alittle but. But yeah I agree a commander with rails isn't right one bit. And yeah I agree it's hard to conceal a full size. It's a whole lot of weight plus that five inches makes a big difference in carrying.

 

[IndyDave1776]

I never understood the rationale behind the commander. It does take a bit of creativity to conceal a full-size 1911, but I fail to see where a 4 1/4 inch barrel yields much improvement over 5 inches for concealment. On the other hand, I can see where an officer would be significantly easier to hide.

 

[Hoosier45]

I also carry a CCO sized 1911. I am going to add a magwell to give just a little more grip length.

 

[iChokePeople]

What's wrong with a rail on a commander? The Champion with the rail is called the Champion Operator, and I've only seen it in "lightweight", but it may very well be available in a "normal" weight. I had one for a while and really liked it. I also had a champion without a rail and liked that, but preferred the railed one. Kimber makes and sells lots of commander-ish 1911s, called "Pro", as do Wilson, Baer, Nighthawk, etc. No shortage of commanders out there, and they're great guns. So here's the thing, for me -- it's not the extra 3/4-1" of barrel that's a problem for concealment, so why not keep a full length barrel and longer sight radius? For you 'little people', maybe that extra inch is a problem, but I think for MOST people, it isn't. But there's nothing wrong with a commander. Great guns. As someone else said, anything in 'officer' or CCO is too small for my gorilla hands.

As for the 'officer' models, I'll just say be careful what you choose and test it THOROUGHLY before you trust your life or the lives of those you care about to it. There absolutely are good ones out there, and there absolutely are a lot that just don't quite run right. That's true for any size, of course, but I'd bet that if you had a wide sampling of data you'd find that your chances of failure are higher with an officer than with a commander or full-size 1911.

 

[warthog]

I like revolvers so the whole gotta have lotsa rounds has never been much of a concern for me either.

 

[Old Bear]

I have had and carried both. For me, the officer carried better but the commander shot better. I opted for the Colt Combat Commander as my ccw for many years until I stumbled upon the CZ 75D PCR. Now my Colt is currently serving in Iraq with my son

 

[VERT]

4.25" commander with a roundbutt or bobtail. Best of both worlds.

 

[Expat]

I have a couple of Colt commanders. I have a Sig with the commander length slide and officer frame, ditto on a Les Baer as well. I think every maker has commander models with mix an match on the the frames. For all day carry, I do like a lw...

 

[Osprey]

What's in a name? I care about the barrel length and grip feel. I've found the 4.25" to be the best; however, I think 4" is pretty close. Anything under or over these I ignore.

 

[igotdiesel2]

My first 1911 was a Colt Commander. I still have it and I love it. It was my sole carry gun for years and years with a extended slide stop/release, extended beaver tail, and a wilson 8rd. mag. I now have a Springfield full size that I shoot IDPA with. My Dad just sold his Colt Officers. So I have shot all three sizes and can tell you my personal opinion is I'm not a fan of the Officers. It is to short in the grip department for my mitts. But it did almost disappear on my Dad when he carried it. -Jason