The shooting/firearms community is gear intensive. There is significant innovation every year. Gear is the flashy part of the craft. That is why, in any given Barns & Nobles or other bookstore, the two categories of magazine that have the most offerings are gun and car related. Guns and vehicles, much gear involved with each, obviously. Also, the majority of information within such magazines focuses on the gear rather than the skills.
Despite the innovation in firearms, however, the foundational technology of the weapons themselves have, actually, changed little. The accoutrements have changed a lot: think red dots and modern weapon lights, and awesome holsters, etc… But the guns themselves? How truly different is the newest Walther PDP or Springfield Echelon from the very first Glock 17 released in the 1980s? It is all technology that is considerably old, but newly dressed up.
And with striker fired guns we are talking about 40-year-old technology (at least in wide use), but when looking at the modern 2011 craze, we are looking at a foundation that is well over 100 years old. How on earth is this a thing?
Trends move cyclically in the firearms world; what is old is new again. Consider the modern crazy with lever action rifles. Also consider the current resurgence in revolvers. Why?
Simple: People get bored with the current focus, then look for something to move on with. After twenty-plus years of AR15 fascination, where everyone bult several such rifles, people got bored with it, and there was a re-discovery of how cool and efficient lever rifles are, despite being quite antiquated. The same now holds true for the 1911 and its newer partner, the 2011.
Now, the truth is, there is nowhere near the disparity of capability between a 2011 and a striker-fired gun as there is between a lever rifle and an AR15, but just as the lever rifle requires SIGNIFICANTLY more maintenance and nuance compared to an AR, so does the 2011 require more attention than striker fired guns. The 2011, which in current form offers double-stack capacity, typically in 9mm, is based off the 1911 platform, thus incorporating the benefits of the 1911 into a gun with modern ammunition capacity. Why would this be done in the first place?
The primary benefit of the 1911 is the sliding, feather-light, trigger. Period. This trigger mechanism is unique in the handgun world, and it is the best handgun trigger for fast and accurate shooting. So, modernizing the platform makes sense, yes?
The problem remains that, just as the 2011 inherits this primary benefit from the 1911, it also inherits the downsides. These guns are expensive and require far more maintenance. Therefore, to embrace that awesome trigger, you also must embrace awesome responsibility in maintaining the gun and training to its quirks.
Do I dis on the 1911/2011? No. I carried a 1911 for a decade, decades ago. I primarily left the platform due to the maintenance required. I believe if you wish to run with a 1911 or 2011 that you need to truly train with the platform, and it should, probably, be your primary focus in training. If you wish to be casual about it, then use it for fun, but don’t carry it.
I will be frank in my opinion: I believe that the 1911/2011 platform can serve well as a defensive handgun for the select few who dedicate themselves to it, but the vast majority of concealed carriers should not bother with this much more complex, maintenance intensive, and failure-prone design for serious defensive use.
If you simply want to carry the most reliable, low maintenance, and robust defensive handgun possible to protect you and yours from the monsters of the world, get a Glock or Smith and Wesson M&P. in my experience, for reliability and longevity, there are those two guns, then everything else.
If you are bored with your plastic guns and just need that sweet trigger, have at it, but know what you are getting into. See the following videos:
Here, I discuss the important considerations in operating a 1911/2011:
Here, Honest Outlaw does an excellent overview of the common problems with the 1911/2011:
For the best prices on ammunition, shop Ammoman.com https://www.ammoman.com/
For the ammo I use for training, go to: https://www.ammoman.com/9mm-blazer-brass-124-grain-fmj-5201-1000
Reflex Handgun 
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