New from Devil Dog Arms: 1911 Pistols

1. I love 1911s. These look nice. Priced about the same as a Springfield or some Sig 1911s. Not too bad. Wonder what the street price will be?

2. I am trying to figure out what is so cutting edge about a 100 year old design, except perhaps modern manufacturing. The barrels sound good, though, and the prices are right, starting at $999 up to about $1299. Not so sure about that Devil Dog Arms on the slide however. Nor am I particularly a fan of tac rails; it detracts from the classic lines of the gun.

   • Kinda like a sword made of modern materials with top-of-the-line metallurgy – it’s still a sword.
     Some designs just don’t need to be improved much.
     Objectively, though, it is outclassed as a combat handgun with higher capacity and lighter materials but then, so are my revolvers… and I carry them anyway.
     🤠

3. At these prices, they need to be better than Kimber. THAT is a tall order.

4. I want to see a picture of the nickel, if it is not glossy I’m onboard.

5. Some wise person once wrote that if you are not competing to win money, there is zero reason to pay $1,000 or more for a handgun.

   I have a recurring nightmare of police confiscating, then “losing”, my firearm should I be defending myself. (NOTE: in my little burg, the police intentionally have no FFL so that they cannot return or transfer firearms obtained as “evidence”.)

   • Well, what those fugly fudds would tell you is that you should die comfortable knowing that you spent a lot of money on an excellent American made 1911 and didn’t waste your money on some “pot metal” 1911 made by Muslims in the Philippians, even though that cheap 1911 would have saved your life.

     • I do notice a whole bunch of Kimber 1911s on the resale benches; few Metro Arms, Shooters Arms, or Armscor.

       • Probably because Kimbers are built to too tight a tolerance and thus have problems with jamming. There have also been reports that their 3″ model was not properly re-engineered for the short slide and different timing, and they jam a lot. My Kimber came with the feed ramp covered with KimPro finish, which it shouldn’t have, and an underpowered recoil spring. I eventually got it sorted out and it is a fine gun, but it took a lot of rounds to get there.

   • If you are involved in a defensive gun use, dealing with potential prosecution and the possibility of a civil suit from the bullet recipient or his estate, then the cost of the gun you lost would be the least of your worries. It’s a tool designed to save your life. Choose the best tool you can afford.

     That said, a 1911 is fairly heavy and has less ammo capacity than most modern pistols so therefore may not be the most practical choice for a carry gun. A good 1911 is fun to shoot, though, and is a great choice for recreation and perhaps competition.

     • Bought a Beretta Neos .22 plinker, less than $200. Now looking for something that will handle .22 mag, instead. Neither would be much of a loss.

     • The 1911 has better ergonomics than any other pistol. Only the Browning Hi Power can match it. In a DGU the first shot on target is going to win and the 1911 has a higher first round hit probabilty because it naturally points and because of the recoil absorbing weight. and the natural pointing you are going to have a higher hit probability on follow up shots. The objective in a DGU is to end it quickly. Outside of law enforcement, capacity will rarely be in play.

       There are more modern combat pistols on the market but you will never be underequipped with a 1911.

       • Ergonomics is a very personal thing. If the 1911 works for you, fine, but lots of people find other guns more comfortable.

6. Gee, another outrageously priced 1911`. How unique.

   • How so? Price any of the competing US brands (Taurus, Remington, Springfield, Ruger, Sig, and Colt) and they are all in that “heady” price range, which really is midrange for 1911s. Outrageous pricing belongs to Wilson, Cabot, and Night Hawk, for three, which cost three to four times as much. The Turkish and Philippines guns are less, of course, and some work great, others not so much.

   • If you think $1,000 to $1,200 for a 1911 is “outrageous,” then you haven’t priced many 1911s. It’s pretty easy to spend three times that.

     But, this being ‘Murica and all, we get to let the market decide what is outrageous.

     • And, to piggyback on that comment– letting the market decide….

       I keep being told we’re in a “slump.” I keep hearing how gun owners are fewer and further between. I keep reading how I am an increasingly rare bird, going the way of the dodo like the rest of my nowhere-to-be-found pistol-packing brethren.

       And yet, here comes more choices. Here comes more product. Here comes *yet annnnnother version of a 100year old pistol* in a market positively flooded with choices from top to bottom… oh yeah, in a caliber “nobody shoots anymore.”

       I know we’ve covered this, and the elitist “failure of imagination by people who can’t even have guns where they live” BS urban legend about the disappearing gun owner is rightly starting to be recognized as such. (And, I even get that this pistol is not only in .45AARP, but 9×19– which everybody shoots. Supposedly.)

       But today I just feel like pointing out the Obvious: if the dying, slumping, disappearing market can support yet another 1911 in a sea of these puppies, from sweat shacks in the Philippines to pinky pearl boutique Nighthawk ladies’ 1911s (LADIES’ 1911!) …if there is enough room for this to be profitable and feed somebody’s family, on top of all the gazillion other guns and gun-related stuff in our hallowed nation, well then… we are in a better place than we realize.

       I have no shortage of products to drool over, cartridges to charge in, targets to shoot, people to shoot with, places to throw my cash away on all of the above, and when I’m all done and wanna go home… no shortage of gun blogs to read, and Youtube reviews and rants to catch up on. And I probably do half as much as y’all “avid shooters.” Heck, I am not even a “Super Owner!” (…gotta leave something to aspire to….)

       The state of the gun union is good. 25+ million NICS checks, which means at least as many weapons exchanged hands… and this here extra-special 1911… they attest to an entrenched American gun culture growing and not wilting any time soon.

       While I don’t own a 1911 (…um, someday– HiPower 1935 first, though….), THAT is why seeing a brand “new” 1911 makes me happy. Might make other people yawn, but makes me smile. So does the Hudson H9, especially; not everything can be new and innovative, but I wish there was more of that.

       (Being a hammer-fired guy, people keep telling me I really neeeed to get a 1911. But it seems “wrong” to get one in 9×19, and I’m terrified if I go anywhere near .45ACP rounds, my greying problem will dramatically worsen overnight.)

       Be safe,

       Mort

       • If there is a “slump” in demand, why isn’t there a dramatic “slump” in price? I would expect to see 30% or greater price reductions in all the over-produced guns.

7. Those roll marks need to die in a molten fire.

8. Wake me when it’s a double stack.

9. Screw this company, it was founded by a stolen valor lying asshole (Joe Lucania)! I met this prick once when my unit, 2/24 Weapons Co., was helping out with a Cub Scouts event. Joe was in attendance, and was wearing/proudly displaying a HOGs tooth and telling war stories. Nothing he said made any sense and he was called out on it. This was 2011-12 timeframe. Not even sure if he was part of the Cub Scout Troop, I think he just got off on being around real Marines!

   Joe finally admitted to his shitbaggery in 2016:

   “I am not and was not a Marine, did not serve and do not have a DD-214 [discharge record]. I have no excuse for my actions and realize there is nothing I can say or do to make this right,” Joe Lucania

   http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2016/04/11/devil-dog-arms-stolen-valor/

   It appears that the company is under new leadership, but DDA’s reputation is forever tarnished by the actions of its founder and CEO! Plenty of other respectable companies out there to buy from!

   • I’m surprised they’re still in business. I never served, but Stolen Valor roleplayers really irk me.

   • Thank you for reminding me if this. I’ll plan my future purchases accordingly.

   • If Joe Luciana is no longer affiliated with DDA then why all the hate? Why punish the people who bought the company and are keeping the paychecks flowing to employees?

     • If the employees truly knew this guy, then they too are complicit with Joe’s lies and deception. I don’t believe for one second that the other co-founder and the employees close to Joe didn’t know the truth.

       Are any of these employees still working at DDA? One article mentioned that they were all laid off, but were any of them rehired? I’d imagine there isn’t a plethora of gunsmiths roaming the streets of Geneva, IL, so some of them may have returned to work at DDA. What about the other co-founder? Did the founders completely sell the company or are they somewhere lurking behind the scenes? Same thing goes for the former employees, are any of them shareholders? DDA needs to answer these questions and make it crystal clear that none of the previous owners/shareholders are involved or are receiving a portion of the company’s profits.

       Secondly, since the company is relatively unknown and has had it’s name/reputation drug through the proverbial mud, why didn’t the new owners rebrand the company? It’s not like we’re dealing with Apple here, DDA has almost no market share in this industry or brand recognition. If I were the new owners, I’d have bought the equipment and started everything else from the ground up.

       “Last April, the firearms community was rocked when the co-founder of boutique gun maker Devil Dog Arms admitted on the company’s Facebook page that he had never been a Marine Corps scout sniper, the claim from which the company took its name and snarling bulldog logo.”

       The company’s name and logo are based on a lie, and are now a direct physical representation of Joe’s stolen valor. Period. Since they chose not to rebrand and move away from being DDA, then they want us to see them as DDA. I see DDA as a company founded by a shitbag and they have failed to change that image. If they can’t even start a company properly and completely severe ties with everything DDA, then why would I waste my time even looking at their products?

       • A little research would answer all of your questions. The original investors in the company that Joe founded Devil Dog Arms Inc. shut the company down when they outed him to the industry, there is no secrecy here. After that the company assets, what was left, were sold off to someone who wanted to keep the name alive. It has been re-branded and relaunched with new products. The reason it is a name that should not be left behind, certainly not forgotten and can help bring awareness to these issues while helping raise money for some great foundations. So the new company that has no affiliation with the old company, founders or employees is Devil Dog Arms, LLC. which has a new staff, new employees, is affiliated with current and former Marines is alive and well. We have been well received by those who know what we are up to and we work with the RSF and SSA regularly with fund raisers.

10. “ultra-modern design”

11. So I can spend $1,200 on a company run by a known shitbag, with no history or reputation, or I can spend $1,200 with a company that is a known entity . . . . . or I can spend $400-$500 on a serviceable Philippines gun . . . .

    • Raptor Jesus, You should research the current Devil Dog Arms, LLC before assuming the company is run by a sh*tbag. The original company was founded by a sh*tbag, but that is not how the company was resurrected after his fall.The current company is run by a group that has a good reputation in the industry for bringing some great products to market.

12. I own an AR 308 and a recently purchased 1911 from them. No issues here, and yes I bought the rifle when Joe was the CEO.

    As long as the products are worth my money. Yeah, he did a shitty thing and ties were severed and now DDA is run by a guy who used to work at my LGS in Leesburg, Va.

    At the end of the day, the products are great. No complaints here. If you have issues with it, then take your money elsewhere and call it a day.

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