We Compare Three New 45 ACP 1911 Commanders Under $750

The 1911 Commander is basically a full-size pistol receiver with a shorter 4.25-inch barrel and slide. These 1911 variants are more compact than the full-size issues, yet they offer all the features of the standard 5-inch-barrel variant, albeit with a bit less velocity. Some members of our team like the Commander format with the full-size grip and shortened slide, which makes the pistol easy to hang onto when firing 45 ACP as well as more comfortable to carry concealed due to the shorter barrel. One issue when carrying concealed, though, is the grip, which can print under clothing.

To see which pistol best fit our testers’ everyday-carry needs, we procured three 1911 Commander models for testing: the recently introduced Taurus 1911 Commander ($459), a Metro Arms MAC 1911 Bobcut ($746), and an American Classic Commander ($568). The Taurus is manufactured in Brazil, and the Metro Arms and American Classic pistols are manufactured in the Philippines and are both brought into this country by Eagle Imports.

All three showed great fit and finish and chewed through 45 ACP ammo as fast as we could load magazines. All featured the classic GI-style domed slide, long skeletonized triggers and hammers, straight rear grip straps, dovetailed combat-style sights, flared ejection ports, extended beavertails, extended thumb safeties, textured grips, and 8+1 round capacities. In short, these pistols have all the features a modern 1911 shooter expects in a concealable package.

The Bobcut and AC came in hard-plastic cases and included one magazine. The Taurus included a plastic bushing wrench for ease of takedown. At first glance, these three Commanders looked the same in terms of features, if not cosmetics, and it was the value-added items in each that eventually allowed us to judge one over the other.

How We Tested

We used a combination of hollow-point and full-metal-jacket bullets in different bullet weights. Ammunition consisted of Winchester White Box, which is loaded with a 230-grain FMJ bullet; Winchester Defend, which comes with 230-grain JHP bullets; hot HPR 185-grain rounds loaded with JHP bullets, and a handload with a 158-grain SWC bullet. We tested accuracy at 25 yards using a rest. You can see that range data does not lie, and the Metro Arms pistols with 4.6- to 4.8-pound trigger-pull weights provided us with better results that the Taurus with the 8.5-pound trigger-pull weight. At 15 yards, we performed a version of the Mozambique Drill — two shots to center of mass and one shot to the cranial pocket — from a low-ready position. We performed reloads using all three magazines in all three pistols.

Range Data

We were looking at the pistol’s ability to be carried concealed, drawn from concealment, ability to be fast on target, and fast to allow follow-up shots. It was hot at the range. Sweaty palms and gun oil do not mix well if traction is the goal, so the appearance and effectiveness of slide serrations and slide-retraction effort was an issue for some testers. While we dinged the heavier trigger on the Taurus, we found it was quite competitive with the Metro Arms and American Classic pistols. It was a tough call, but the range data and features with the Metro Arms MAC 1911 Bobcut allowed it to prevail. Here’s why.

Taurus 1911 Commander 1-191101COM 45 ACP, $459

GUN TESTS GRADE: A

The trigger was a bit too heavy, but the sights are good, it has nice grip appointments, and great fit and finish make this an excellent choice as a carry piece.

The affordable Taurus Commander features an 8-round magazine, Novak low-profile sights, extended beavertail, and traditional rounded hammer. Its matte-black finish was well executed, giving the Taurus a no-nonsense, all-business look. The receiver is a cast alloy steel — like the other pistols, which have hard-chromed finishes — and weighs 38 ounces unloaded. While the Taurus looks understated, the features functioned well. The beavertail grip safety is just long enough to combat hammer bite and make the concealing footprint of the pistol smaller. It uses the traditional rounded-hammer style that appeared on original Commander variants. We found the grip safety worked easily with a large speed bump, so even a sloppy grip deactivates the grip safety. The extended safety lever disengaged and engaged with a crisp, positive snap. The long, three-hole trigger has an adjustable trigger stop. The skeletonized trigger face is grooved. The trigger pull averaged 8.5 pounds, which, for us, is at the margins of what we’ll accept for a defensive carry piece. We would have liked a lighter trigger pull because it would increase accuracy. The slide featured coarse serrations at the front and rear, and these we found easier to grasp and hold onto with sweaty and oily hands.

The Taurus name was rollmarked on the left side of the slide. Grips are polymer and checkered in the traditional double-diamond pattern with a subdued Taurus logo molded in the center. A feature we really liked was the finely checkered front and rear grip straps. This provided a sure grip even with wet hands.

The Novak sights — both the front and rear — are dovetailed into the slide, and the rear sight is easily adjustable for windage. Just loosen it with a hex wrench and tap it over. The 3-dot sights offer easy and fast sight acquisition. We liked these sights.

The magazine well is slightly chamfered to make inserting the magazine easier when reloading. The steel magazine body has a plastic bumper that helped when slamming a fresh magazine home and when ejecting the magazine onto a concrete deck. There were witness holes for all rounds, so it was easy to determine how many rounds were remaining, or missing, in the magazine. MecGar manufactured the magazine.

The slide-to-frame fit is tight and precise. A traditional barrel and muzzle bushing set up is used with a one-piece recoil guide rod. The Taurus Commander uses a firing-pin disconnector that prevents a round from being fired if the slide is not fully forward. With the slide fully forward in battery, the sear spring pushes the disconnector into a recess in the bottom of the slide. The disconnector then engages the sear so that the hammer can move forward when the trigger is pulled. A firing-pin-block lever pushes the firing-pin block out of the way as the trigger is pulled.

At 25 yards and resting off shooting bags, we found we had to concentrate and manage the trigger, making this Commander more difficult to shoot accurately. We expected 4-inch groups at 25 yards, but were rewarded with 3.5-inch groups, but to get them we had to work at the trigger. At 15 yards and shooting Mozambique with the Taurus, we could easily control initial shots and fast follow up shots due to the checkered front and rear grip straps. We had a lot of fun shooting the Commander.

Loading eight rounds into the magazine was not a chore. The Taurus was easy to control during rapid fire, and we were able to manage recoil with little effort.

Our Team Said: As a concealed-carry option, the Taurus Commander is a natural fit. At speed, we could keep all hits in the appropriate zones. For the cost, we think the Taurus is a good buy, if you can learn to manage with the trigger. Or get a competent professional to give it a trigger job.

American Classic Commander ACC45C 45 ACP, $568

GUN TESTS GRADE: A

The American Classic is a fine variant of the Commander with excellent fit and finish and no sharp edges. Our only ding is the lack of a serrated front grip strap. The trigger was crisp, and the
three-dot sights were very good.

The American Classic Commander is part of the Metro Arms American Classic series of 1911 pistols. Our sample featured a well-executed hard-chrome finish and hardwood grips laser cut with a fish-scale texture. We liked the feel of the American Classic. The domed slide had the Novak-style black sight dovetailed in, which we liked. The Metro Arms slide marks were subdued. Slide serrations were not as coarse as the Taurus and were only located at the rear of the slide. With the 20-pound slide-retraction effort and slick hands, it was harder to manipulate the slide. The 3-dot sights were good and easy to use. The rear face of the rear sight was serrated to kill sun glare.

The three-hole trigger was further lightened with cuts and is adjustable for overtravel. The trigger face texture allowed our finger to adhere to better than the Taurus trigger serrations. We liked the pull weight, which averaged 4.8 pounds. The hammer was well serrated, but instead of the standard skeletonization, a version of the Metro Arms logo, which looked like webbing, filled in the interior. Some liked this cosmetic touch; others did not. The extended slide safety worked exactly how we wanted it to. The slide stop was also extended, so we could comfortably rest our thumbs on it when shooting or not, depending on your grip style.

The back strap was straight and serrated, and there was plenty of speed bump in the grip safety to disengage the safety even if our grip was not the best. The very tip of the beavertail was the longest of the three pistols tested.

The 8-round-capacity magazine was manufactured in Italy by Act-Mag. It featured a steel body, eight witness holes, and a plastic floorplate. The magazine was easy to disassemble. Just depress the button in the floorplate and it slides off the body. The magazine-release button is finely checkered and protrudes from the frame in a way that makes manipulating the button easier, yet the shooter does not worry about an accidental magazine eject.

The American Classic uses a Series 70-style mechanism and a traditional GI-style recoil plug and recoil spring. So it field-strips without the use of any tools, and the slide stop protrudes enough from the right side of the receiver so it is easy to push through.

At 25 yards, the American Classic gave us better accuracy due to the lighter trigger pull, our shooters said. Some of the smallest five-shot groups measured 2 inches, which we thought was excellent. Average accuracy was about 2.25 to 3 inches. We also discovered the Metro Arms pistols had, on average, a 10-fps higher muzzle velocity than the Taurus. The Winchester Defend ammo with a 230-grain JHP provided the best accuracy followed by the faster HPR and handloads, which used a 185-grain bullet. During speed shooting, the American Classic could slip due to the lack of front serrations.

Our Team Said: We found the American Classic to be a great example of the Commander variant, but we would have preferred more front grip texture to keep the pistol from moving in sweaty hands. We wouldn’t hesitate to own and use this pistol as a concealed-carry option.

Metro Arms Co. MAC 1911 Bobcut M19BC45C 45 ACP, $746

GUN TESTS GRADE: A

The Bobcut offers a crisp trigger pull and bobbed grip for better concealment. The red fiber-optic front sight and front and rear grip serrations pushed it past the other Commanders.

We liked the look of MAC 1911 Bobcut. This pistol is part of the MAC (Metro Arms Company) series of 1911 pistols. Fit and finish were superb, and this looked like a pistol costing twice as much. The fit was tight, with no wiggle or rattle. In fact, all three pistols were tight. It wore a hard-chrome finish and hardwood grips with a fish-scale texture along with the Metro Arms logo layered in the center.

The MAC had all the features of the American Classic and the Taurus Commander but was enhanced for concealed carry, which in our opinion made it a better pistol. The most obvious difference is the bobbed-butt grip, which decreases the weapon print in 1911s. We all know that the edge of the traditional mainspring can stick out when under a concealing garment. The Bobcut eliminates that edge. It also eliminates about 2 ounces from the weight of the pistol, which makes it more comfortable to carry for extended periods of time. Another difference compared to the American Classic are the front and rear grip serrations. These helped control the pistol in rapid fire. The MAC also had an extended ambidextrous thumb safety that made it easy to operate for both strong- and support-hand use. The tip of the beavertail was rounded and less pointed, as well.

The slide wore a subdued MAC logo on the left side. There was also a proper skeletonized hammer, in our opinion — there was no webbing inside the hammer that distracted from the pistol’s lines. The rear sight was a Novak-style — like the other pistols — but the front sight was a red fiber optic. The red dot offered a nice contrast, and it was easier to drop the red dot between the white dots when aiming. We also felt focusing on the red dot was easier than the white dots on the other pistols, especially in rapid fire.

This is a Series 70 pistol, but it uses a one-piece extended guide rod, which means accuracy is slightly enhanced and field-stripping requires a tool. To field-strip the MAC, lock the slide back and insert a paper clip in the hole of the guide rod. This will trap the recoil spring and allow you to continue disassembly like a standard GI-style 1911.

At 25 yards, we found the red fiber optic front sight an asset, along with the light 4.6-pound trigger pull. One tester consistently shot 1.9-inch five-shot groups with all the ammo tested. We suspect these pistols are far more accurate than our testers’ ability to shoot. The MAC preferred the hot HPR cartridges loaded with 185-grain JHP bullets. The plain-jane ball ammo — Winchester White Box with a 230-grain FMJ — also performed well, with five-shot groups averaging slightly more than 2.2 inches. In speed drills, we easily managed the MAC. We did note that racking the slide with sweaty and oily hands made manipulating the MAC a bit harder because it required 21 pounds of slide-racking effort. Even though the Taurus required the same amount of effort, the Taurus’s coarse serrations were easier to grasp and hold onto.

Our Team Said: Even though the MAC Bobcut was the most expensive Commander tested, we discovered the additional cost meant better enhancements for concealed carry and shooting. This pistol performed like a much more expensive Commander.

Special thanks to Eastern Outfitters of Hampstead, NC, for their assistance.

Written and photographed by Robert Sadowski, using evaluations from Gun Tests team testers.