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Sig Sauer 1911 C3, Looking for a different carry pistol.

34K views 28 replies 16 participants last post by  jklotz 
#1 ·
I am currently carrying a Kimber Stainless Ultra Carry II 3 inch 9mm and when it is really could I carry a 38 special in a pocket holster. I have a laser site on this J frame revolver. I want to step up to a 45 caliber as my main carry gun when my clothing allows me to carry it on a high riding holster like I carry my Kimber.. I am looking for the low profile of the grips and am not worried about 1 inch longer in barrel size. I looked at the Kimber 4 inch 45 but I do not like the recoil spring set up for a 45 and my main dealer does not carry Kimbers. I want to buy from him and he swears by the Sig 1911 C3. or any of Sigs smaller 1911 carry guns. I was looking for pros and cons on the Sig's. There is one thing that I do not like but with a little machine work I can clean it up: the firing pin safety on the trigger not on the beaver tail safety like the Kimber.
I upgraded my Dillon XL 650 so I am now loading 45ACP so my shooting cost will be down.
I know this is not a 25 yard 1.5 inch group gun like my others. I would like to be able to take it to the range and get good accuracy at 50 ft 2 to 3 inch groups. So I am looking to use the gun as my main conceal carry and also be able to enjoy it at the range and shoot nice groups at 50 feet. Would the Sig 1911 C3 fit this bill?
Can anyone tell me the pros and cons on the Sig 1911 45ACP C3
Thanks a lot for the input and help.
Bob
 
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#2 ·
I carry a Compact Stainless. It is my favorite of all I own.
Mine is accurate enough for carry. 5" groups at 50 yards shooting with my arms resting on my shooting bag.

My only problem was with inertia feed on the last round. I bought Checkmates with the dimple and function has been 100% since.

I also think the series 80 safety is a non problem and way ahead of the Swartz system of the Kimber. I also like a FP safety on my carry guns. Google Hilton Yam's opinion on this as we are in agreement of the better system.
 
#3 ·
My Sig C3 is one of my three carry pistols. The others are a Brown and a Baer. After some initial problems that Sig quickly remedied, it has been accurate and reliable. Trigger pull is crisp, though a tad heavier than my ideal. No big deal, though. Losing 8 to 10 ounces from an all-steel gun is a big upside. No problems in concealing it in IWB holsters.
 
#4 ·
I have read a lot of reviews and am pretty much sold on the Sig. The one thing I see it is hard to find a good holster for the C3. Does anyone have a suggestion. Here is the Don Hume that I use and love and would want something clost to the same.

 
#5 ·
Alessi makes a DOJ that is even higher riding than the Don Hume in your photo and their quality is way beyond hume, though Hume is nice for the money.
You won't go wrong with a SIG, they are IMO the best of the current production 1911
Won't be as tight as you're BAER pistol's but you can buy two of them for what you probably paid for the Baer's and as you said they have awhole different purpose.
 
#7 · (Edited)
After looking closer at the Kimber 4 inch Ultra Carry II. Then looking at the Sig C3 4.2 inch barrel they both have the same grip size. The Kimber just looked smaller with their high cost rubber grips they put on their 4 inch Ultra carry II.(Joking)
:rock: I played with the Sig Sauer C3 today, took it apart and and I liked the way it looked and how it was machined. The things I liked about the C3 is it has a normal guide rod and recoil spring. The trigger felt nice and smooth with the firing pin safety being on the trigger so looking at both pistols I am sold on the Sig. It does have a heavy trigger, I think it has to be at least 5 pounds. It will fit the bill for a conceal carry, and a fun range gun at the 50 foot range.
I took my Kimber with me and my Don Hume holster and the gun fit it perfectly. My front sight already wore a good groove in the leather so it was easy to draw. Putting the Kimber and the Sig on the rear sites standing up the grips are the same length. I am glad I shopped back and forth as I know I will be happy with the Sig and I can go into my regular gun shop hang out and not be ashamed of buying a gun else where, That mean a lot to me and I know down the road it makes a difference when it comes to service or other question. I hope to have one in two weeks. I am not sure what the future of the 3 inch Kimber is going to be?? Th C3 is a nice looking little pistol..
 
#8 ·
First post for me but wanted to give my input. I just picked up a sig C3 this week after many nights researching a 1911 for carry. I concluded that for my budget the c3 had way more features for the price ie novak night sights, checkering, etc than any other option. It is my first 1911, and I carried a sig 229 9mm overseas so I had confidence in the sig's quality. I haven't had an extended range session yet but did fire 10 rds the other day-- very smooth, accurate, and manageable recoil. I had borrowed a buddy's kimber target tle 5in, which cost several hundred dollars more, weighed more and was longer. After playing with that one I decided to pick up a compact 1911. I am happy with my purchase so far. Btw, picked mine up off internet from nelson tactical, green bay, wi. Shipped very same day. They have sig 1911s on sale- I saw used c3s on gunbroker going for more than what their sale price is.
 
#9 ·
I have a Kimber Ultra Carry II and a Sig C3 in Commander size. Hands down, the C3 outshoots the Kimber. I've carried both. The Kimber shows very little wear (rubber scales worn down). The C3 shows the wear pretty badly. Mine has sort of taken a beating, so I quit worrying over it. It still is a very accurate pistol and shoots perfectly. Here is what you have to look forward to, after about 18 months of carry IWB, almost exclusively in pictured holster.





 
#16 ·
Yea, I have an RCS two tone which is functionally a C3 with the edges polished off by the sig custom shop. I love this gun and as long as you use Wilson Combat mags and top quality ammo in it, it's as reliable as a Glock. Now you need to make sure that it likes the ammo you like. I carry hardball...shame on me...but it only likes good hardball for total reliability. I'm talking Black Hills and Stan Chen match grade. Remington Golden Sabers and Speer Gold dots work perfectly in mine also but I have my personal reasons for wanting to carry hardball that don't have anything to do with reliability.

Winchester White Box is not it's favorite load...Federal's cheap loads are better. It will not feed the Hornady hollow point because of it's conical shape.

If you get one, you need to immediately check the space between the bottom of the barrel throat and the top of the feed ramp. If it's not at least 1/32nd and can be up to 1/16th, use a very fine flat jewelers file to get it where you need it and then finish it up with 600 wet or dry, then 1500, then 2000, then mother's mag polish from Auto Zone. Polish the entire throat and also polish the chamber NOT WITH A DREMEL TOOL but using a 7/16" aluminum or brass tube about 6 inches long with the same stages of sandpaper, very carefully by hand...takes a long time...and then wet down a 28 or 20 gage shotgun mop, (depends on the brand) with mothers mag polish, chuck it up in a standard drill, spin it up, and then carefully polish the chamber with it. Slowly and carefully does it. just polish, don't remove any real material.

The gun will really smooth out quickly if you will do this very slowly and very carefully.


But also, yea, the stainless steel finish scuffs easily and the Sig Nitron is about the sorriest finish I've ever seen and they won't refinish frames, only slides. And if you have it refinished yourself, you void your warranty.

And yea, it's hard to find a holster too. Now...HEY SHUT UP AND STOP LAUGHING...I carry in a Smart Carry rig (Thunderwear's competition) so I don't have as much of a problem with the Nitron. But it does scratch at the drop of a hat.

But knowing all that, I'd buy it again.

I know there will be some heat here but the one thing that really sold me on it was the external extractor. I've always felt that the internal extractor on the 1911 was its biggest flaw and weakest point.
 
#17 ·
Glad you like your hardballs, Mine shoots for fun the best with 185 grain Berry's HBRN with 4 grains of bulls eye with a .469 crimp and an OAL of 1.22. I can shoot great groups at 50 feet. I am getting my custom holster Friday or Saturday it has taken about 4 weeks for it to be made for this pistol. I had Tom Kulwikcki from Alessi custom holster make it. The holster was expensive at $135.00 and $12.00 extra for the Buffalo head and tail snaps to take it on and off the belt.
For SD I shoot Gold Dots HP and they feed fine in the two magazines that came with the pistol.
Good luck with your chen black hills balls.
I found that it shoots great with all the Star Line brass I use. I bought that for my SWC target loads for my bulls eye league Custom Target Les Baer.
The C3 is a good little inexpensive 1911 that gets the job that I wanted it for done.
 
#18 ·
I don't shoot enough to reload. I approach shooting as a martial art. I have one of those laser bullet things that you install in the barrel. I practice with that each night, in the dark. I usually go to the range about once a month and put 50 rounds through mine just to make sure it still works and the mags are OK. Range practice is useless to me. Always some range officer tapping me on the back and telling me that he needs "three full seconds" between rounds. And of course they won't let you draw from any holster.

Glad you feel you have what you wanted. I do too.
 
#20 ·
I picked one up on sale a few weeks ago. It's been great. Not a single malfunction shooting WWB, Fed and my reloads. It even ate some out of spec reloads I unintentionally fed it. 600 rounds without a hiccup.

I got a crossbreed supertuck for a 3" Kimber I own. Sig fits in it just fine, although I'm thinking I might pull out a hair dryer and add a little more retention.

As mentioned previously, the trigger is just a tad heavy, but I don't want a hair trigger for an EDC anyway. The lighter weight makes carrying it nice - can't tell any difference between it and my 3" Kimber when tucked away, other than the extra length.

Overall, I'd recommend one, especially at the price you can find them for these days.
 
#22 ·
Scamp,

Yours is the C3 plus.... I just saw a few of them on gunbroker, must be a special run.

The grips are very cool I gotta admit they are nice. Is it 7+1 or 8+1? Just wondering b/c the idea of extending the grip on a CCO style pistol seems like it would get rid of the advantages of the shortened officers grip.
 
#24 ·
I've had mine just over a year, usually carry in a Don Hume H721 fits perfect, also have a Desantis Speed scabbard (wish it had a side guard) and a Backhawk Serpa.

The only issue I have with mine is that it doesn't like reloads unless I resize them as a final step, then they shoot just fine. Have Rem 185g +p Golden Sabers as it didn't feed the Honarday XTP's I have for my previous carry.

I conceals nice, shoots nice and weighs <30 oz Was gonna buy a Kimber until I found this gun at the same shop.... was sold
 
#25 ·
Sigs are known for their short chambers. I think that's so you can't shoot reloads in them.

I once had a batch of Wilson Combat ammo with Hornady bullets that would not even chamber in my RCS. Wilson promptly refunded my money, of course, since their customer service is top notch.

But it was really the fault of the pistol. If it's not strictly factory, it usually won't chamber for me.

anyone else have this problem?
 
#28 · (Edited)
The C3 is the least fussy 1911 that I have for reloads. It will chamber anything as long as I set the crimp to .469. I have over 1K rounds through it now all of them reloads and the only problem was in the first 50 rounds when the last bullet was sitting on top of the Mag and the slide locked open, I think it happened twice and then it never did it again. I think it was from a strong recoil spring and strong magazine springs.
I finally got my custom made holster for it. It is the nicest holster I have ever owned. It was made by Alessi Holsters.
http://www.alessigunholsters.com/
I got the CQC-S. The snaps are the best quality snap I have ever had on a holster, You can put the holster on blind. It is easier to do it this way than it is to thread it through my heavy 1.5 inch good quality leather belt. I paid the extra $12.00 to get the buffalo head nickle front and back on the snaps.
Here is the photo of my rig now. The nice thing is you order it and you go by gun manufacture and then model number. He has a mold for each gun so it is made for your gun. The slide on the C3 is not rounded like others and it can be hard to find a good fit.
This fits like a glove. The lead time was about 4 weeks.

Here it is with the flash and you see the nice finish on the leather
 
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