The nice thing about buying a bargain priced new 1911 is that you don’t have to worry about the long term viability of the company and the ability to find parts for the gun. Because it is a cut rate gun I didn’t bother to Ransom Rest it, but overall the Iver Johnson Eagle 9mm gun we were able to test shot close to point of aim out of the box and in informal rested shooting from a bag at 25 yards easily kept into 2 1/2 inches, not the best I can shoot, but close to it. 45ACP, the recoil is completely manageable even with light, hot carry rounds. For 9mm, in an all steel gun that was created for the more hefty. 45ACP and some in 9mm like our test gun.įor this model, the Eagle in 9mm, in over 500 rounds of range and carry ammo in our tests with five different shooters of various hand sizes, frame sizes and genders (we stopped at two on that one), the gun never failed to go boom once.
There are currently a total of seven 1911 models offered by Iver Johnson in both full and officer sizes, some in. The trigger and hammer are also lightened, and our full sized 5″ barrel all steel test gun weighed 41.8 ounces empty with the magazine. It has a Millet adjustable rear sight, extended slide stop and thumb safety (not ambi), front and rear slide serrations, and slightly flared ejection port and mag well. This particular model, the Eagle, is only available in 9mm and carries several special features. If your dealer doesn’t already have one on the shelf, you can ask that they custom order you one from either RSR, or directly from the company. The street price is generally under $600, pretty cheap for a 1911, and if our tests are any indication, they aren’t a bad gun to take a risk on. An Iver Johnson 1911 is an Iver Johnson 1911, custom made for them and imported exclusively by them, and I think that is why if you Google around on the guns, you will find almost all positive reports. It isn’t a case where they are buying containers of guns that are being sold elsewhere under different names. What makes the guns unique is that they custom created to spec, by Iver Johnson. They are made in the Philippines from a forged CNC cut slide and cast CNC cut frame, and specifically sourced parts. These 1911s are the latest from the Iver Johnson company currently located in Rockledge, FL. 22 to kill Robert Kennedy, or at least that is the official story. Sirhan Sirhan used a top break Iver Johnson. Over the years the brand has come and gone under a variety of ownership, and you will find the name Iver Johnson on just about every type of firearm you can name, pistols, revolvers, shotguns, rifles, everything but an AR-15, so far. Top break revolvers don’t get a lot of press, and even in good shape an old Iver Johnson won’t fetch much more than a couple hundred bucks. They are called top breaks because, like a Smith & Wesson Schofield, the gun “breaks” at the rear of the topstrap and flips forward to expose the cylinder for loading. Hardware stores, five and dimes, and even the Sears catalog used to sell Iver Johnson revolvers that we now call “top breaks” for generally under ten dollars. If you aren’t familiar with Iver Johnson, this is a name in the firearms world that has been with us since the late 1800s. With all the 1911s out there, very few come in under $600, which is where this gun is priced, and the Iver Johnson Eagle seems a lot of gun for the money. The Eagle worked mostly as expected, never failed, and was pretty accurate out of the box. Overall the gun is a pretty good buy with really only one minor quirk, and it seems to be a good honest buy on a good honest 1911. We were able to test their 1911A1 “Eagle” in the 9mm version, and our answer isn’t that far from a resounding “yes” either. The folks selling guns under the Iver Johnson name these days would answer that question with a resounding “yes.” The question remains, however, can you buy a bargain priced 1911 and have a good reliable firearm. We should all be able to just return to shooting these classic and ergonomically near perfect firearms for the next hundred years. Now that the year 2011 has passed and we are handily into 2012, enough has been said about the 100 year anniversary of the 1911 pistol.