Browning 1911-380 Handgun Reviews

Discussion in 'Browning 1911 - 380 Handgun' started by Billythekid, Jun 29, 2015.

  1. Billythekid

    Billythekid Administrator Staff Member Administrator

    Post all of the Browning 1911-380 Handgun reviews here...
  2. SHOOTER13

    SHOOTER13 Guest

    New REVIEW sub forum for Browning 1911-380 handguns...
  3. Alcazar

    Alcazar .410

    I have to give this firearm a two thumbs up for now. Don't care for the all black sights, but that is not a big deal. It is very lightweight, very little felt recoil. I could fire this little thing all day long. Fairly accurate right out of the box, little bigger than golf ball size group at 15 yards. A great semi for concealed carry for folks in the land of the free where it can be carried. Pictured below my S&W .45 for comparison. And again in my hand.
    Needs magazines to be available, maybe some nicer grips, friendly sights as well.
    All in all, a keeper for the time being, see how it holds up.

    Attached Files:

    drift likes this.
  4. SHOOTER13

    SHOOTER13 Guest

    Good looking carry piece...

    Thanks for the review Joan.
  5. SHOOTER13

    SHOOTER13 Guest

    Most small concealed carry style pistols lack truly good sights...that's why the after-market sight manufacturers flourish...
  6. Alcazar

    Alcazar .410

    You know it Shooter 13. Seems like a real racket, that and extra mags. It seems in the U.S. market they provide two magazine to buyers. Here they cheap out at one in a lot of todays firearms. Let the local dealer here have a look at mine today, he was ordering fast as his fingers could type.
    But those damn sights are gruesome, how's a girl supposed to get a good shot on with those dark things?? I'm thinking a little red nail polish might be the ticket to get some contrast going?? Any other ideas Shooter 13??
  7. SHOOTER13

    SHOOTER13 Guest

    They actually make a light-activated luminescent paint...which will give the sight manufacturers time to catch up and make some swappable sights for the Browning .380...

    TruGlo Ghost Glow Paint Kit TG985B.

    Three high-visibility light-activated luminescent gun sight coatings: Green, Orange and Yellow

    http://www.opticsplanet.com/truglo-ghost-glow-paint-kit-tg985b.html
  8. Alcazar

    Alcazar .410

    I just went and bought 500 rounds today I was that pleased with this little firearm. Got the Truglo paint on order.
    I promise I won't tell the two big burly guys who tried this little beauty out that they should be feminized to fire it. They both really enjoyed the gun.
    It's hard enough being the only girl on the range.
  9. Alcazar

    Alcazar .410

    Keep us informed as to where and when mags become available in U.S. please.
    I do believe Brucey is anti-gun too.
  10. SHOOTER13

    SHOOTER13 Guest

    Thanks for the review Train...

    Glad you're getting the Tru-Glo paint Joan...
  11. Alcazar

    Alcazar .410

    Called Bass Pro Texas they cannot ship to Canada. Sheesh, furthermore they can't ship to US address if I use my Canadian credit card. Guess I'll have to wait till October or later to snag more mags.
  12. Texas-Mark

    Texas-Mark .22LR

    I have had my 1911-380 for about a month now. Overall, I like the gun. However, for the price, I think it has several flaws. But first the good stuff.

    The gun is very light and easy to rack. The trigger is not bad (but could be better). The gun had been reliable after addressing a mag issue I will talk about in a minute. Accuracy is pretty good, although I did have to drift the rear sight a bit.

    Now for the bad stuff. My gun only came with one mag and it had an issue with the feed lips being spread too much causing nose up jams and rounds to actually pop out of the gun. The lack of spare mags is a definite strike against browning. However, I did finally get two mags that I had on backorder with Bass Pro and have not had any problems with those or the original that I fixed myself. The rear sight is plastic, and IMO is too easy to drift. While I have not had it move, one barely has to tap it to move it. I'm afraid that just hitting it against something can cause it to fly off. I am getting several ejected cases hitting me in the head. Usually the last round, but not always. The extractor clocks quite a bit. I was able to fix the clocking by installing a shim, but the lack of any spare parts (i.e. firing pin stop) from Browning is another strike. I hate mag disconnect safeties, and while it can easily be "defeated", again the lack of spare parts means I will probably just leave it as is.

    So as I said, the gun is ok. But IMO should have been priced more around $450 given the "cheapness" of it.
  13. SHOOTER13

    SHOOTER13 Guest

    Welcome to the Browning Owners Forum Texas Mark !!
  14. Bama Jack

    Bama Jack Copper BB

    I bought my 1911 380 on December 9th, Its been one thing after another with this gun. I got it in Tennessee and had to ship it to Alabama where I live (Roll Tide). First trip to the range the first round out of the magazine jammed and when I cleared it the 2nd round fell out. First let me say I loved this gun, the feel the weight the look the fact that it was a Browning was just icing on the cake so I thought. Anyway so once I finally get a round chambered I fire it and now I love the light recoil squeeze the trigger for the second shot and it misfires, the slide likes about 1/4 of inch closing. I keep thinking well maybe its my grip or the ammo or I dont know, anything other than the gun but every first round in every magazine jams and have the slide issue 2 out 3 mags sometimes more than once per magazine. The one bright spot is when I contacted Browning and told them the guy replied "well I guess we need that one back" took my information and send a shipping label before the phone call was over. I hope this has a happy ending I really do want to love this gun again. But dont see how I would ever be able to trust it as a carry weapon.
  15. Texas-Mark

    Texas-Mark .22LR

    If you haven't already, read this thread. Sounds a lot like the issue I was having.

    http://browningowners.com/forum/index.php?threads/browning-1911-380-handgun-troubleshooting.4575/
  16. drewzter

    drewzter .22LR

    When you find good ones please post. In the meantime I am going to try putting a dot of white nail polish on my front.
  17. drewzter

    drewzter .22LR

    Please PM me. I need a mag disco defeat how to. Thanks. P.S. I have not detail stripped yet. Is it pretty obvious?
  18. drewzter

    drewzter .22LR

    Here is my review after over 200 rounds. It's a keeper. I did have to adjust the ONE magazine to close up the lips a little bit (thanks to posts in the trouble shooting thread) . After that I found that it shoots well. I shot some defense loads and some PMC bronze and some lead handloads ( it's too much of a cost savings not to do it, I went to the store looking for plinking ammo and threw up my hands , went home, and cranked out 100 95 gr cartridges last night before bed, shot them all today). They were light but cycled with a firm grip. All the defense loads fed flawlessly. All of the loads were accurate and I was able to dial in the sights and hit well under 2" at 20 yards. At 10 yards , 4 out of 6 shots were within half an inch. I chronographed Federal Hydr Shok at 1047 fps. That's PF of 94. Not bad but I am thinking I would like it to be a bit higher if possible. I want to test some more defense rounds and load some of my own to to see if I can do a little better. I have some Horny XTP bullets I was thinking of putting over some Tightgroup or Power Pistol and aim for close to 1100 fps. I was able to get used to the sights. They are not much smaller and plainer than my Springfield RO. I can live with them for now. I will be getting more mags and a kydex OTW holster cause I want to try this gun in Steel Challenge just for grins.
    Last edited: Dec 29, 2015
    drift likes this.
  19. drift

    drift Copper BB

    Man - thanks for the update. That's really helpful. I look forward to further updates.

    2" at 20 yards is pretty darn good!!
  20. Blamejane

    Blamejane .22LR

    Awesome review, thanks for sharing; just confirms what I absolutely love about my 380!! Actually what I love more than anything is how it fits my hand, a close second to that is how accurate I feel it performs. Of course I have a little to do with that :)

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