Tisa is preparing 1911 builder kits

I read an article awhile back that was a collection of legitimate brown bear encounters. The .45 was of no use. .454 and up were OK but can only get maybe 2 or 3 good shots off due to recoil. A pistol is best for fighting your way to a rifle. The 10mm was the sweet spot if you can't carry a rifle. You have to start shooting as soon as the bear charges and keep shooting until the bear stops. In the shootings cited, the bear didn't stop until within feet of the shooter and had 8 or more holes in it. One involved a former Marine Recon. Two shots to the brain pan, one through the eye. Not your average shooter.

Bear medicine: 10mm, heavy solid bullets, shoot until empty, reload and shoot more.
 
Indeed. A bear's skull is very thick and its angled shape is remarkably good at deflecting projectiles. Like modern armor. I often read people posting about how a .45 or 9mm is their 'bear gun'. I think most of those guys live in their parents' basement and the woods to them is a city park. And the only bear they have seen was on TV. Big bore revolver or 10mm semi auto is the best bet. The argument for 44 mag being sufficient is credible. I just wouldn't choose it.

I agree a rifle is optimal. For obvious reasons. If I'm anywhere around bears, I have a rifle with me because the only reason for being there is I'm hunting. Usually with a 7mm Tikka. Elk hunting Alaska, BC, Montana. Occasionally big horn when I was able to get a ticket.

Anyway... far enough off topic!
 
So was this all talking about TisaS? Everyone writing tisa has me confused.

Like was stated, I bought one of Classics $359 Tisas in 9mm 5". They had 45acp & commander size. Wish I bought one of each. My 9mm is very nice for that price.
 
NCShooter said:
So was this all talking about TisaS? Everyone writing tisa has me confused.

Like was stated, I bought one of Classics $359 Tisas in 9mm 5". They had 45acp & commander size. Wish I bought one of each. My 9mm is very nice for that price.
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It started out that way. Drifted.

I have a few Tisas 1911s and they definitely punch above their weight in terms of reliability and build quality. Easily upgradable with more expensive internal parts but thus far I've found no reason to do that. They run great. in 9mm or 45.
 
Bongo Lewi said:
I had a Witness in 45 stainless. Nice looking. Shot well, but it was very heavy. I've always liked the CZ75. Great trigger. I also had a Rami. Loved that gun, but when I made the leap to polymer for EDC, it went in the safe.

Bear gun... for quite a while it was the Ruger Alaskan in 454 Casull. Most guides, hunters, bush pilots in grizzly country were carrying big bore revolvers. Still are. The 454 Casull will rattle your bones and loosen fillings. :) But I'm told the Glock 20 is getting traction - esp with pilots up there in Eskimo land. More ammo is never a bad thing.

The conventional wisdom remains that six guns are more than adequate for bear and cats. You're most likely only going to get one or two shots off in the unlikely event a bear decides you are unwelcome. I've had several encounters with big cats and bears and never found it necessary to kill one. I woke up one night to find a rather large fellow sticking his head in my tent. He was so close I could smell his breath. I slept clothed with the Ruger in a chest rig but I would have had to draw and shoot thru the sleeping bag. Since I knew better than to keep food in the tent I just played possum and he (or she) went away. Seemed like hours but it was only a few minutes.

If you don't hit something vital in the first or second shot, you are in trouble. A bear 50 feet away can close that distance in a couple of seconds and rip the skin right off your bones in one swipe. Their strength is incredible. Even a medium-sized bear can tear the door off a car. We have all seen those videos.

The added advantage of a wheel gun is when it's pressed against a bad guy or something furry it won't come out of battery. The moral of the story is ten rounds is about 8 more than you will need before Yogi is on top of you!
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Golly, that had to have been absolutely terrifying. Was your subconscious telling you to shoot it? Having an internal battle while, I bet, your adrenaline was overwhelming all of your senses. I’ve never had an encounter with a large, wild, predator. Makes me quiver, thinking about it.
 
@Lanus I had a few close encounters with bears and cats, so I knew that patience and staying calm usually is the best approach. I never once had to kill one. Bears are smart, curious, and hungry all the time. Big cats are like house cats. Wierd and opportunistic. If a house cat could kill you, it would. Just for fun. Not so with bears. Best to respect them both and don't do anything rash.

If the bear came into my tent any further than poking in his head, I would probably have had to shoot him thru the sleeping bag ... meaning a wild-ass guess on where the bullet would hit .. and hope I hit something vital. A bear's skull is built like an Abrams tank. Very thick, and it has a lot of obtuse angles that can deflect a bullet. Their fur is dense and hide very thick. Even if you get a decent shot off, they may kill you before they die themselves. One swipe of those claws can literally rip the skin right off your body. That's a bad way to go. Best to avoid a fight if you can. Grizzlys are mostly a Canadian/Alaskan thing. But they are being reintroduced in the PNW.

It's important to remember bears rarely attack humans. Females get pissy when cubs are around though. The woods and hills are their home. I'm a guest. That's how I see it. I live in NC now and it's rural. I have yet to see a bear after living there 3+ years. They are out there, but not in huge numbers. The Pacific Northwest, Montana, the Dakotas, and western Canada... . I've seen some big boys and girls in those parts. Cats are common as well.

We have all heard the axiom, When you piss off the bull you get the horns. This guy used to make a living pissing off bulls. That's gotta hurt, dontcha think? :) Bull - 1, Matador - 0

Screenshot 2023-08-02 at 4.11.23 PM.png
 
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Bongo Lewi said:
@Lanus I had a few close encounters with bears and cats, so I knew that patience and staying calm usually is the best approach. I never once had to kill one. Bears are smart, curious, and hungry all the time. Big cats are like house cats. Wierd and opportunistic. If a house cat could kill you, it would. Just for fun. Not so with bears. Best to respect them both and don't do anything rash.

If the bear came into my tent any further than poking in his head, I would probably have had to shoot him thru the sleeping bag ... meaning a wild-ass guess on where the bullet would hit .. and hope I hit something vital. A bear's skull is built like an Abrams tank. Very thick, and it has a lot of obtuse angles that can deflect a bullet. Their fur is dense and hide very thick. Even if you get a decent shot off, they may kill you before they die themselves. One swipe of those claws can literally rip the skin right off your body. That's a bad way to go. Best to avoid a fight if you can. Grizzlys are mostly a Canadian/Alaskan thing. But they are being reintroduced in the PNW.

It's important to remember bears rarely attack humans. Females get pissy when cubs are around though. The woods and hills are their home. I'm a guest. That's how I see it. I live in NC now and it's rural. I have yet to see a bear after living there 3+ years. They are out there, but not in huge numbers. The Pacific Northwest, Montana, the Dakotas, and western Canada... . I've seen some big boys and girls in those parts. Cats are common as well.

We have all heard the axiom, When you piss off the bull you get the horns. This guy used to make a living pissing off bulls. That's gotta hurt, dontcha think? :) Bull - 1, Matador - 0

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Yeah, that's going to leave a mark! :oops:
 
Bongo Lewi said:
I'm the same about 5.7x28. Tempted many times. The reason I hesitate is in order to take advantage of the round, you have to hand load. The retail ammo in this caliber is intentionally dumbed down because by design it was intended to penetrate body armor. The barrels tend to be long so it's not an easy gun to conceal. Fun to shoot though. Low recoil and unlike 9mm it shoots very flat out to 100 yards.

My 10mm journey began with a Girsan. Then a Rock, then a Glock. I was seeking a semi-auto alternative to my Ruger Alaskan in 454 Casull and more capacity. Bear and cat gun. Now, there are no bears or cats where I live and I havent been elk or deer hunting in grizzly or cat country for quite a while.
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PSA Rock 5.7 slide assemblies go on sale all the time. Same with the frames. Freedom week they had frames at the Blem price-point. And that fiocchi range ammo has been on sale cheap a few times now.

It’s cheap to join the club.
Do it. You know you want to.
One of us…
 
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Stephen G said:
I mean come on, like Im the only 1 rooting for the bull.
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I always root for the bull. No a fan of the bull "fight". It is a tradition of another culture and not my place to judge.

The that the bull equivalent of the human middle finger?
 
Bongo Lewi said:
@Lanus I had a few close encounters with bears and cats, so I knew that patience and staying calm usually is the best approach. I never once had to kill one. Bears are smart, curious, and hungry all the time. Big cats are like house cats. Wierd and opportunistic. If a house cat could kill you, it would. Just for fun. Not so with bears. Best to respect them both and don't do anything rash.

If the bear came into my tent any further than poking in his head, I would probably have had to shoot him thru the sleeping bag ... meaning a wild-ass guess on where the bullet would hit .. and hope I hit something vital. A bear's skull is built like an Abrams tank. Very thick, and it has a lot of obtuse angles that can deflect a bullet. Their fur is dense and hide very thick. Even if you get a decent shot off, they may kill you before they die themselves. One swipe of those claws can literally rip the skin right off your body. That's a bad way to go. Best to avoid a fight if you can. Grizzlys are mostly a Canadian/Alaskan thing. But they are being reintroduced in the PNW.

It's important to remember bears rarely attack humans. Females get pissy when cubs are around though. The woods and hills are their home. I'm a guest. That's how I see it. I live in NC now and it's rural. I have yet to see a bear after living there 3+ years. They are out there, but not in huge numbers. The Pacific Northwest, Montana, the Dakotas, and western Canada... . I've seen some big boys and girls in those parts. Cats are common as well.

We have all heard the axiom, When you piss off the bull you get the horns. This guy used to make a living pissing off bulls. That's gotta hurt, dontcha think? :) Bull - 1, Matador - 0

View attachment 12810
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Can you imagine what happened next? Bull shook his head and probably tore his jaw off....
 
Bongo Lewi said:
That Beretta clone was made on Beretta tooling In Brazil under license. It’s a good gun! I consider the 92 one of the best semi auto pistols ever made. I carried one for quite a while when I dressed like I was on Miami Vice.

View attachment 12509
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I miss the 80's. At least the condition my body was in in the 80's. I remember my first Ballester Molina. I still have the 41ae I managed to bring back.
 
I waddled over to Tisas USA yesterday looking for their 1911
kits. Good thing is I found them. Bad thing (Sorta) is they come
with a frame. Based on what I've seen with them, It would be an
easy build.

So I think I'm going to go to Sarco for the kit when I do another 80%er.

A few years back I did a few with their kits and other than a lot of
fitting they weren't any harder than the ones I did with Essex frames,
Itajuba slides and Dare Gun Room parts after I got out of the service.
 
I did not even know this was a thing. Amazing. I've had my Tisas a1 model for a month now and I am very impressed. I would not hesitate buying that kit.
 
The off the rack Tisas are legit, and the price on PSA for them has been insane.
 
They have them at 320 regularly, saw it dip to 300 at the end of the year. Kinda crazy, honestly, for something that’s legit good. The other models are also affordable, for those who prefer a 2000’s flavor over OG.
 
Hvymax said:
I miss the 80's. At least the condition my body was in in the 80's. I remember my first Ballester Molina. I still have the 41ae I managed to bring back.
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I think you miss the Mullet brother :cool:
 
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