This Is One of the Best 1911 Accessories You Can Buy

 Think for a moment, what do you think the most practical 1911 accessory of all is?

It might depend on your intended application, right? If you hunt with it, maybe a red-dot or scope-compatible slide, right?

If you use it for defense, maybe a trigger-guard mounted light, or one that mounts under the slide?

Perhaps a laser sight? Or a lanyard? Or even a holster?

All very useful 1911 accessories, for sure - but there’s another that offers an uncommon amount of value to all shooters, especially those who shoot a .45 ACP-chambered 1911.

And who doesn’t?

It’s a compensator. Here’s why it makes the grade of our estimation for best 1911 accessory out there - even among the hundreds of 1911 parts and accessories we sell here at SARCO, Inc.

Why a Compensator? What Does It Do?

In the event you are not familiar with a compensator, it’s like a muzzle brake for a handgun.

Most of the time, compensators, like muzzle brakes, thread onto the end of a threaded barrel - but not always.

In the case of handguns with barrels that aren’t threaded, they may affix in other ways. Some compensators are also integral with barrels.

But, more importantly is what the compensator itself does.

Like a muzzle brake, a compensator alters the manner in which gasses are physically distributed around the muzzle of a firearm.

In the case of a compensator, typically the gasses are ported upwards, whereas in a muzzle brake, they might be ported laterally or even radially.

Porting the gasses upward accomplishes a few different things. Most notably, it decreases the overall felt effects of recoil, and it also actively works to push the muzzle of the firearm down.

For a handgun, recoil reduction can be serious - up to 50% of perceived recoil, without any reduction in shot power.

In a handgun chambered in .45 ACP, this can be quite a big deal. Remember, .45 ACP, though not a particularly heavy-hitting cartridge, still produces about twice the felt recoil as 9mm from handguns that weigh and operate similarly.

The recoil mitigating effects of a compensator are nothing short of remarkable, and have serious (positive) consequences for shooters of all sorts.

For one, they can help shooters learn to overcome bad habits like flinching. They can also make it easier for smaller-framed shooters to train for longer periods of time at the range without getting beat up by recoil.

The fact that most compensators port the gasses upwards, actively counteracting muzzle flip, is another big bonus.

Most shooters, even experienced shooters, are going to have to fight against the effects of muzzle flip. But, with an effective compensator, muzzle rise will be sharply mitigated, making it easier to keep your sights trained on target for faster, more accurate follow-up shots.

All in all, shooting with a compensator will result in less shooter fatigue, more accurate shots, less time between follow up shots, and an overall more enjoyable experience.

Making it, in our estimation, the best (if not at least one of the best) 1911 accessories that money can buy - not that there aren’t others that are valuable, but this one is a good one.

Don’t Want to Pay for a Trip to the Gunsmith? We May Have a Solution

Now to address a (small) elephant in the room: the fact that many if not most 1911 pistols do not have threaded barrels.

No worries - we sell 1911 barrels (in multiple calibers) with integral compensators, eliminating that concern.

And now let’s cover what else you can do to fight recoil.

Other Recoil Fighting Tactics

If you got here on the thread of recoil mitigation in handgun shooting - that is the topic of this post, after all - then be apprised there are other things you can do instead of tacking on a compensator.

The easiest is just to shoot lighter loads - not viable for defensive or sporting applications, but for training, why not?

When comparing two boxes of ammo, look at muzzle energy. The higher that number, the more recoil it will produce (roughly). Go with the lightest one you can find.

Also, think about installing a heavier guide rod - say, a tungsten guide rod. As the mass of the overall platform increases, felt recoil will lessen, and a heavier guide rod weighs down the nose of the gun, helping to counterproduce muzzle flip.

After that, it’s all about discipline, training, and getting a proper grip on the gun - but you got this.

Explore More 1911 Accessories Where That Came from

That’s our take on what the best 1911 accessory for the money is, and why. Take it or leave it.

And while you’re here, check out our entire collection of 1911 parts and accessories because a compensator is by no means the only good one out there.