The 1911A1 shows definite improvements in finish and quality over the earlier SAM pistols I tried a decade or so ago and absolutely did not like. The carbine is much like SAM’s other pistols. The 1911A1 Carbine takes down for cleaning just like a standard 1911 pistol, just be sure you have a longer cleaning rod. They have cut a couple of corners, but the pistol comes out well. Shooters Arms Manufacturing makes close copies of the standard GI 1911. Iver Johnson re-brands Philippine-produced SAM pistols as the basis of the 1911A1 Carbine. Warning: don’t get any bright ideas about subbing out the carbine length barrel with a standard 5-inch 1911 barrel. The Iver Johnson 1911A1 features a 16.25 inch barrel, making it a legal carbine and letting the seller checks the rifle box on your paperwork. The stock attaches to a polymer mainspring housing and is tightened with a thumbscrew. I am not damning the 1911A1 Carbine’s stock with faint praise but it’s a simple wood plank with a connector. The stock is nothing fancy…just some texturing for a good mount and the Iver Johnson logo. In short, unless you want to open yourself up to potentially nasty interactions with federal regulators, don’t change the configuration of the Iver Johnson 1911A1 Carbine for any reason. The Iver Johnson carbine is kind of like the Rossi Circuit Judge though the Circuit Judge is a more permanent in configuration. Generally you can’t legally add a shoulder stock a pistol. The Iver Johnson 1911A1 Carbine is for fun. A shotgun is for what a shotgun does (which is a lot). In general, a 1911 pistol is for carrying and a Colt 5.56mm carbine is for fighting. I don’t know this law well (I would learn if I were interested in this sort of firearm), but I am smart enough not to remove the shoulder stock or change the barrel of this carbine.

So while you can’t simply mount a stock on a pistol, there have been attempts at braces and stabilizing kits. Mounting a stock on standard pistol makes it a short barrel rifle - a NFA-regulated item - in the eyes of the ATF and means you’re in for all kinds of paperwork, not to mention paying for a $200 tax stamp. Unfortunate, thanks to the National Firearms Act of 1934, there are all kind problems and costs involved with doing that. Adding a stock to a pistol for more stability and accuracy seems like a great idea…and it is. The Luger, Mauser and Browning Hi Power pistols were often shoulder stock equipped.

The original intent of the shoulder stocked pistol, I believe, was for mounted troops to dismount and fight with a stocked revolver, and sure it wasn’t a rifle but it was better than trying to fight a fast moving battle with a rifle on horseback, and then hoping the rifle was still in the scabbard when you dismounted. I don’t want to become acquainted with the folks at Leavenworth. The Iver Johnson 1911A1 Carbine isn’t a shoulder stocked pistol.

Iver johnson 1911