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Why are these so cheap? Made in Spain, sub $500 1911. What's wrong with them?

Ive had two,not the best looking.Not the best built....but always worked without issue.
I paid $199 each after i had done my stint in the Army.
May i say they worked without issue out of the box.

Years later when i could afford better i bought 4 Les Baers.

Two Les Baers NEVER worked.And Les Baer would not warranty them,kept telling me i had to run 1000 rounds thru them first and if that didnt work to run a second 1000 rounds again to make them reliable,a proper break in he said.
I argued i bought two Llama 1911's for $199 each and they ran without having to shoot 1000 rounds out of the box.If they ran without issue then i sure as s*** expected a $2000 Les Baer to run out of the box.Les Baer pretty much told me to pound sand after he said they would not warranty his guns.I'll buy a Llama any day over a $2000 Les Baer.
Ive had very good luck with Llamas,had the front sight fly off a couple of times,but also on some Colts.Easy and cheap fix.
They always ran ok,only issue is weak recoil springs at times.Spring changes seem to be needed about every 800 rounds with factory llama springs.Sprinco recoil springs lasted twice and more.Also an easy fix.

Thanks bro. I came across one for sale and thought it was a good price until I looked them up on gunbroker. Then the asking price was average, not a smoking deal.

They go bang. Usually don't like hollow points till they are really broken in. I paid $175 brand new back in 2005 for one. Today if it was like $300 I probably would buy another. You can get nice 1911's from SDS and EAA for $500 and less

Yup, Llamas go bang, but in todays market a used one is hardly a deal.

The SDS are no joke.
Top is a SDS w/$140 in mods that’s going to be my new single stack toy for USPSA.

Bottom is his $1000 “little brother” from the “region” that came with what appeared to be the feedramp cut off center (turned out to be a weird shading of the aluminum).

as noted they go bang, some are downright purdae in blueing, have had and have quite a few, all functioned, went bang, some better than others, and as noted lotsa of others in that price range just as reliable, enjoy the bang
Rj

Older ones are a beast onto themselves as far as parts, even mags and grips.
Newer ones became much better at part swapping. MAX and MINI-MAX come to mind as newer and better.
Fun guns to play with but they gotta be cheeeeeeap.

needsmostuff wrote: ↑June 2nd, 2022, 6:59 am Older ones are a beast onto themselves as far as parts, even mags and grips.
Newer ones became much better at part swapping. MAX and MINI-MAX come to mind as newer and better.
Fun guns to play with but they gotta be cheeeeeeap.

^This^

A lot of nonstandard parts in early models. Some of the internals were ok (sear/disconnect), but others required a ton of fitting. I messed around with a commander type as well as a gov’t profile to discover this.

IIRC, the double stack series were closely patterned after Paras (including the little 12rd sub), and Para mags were a close if not exact replacement.

Spanish Firearms are interesting and fun to collect. Countless models, various calibers and interesting provenance in some cases. I am more focused on Star Brand Stuff, Made in the Basque region of Spain. Most Spanish firearms went through a state mandated proof process making dating them fairly easy. There are a lot of interesting Llamas. Llama stuff that was imported here tended to be lower end of the spectrum. But that didn't mean bad. There is a lot of information on the net about Spanish firearms. Value is skewed these days, something that was 300.00 3 years ago is double that in many cases today. Some are stuck in 1985 thinking about prices. Inflation is real and it has hit guns. Now i would not pay colt money for a Llama but its not always about the price in gun collecting/buying.

If anyone has a Star Megastar in 10mm hiding in there safe ill pay good money for it.

Thanks ALL! I already have a few 1911s including Para, Springfield, RIA and a Auto Ord. Much appreciated on the feedback!

hotwheelsjr wrote: ↑June 3rd, 2022, 8:30 pm Thanks ALL! I already have a few 1911s including Para, Springfield, RIA and a Auto Ord. Much appreciated on the feedback!

If you are a 1911 collector, by all means get one. The afore mentioned Maxx models are the "better" vintage IMHO, but if the price is right. The coolest, scariest 1911 variant I have ever owned was a Para P-14 LDA. Lightest trigger I have ever dealt with and virtually no reset. Maybe 1/8", maybe. Once I figured out how to shoot it properly it was a sweet beast. Sold it at a gun show for a huge profit.

Yeah, nah...not really a collector, but saw what I thought was a good deal. Turns out it's not as much of a deal as I thought.