Best 1911 Accessories and Upgrades of 2022

1. Magpul MOE 1911 Textured Grip Panels

These are fantastic grip panels that you can attach very easily either yourself or with the help of a gunsmith. The grips are made to work with ambidextrous safeties, which is something you don’t see in many grips, and have diamond-shaped cross-sections.

These are designed to be very easy to hold and dig into your palms as you hold the weapon. This will aid you when you’re trying to hold it as it fires and can provide some great tension if it’s raining or your palms become sweaty. A gun that slips out of your hands is a sizable danger, so we’re glad to see this protective functionality in the grip pieces.

There’s an aggressive magazine drop cut out of the grips, though we noticed that you might need to trim it a little more yourself, depending on its condition upon arrival. However, we feel that this is really just a minor flaw since you can get these grips in four colors for a very reasonable asking price and for a minimum of installation trouble. They’re an excellent pair of grip panels that can improve anyone’s 1911 by a large degree.

Bottom Line

The Magpul grip panels are an affordable modification that we'd like to see every 1911 user take advantage of. They'll make firing your weapon more comfortable, ensure that you have less of a risk of dropping the weapon from sweaty hands and improve your accuracy passively by helping you maintain an excellent grip on the pistol. They can come in several colors depending on what you like best.

2. Sig Sauer 1911 TACOPS Threaded Barrel

This barrel will improve the accuracy of your 1911 immediately. As soon as the first shot is fired, you’ll be able to tell a great difference in the range at which you can reliably hit targets. The barrel has a threaded interior, which means that it’s going to help spin your round as it exits the gun and maintains its accuracy over a longer space.

Velocity won’t be helped very much, but we’re looking at barrels for their accuracy improvements more than anything, and the 1911 has enough velocity that this shouldn’t be a problem anyway. The barrel is also designed to allow you to install some additional accessories on its front, such as a suppressor.

We really like attachments that play well with others. This barrel is a great addition to any modification suite you’re planning for your 1911 since it can be combined with other attachments and make your firearm even more of a force to be reckoned with than it already is.

Bottom Line

This barrel does a phenomenal job of improving the accuracy and effective range of your 1911. While you will suffer a slight velocity reduction, the threading in the barrel will spin each round issued by your 1911 and cause them to hit targets further and more accurately than ever before. It’s also easy to combine with other adjustments due to its shapely construction.

3. Novak Semi-Auto Tritium Dovetail Front Sight

Here we have an excellent government-style sight that you can mount atop your 1911 with a minimal effort or trouble. We recommend using a gunsmith just to be sure the mounting goes perfectly, but it’s an easy-enough piece to take off if you need to adjust something or if you don’t want the sight on for a particular shooting session.

The sight uses a tritium dot that's bright enough to work in most low-light conditions. This is great for use with a 1911 sight since you might use the pistol in urban or interior quarters during tactical exercises. The dot isn't very ideal for high-light scenarios, although in this case having a sight to aim your shots more precisely is still going to be a net benefit for your firearm.

The sight is made from durable materials and is mounted on the dovetail, a perfect location for a 1911 sight. The price is pretty reasonable for all of the functionality you get with the purchase and its easy modifiability means that even if your first mounting isn’t perfect you can tinker and mess around with it until you’re satisfied. It’s a great example of an attachment sight for an older weapon.

Bottom Line

This dovetail sight is very easy to install and remove, so you can switch up your weapon depending on your mood on any particular day. The sight is particularly helpful for shooting in low light environments and is balanced and weighted very well: a critical component for a lightweight pistol attachment.

4. Parrish EZ Equalizer 1911 Auto Bushing Comp

The Parrish is a great compensator that’s presented for an affordable price. It’s very easy to install; you won’t need to go to the gunsmith and wait for very long before you can have your piece installed and ready for action.

Right away you'll notice a solid difference in recoil control as you squeeze off rounds. The compensator is well-made and well balanced and is treated with a coating to resist heat damage and the corrosion that can come with that effect.

It's pretty lightweight, so you shouldn’t notice much of a difference before and after you install it onto your 1911. Most importantly, your shot won’t be thrown off by having to adjust to a new balance or tilt to the feel of the firearm.

The only tiny flaw we found is that the color likely won’t match the metal shade of your 1911 right off the bat, but with a little paint beforehand you can take care of that quickly enough. Or you can just ignore it; you’re getting the compensator for its performance boost, not its appearance. If you want to control your 1911’s recoil and make staying on target easier with quick, successive shots, we can’t recommend the Parrish enough.

Bottom Line

This compensator is so easy to install you won’t even need to consider the gunsmith. You can remove or attach it as you please and immediately feel the results as your 1911’s recoil is handled much more vertically than before. This will help you place shots where you want them, and it works with all calibers of rounds suitable for a 1911. It’s also been treated to resist heat and corrosion.

5. PSA 1911 Trigger

Let’s take a look at a great trigger from PSA for a 1911 specifically. It’s made of aluminum. This is to keep the trigger durable, yet light enough to both not distort the balance of the gun and to ensure that each trigger pull is smooth and buttery. It’s a far cry from triggers made with bulkier, thicker metals that have difficulty sliding past other machine parts.

The trigger is a three-hole variant, so there are a multitude of sensitivities you can specify for your particular weapon. In general, we like sensitive triggers because they translate to better response time and better accuracy since you'll be pulling the trigger less hard and shifting your gun less as a result. Don't worry about a trigger that's too sensitive if you're good on your safety training and always have your safety on unless you're about to fire.

Because modifying your trigger affects the whole gun and a bad installation can have ramifications that might break the weapon, we recommend heading to a gunsmith to make sure that the trigger is installed correctly. While this might take time and money, we feel that you’ll really love the improved performance of your 1911’s trigger.

Bottom Line

This great trigger is light and made of aluminum. This affords it some supreme durability without compromising its ability to smoothly slide past the other parts of the gun, making each trigger pull satisfying and consistent. You will need a gunsmith's help for effective installation, although the three-hole style allows you to specify the kind of sensitivity you want for your ideal 1911 trigger setup.