Looking for one to use for hunting and issue would be the ability of this pistol to use the higher power loaded ammo. Any suggestions as what to look for? Adding an optic red dot sight would be a consideration as well.

The key to a 1911's ability to shoot hot loads is the barrel. It must have a ramped barrel with a fully supported chamber.

A few good ones with ramped barrels:

RIA 51911: about 600 bucks (Its inexpensive, but that doesn't mean its cheap. Lots of the 10mm enthusiasts have this gun for woods use.)

Ruger SR1911 10mm: about 900 bucks. It's a newly introduced gun, but Ruger makes an excellent product, and I've read good things about it from those who have purchased it.

Dan Wesson: There are several models chambered in 10mm, the least expensive being the Razorback at about $1400, and the most expensive being the Bruin, Silverback, or Valor, which all cost between $1800 and $2000. The Bruin has a 6" barrel, and I've seen people mount optics to them. I've got a Valor in .45, and it is head and shoulders above other factory produced or semi-custom guns that I've owned. I highly recommend Dan Wesson if you can swing it.

There are several other good 10mm 1911's out there, but these are my top three. SIG makes a 10mm 1911 Tac Ops, which I hear is good.

If you want to deviate a little, you can go with a SIG P220 10mm SAO, which is similar enough to a 1911 in function but is very well made. You can also go with an EAA Witness 10mm, which is a CZ75 pattern pistol. The advantage to it is that it holds 14 rounds. Of course, you can always go with a Glock 40, which lots of 10mm enthusiasts have and use. If you want to shoot really hot loads, you'll need to replace the barrel with an aftermarket barrel since the factory barrel, while ramped, does not have the he best Chamber support. It's also already tapped for mounting an optic. I don't have a Glock 40 since I'm a 1911 guy, but lots of people have them, use them, and like them.

Thank you Billy346

No problem! If you want to learn more, go to 10mm-firearms.com. If s an excellent enthusiast forum for people into the 10mm cartridge.

I'm a BIG Dan Wesson Bruin fan!!!! I cannot find anything I dislike about as mine! It is my most accurate 10mm of my bunch! No problem with nuclear loads at all!!

Thanks for the rating, will investigate further.