Upgraded my 1911 desires and looking for all y'alls expert opinions

[leeindy]

im gonna have to throw a ringer in there. the STI spartan is buy far the best 1911 i own. switching between it and a wilson combat its hard to tell the difference. fit finish and quality are excellent. and you cant beat 600 of true performance. ive toyed with mine a bit. magwell race sight grips new finish and 3lb trigger. i run it in single stack classic and ive never had a problem. one round failed to go into battery but that was a 14lb spring on its last leg and a bulgged reload. im in the neighbor hood of 14000 rds threw it and i couldnt be happier.

[DonXD40]

OK y'all, there is a lot of great info being shared here and I thank y'all for it.

However, what I am really asking for is specific feed back on the Springfield MC Operator pictured here:

This is Model # PX9105MLP. It has the Pachmayr wrap around grip, 3 dot tritium night sights, GI style guide rod, ambi safety lever, all steel frame, 5" bbl, OD/Blk frame.
I'd like to hear the good, the bad and the ugly ( if there even is such a thing as bad or ugly about a springer 1911, )

[fearless1]

Originally Posted by jimi4444

I respectfully disagree. I think that the best "bang for your buck" is Dan Wessons as they come pretty much come very well equipped from the factory (most if not all high grade components components such as wilson Browning etc, No MIM parts for the 2009 production line). All for a low to middle end price. I cannot say more about the slide to frame fit of the DWs that I have seen. My CCO when compared to a Wilson and Les Baer it was a better slide to frame fit. This was done by the gun shop that got my CCO in and wanted to compare because of all the reviews of DWs and he is a wilson guy so he could prove them wrong. He now is now a believer and is looking for a DW CCO frantically (he's a 1911 nut). They also provide great customer service.

I will agree that PT1911 is the best build gun or low end "bang for your buck". Low end SA is a great builder also. The thing that makes the SA more appealing is the customer service. Not only do they fix most things, they give you respect as their customer which seems to be lost now a days.

?
A quick view of my dealer catalogs indicates for similarly tricked out 1911, the DWs are about $250 higher in price with the spread somewhat higher at the retail levels.

IMO, "low end" is Norinco, Firestorm, RIA while Taurus PT1911 is "middle".

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[fearless1]

Originally Posted by DonXD40

OK y'all, there is a lot of great info being shared here and I thank y'all for it.

However, what I am really asking for is specific feed back on the Springfield MC Operator pictured here:

This is Model # PX9105MLP. It has the Pachmayr wrap around grip, 3 dot tritium night sights, GI style guide rod, ambi safety lever, all steel frame, 5" bbl, OD/Blk frame.
I'd like to hear the good, the bad and the ugly ( if there even is such a thing as bad or ugly about a springer 1911, )

SA is not some "3rd world mystery brand" and you are buying new with a warranty. So, just buy it and be HAPPY since its an excellent choice! I can also guarentee you that you WILL eventually change your mind in the future and buy something else since this is partly what buying guns (and cars, PCs, cell phones, wives, etc) is about. There is no way anyone on a forum can tell you what YOU value in a gun at the moment or if something will be wrong with the specific one you buy. However, I recently posted the following in another thread:

Before closing the deal on whatever 1911 you buy, make sure you check the following:

- FIRST, MAKE SURE THE GUN IS UNLOADED!

- Disconnector function (manipulate the trigger with the slide partially opened and closed.

- Hammer half cock notch function check.

- Grip safety function check.

- Thumb safety function check.

- Trigger pull check (dry fire to make sure it's clean/smooth and at "reasonable" weight, say about 4 to 5 lbs)

- Accuracy check 1. With the gun in full battery, push down on the chamber part of the barrel to check for movement (there should be very little or none). Also try to move the muzzle end of the barrel in the barrel bushing too (there shouldn't be any movement at all). Take a look down the barrel to make sure the bore is smooth and clean.

- Accuracy check 2. Slide to frame fit...there should be a little bit of movment or "rattle" if you simply shake the gun.

- Magazine function check. Make sure empty magazines will lock in the gun and will also lock the slide open. Then make sure the empty magazines will eject freely from the gun when the mag release button is pressed.

- With the slide open, make sure the frame feed ramp is shiny and the slide breech face is smooth too.

- In general, there shouldn't be any binding of the parts when any of the gun's action is manipulated.

- Finally, examine the gun for obvious flaws in the aesthetics you may not like...dings, scratches, cracks, etc.

Reject the gun if any of the function checks fail and/or you simply don't like something aesthetic about the gun.

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[jimi4444]

Originally Posted by fearless1

?
A quick view of my dealer catalogs indicates for similarly tricked out 1911, the DWs are about $250 higher in price with the spread somewhat higher at the retail levels.

IMO, "low end" is Norinco, Firestorm, RIA while Taurus PT1911 is "middle".

f1

Umm what are you comparing it to that has the same quality that is $250 less? I would like to know so I can go purchase a sub $800 gun that has the same quality.

I think what you are doing is simply looking at a brief overlook of what a Dan Wesson gun is and that is where you are thinking that you can find a gun for $250 less. Most of the internals are the same parts that go into Les Baers, Wilson Combat, Brown and the other high end models. Let alone the difference in slide slop, the crisp trigger and the customer service are on par and if not better than the other high end models. This all comes straight out of box. The main reason they are the price that they are because they are pretty much a assembly line without much customizing.

Again what catalog or what weapons do you think are on par with Dan Wessons that go for $250 less.

[leeindy]

great looking gun. id loose the the pachmeyers. get a nice set of g10 grips. like the vz gator backs

[leeindy]

you guys need to stop hypeing the DWs i need mine before there sold out

[DonXD40]

Originally Posted by leeindy

great looking gun. id loose the the pachmeyers. get a nice set of g10 grips. like the vz gator backs

Lee, these are the minor mods that I would want to do right away and I am fairly certain that I would then be quite satisfied with the gun for quite a while.

This gun:


With one or the other of these Ed Brown Magwell/MSH combo's (mostlikely the black one but still not sure):


With this grip System from Pearce:


Which would look like this initially installed:



But then I would replace the grip panels with these which are VZ G10 Camo's:


And as I said earlier, I think that I would be good to go for quite a while.

[robot]

Excellent! Looks like it's gonna be a nice one! remember to post pics when you're done

as for Magwells, take a look at the Ed Brown Maxi-well. it's good because you can remove the magwell and leave the MSH in place without having to remove the grips.

Ed Brown Mainspring Housing Flat with Drop-In Maxi-Well 1911 Government, Commander Checkered 25 LPI Blue - MidwayUSA

[danp]

Originally Posted by DonXD40

OK y'all, there is a lot of great info being shared here and I thank y'all for it.

However, what I am really asking for is specific feed back on the Springfield MC Operator pictured here:

This is Model # PX9105MLP. It has the Pachmayr wrap around grip, 3 dot tritium night sights, GI style guide rod, ambi safety lever, all steel frame, 5" bbl, OD/Blk frame.
I'd like to hear the good, the bad and the ugly ( if there even is such a thing as bad or ugly about a springer 1911, )

That, my good Sir, is my duty gun. I carry it in a Safariland holster with a TLR-2 attached. The only thing I've changed was to replace the grip screws with stainless steel allen-heads. Carrying the gun out in the cruddy weather, the factory screws rusted pretty quickly.

I can routinely bust clay pidgeons at 80 yards. I've shot the PD's qualification course on a 50% reduced target (same target, half the size) and shot 100%. The gun is very accurate and extremely reliable. I've only had a few failures with it and they were all ammo-related.

I say go for it; you won't be sorry.