doubs43
07-24-2011, 09:56 PM
The following review was posted on the 1911 forum and I thought some may like to read it here.
It was my intention to buy a SIG 1911-22 from Academy Sports but when I got there, it had been sold. Before going home disappointed, I visited a local pawn & gun store that had a new GSG 1911-22, essentially the same gun as the SIG. It came home with me. I paid $349.75, tax included.
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i99/doubs43/Misc/GSG1911-22RtSide.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i99/doubs43/Misc/GSG1911-22.jpg
The SIG 1911-22 is nicely finished in a matte black with contrasting white printing. It is a full sized 1911A1 pretty close to it's big brother's weight in spite of being made of alloy metal. Strip-down is easy but a bit more involved than a 1911A1. Once apart I cleaned what appeared to be an anti-seize lube from the rails and other places, putting a light grease in it's place. A patch or two through the bore and back together it went. The slide to frame fit is precise and there is zero wiggle between the two parts. Operation is smooth while the trigger pull is crisp. Sights are windage adjustable front and back. Three front sight inserts are included: low, medium and high. They are marked by 1 - 3 dots with the low insert having one dot, the medium two dots and the high three dots. The gun came from the factory with the medium sight insert. More about the sights later.
Custom features not found on military issue 1911's include a beavertail grip safety, skeletonized hammer and trigger and ambidextrous thumb safety. Unseen is the magazine safety which locks the trigger when the magazine is not in place.
At the range, over all performance was excellent IMO. I tried 5 rounds of Federal #510 cartridges first and the second round failed to feed. A second mag of 10 Winchester 333 cartridges and the same thing: second round didn't feed but the remaining went through just fine. A quick strip of the mag and stretching the follower spring solved that problem.
I had a variety of cartridges with me including the above mentioned ones as well as Remington bulk Golden Bullets, Remington Hi-Velocity, Winchester bulk Xperts, American Eagle and Federal bulk Auto-Match AM-22. In spite of being labeled "High Velocity", the American Eagle would not cycle the slide and empties had to be ejected by hand. They were the only cartridge to give me a cycling problem.
I first shot the GSG 1911-22 on a range having a berm at 55 or 60 yards. A stick about 12" long and 1" in diameter lying on the lower slope of the berm was pretty easy to keep jumping around off-hand. I did have to adjust the rear sight slightly left to center the point of impact.
Moving to the pistol range, I wasn't able to post paper targets because the frames were down due to recent work. I had a gallon milk jug and I put some dirt in it to keep it in place at roughly 22 yards. Blue dot pasties gave me an aim point and I proceeded to fire numerous magazine loads and making small adjustments to the rear sight to center the POI. The medium sight insert was causing the POI to be about 3 1/2 inches high as the picture below shows. (I had left the two replacement inserts on the bench at home so couldn't swap for the higher front sight.! Duuuh!) While all cartridges except the American Eagles and the Winchester Xperts - which I didn't try - functioned perfectly, I think the pistol liked the Federal AM-22 Auto-Match best. My final magazine of them are in the blue dots as I aimed at the base of the jug. More magazines were put through the pistol using dirt clods on the lower berm as targets. They proved to be easy prey and it rarely took more than a shot or two to make them disintegrate.
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i99/doubs43/Misc/GSG1911-22BottleTarget.jpg
Summary: A couple of things I didn't like include the magazine safety which I see as the solution to a non-existent problem. It may also be an attempt to make the pistol idiot-proof to satisfy lawyers. I've removed it so that a missing mag won't disable it completely. The firing pin safety is another lawyer-driven device that is completely unnecessary. The grip safety has a somewhat stiff spring that would be better if lightened. My final gripe is the ambidextrous safety and I would much prefer a standard GI style safety on the left side only. All of the above are personal dislikes that others may find OK or even desirable. While the original grips are nice enough, I've replaced them with a set of walnut grips from a Springfield Armory GI Model. It's an improvement IMO.
There is a lot to like about this pistol. Fit and finish are commendable. Accuracy is very good for a plinker and function is reliable with ammo it likes. The price is reasonable too. A second mag would be a great addition to the package. Spare magazines seem to be in rather short supply and fairly costly too.
On my next trip to the range I expect to shoot on paper and get my final sight settings for the cartridge I expect to be my primary fodder. Would I buy this pistol again? Yes, I would!
It was my intention to buy a SIG 1911-22 from Academy Sports but when I got there, it had been sold. Before going home disappointed, I visited a local pawn & gun store that had a new GSG 1911-22, essentially the same gun as the SIG. It came home with me. I paid $349.75, tax included.
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i99/doubs43/Misc/GSG1911-22RtSide.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i99/doubs43/Misc/GSG1911-22.jpg
The SIG 1911-22 is nicely finished in a matte black with contrasting white printing. It is a full sized 1911A1 pretty close to it's big brother's weight in spite of being made of alloy metal. Strip-down is easy but a bit more involved than a 1911A1. Once apart I cleaned what appeared to be an anti-seize lube from the rails and other places, putting a light grease in it's place. A patch or two through the bore and back together it went. The slide to frame fit is precise and there is zero wiggle between the two parts. Operation is smooth while the trigger pull is crisp. Sights are windage adjustable front and back. Three front sight inserts are included: low, medium and high. They are marked by 1 - 3 dots with the low insert having one dot, the medium two dots and the high three dots. The gun came from the factory with the medium sight insert. More about the sights later.
Custom features not found on military issue 1911's include a beavertail grip safety, skeletonized hammer and trigger and ambidextrous thumb safety. Unseen is the magazine safety which locks the trigger when the magazine is not in place.
At the range, over all performance was excellent IMO. I tried 5 rounds of Federal #510 cartridges first and the second round failed to feed. A second mag of 10 Winchester 333 cartridges and the same thing: second round didn't feed but the remaining went through just fine. A quick strip of the mag and stretching the follower spring solved that problem.
I had a variety of cartridges with me including the above mentioned ones as well as Remington bulk Golden Bullets, Remington Hi-Velocity, Winchester bulk Xperts, American Eagle and Federal bulk Auto-Match AM-22. In spite of being labeled "High Velocity", the American Eagle would not cycle the slide and empties had to be ejected by hand. They were the only cartridge to give me a cycling problem.
I first shot the GSG 1911-22 on a range having a berm at 55 or 60 yards. A stick about 12" long and 1" in diameter lying on the lower slope of the berm was pretty easy to keep jumping around off-hand. I did have to adjust the rear sight slightly left to center the point of impact.
Moving to the pistol range, I wasn't able to post paper targets because the frames were down due to recent work. I had a gallon milk jug and I put some dirt in it to keep it in place at roughly 22 yards. Blue dot pasties gave me an aim point and I proceeded to fire numerous magazine loads and making small adjustments to the rear sight to center the POI. The medium sight insert was causing the POI to be about 3 1/2 inches high as the picture below shows. (I had left the two replacement inserts on the bench at home so couldn't swap for the higher front sight.! Duuuh!) While all cartridges except the American Eagles and the Winchester Xperts - which I didn't try - functioned perfectly, I think the pistol liked the Federal AM-22 Auto-Match best. My final magazine of them are in the blue dots as I aimed at the base of the jug. More magazines were put through the pistol using dirt clods on the lower berm as targets. They proved to be easy prey and it rarely took more than a shot or two to make them disintegrate.
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i99/doubs43/Misc/GSG1911-22BottleTarget.jpg
Summary: A couple of things I didn't like include the magazine safety which I see as the solution to a non-existent problem. It may also be an attempt to make the pistol idiot-proof to satisfy lawyers. I've removed it so that a missing mag won't disable it completely. The firing pin safety is another lawyer-driven device that is completely unnecessary. The grip safety has a somewhat stiff spring that would be better if lightened. My final gripe is the ambidextrous safety and I would much prefer a standard GI style safety on the left side only. All of the above are personal dislikes that others may find OK or even desirable. While the original grips are nice enough, I've replaced them with a set of walnut grips from a Springfield Armory GI Model. It's an improvement IMO.
There is a lot to like about this pistol. Fit and finish are commendable. Accuracy is very good for a plinker and function is reliable with ammo it likes. The price is reasonable too. A second mag would be a great addition to the package. Spare magazines seem to be in rather short supply and fairly costly too.
On my next trip to the range I expect to shoot on paper and get my final sight settings for the cartridge I expect to be my primary fodder. Would I buy this pistol again? Yes, I would!