There I was, larger than life. I was doing a pawn shop crawl in search of...well, I didn’t know what I was in search of, lol. I head into a local shop and hit the used gun counter. Nothing stood out, so I moved to the new guns. In the case they had a Colt’s 1991 and a Springfield Armory 1911 Mil-Spec. I looked at the Colt’s, and it is about what I expected. Loose slide to frame fit, Loose grip safety, clocked extractor, and sharp edges.
Now normally, I won’t even ask to see a Springfield, but I figured why not. Once I got it in hand I was glad I did!! Slide to frame fit was as tight as my loosest Les Baer, the grip safety had no movement. The extractor stood proud of the slide, but was lined up correctly. Barrel had no movement, and was well fitted. The stampings were crisp and the parkerizing was perfect. No sharp edges. Hmmmm, the wheels started turning in my head, lol. They gave me $350 in trade on a Glock I paid $125 for and I walked out with the Springfield for under $400 out the door.
Getting it home I pulled out the depth gauge, feeler gauges, trigger gauge, and micrometer and got to measuring. Here is what I found:
The dimensions for the small parts are outstanding. They were almost as good as if I had hand fitted them. The fit of the parts were on the same level. There is not a single tool mark inside or out. The slide to frame is tight, with no overhang on the rear of the slide. The parkerizing is flawless. The stampings are perfect. The barrel fit is dang near as good as if I had hard fit one and near the same level as my Les Baers. The barrel is beautifully throated. Holes are where they are supposed to be. Trigger pull is 4.5 lbs. The pistol is bank vault solid. If I built you a gun to this level of fit and finish, you wouldn’t be able to touch it for less than $1500.
Cons:
Extractor stands proud of the rear of the slide
Overly stiff thumb safety
Possible mods I will make if necessary:
Fit a bushing. The factory one isn’t sloppy, but it can be improved.
Fit a beaver tail grip safety. I’ll only do this if the GI grip safety eats my hand.
Mods I will do:
30 LPI checkering on the front strap
Serrated rear of slide
Blend extractor to rear of slide
Make a set of smooth, over width grips from highly figured desert ironwood.
Cut a coil or two off the plunger spring
Mods I will farm out:
Installation of Novak Cut Trijicon HD night sights
Metaloy hard chrome
Final thoughts:
I don’t know if I got a Wednesday built gun or what, but I will say this 1911 was put together right. Being the owner of several Les Baer, ground up customs from the 1970’s to current builds, numerous Colt’s, and the tools to measure stuff; this gun is seriously in the top of the heap for build quality. It just blows my mind. If this is an indication of Springfield quality, then I recommend one of you can handle
It in person.
I’ll be firing it next month, lol. Knowing my luck it’ll probably be a jam-o-matic, lol, but all signs indicate that all will be fine.