Took the plunge: 1911

AngryFish

AngryFish

Joined
Sep 27, 2004
Messages
692
Took the plunge and bought my first 1911 this weekend. I've asked on the M1911 board since originally I thought I had bagged an early SA TRP Operator.

Turns out I have a SA Loaded Operator FR. Gun appears to have been made in the late 90's or early 00's and from what I've heard the guns made during that run were some serious shooters.

It has some wear and if you look at the pictures I've taken of the front site, it appears that the site is not fully seated / fitted properly in the front groove. The gun also originally came with an ambi safety and it looks like the previous owner has removed that.

I'm planning on sending it off to SA for an inspection / restoration.

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Nice score.

Don't worry about the front site, those can easily be completely replaced if needed. Also, you may not even need an ambi safety. I have one on my kimber but don't really need it.

Again, congrats.
 
Yeah! Nice shooter! Looks like some amateur armoring going on, but no biggie. Just some scuffing than can be covered up with that black touch-up pen. Have you fired it yet?
 
The front sight may have gotten the "mallet adjustment" to sight it in--which is no big deal. If the thumb safety was done by an amateur, I'd have a competent 1911-smith check it out, because those always require at least a little (or a lot of) TLC to work perfectly. Too bad it doesn't have a checkered front strap. A worthy addition would be 30 LPI checkering if you're sending it back in anyway. Those rubber finger grooves are :barf: IMO.
 
I have fired it. Tightest 25yd groups were around 2.5 inches. I think the gun is capable of better groups than I am as a shooter.

The rubber wraparound appears to be from pierce and it is removable and separate from the grip panels. I will probably pick up a pair of busse panels from the exchange.

I'm a lefty so I will be putting the ambi safety back in. Probably will have the gun recoated / reparked.

Front strap checkering is nice but I'm not sure how much permanent modification I want to do to the gun.

I will say that having shot 9mm most of my life, .45 is a bit of an adjustment but this thing is pretty doggone accurate.
 
nice tool man, good choice, you will enjoy it, the 45 is a awesome weapon, the old saying is you can shoot a person in the palm of the hand with a 45 and knock him down, so lycosa is correct...
 
Congrats on your Springer! Save your money on a refinish and shoot the crap out of her:D

If you don't want to checker the front just put some grip tape on the front strap. I have done this on all the 1911s that don't have checkering. The grip tape is not too abrasive for me...but some folks do find it too harsh for their liking. It may be worth a shot:thumbup:
The only guns I like the Hogue finger groove grips on is my and my slabside MKII.

Keep an eye on the plunger tube. I have seen several loosen up after a couple thousnad rounds...they were all S.A. factory original mount and the flares were garbage. This is the only thing I have ever had a problem with on my Springfields. Thankfully, they are easy to replace.
 
Thanks for the advice, I've been doing a fair bit of reading on the 1911 and it's quirks and can use all of the help I can get.
 
That is a sweet score! Of all my handguns, my 1911 is still my favorite. And a +1 on the .45 as a knock-down round! ;)
 
NICE! One of my friends bought one of those 5 years after playing around with my TRP version. They are great shooters and are somewhat rare since they have the full-length rail.
 
Great gun. I've also heard that those are great 1911's. I may break down and give the 1911 another try...

GregB
BaconBeavers:MUG
 
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