Springfield Professional

[echang86]

[vta]

im guessing you will not change the fact that your frame was forged in brazil if thats what you send it. I think other than that, you will get the same accuracy guarantees as long as your 1911 is still in reasonable shape.

[Juicymeat]

It would be better to just order a Professional model than to have one upgraded to Professional specifications. Off the top of my head, the biggest advantage is that the Professional starts with over sized parts and is worked on until all the parts fit in relation to one another. With an upgrade, you have a lot of peening of slide rails to tighten fit, welding of grip tangs to fit a beaver tail properly, and basically rebuilding the slide and frame of the gun to receive Professional spec parts. Secondly, a lot of people will pay more for an actual Professional model made from the ground up rather than say a SA Mil-Spec 1911A1 that was upgraded to Professional specs.

I'm sure the end result of the actual Professional upgrade will be very nice, but personally if I was spending that kind of money on an upgrade, I would just pony up and buy the actual Professional model built with over sized parts fit to perfection.

[echang86]

I see that clears a lot of it up.

With an upgrade, you have a lot of peening of slide rails to tighten fit, welding of grip tangs to fit a beaver tail properly, and basically rebuilding the slide and frame of the gun to receive Professional spec parts.

Can this be potentially bad for the slide and frame?

I was just curious, cause I see the professionals go for a lot these days. I understand people put down a lot of money,and wait for a long time for those models. And I was just curious, how come someone just doesn't pick up a GI and upgrade it to a professional.

[Ducman]

It's not the same, serial # won't start CRG ####, may function the same but in the end it's still a "Wannabe".

[vta]

I am not sure but I would imagine going that route will still take you quite a bit of time waiting on a list at the custom shop.

[9mmepiphany]

im guessing you will not change the fact that your frame was forged in brazil if thats what you send it.

how would that differ from the Professional's frame which was also forged in Brazil?

[vta]

how would that differ from the Professional's frame which was also forged in Brazil?

I dont own a professional so I can't really tell you much about them besides what I have researched. I deduced from what I know as that a lot of the higher end SA 1911s have US forged frames. If I was paying a high ticket price for a SA 1911, i would make sure it has a US forged frame. I believe they have NM as a serial prefix. Not that there is anything wrong with the brazilian frames as I have owned 3 of them all of which shot flawlessly. My main reason will be that NM prefix pistols will likely have better resale value since their are getting harder to come by.

[9mmepiphany]

If I was paying a high ticket price for a SA 1911, i would make sure it has a US forged frame

...then you would be searching for the end of the rainbow. all springfield 1911 frames are forged in Brazil

here's a link : http://forum.m1911.org/showthread.php?t=49574

This comes straight from Deb/Vicky at Springfield... if > 50% of the work is done on one of their pistols in Brazil, then somewhere on that pistol it will be marked "Brazil". Should > 50% be done in Geneseo, IL, then it does not require a "Brazil" marking.

That is where the "MADE IN BRAZIL" rollmarks come from... placed above the serial number. That is one variety of markings that will show up on Springfield's G.I., Mil-Spec and Loaded pistols.

Another is the "Geneseo IL USA" found just above the serial number. There's essentially two common variants of this... for example, in the Mil-Spec line, if it has a N serial number prefix, you will find "IMBEL BRAZIL" or "FI BRAZIL" laser etched in two places. The locations are the bottom side of the dustcover and underneath the right grip panel on the frame. If you find a NM serial number prefix, those markings are usually always absent and the "GENESEO IL USA" rollmark still appears above the serial number on the frame.

Understand this part- ALL Springfield Armory 1911A1 pistols start their life in the forge presses of IMBEL in Brazil. There the frames, slides and barrels are forged... regardless of what markings are later applied or where the majority of the work is done.

[J-cat]

With an upgrade, you have a lot of peening of slide rails to tighten fit

an this peening and squeezing is what I can't stand. It not only looks horrible, but eventually works itself loose because steel springs back. You then have to send the gun back it to be torched, squeezed, peened, and lapped all over again.

A far better solution is accu-rail.

[mike452]

I think functionally it would be equal to the Professional, but try reselling it would be a big difference in price.

[9mmepiphany]

if i had the money and didn't want to wait more than a year, i'd just order the Professional...aren't they running about 6 month's behind?

if i had the time, i'd send a base 1911 to a custom smith and have it built up...i think it would cost less and be more meaningful. it does take more work to find a smith who would take your work, have the skill to product a superior product and charge less than the big "custom houses".

that is the niche that the Springfield Custom lives in...and they fill it well...not truely custom, but always open, good work and quick turnaround times

[Ducman]

if i had the money and didn't want to wait more than a year, i'd just order the Professional...aren't they running about 6 month's behind?

if i had the time, i'd send a base 1911 to a custom smith and have it built up...i think it would cost less and be more meaningful. it does take more work to find a smith who would take your work, have the skill to product a superior product and charge less than the big "custom houses".

that is the niche that the Springfield Custom lives in...and they fill it well...not truely custom, but always open, good work and quick turnaround times

I was quoted 12 months
3weeks down and lots of sleeps to go and on top of that add another 10 days for DROS

[9mmepiphany]

I was quoted 12 months

that isn't bad and they'll likely beat that quote...i don't even ask how long it will take.

my rule of thumb has always been to take whatever they same and double it...then be surprised if it arrives early. i have a build on a Colt 1991 that we're working on the 2nd year now, but the smith has a day job that pays bills and the description of what he's done is very exciting

[andalusi]

if i had the money and didn't want to wait more than a year, i'd just order the Professional...aren't they running about 6 month's behind?

Just curious, but is a Professional considered its own separate gun, i.e., either listed on the roster or else not shippable because it's off-roster? Or is it just a matter of calling Springfield and asking them to ship your FFL one of the other models, but giving it the Professional job first?

I ask because I didn't see the Professional listed on the Springfield website.