Springfield Armory GI .45 1911-A1

[Osprey]

I really dig the trigger and overall it seems very well made. Just a utilitarian, no-frills piece of solid engineering. I just can't figure ot why it's only $565. One thing I didn't like were the sights. Finish didn't seem that great, but that can be fixed quite easily. Anyone own one or shoot it extensively? Would it be safe to call this the Ruger P-89 (or any member of the P-series, for that matter) of 1911s?

[JHC]

I have one in stainless and bought it last year for five and a quarter, it's a nice gun for the money but like you said, the sights aren't that great. I could barely see them so I had some 3-dots installed and like them much better. The only real problem I had with my gun is the extractor lost tension real quick ( less than 200 rounds) but that has long since been fixed and I've got over 3000 round through it now.

[glen avon]

'cuz it has a Brazilian frame and parts. the quality on thoise tends to be great, but the foreign manufacture of parts keeps the costs down.

[maxicon]

The GI tends to go on sale for under $500 if you look around and wait.

I'd recommend spending a bit more on the Milspec, which comes with much better sights and a lowered ejection port. It's the next slot up from the GI.

Here's a good link on the platform differences:

http://forums.1911forum.com/showthread.php?t=97065

They both make good platforms for upgrading, if you want to do that over time, though if you know you're going to upgrade it might make more sense to get a Loaded in the first place.

Either way, it's one of the best values in a starter 1911. My Milspec (NM frame, not marked Brazil) has been extremely reliable with a great trigger and is one of my most accurate pistols.

The only upgrade I've felt any need to do is put some nice walnut grips on it, and that was just for appearance, but I'm not an uber-1911 shooter. I also dehorned the magwell lips after getting pinched a few times.

max

[asintado]

Did you upgrade the sights yourself or did you have a gun smith do it?

[JHC]

I had a local smith do it but should have sent it out instead, he managed to mangle up my slide where the spring and retainer go ( probably when he was punching the old front sight out)

[asintado]

I see that you're located in sacto. Who did the sight swap for you?

[JHC]

I don't want to badmouth someone who may have just been having a bad day but will say that if I were me I wouldn't have work done on J st again, I hear that there is a good smith in Roseville though.

[asintado]

In your opinion, would you rather get the GI and upgrade it or save a little more to get the Mil-Spec?

[JHC]

I'd probably get the mil-spec if you are planning to change the sights anyway, but if I were doing it again I'd buy the GI and use hobby paint to highlight the stock sights. I like low cost guns and although I tend to dump money into them to improve them I always end up liking them better the way they started out.

[asintado]

I was at the Great Outdoors over toward Citrus Heights and they just got in a GI 45 and a Mil-Spec after a 6 month back order. I want the milspec but if I can get the same qualities out of the GI by just changing the sights, I'd be willing to downgrade. The thing is I'm afraid once I modify the sights I'd be inclined to modify everything else. The J street folks, huh? I've never bought anything major over there but for the most part the younger guys are cool to talk to. I love their used selection. Sometimes they have mind blowing deals. But by the time I can gather enough funds the deals have usually been swept up.

[bassplayrr]

The GI tends to go on sale for under $500 if you look around and wait.

I'd recommend spending a bit more on the Milspec, which comes with much better sights and a lowered ejection port. It's the next slot up from the GI.

Here's a good link on the platform differences:

http://forums.1911forum.com/showthread.php?t=97065

They both make good platforms for upgrading, if you want to do that over time, though if you know you're going to upgrade it might make more sense to get a Loaded in the first place.

Either way, it's one of the best values in a starter 1911. My Milspec (NM frame, not marked Brazil) has been extremely reliable with a great trigger and is one of my most accurate pistols.

The only upgrade I've felt any need to do is put some nice walnut grips on it, and that was just for appearance, but I'm not an uber-1911 shooter. I also dehorned the magwell lips after getting pinched a few times.

max

I agree. I got my Stainless Mil-Spec for $580, so I'd either wait till you find GI on sale, or pay the little extra for the mil-spec. The extra machining in the Mil-Spec for the lowered/flaired ejection port and beveled mag well area make the mil-spec worth the extra money IMO.

-Chris

[JHC]

I wasn't talking about the Old Sac Armory on J but the gunsmith up the street. I like the Armory but they dont get much of my buisness because of the parking.

As for upgrades, you'll probably decide you want all the bells and whistles " beavertail safety grip, skeleton hammer, adjustable trigger, ambi safety, extended mag drop, etc", but then you have a thousand dollar gun and you might as well get it that way from the start.

I got my .45 and my Su-16 at Great outdoors and like the way they treat their customers, they cost a few $ more but sometimes that's not that big a deal.

[asintado]

The price of their SU-16s are good (499)! I'll probably get my Milspec (or GI) from them as they're the only ones in town that actually have their guns in stock. Everywhere else I go has to order them. Being a college student I'm always on the hunt for bargains. Although Great Outdoors has used pistols its not like the budget selection over at Armory. I'm always on the look out for their used S&W .38 specials or .357s that average 250 bucks. So far the best deals I've purchased have been on the internet (including shipping and FFL of course).

[timmy8151]

I purchased my SA Milspec from Wild Sports in Orangevale a couple of years ago for $400. They used to have it on sale every month or so. Check out their weekly ads in the Sac Bee.