[Hamonrye]

I have been wanting a Springfield 1911 5" in 9mm but one of my dealers refuses to order one because of the "problems" with the gun. Has anyone here had the "problems"? The dealer flat out said "they just don't work because of problems"!?!?!

[john from md]

Mine works good enough to use in IDPA competition. I think you dealer is FOS. I'n my opinion, the Springfield is one of the better guns made on the market today. The fit and finish is absolutely great and I don't even have the high end gun.

John from MD

[1911Tuner]

Howdy hamonrye,

One of the sweetest 1911s I've ever fired was a Springfield 9mm. It
had been tuned up a bit, but 1911s in that caliber are a real pleasure to
shoot.

The "problems" usually stem from the cartridge overall length not being
compatible with the 1911 platform, but these issues are easily solved with
good magazines.

The other problem is a little more real with the new ILS system on the
Springfields. The mainspring is a short, heavy affair...with a load rating of
about 28 pounds, and being short, the load stacks more quickly than a
longer spring of the same rate. The combination of the heavy mainspring and a standard-for-the-caliber/gun recoil spring makes the slide a little
sluggish in recoil, which can cause some ejection problems until the
mainspring takes a good set...and sometimes they require a lighter
recoil spring to balance things out.

My advice would be to swap out the ILS mainspring housing and the internals for a standard set-up and go. A 12-pound recoil spring and
a 21-23 pound mainspring works well. You'll need a standard mainspring
cap, spring, and cap retaining pin to switch over...and the right way is to
get a standard mainspring housing too...though the standard internals
will probably work okay in the ILS housing.

Not a very expensive or complicated swap.

Luck!

Tuner

[SapperLeader]

Ive had mine for a year this june, take it to the range every session, and love it. Its had somewhere between 1-2 thousand rounds put through it with no malfunctions. I use the mecgar and the colt magazines for it, and the gun is accuracte and reliable. I did have some issues when I transfered it to a local dealer with all the comments. This gun is crap, why are we wasting our time, 9mm why dont you just spit at them. Needless to say they lost many future sales from me. Id find another dealer whos willing to work with you, and go ahead and get one.

[9x19]

I've had mine for a couple of years, and never had any problems, even with the ILS intact. My Springfield Lightweight Ultra Compact, of the same vintage, in 9mm has been flawless as well.

My more recent Kimber Stainless Target II in 9mm, and the old man of the bunch, my Colt Lightweight Commanding Officers 9mm run just fine as well.

[tetchaje1]

I've shot a Springer 9mm and it was an absolute pussycat to shoot. The light recoil of the 9mm and the heavy frame of the all-steel 1911 makes for rapid follow-up shots and minimal recoil. I say go for it. :)

[Marshall]

Did he try to sell you on a different gun?

[middy]

Time to find a new dealer. Ask him if he wants to lose a customer, that might shut him up.

[cratz2]

I bought one used. One mag had problems but the other ran fine. They sent a replacement mag just for asking and giving the serial number. They both ran 100% after that... The one in the back ran just well as the one in the front. Might have had one failure trying various HPs. I eventually sold it and last I heard, the guy that bought it liked it just fine as well.

I agree... time to find another dealer.

http://photos.imageevent.com/cratz2/guns/DCP_0607a.jpg

[bountyhunter]

The "problem" with a 9mm 1911 is not the gun, it's the magazine or perhaps more concisely, the shape of the 9mm cartridge. Lay ten 9mm rounds side by side and notice they make an arc, not a parallel line. They do the same thing in the mag which means they tend not to have enough "nose up" pressure on the top round and that can cause feeding problems and nose dive jams into the ramp. You can get them to work, as I have about eight magazines that work perfectly in my 9mm STI Trojan. I believe Metalform has a new (patented) mag design where the front edge of the shell has a mini feed ramp built in to keep the nose up and that supposedly cures the problem.

Don't let anybody sell you the stereotype BS that a 1911 can't reliably cycle the 9mm cartridge, because it will. It can also be just as accurate as any other caliber. My 9mm Trojan is a tack driver.

[Jim Watson]

My Colt 1991A1 9mm is a fine shooter, my main IDPA ESP gun.
My SA Ultra Compact 9mm took some work on the integral barrel ramp to make it work as a FEED ramp. Some of the 5" need similar, more don't. But even if it is needed, when it is done, it is done and the gun is then a dependable shooter. I also converted the ILS MSH + Ti firing pin gimmicks back to Colt standard.

The guns are ok, as current 1911s go; it will either shoot or SA will fix it so it does. Go to another dealer who wants your business more than a stroke to his ego.

[john from md]

I don't want to hijack this post but I need help with my Springfield 1911 A-1 front sight. The solid black doesn't work too well in IDPA and I would like to put a Night Sight or Fiber optic on it. The problem I see is 1) the sight appears to be pinned to the slide and 2) the dovetail seems to be rather unique. Can anyone give me any insight on changing these and where to get Springfield specific sights? ( I checked Brownells and didn't see any).

Thanks,

John from MD

[marklbucla]

I got one too in December. I like it, but it's because of the 1911 stylings more than anything else. It did have a lot of extraction problems, which were sorta fixed when I "tuned" the extractor myself. Now I think I'll have one failure to extract out of every 50 rounds or so.
It also feels like it's shooting low and to the left. The trigger felt really heavy at first, but it seems to have loosened up over ~1000 rounds between 9mm and with the use of my .22 conversion kit. It's still a lot heavier than it ought to be, so I think it'll be going to a gunsmith in a couple of months or so.

Overall, I like it, but I don't love it. I think I'm keeping it around more due to the 1911 mystique, not so much for it's functionality.

[cratz2]

John from MD, try a new post as several posters aren't going to open up any thread on 9mm 1911s.

For a cheap fix, fishing lure paint will brighten that front sight up quite a bit and you can choose from several colors. That's what was on my 9mm Springfield. For an even cheaper fix, some of the Maximum Coverage White Out does a surprisingly good job though it will need to be touched up more often.

As for the sight itself, if yours is dovetailed, it's a pretty standard dovetail though there are a couple different 'standard sizes'. I had a Glock Armorer replace two sights on various Springfield 1911s and he had no trouble at all with the tools he had on his portable bench. Just order a sight from any parts place and they can point you in the right direction.

[john from md]

Thanks Cratz, I'll open a new post. I looked again last night and the front sight is pinned with a really small roll pin.

John from MD

[goon]

My brother has one and I have tried unsuccessfully several times to get him to sell it to me. It is a great gun and I would buy one in a heartbeat. Your dealer is an idiot.
At any rate it is your money.
Tell your dealer to either let you spend it there or you will find somewhere else to spend it.

[9x19]

John,

Springfield's front sights use the Novak standard (.330" x .075" with 65 degree shoulder, ) dovetail, so look at Novak sights, or other makes in this size (like EGW) in Brownells. The pin can be driven straight down, thru the slide for removal.

[john from md]

Thanks 9x19, that is what I needed to know.

BTW, I detail stripped my SA 1911 Target Model tonight for the first time and I was amazed at how well it is put together. I don't much like the cast little parts, but the polishing and fit and finish are first rate on the frame. They even use a titanium firing pin and have radiused and adjusted the extractor. That is pretty good for a production gun.

John from MD

[9x19]

john,

Yep, SA's use of a LW firing pin is so much wiser, to me, than Colt's and Kimber's mechanical firing pin safeties.

[Jim Watson]

I got nervous about the empties coming out of my SA Ultra Compact 9mm with the primer indentions COMPLETELY ironed out. I mean the primer was flat as new, with just a bright spot to show where the titanium firing pin had hit, dented, and then blown back. It might have worked that way forever but I took it as a sign that something was abnormal about the setup and was concerned that it might give pierced primers if I used Federals, which I like for most reloading. So I put in a Brown steel firing pin with Wolff standard spring and defanged the ILS with a shortened GI mainspring cap, a cap pin, and a Wolff pre-ILS mainspring. Fired primers look normal now and it took half a pound off the trigger pull to boot.

[Hamonrye]

UPDATE!!
Picked up my new SA 1911-9mm Thursday. Can't wait to shoot it but looks as if it will be next Friday. Who has the best mags and best prices?

[Lobotomy Boy]

What's a fair price for one of these that is like NIB? At my favorite range (Burnsville Pistol Range, Burnsville, MN) there is a 9mm Springfield on consignment. The range owner said it belongs to a friend of his and hasn't been shot much. In general this guy seems honest and straightforward, so I suspect this is a pretty nice example (I have only examined it briefly).

The seller is asking $635. That is well below SA's list, but I don't know what the guns actually sell for new because I haven't been able to find one in stock anywhere in town.

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

[marklbucla]

I paid $689 for one new in box (supposedly). They're hard to come by because they're only made like twice a year.

[SapperLeader]

I paid 680 after shipping and transfer fees for the gun and 6 magazines. Of the magazines 4 (2 colt and three mecgar) were great, and two are crap(pachymar). I have since picked up some more mecgar magazines. Id say 635 is a fair price.

[Hamonrye]

Where did you get the mags?

[Hamonrye]

Finally had the time to get to the range today with the new SA 9mm full size, fully loaded. With a 20 mph wind and no rest the whole time I was there I wasn't expecting much in the way of accuracy. Boy was I suprised. 100 rounds and this was the result. No stovepipes, no ftf or fte. I tried 5 different loads and it loved all of them, even the cheap Blazer ammo. I am impressed!!! http://home.comcast.net/~gvisions/sa-first-shot.jpg

[Beetle Bailey]

Congrats! Sounds like you got a winner. Of the 9mm 1911's out there, how did you decide on the Springfield? I was thinking about how cool a 9mm 1911 would be and would appreciate any feedback. TIA ;) .

[marklbucla]

The only two 9mm 1911 California allows as a new purchase are the Fixed sight and target sight models from Springfield. I didn't pick the Springfield, I was left with it.

[Hamonrye]

Read some great things about them and I already owned a SA .45 so I did it. I need a good place to get mags now.

[SapperLeader]

I found three blued mecgars on gunbroker for 15dollars total. They had several other auctions that were a little more. Another option is browse the 1911 forum at http://www.1911forum.com and wait for the next group buy of metalforms, and order some then.

[Hamonrye]

We had a gun show today in Dallas at Big Town and I found 4 brand new metal forms for $10.00 a piece and a brand new RCBS uniflow with large and small chambers and stand for $25.00. All in all it was a very good show.

[Beetle Bailey]

The only two 9mm 1911 California allows as a new purchase are the Fixed sight and target sight models from Springfield.

I better start working on that time machine so I can go back to when the only thing stopping me from buying something is $$$. (Nothing against the Springfields ;) ).

[marklbucla]

From what I understand, we only have a window of about two years to even get these Springfields! (SB489)

In a couple of years, you'll really wish you had a time machine when it came to gun availability!