To be specific... One should work with their local dealer who can alert them when one of the US built models arrives... I did and can't be happier with the quality of my Springfield.
Still at it, and still wrong. All SA models use Brazilian built frames and slides from IMBEL. We own two, a SS Champion, and a SS Loaded. They are nice guns.
I also own a pair of Series 80 SS Colts, one Government, and one Officers Model. They, too, are nice.
Similarly, we own a Charles Daley Field Grade 1911A1, a Star PD, and a Randall Service Model, one of the nicest production 1911s that I've had the pleasure to shoot.
I also own a 1911B Taurus. It is bone stock, with Taurus Bull grips. The lettering doesn't bother me, as I rarely take the time to read it while shooting. With over 5K through it as of today, it has been a faithful, reliable, and durable handgun. Quite accurate, too. According to many, it's impossible to buy a production 1911A1 that meets that criteria for less than $1000.
The Government Model Colt came from the factory with a dove-tail machined just a little loose for the factory rear sight. Does that mean that all Colts are bad?
The Loaded Government Model from SA was finicky about ammunition, ball ammo, for the first 200 rounds. WWB was NOT it's friend. Today, it runs perfectly. So, is the SA poorly fitted and finished, needing to wear all those badly machined surfaces to run properly? Not at all.
My friend (anecdotal story warning) has a S&W 1911 that wouldn't get four rounds off in a row. He was going to "send it back", because it was a "POS". Instead, I asked him to bring the gun over. He always used the same magazine for practice, keeping his second one for "carry" in his home. Guess what? The magazine follower was deformed from the factory. Believe me, he had never the mag apart in the 500 muttering, swearing, rounds that he had used to "break it in".
Now, if that had been a Taurus, the chorus would have wailed and lamented their bad QC. However, as it was a "Smith", he should have "sent it back", and "they'll make it right".
Rich Mountain Trading Co, a shop with a range near here, has had a Taurus 1911B as a range gun since they first came out a couple of years ago. He has no exact round count, but it's easily beyond 15K (according to the owner) with no repairs beyond a PM type recoil spring replacement. Somebody tell us again about durability problems.
QC in this business suffers because of the often unrealistic expectations of the buyer. How many of us have heard that the "thing won't hit where it's aimed", or "it won't feed Load XYZ, and that's what I want to use" as being a problem with the gun?
