Springfield Armory VS EEA Hi-Power Pistols

Personally, I'd buy American for no more difference in the cost. In reality, which one you buy would depend in part on how you want it configured. The Girsan still has the magazine disconnect, the SA-35 does not. I can't speak for warranty service on the Turkish gun, but you cannot beat SA's willingness to stand behind its product. I sent a SA 1911 back for service, to cure a failure to feed issue. I got a shipping label within 2 hours of my initial email. They had the gun for 4 weeks, and it runs like a Swiss watch now. No cost to me at all, and I bought the gun secondhand.

I own neither one, but I do have a BHP MkIII, sans the disconnect. I've shot mine both ways, and the trigger is definitely better without the disconnect.

I'm partial to Springfield Armory so I would choose it without hesitation.

Have had a two SA-35s and they're very nice, just not for me. The improvements SA made to theirs are absolutely worth it.

The roll marks on the EA version are God awful.

the eaa is pretty hot right now. didn't it sell for about $425 or so when it launched? Personally, for that kind of price difference ($300) I'd get the eaa. Actually, I'm eyeballing the eaa match. I'm probably going to wait and see if I can come across one for around that. Heck, maybe this will drive the prices of the FEG's back down. I haven't see the tisas hi powers in a while. I wonder if they went belly up or now make them for eaa or springfield....

I'm eager for reports from those who have handled/fired them. I have an original MIII, an Inglis and an FEG PJK-9HP and feel that they need more friends.

The EAA catalog shows the MCP35 retail prices as $546 for blue/black and $570 for FDE and two-tone.

bangswitch said:

Personally, I'd buy American for no more difference in the cost. In reality, which one you buy would depend in part on how you want it configured. The Girsan still has the magazine disconnect, the SA-35 does not. I can't speak for warranty service on the Turkish gun, but you cannot beat SA's willingness to stand behind its product. I sent a SA 1911 back for service, to cure a failure to feed issue. I got a shipping label within 2 hours of my initial email. They had the gun for 4 weeks, and it runs like a Swiss watch now. No cost to me at all, and I bought the gun secondhand.

I own neither one, but I do have a BHP MkIII, sans the disconnect. I've shot mine both ways, and the trigger is definitely better without the disconnect.

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Won’t buy from Springfield in any event but is the S-35 made in the USA or assembled in the USA? SA isn’t in the habit of actually making guns, but if this is different, then good for them.

SwampWolf said:

The retail price of Springfield Armory's SA-35 pistol is $699.99 vs the retail price(s) of EEA's Girson-made MC P35 pistol, reported to be between $528.00 (per American Handgunner magazine) and $567.00 (per Guns & Ammo and the American Rifleman magazines). Other than SA's lifetime warranty, is there any reason to pay between $132.00 and $171.00 more for the Springfield Armory than the EEA Hi-Power facsimiles?

Thanks for all opinions.

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The biggest advantages of the SA-35 is the better updated thumb safety and the improved sights. The Girson uses a sight configuration similar to the FN Practical version. It is a decent sight setup but the SA-35 is better. Now the EAA has not been out as long but the SA-35 has had multiple confirmed reports of bad extractors. SA has been "fixing" them under warranty but has not changed the design of the extractor. The surface area of the hook is much smaller then the FN part. The slide serrations also seem to be cut after the extractor channel. Burrs have been noticed in the channel which cause the extractor to bind. The extractor spring also appears to be weaker than the FN part. These issue are IMHO a tell of who is actually making the the SA-35 and I can tell you for a fact it is not being forged in IL.

Most people have been able to fix the extractor issue by replacing it with a FN or C&S part. It is not an expensive or difficult fix but if I were buying one I would get a replacement extractor because it is my opinion that it will be a matter of when it fails not if it fails. The other issue many people report is that the finish on the SA-35 is crude with a lot of sharp edges left on the pistol. For example at the rear of the frame where it contacts the web of your hand. It is sharper than it should be. This also occurred on FN guns. Many people are simply dressing that part of the pistol and then touching it up or refinishing it.

There is not a much info on the EAA. I have heard of one whose front sight is walking out but other than that those who have them report no issues except for a 8 lb trigger.

bangswitch said:

Personally, I'd buy American for no more difference in the cost. In reality, which one you buy would depend in part on how you want it configured. The Girsan still has the magazine disconnect, the SA-35 does not. I can't speak for warranty service on the Turkish gun, but you cannot beat SA's willingness to stand behind its product. I sent a SA 1911 back for service, to cure a failure to feed issue. I got a shipping label within 2 hours of my initial email. They had the gun for 4 weeks, and it runs like a Swiss watch now. No cost to me at all, and I bought the gun secondhand.

I own neither one, but I do have a BHP MkIII, sans the disconnect. I've shot mine both ways, and the trigger is definitely better without the disconnect.

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Roverguy said:

Won’t buy from Springfield in any event but is the S-35 made in the USA or assembled in the USA? SA isn’t in the habit of actually making guns, but if this is different, then good for them.

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IMHO these are not "Made in the USA". They are assembled in the USA with enough US origin parts so that can be called made in the USA. I believe that the frame, slides and barrels are all made by Tisas. The Tisas BHP clone was a cast frame but they make forged frame 1911s so they have access to a forge. SA does not own a forge. They have limited CNC machines in IL. The tells to me are the extractor issues, barrel fit and the sight cuts. All are very similar to the Tisas. This is 100% my opinion. SA will not tell you who makes it but I know enough about BHPs to make an educated guess. So if you are looking at the SA-35 vs the Girsan you are comparing two Turkish made pistols. SAs customer service is solid. I have never had to deal with them but they have a very good rep. EAA is uneven so that might come into play.

Personally I am not buying either at this point. The hype on the SA-35 is starting to go away and the prices are coming back down close to MSRP. IMHO a year from now these will be sub $600 guns. The EAA will be closer to $450. I am not looking to be a paying beta tester at above MSRP. YMMV

Roverguy said:

Won’t buy from Springfield in any event but is the S-35 made in the USA or assembled in the USA? SA isn’t in the habit of actually making guns, but if this is different, then good for them.

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NO! Do not go down this rabbit hole again. Nobody knows. People suspect. There are multiple threads circling this drain

WVsig said:

Personally, I am not buying either at this point.

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Nor am I; I have a perfectly good Belgian-made BHP MkIII, in my preferred caliber, .40S&W. Should SA ever make theirs in that caliber, I might consider one, but since they cut their production short and actually recalled their unsold EMP4's in .40S&W, building the SA-35 in that caliber seems highly unlikely.

As for being "Made in USA", SA at least assembles them here, using American labor. It's like most everything else you buy today, hard to find something made from raw metal to finished product by one factory. I've had overall good reliability with the SA guns I own, and their CS is outstanding for the times when you need it, so they will continue to be a go-to.

Some have said that the SA uses the Girsan frame and slide at least.

I realize that the major components are likely as WVsig suspects, but bought the Springfield version anyway. The rear corners of the frame are sharp, but my example, inside and out, is cleanly machined. Like so many other factory pistols, it could benefit from a general softening of all the edges, but there is nothing crude about the machine work at all. After around 450 rounds, with at least 8 different kinds of factory ammo, I've not experienced a single malfunction or issue of any kind.

I guess if an issue arises, I'd rather deal with Springfield than whoever imports the other guns....

Much better safety, much better sights, no magazine safety to deal with or ruin the trigger pull, and a very good warranty vs. one of the worst to deal with for warranty historically. At least some of the labor and manufacture stay in USA so I'd say that right there tips the scales for a few hundred $ difference in price in favor of the SA -35 .

Rock185 said:

I guess if an issue arises, I'd rather deal with Springfield than whoever imports the other guns....

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There customer service is quite exceptional, at least with me the only time I had to use them and it was my fault not there's. A few years ago I was shooting at the range my 1911 GI loaded. I must have shot about 200 rounds without incident and when I got home and started to field strip it for a cleaning I noticed my guide rod was missing. It was the two piece guide rod and some how I must not have tighten it from the previous cleaning session and it went flying. The gun still worked flawlessly.

I called customer service and explained what happened and took responsibility for it. The person asked how many rounds I had through it and I said don't know about a few thousand rounds since it was 4 or 5 years old. The CS guy said "Oh it is practically new" asked for my address and they sent me a brand new recoil spring kit and guide rod free of charge not a single penny did I pay.

WVsig said:

{snip}
I believe that the frame, slides and barrels are all made by Tisas. The Tisas BHP clone was a cast frame but they make forged frame 1911s so they have access to a forge.
{snip}

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Tisas still makes its BHP clone as the Zig 14. There are several minor but consistent milling differences in the Tisas and Springfield frames. It would seem odd for Tisas to have two different CNC programs for essentially the same product and even stranger if they were forging frames for a product and casting them for essentially the same product with different branding.

I have the SA-35,and can't say anything but good things about it.Trigger's not a 1911,but it's not bad at 5 pounds with little creep.I think it's a very nice pistol,and I've put around 300 rounds through it with no malfunctions with any kind of ammo I've used so far.I'm very pleased with it.I've been carrying it just about every day,and shooting it a couple of times a week.Great pistol in my opinion.

I can't complain about the trigger on my SA-35 example either. At approx. 4 1/4#, it is just a bit less than the trigger in my GP Comp Hi Power. Certainly not as crisp as good 1911 or dedicated target pistol, but still quite shootable without modification for me.