Springfield Loaded and TRP question

One has adjustable sights, one has fixed...

The TRP is between the Loaded and Custom Shop guns (ie: TRP Pro), so the fit and finish (slide to frame fit, trigger, etc.)should be better than the Loaded. You could always send them an email. iirc, Springfield has decent customer service and is good about returning emails.

small details and finishing is the major differences. They both have ample MIM parts however.

The TRP also has a checkered frontstrap, 20 LPI. That was too course for my taste, so I sold mine on Gunbroker.

I doubt that you'll find many TRP's priced below those from CDNN. They seem to have pretty good pricing. I just wish they would print the prices in their catalogs so I wouldn't have to call them every time I was interested in one of their pistols. As for the TRP checkering...I absolutely love the 20LPI. When you grab hold of one it feels like its velcroed to your hand.
azimuth

I had a loaded and still have a TRP. They are pretty much the exact same gun except for these three features that are added to the Loaded to make a TRP: night sights, FS checkering, & magwell. You do pay a pretty steep premium for those features. But if those features are what you must have, then the TRP is a reasonable choice.... except that at the TRP price, I'd be looking at a low end Baer or perhaps a used Wilson or Brown instead.

For the most part, there is little, if any, difference in fitting and parts quality. They're both "loaded" with cheap grade MIM parts. The TRP is available in a black spray n bake polymer coating as well as stainless. The TRP is said to have a "match grade" barrel, which in reality doesn't amount to much, if any difference at all. They're overall nice guns, but I think the Loaded is a much better "value" than the TRP. Either one can be much improved by swapping out the fire control parts for premium grade parts, like the C&S tool steel hammer/sear/spring kit for starters. I don't think ambi safeties are a good feature for most people, so I'd swap that out for a good premium grade, minimal profile single sided thumb safety. Pop in a premium grade slide stop too while you're at it. I like the coarse FS checkering on the TRP, but magwells are not really an important feature for most people. This is why I give the nod to the Loaded, then do some custom upgrades to premium parts. But by the time you spend the time and money to upgrade the parts, you probably would be better off having bought a low end Baer which will hold it's known features/quality and price much better than a tweaked Springfield. For the approximate price of the TRP, especially after upgrading the cheap parts, there are MUCH better guns out there.

With regard to MIM parts, how big of a deal is it, really, and would any of the Kimbers be better?

When I get a 1911, I will be looking for a Series-70 with night sights, an ambi safety, and a light rail. So far, the only two on the market for a price I can dream of affording are the Springfield MC Operator and the Kimber Warrior.

In my experience, MIM parts or not, SA 1911s have been outstanding handguns. My brother has a MilSpec and my grandpa just bought a Loaded, and neither of them have any complaints.

Springfields are good guns, economically made and reasonably priced. You can generally expect that they'll perform relatively well for most shooters.

In the Kimber line, I would only consider the Warrior because it is the only Kimber that I know of which does NOT have the Schwarz safety mechanism in it. Personally, I completely and totally avoid the Schwarz/Series II Kimbers.

As for MIM, if the parts quality is high, they can perform well. But should there be a lapse in parts quality (like a void, which happens with cheap MIM parts) they can snap in half like a cheap plastic fork! Problem is, you really have no way of knowing the quality of the MIM parts in your gun... until one unexpectedly snaps in two. MIM is a more reasonable choice in some gun parts vs. others. I don't like it for thumb safeties or slide stops as a heavy shooter will subject those parts to very hard use and high pressures. Other parts, like grip safeties, are not subject to high pressures and hard impacts so MIM can be a more reasonable option for such parts.

Bottom line is if your gun is one which you will just shoot occasionally, here and there once in a while as most people do, MIM will probably serve you well. But if you're a hard-use shooter who puts a ton of rounds through your gun, competing, training, etc. then you might opt for some higher grade tool steel parts for the hard-use areas of your gun.

So at the risk of completely pirating the OP topic, what does it cost to replace the MIM parts with higher quality parts, including any fitting and installation costs?

I'd use the thing as much as I could afford, which right now wouldn't be much. But that will hopefully change in the not too distant future.

I'd suggest just shooting the gun for a while before doing any upgrades. If and when you shoot enough to justify the expense of premium parts, you might expect to spend several hundred dollars on C&S premium hammer/sear/spring kit, Ed Brown tool steel thumb safety and slide stop.

This applies to the Springfield as well as Kimber Warrior.