MacTech
Member
Last week, in a fit of stupidity, mainly caused by a bit of "I'm sick of chasing brass at the range", I traded my old Kimber Custom II towards a Ruger Super Redhawk .44 Magnum....
I was never really completely happy with the KCII anyway, it had a lot of wear on the finish, was fussy with my reloads, even with the correct OAL and a good factory crimp, so I didn't feel *too* bad trading it in....
I like to consider myself a revolver guy at heart, as my other two handguns are both revolvers ('75 Ruger Super Single Six Stainless convertible 6.5" and blued 7.5" NM Blackhawk .45 Convertible (Colt/ACP)), I had also picked up an inexpensive plinking revolver (S&W 64-1 with partially bobbed hammer)
Long story short, the Super Redhawk balance was all wrong, it was too heavy, and pointed wrong (strange, it seemed okay in the store, and I pondered it a good 45 minutes)
I missed the 1911 almost immediately after trading it, I never warmed to the SRH, so without even firing a shot, and the collection felt like it had a gaping hole in it....
Stupid, bad MacTech, *NEVER* trade a 1911
So, tonight, I stopped back at the store, and the manager OK'd a full credit return on the SRH and ammo....
I checked the $600-range used 1911's and found two candidates, a Stainless Springfield 1911-A1, and a Kimber Custom (older plain Custom), put them on 7 day hold, and went home to grab the RSRH...
At home, I was thinking, I have too many calibers to stock in my ammo stockpile, .44 Mag is too close to .45 Colt (which I already have supplies and components set aside for reloading, and I like that big ol' beast of a cartridge), I don't have bullets, empty brass or reloading dies for .44 Mag, so it's going back, then I got to thinking....
I don't have reloading dies or components for thst .38 Spl S&W 64-1 either, and I'd need to stock Small pistol primers to reload those cartridges, I only want to have to stock Large primers (rifle and pistol) as I lost the small primer ram and tray for my Lee Auto-Prime somewhere, and don't feel like buying another one...
Hmm, if I trade in the S&W 64, I could put that store credit towards an even *NICER* 1911, one I'd really be proud to own....
So the 64 came with me as well
long story short, with the returns and trade in, I had almost $900 in store credit to play with
I could buy a *REALLY* nice 1911 with that....
So, I looked the next tier up into the high $800 used guns, it came down to the following choices;
S&W 1911somethingorother Stainless; nope, didn't like the sight picture, not contrasty enough, tended to blend into a low contrast block, pass....
Kimber Crimson Trace Custom; Nice crisp trigger, good sight picture, points naturally, but the two-tone look looked cheesy, and I couldn't help thinking that I was paying a premium price for nothing more than a Custom II with factory-installed Crimson Trace Lasergrips, I could get a non-laser Custom II used for around $600, not a good value for money, pass
Sig-Sauer Target Nitron; Oohh, this one's *NIIICE*, rosewood grips, checkering on the front and backstraps, officer hammer, shortened beavertail grip safety with a nub on the grip safety part, very little MIM infesting the gun, oh, and are these.... *TRITIUM* night sights?, *cool!*, let's sight it in, nice heft, great balance, good strong steel construction throughout, I like how the slide feels blockier and over-engineered, gives it a feeling of real durability, makes the Kimber Crimson Trace Custom seem insubstantial by comparison... points naturally too....
The more I held the Sig, the more I liked it, so, after some deliberation, I made my choice.....
The Sig Target came home with me!
I LOVE this gun, my first Sig, and a 1911 I can feel good about owning, not only is it solidly built, points naturally, has nice fancy rosewood grips, just a nicely made, quality piece, it also turns out that Sig's U.S. headquarters is just up the road a bit from me (Exeter NH), I'm about a half hour to 45 minute drive from them, actually closer if I left from work (Dover NH)
Can't wait to hit the range with my new 1911 this weekend
I think I made the right choice
Oh, one minor thing I noticed, the front sight's tritium vial is a tad dimmer than the rears (or maybe the rears appear brighter because they're closer to my eyes), not a big deal, worse comes to worse, I can just get a new trit front sight installed (or maybe even just replace the dimmer vial?)
Pics later, it's "Time for go to bed!" (just got over fighting a stomach bug/flu thing so I'm a tad tired right now)
I was never really completely happy with the KCII anyway, it had a lot of wear on the finish, was fussy with my reloads, even with the correct OAL and a good factory crimp, so I didn't feel *too* bad trading it in....
I like to consider myself a revolver guy at heart, as my other two handguns are both revolvers ('75 Ruger Super Single Six Stainless convertible 6.5" and blued 7.5" NM Blackhawk .45 Convertible (Colt/ACP)), I had also picked up an inexpensive plinking revolver (S&W 64-1 with partially bobbed hammer)
Long story short, the Super Redhawk balance was all wrong, it was too heavy, and pointed wrong (strange, it seemed okay in the store, and I pondered it a good 45 minutes)
I missed the 1911 almost immediately after trading it, I never warmed to the SRH, so without even firing a shot, and the collection felt like it had a gaping hole in it....
Stupid, bad MacTech, *NEVER* trade a 1911
So, tonight, I stopped back at the store, and the manager OK'd a full credit return on the SRH and ammo....
I checked the $600-range used 1911's and found two candidates, a Stainless Springfield 1911-A1, and a Kimber Custom (older plain Custom), put them on 7 day hold, and went home to grab the RSRH...
At home, I was thinking, I have too many calibers to stock in my ammo stockpile, .44 Mag is too close to .45 Colt (which I already have supplies and components set aside for reloading, and I like that big ol' beast of a cartridge), I don't have bullets, empty brass or reloading dies for .44 Mag, so it's going back, then I got to thinking....
I don't have reloading dies or components for thst .38 Spl S&W 64-1 either, and I'd need to stock Small pistol primers to reload those cartridges, I only want to have to stock Large primers (rifle and pistol) as I lost the small primer ram and tray for my Lee Auto-Prime somewhere, and don't feel like buying another one...
Hmm, if I trade in the S&W 64, I could put that store credit towards an even *NICER* 1911, one I'd really be proud to own....
So the 64 came with me as well
long story short, with the returns and trade in, I had almost $900 in store credit to play with
I could buy a *REALLY* nice 1911 with that....
So, I looked the next tier up into the high $800 used guns, it came down to the following choices;
S&W 1911somethingorother Stainless; nope, didn't like the sight picture, not contrasty enough, tended to blend into a low contrast block, pass....
Kimber Crimson Trace Custom; Nice crisp trigger, good sight picture, points naturally, but the two-tone look looked cheesy, and I couldn't help thinking that I was paying a premium price for nothing more than a Custom II with factory-installed Crimson Trace Lasergrips, I could get a non-laser Custom II used for around $600, not a good value for money, pass
Sig-Sauer Target Nitron; Oohh, this one's *NIIICE*, rosewood grips, checkering on the front and backstraps, officer hammer, shortened beavertail grip safety with a nub on the grip safety part, very little MIM infesting the gun, oh, and are these.... *TRITIUM* night sights?, *cool!*, let's sight it in, nice heft, great balance, good strong steel construction throughout, I like how the slide feels blockier and over-engineered, gives it a feeling of real durability, makes the Kimber Crimson Trace Custom seem insubstantial by comparison... points naturally too....
The more I held the Sig, the more I liked it, so, after some deliberation, I made my choice.....
The Sig Target came home with me!
I LOVE this gun, my first Sig, and a 1911 I can feel good about owning, not only is it solidly built, points naturally, has nice fancy rosewood grips, just a nicely made, quality piece, it also turns out that Sig's U.S. headquarters is just up the road a bit from me (Exeter NH), I'm about a half hour to 45 minute drive from them, actually closer if I left from work (Dover NH)
Can't wait to hit the range with my new 1911 this weekend
I think I made the right choice
Oh, one minor thing I noticed, the front sight's tritium vial is a tad dimmer than the rears (or maybe the rears appear brighter because they're closer to my eyes), not a big deal, worse comes to worse, I can just get a new trit front sight installed (or maybe even just replace the dimmer vial?)
Pics later, it's "Time for go to bed!" (just got over fighting a stomach bug/flu thing so I'm a tad tired right now)