My quest for my replacement 1911...complete!

[MacTech]

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)

 

[ExAgoradzo]

I've got the convertible 357/9mm & the 45Colt/ACP as well. I may get the RH 44 mag, but probably just the OMBH.
Today I bought the Kimber Custom Target II. I'm planning on liking it more than you did . But till then, it sounds like both of us have something to be happy about.
I hope you feel better soon.

 

[Jed Carter]

Last summer I acquired a used SIG RCS 1911, commander length/officer frame. It shot great, but it recoiled heavily and really damaged the ejected brass, never failed to function, then or now. I sent it to SIG, nine days later it was mine again, totaly fixed. They replaced the recoil spring and tuned the ejector. It is my daily beater, shoots as well as most of my Government models, and carries better than my CZ PCR. I was dissapointed at first, it was virtually new when I got it, but SIG made it right. SIG has had several problems with recoil springs in various models, an easy fix. There may be a reason the SIG was traded, But SIG CS is second to none and I would not hesitate to buy another used SIG 1911, my only gripes with SIG is they only fit their molded holsters and their 1911s only come in .45 ACP. ( hint to SIG: Make the RCS in 9mm!) I'll buy the first one!

 

[Onmilo]

This story has all the flavor of a "Complicated family deal" !!

 

[MacTech]

According to the date code sticker on the box (ser# matches the gun), this gun appears to have been "born on" October 15, 2010

Under even closer inspection, I'd put the condition as 99%, the gun itself looks unfired, the only "flaw" I can find is that the base plate for one of the mags appears to have half broken rails near the nose, I'll bet the previous owner dropped that mag on a hard surface fully loaded, I can just get a replacement base plate for that mag and it should be back to 100%

My gut instinct tells me that this gun was a "guy lost his job and had to pay his bills/feed his family" sale, it looks too new not to be, heck, one of the two supplied mags was still in it's plastic baggie (base plate on this mag was okay)

 

[MacTech]

Sig Sauer 1911 Target Nitron;



I'm not sure if I like the original grips above, or these Cocolobo diamond grips;

 

[MacTech]

Range report time

I hit the range this afternoon with the Sig 1911, Ruger NM Blackhawk .45 Colt/ACP, and Single Six....

Shooting at 7 yards with a mix of ammo in the NMBH .45, a couple PD rounds (Hornady Defense, and my own 250Gn GDHP handloads) some of my Trail Boss "Powderpuffs", and my medium loads (250Gn LFN over 9.5 Gn Unique), I was off my game with the NMBH, 2-3" groups no matter what I used or how I gripped the gun, very dissapointing performance

....maybe it was the air temperature, in the mid-low 30's.....

So, I was a bit dejected when I grabbed the Sig 1911 and loaded two of my 200Gn LSWC loads (200Gn LSWC over 5 grains W231), sighted in, pulled the trigger

The gun barked with authority, and the recoil was smooth, controllable, and......
Amazingly *SOFT*!.... It had a milder recoil than my previous Kimber Custom II, a soft, firm push into the web of my hand, a gentle shove, nothing more, and these weren't even my "powderpuffs"....

I then loaded up eight more of my standard loads, and aimed for the head of a partially used silouhette target that had been left there by the previous shooter (the head area was unshot, actually, most of the target was unshot up)

This was my first full magazine through, what was basically a brand-new, unfired gun, all eight shots landed in an area roughly the size of a half-dollar, around the lower jaw/neck area, not bad for a gun I had never shot before

I then tried a mixed mag of a couple Speer Gold Dot 230Gn defense rounds, some of my standard pressure loads, and a couple powderpuffs

for the most part, all rounds landed in the same approx. area, and what was even more amazing, the recoil on *ALL* cartridges was the same, a soft, firm shove into the web of the hand, soft, controllable, and mild, even the full power Speer defense loads, the Sig 1911 made shooting any .45 ACP cartridge a true pussycat, no matter the pressure level, bullet weight, or design, with my old Kimber, I could tell the difference between the loads, powderpuffs shot noticeably softer than defense loads, in the Sig, all rounds were "powderpuffs"

Truly amazing performance, absolutely stellar and jaw dropping, I'm completely in love with this gun

One of the guys the next booth over walked over and we started chatting, he had heard of the Sig 1911's, and was intrigued, but had never shot one, he owns a Kimber Custom II, so I offered him a full mag of my standard loads

The first words out of his mouth after trying the gun?
This thing's *AMAZING!*, the recoil's so soft and controllable, a real pleasure to shoot! it's much better than my Kimber.... I think I'm going to get one of these myself

With his first mag through the gun, he was turning in quarter-sized groups, putting one round on top of another (he's ex-military and shot expert with the M9)

This was most definitely worth trading the Ruger Super Redhawk and Smith 64-1 for, the gun's far more controllable, lighter, easier to carry, and just plain *awesome* (and I don't normally toss around superlatives like that), yet the gun *IS* undeniably awesome, and that's coming from a *Revolver* guy to boot...

This Sig is here to *STAY*, it *WILL NOT* be traded, ever!

And in honor of that, I dub this gun....
"The StIG"
Some say it's almost, but not quite, entirely unlike the classic JMB 1911, and that it's allergic to Glocks
All we know is, it's called the StIG!

 

[jackpinesavages]

Nice!!

Congrats and thanks for the insight on a new "target".

 

[dev_null]

Sweet!

I like the original grips, but YMMV.

 

[MacTech]

I'm not sure which grips I like better, but I will say this, the Sig rosewood grips do seem to be imperceptibly "thicker", for some reason, with the factory grips on, the grip just feels slightly thicker, plus the checkering is very smooth

My double diamond "coco" grips have a far more aggressive checkering, and when combined with the checkered front and backstraps, the grip just *locks* to the hand, giving an amazingly secure grip. plus, they feel thinner than the factory grips, and they don't have that blatant Sig billboard advertisement on them.... I know what kind of gun I own, I don't feel the need to go broadcasting it on the grips

I also like the rather "unique" look of the Sig 1911 slide...
"You see, when a 1911 and a Sig 220 love each other *VERY MUCH*......"

 

[SSN Vet]

pics!

it's all sci fi and fantasy without pics