range report - new springfield 1911

went to the gunshow today. was a total bust as far as my desires went. mostly a collector/antique show. saw some neat guns, but that was it. so, my brother and i went to the range. i brought my new p229, my brother brought his new springfield 1911, and i rented a sig p-239 (what a great gun... i want one, now... knew i shouldn't have rented it!). anyway, the p229 and p239 ran like champs, but nobody wants to read about those... everybody wants to know about springfield's sub $400 1911...

went to my brother's house. apparently, he was a little uncomfortable w/ taking down his 1911, since it hasn't been cleaned since he got it... so i walked him through the teardown, cleaning, lubrication, and reassembly of his new toy. we got her polished up good and proper, and hit the range.

for his first box of 50, i was thoroughly enjoying the sigs in front of me, so i paid no attention to him at all... finally, he asks if i want to drive... so, i strapped the springfield on, broke a fresh box of 50 out, and topped off the mag.

first... i can't quite put my finger on it, but this gun doesn't feel like my colt. it must be the beavertail because i can think of nothing else. i don't care for the factory's idea of grips (plastic), but whatever... what did i expect for the money?

i went thru the box of 50 rather quickly. i tried slow-fire, double-taps, and wide-open throttle. the gun never hiccupped. i fully expected a jam of some sort, being as the gun is new and, well, inexpensive. my brother reported that he had not a single hiccup w/ it thru his box, either. hmm...

the gun behaved itself well. the trigger on it is rather spongy, the sights are not target grade by any stretch, and the point of impact was about 3" left at 20 yards. not good for fixed sights, but easy enough to fix, i guess. those were my only complaints.

how springfield made a gun like this for the money... well, the only thing i can think of is cheap labor in brazil... the frame of the gun was marked 'imbel brazil'. as far as i could tell, beyond that the bulk of the parts are american made.

i really think that for the money, this is the best 1911 deal going - unless you are going to put all the bells and whistles on, in which case, you should probably start w/ at least a frame that is marked by caspian...