Cold Range
It was a scalding 24 degrees when I went to work this morning. The skies were clear cerulean blue when I walked out of the hospital though. I decided to brave the range with my Springfield Mil-Spec. My Mil-Spec cost me a sum total of $500 back when, and was my entry gun into the world of 1911s. 
I don't have my first handgun any more, but I will never sell my first 1911.
I like to think of my Mil-Spec as a poor man's Operator. Back when I first began to modify it, the Springfield Operator was my influence. I heartily recommend a Springfield Mil-Spec to any shooter who is wanting to try the 1911 for the first time. Many renown gunsmiths willingly modify the Mil-Spec as a base gun for custom projects. The reason is simple. It's a good, solid and affordable 1911 that meets the specs of the platform.
I am an unabashed Colt fan, but Springfield seems to have tapped into the 1911 shooter's wants better than any other manufacturer. By and large, 1911 shooters tend to be traditionalists, even as they modify the original brainchild of Browning. Springfield avoided a firing pin safety by passing California drop tests with a titanium firing pin. They designed a locking system for the pistol that was easily and completely discarded by the owner if desired. Most of the common machine work requested on a true mil-spec 1911 has already been done to the Mil-Spec. Springfield did not make these choices by accident or for expediency. Add in a durable forged frame and slide with a price point and it is a near unbeatable choice at the gun counter for a first time purchaser.
I still have my first 1911, and I still enjoy shooting it too.
I don't have my first handgun any more, but I will never sell my first 1911. I like to think of my Mil-Spec as a poor man's Operator. Back when I first began to modify it, the Springfield Operator was my influence. I heartily recommend a Springfield Mil-Spec to any shooter who is wanting to try the 1911 for the first time. Many renown gunsmiths willingly modify the Mil-Spec as a base gun for custom projects. The reason is simple. It's a good, solid and affordable 1911 that meets the specs of the platform.
I am an unabashed Colt fan, but Springfield seems to have tapped into the 1911 shooter's wants better than any other manufacturer. By and large, 1911 shooters tend to be traditionalists, even as they modify the original brainchild of Browning. Springfield avoided a firing pin safety by passing California drop tests with a titanium firing pin. They designed a locking system for the pistol that was easily and completely discarded by the owner if desired. Most of the common machine work requested on a true mil-spec 1911 has already been done to the Mil-Spec. Springfield did not make these choices by accident or for expediency. Add in a durable forged frame and slide with a price point and it is a near unbeatable choice at the gun counter for a first time purchaser.
I still have my first 1911, and I still enjoy shooting it too.
Labels: Range Journal, Springfield
posted by Xavier at 5:39 PM
4 Comments:
The Springfield Mil-Spec is my first personal 1911 too. A trigger job and maybe someday a beavertail and that's all I plan to do to it. It's my daily carry and it's never failed to go bang when I want it to.
I have a gaggle of 1911s, like rabbits around here.
Springers are a good starting point and if you only have limited bread you can ease em up to whatever you want as you are able to afford it.
When I went to gunny college, we could buy norincos for almost nothing and did the same thing with them.
These days though, there are some upper mid-price on up manufacturers that are selling at prices that undercut what I can do doing the work myself and just buying parts to build a springer 1911 up to my liking. Just a matter of economics.
I shan't bother listing manufacturers names, as I'm sure you already can guess most of them. You'd throw more money at the springers than you would just buying the gun you want in the end, especially if you aren't doing the work yourself.
Springers are definitely a better starting point than one of the filipinos and norincos are not easy to come by cheap anymore.
Good fixer uppers and learn to smith 1911s but they aren't Virgil Tripp pistols either, not even the spendy ones.
I often carry a springer milspec, bought for around 4-500 and I bet I put 500 in parts and a lot of time into it making me happy and feeding everything I wanted to feed it.
My three penny, no warranty express nor implied on my views,
tom
I have 2 Springers. My first was a Compact model made in 1992 (sent the serial # to Springfield & that's what they said) I got a while back. Bought a new Mil-Spec this summer at a show. Love them both. Carry is either a Galco horizontal SOB outside the pants (surprisingly very comfortable) or a Galco Yaqui slide. Very quick draw with that. Heavy flannel hides either carry well.
Both handle very well although I've had some stove pipes with the Compact. Changed the recoil spring recently (went a little heavier) and the problem has mostly cleared up. Figure what's left of the problem is me, not the gun.
Love my MilSpec (Roscoe) everything I need nothing I don't need. Accurate enough and utterly reliable, right out of the box.
One day I might send Roscoe to the spa to get his rough edges smoothed over a bit and refinished. But I like having him around too much to send him away for very long.
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