Posted: 9/10/2009 4:20:28 PM EDT
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In 1989 I bought a Springfield 1911-A1. This was a first for me in the 1911 game. Well first time I fired it I found it was not
very accurate and the slide really got loose after the first hundred rounds. I was disappointed in this pistol and it sat unused for months. Fast forward to Jan 1990. There was a Gun Show in Lakeland and I decided I would take the pistol with me. I found a Springfield dealer and showed him my pistol asking if the sloppy slide was the norm. He took it from me and wiggled the slide. He looked at me and said it was not the norm and he told me to check one of his on the table. I picked up one and the slide fit felt very good. The dealer asked me what I paid for mine and I told him. He volunteered to pay me what I gave for it if I bought one of his. I took him up on his offer and bought the one below. I have been trying to do a little research on it and found some info on a website that says some of the early guns were hand fitted and are good pistols. Mine shoots well. I carried this thing with me in my truck for years in so it has some wear but I still like this thing. Does anyone here know if it is true that this gun could have had the slide hand fit in the US plant? Picture below. It is a 1911-a1/Limitd according the the box. I chopped two digits from end of the serial number. 
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NM means your gun was finished in the US...not made here...ALL Springfield's are made in Brazil...at least that's what Springfield says...I have an NM Mil Spec that appeared to my eyes to be better finished than my buddy's Mil Spec with the N marking...yours looks nice with nicer sights than a Mil Spec but still has that 1911A1 look...
Bill |
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In '89 - '90, all the Springfields were finished in the US.
One bought in '89 would have had GI style sights and trigger, as they only came one way. You had a choice between blue, or parked. Slide serrations on all guns were slanted. New in Jan. of '90 they upgraded sights to large fixed units. Don't remember if match style trigger was part of the upgrade. I got one of the last of the '89's. Slide fit is still satisfactory. Barrel cracked in a thousand rounds or less. Springfield sent me a new barrel, but it was ridiculously undersized. I tigged up the feet, and hood, and refit it. Since then I've used it for USPSA, pins, and carry. Many thousands of rounds thru it. 
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I think this one was put together at the factory with the white dot sights and the match trigger. On the
receipt it lists it as a 1911-A1 limited. Here is a pick of the box, it also says limtd on it. I added the exended safety. The factory safety was bad. It would fire while on safe. 
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