hey guys, i was at the local gun shop and i ran across a springfield 1911 45 for 389$. it looks to have 500 or so rounds through it.it is black and low profile steel sights. it has a set of hogue rubber grips, longer barrel (6"?). thats about all i can remember. the gun looks like it is in great condition.

my question is i dont know a lot about these guns (cept that i want one) but is this a good buy???

i looked and a new GI model is going for about 510-550.

what do you all think? i know the owner of the shop and im sure he is giving me a break. the gun was a recent trade and he has been keeeping it in the back..

let me know

The GI model is selling around here over the counter for $450 +tax.  According the SA catalog, they don't currently sell a black/park/etc long-slide (6"bbl).  The only one they show is a SS with target sights for around $900. The deal you describe doesn't sound too bad, but a little bit of an orphan configuratin-wise. Hard to see how you could lose anything on it, in the condition you describe.

thanks for the help. i called a buddy and told him of the deal. he advised me to buy it because its worth that for sure.

i believe its an a1 model. think i might just go buy it tomorrow

SA GIs/milspecs are std 5" as far as i know of

irregardless, imo, its a good buy if its all stock/factory, so unless some garage smith tinkered w/ it, i would pick it up in a heartbeat

what are some upgrades i can do to better the gun performance? i know i probably am asking a vague question but i gotta ask..

is there upgrades i can do myself like: trigger job, install parts, etc?

ill also start reading in the forums here.
thanks

one other dumb question. is there any way to touch up the paint? it had a few wear marks here and there and i would like it to look new.

First on the finish, there are some commercial "touch-ups" available which work OK--sort of.  You need to know what kind of finish it is--blued, parkerized, painted, etc. to select the right product.

As far as upgrades, aside from changing springs, which is something you should do first off, and changing grips, there isn't too much else that that you should tackle until you become a little more familiar with the pistol. I'd shoot a couple of hundred rounds and determine whether the pistol is functioning properly--feeding, ejecting. As far as the springs are concerned, change the recoil spring to whatever is standard for that configuration. If it's an older piece, the spring is tired.  It may have been changed out by a previous owner, but its nice to know what's in there. The firing pin spring, and mainspring, can wait, although they are easy to change.

Learn how to field strip, lube,  and reassemble without incorporating the hated "idiot scratch". You'll probably need someone to show you that one. Don't learn the hard way.

You can call SA Customer Service with the S/N and they can tell you the born-on date and what model it is. It sounds like you've found a nice interesting piece.  Enjoy it.

Aside from this forum, 1911forum.com, and 1911.org are good additional forums with lots of opinionated know-it-alls like me.

thanks for the help skipsan,

i got the gun and the first thing i did was look up how to field strip it. it was dirty especially in the barrel. everything else looks fine.

i did contact springfield and they are sending me a bunch of paper work. they said it was built in 03 and some other standard info.

ill go shoot it where as soon as it stops raining to see if it functions properly.
i did find a grip set in the exchange that im going to buy. i saw a square recoil spring that cheaper than dirt sells. is that a good one to get? should i just get it?

Quoted: thanks for the help skipsan, i got the gun and the first thing i did was look up how to field strip it. it was dirty especially in the barrel. everything else looks fine. i did contact springfield and they are sending me a bunch of paper work. they said it was built in 03 and some other standard info. ill go shoot it where as soon as it stops raining to see if it functions properly. i did find a grip set in the exchange that im going to buy. i saw a square recoil spring that cheaper than dirt sells. is that a good one to get? should i just get it?

Congrats on the purchase?  "Square recoil spring??"  Have no idea what that might be.
Suggest that you stick to Wolf which is the standard for aftermarket springs.  A new spring of the right rating should be $7 or $8.  Most real gun shops sell recoil springs, although maybe not for the pistol you have with the 6" bbl. The square spring may be just fine, and maybe othes will comment.  A lot of feeding problems are magazine related, so if you could try at least a couple of mag configurations on you're initial outing you could isolate potential feeding problems.

Good luck and be sure and report on your field trip.

here is what i was referring too.

spring

there is a couple others listed on their site. what is the lb rating i should get?

how about these?

buffers

Quoted: here is what i was referring too. spring there is a couple others listed on their site. what is the lb rating i should get? how about these? buffers

the wolff 18.8/16lb springs are top notch--i'd recommend em

the buffers, regardless of what brand are SHIT--do NOT waste your time or money one em; they are a useless, POS gimic, and the best part is, they dont really decrease wear, BUT they are more likely to increase reliability problems

Quoted: Quoted: here is what i was referring too. spring there is a couple others listed on their site. what is the lb rating i should get? how about these? buffers the wolff 18.8/16lb springs are top notch--i'd recommend em the buffers, regardless of what brand are SHIT--do NOT waste your time or money one em; they are a useless, POS gimic, and the best part is, they dont really decrease wear, BUT they are more likely to increase reliability problems

What Alphaghost said.

Stick with 16-18# springs, until you get enuff experience with the pistol to want to tune the springs for heavy or light loads.  

You said that your new pistol had a 6" bbl. I'm not experienced enough to know whether that requires anything other than a standard 1911 gvmt spring. You wont hurt anything trying.  I took a quick look at Brownells springs and didn't see anything listed for longslides, but that's not too significant. If the spring that's currently in the pistol properly strips around from the magazine and locks into battery (ready to shoot) then you're good to give it a try.  Nothing  bad is going to happen if the spring is a little worn--it just wont feed reliably.

i got one more question for you guys.

i want to upgrade to a beavertail.
how hard is it to do change out?

i really dont want to modify the frame. so whats the diff between a drop in and a regular one?

the ones im looking at are wilson combat.

thanks  

Quoted: i got one more question for you guys. i want to upgrade to a beavertail. how hard is it to do change out? i really dont want to modify the frame. so whats the diff between a drop in and a regular one? the ones im looking at are wilson combat. thanks

The Wilson catalog states that modification of the "drop-in beavertail" may be required for proper trigger engagement.  The catalog also states that it works only with a Commander style hammer or a bobbed spur hammer. This is for their catalog item  #429. Their alternate configuration #298 requires frame modification per their catalog. I assume that the latter is the "regular one" but that may not be the case.

If you're comfortable doing a detail strip, it sounds like doable task with reasonable skills, but it doesn't sound like it's a true "drop-in" like the description implies.

would you suggest another true drop in beavertail??

like i said i dont want to have to buy the jig and mod the frame

Quoted: would you suggest another true drop in beavertail?? like i said i dont want to have to buy the jig and mod the frame

I didn't realize that the Wilson "drop-in" was for Colt models only.  All others that I've seen require frame modification, not to say that there's not something out there somewhere. Brownells doesn't list anything appropriate, and if they don't have it, it's going to be a challenge to find.

I had a gunsmith locally install a semi-beavertail on a Colt CC without cutting the frame. Don't know exactly what he used as a starting point, but he cut it down
from something. It's not the highly flared style, but signficantly different that G.I. stock.

well i finally got out and shot it today. i had a target sitting at 25ft. took me a few rounds to get the sights figured out. i shot a decent group. everything is nice and tight on the gun. i really like it. only thing i dont like is the sights. there kinda hard to see.

i know this is a wide open question but what kind of group should i be seeing? any tricks to shooting this pistol? im used to my full size glock and this is slightly different.

oh only other thing i noticed was some of the shells were ejected at the normal range of 5-10 ft to my right while others popped straight up and landed on me. is that normal? some had a little dent on the neck of the spent case..

also,

what kind of sights do you recommend? the iron ones are stout but kinda hard to see through.

If its your first 1911 get it use it alot then use it more. Then try out someone else's 1911 that has more of the bells and whistles on it. You may decide to keep the first 1911 the way you bought it and get another. Don't worry about upgrading till you use it for awhile. My 2 pennies.

Springfield uses an odd size radius for their non-loaded models.  Smith and Alexander makes a beavertail with the proper radius.

Regardless, any beavertail is going to require some fitting, especialy of the engagement surfaces.