I think this is one of the best and worst things about the 1911... how relative the components and their application can be. I too have owned and sold many currently produced Springfield's, the vast majority of them being from the “Loaded“ line. Some of those guns were right out of the box and will give the average end user a lifetime of service. Others have had enough deviation that I was surprised Springfield ever let them leave the factory. Some have needed minor work to get them running right... running reliable. In every case the guns could have always been better in terms of parts and workmanship. But one can only expect so much from a gun with a retail price point of about $600 or around $1100 for the TRP. Point being is that Hawkeye is basically correct. If the gun goes BANG every time most people are satisfied but that doesn’t mean one can’t ask for more.
I’ve also been lucky enough to work on a few Springfield's, among other brands, and I can tell you for sure that the internals are not of the highest quality, not even for a production gun. In most cases pertaining to the 1911 there is always better. Thus the large industry solely dedicated to the manufacture of custom 1911s and their components. One cannot ask for a Pro Model at entry-level gun prices and consequently sacrifices have to be made. Those sacrifices come in the form of lesser quality parts and less time spent building the gun. But again to the average end user these sacrifices are perfectly acceptable. In cases where a user demands the best for his equipment more money is required (see the TRP Pro Model). So what else is there? Well again if the user is happy with the product he spent his money on, no matter the amount, then all is well and that’s the only important factor. However, just because Springfield stamps TRP on a pistol that by no means indicates the pistol is of the highest quality or even similar to the Pro Model in either parts or workmanship.
The standard TRP is nothing more than a “Loaded” model with a few added gadgets... ambi safety, magwell, 20 lpi checkering, etc. It is a production line version based off of the Pro Model, nothing more. That’s good marketing on behalf of Springfield at it allows the user to have a similar gun in terms of features for half the cost. If they can make the gun work and the consumer is happy then that’s a good thing. But don’t assume you got an FBI quality gun, either in parts or workmanship, because it roll stamped TRP.
So are the parts “junk”? That’s largely to be determined by the user.
Quoted: People who buy the Pro look at the end resultant product-a pistol that has the FBI-HRT stamp of approval becasue it works under difficult conditions in an extremly accurate fashion. They do not buy it because it is assembled or planned out by Joe Snuffy, etc . . . If they wanted a pisotl built by Joe Snuffy, then they would buy one from Les Baer, Wilson, Ed Brown, etc . . .
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I suspect people who buy the Pro Model do it because it is simply the best Springfield has to offer. They spend the extra money for
exactly the same reason one would spend the extra money on a Brown, Baer, or Wilson. Better parts, more attention to detail, and in the end a better pistol for the initial cash outlay. They do it precisely because they understand who built it and the way it was constructed. If this was not the case then one would simply buy a standard TRP and be happy with the
"very similar quality, fit, and finish" as you put it.