Posted: 10/4/2011 7:53:48 AM EDT
Terribly quick and dirty picture right after my first outing
After considering a lot of different 1911s in the $1k and under category I settled on the Sig reverse two tone traditional because it had the features I wanted with the best feel of the many I handled. I couldn't find much info about Sig 1911s, except a lot of people claiming the early GSRs were junk. Boiling it down to my main picks, I was left with Kimber, Sig, and Springfield Armory. I didn't like most of the Sig models because the oddly shaped slide left me with very little holster options. I really liked the 25lpi frontstrap checkering which I couldn't find on other models in my price range. The Kimber was the tightest, with no discernible rattles or general looseness, while the Sig had some very slight slide/frame movement. The Kimber had a slightly better trigger with no take-up and a similar break. The Springfield guns all felt like I wasn't getting as much for my money as loaded models around here regularly sell for $800. In the end I'm super happy with my purchase. For $860 OTD I got a unique looking pistol, made in the USA, checkered frontstrap and mainspring housing, front and rear night sights, and a great trigger. I've also read that Sig only uses 2 mim parts, but I'm not 100% on that. This is the 5th 1911 I've owned, the nicest 1911 I've owned, and the most money I've ever spent on a single firearm purchase. Next up will be mags, a holster, and possibly a .22 conversion. Before my first range outing I cleaned and lubed as normal. The Sig went through 100 rounds of 230gr Winchester white box and 8 rounds of Fiocchi 230gr JHP. No failures of any kind using the factory mags. Out of the box point of impact was right on with point of aim. |
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Beautiful pistol and great price!
I bought my “Revolution” a few years ago using Sig’s Military purchase program (don’t know if that’s still going on) and I have never regretted the purchase. Sig is making some great pistols using great parts and selling them at the most reasonable price possible. One of the things that sold me on their 1911 was that they included all the desirable options but steered clear of the silly ones (FLGR, ambi-safety for example). I really didn’t like the rail and Sig doesn’t force you to buy one with the rail if you don’t want it. FWIW, mine fits just fine in a Serpa holster, and fits fine in any generic holster into which I’ve tried it. Most of the custom holster makers seem to have the ability to make a holster for the Sig. Now, if they’d just make a longslide in .45 or 10mm…. |
Here's some better pictures:
One of my favorite things about this pistol is the checkering, something I didn't find on anything else in my price range 
The grips compliment the gun well and are made by Hogue 
The mag well has a slight bevel 
Nice sight picture. With this pistol point of impact is right on with the white circle. 
I like that the controls are not overly extended. They are large enough to use but to not get in the way. They also allow enough purchase to be able to use them with slippery hands. 
I was concerned at first with a slightly sloppy slide to frame fit, but the pistol was more accurate than I'm capable of and reliability so far has been 100% so I can't really complain too much. In this picture you can see the tritium strip on the rear sight just below the notch. 
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Quoted: I've also read that Sig only uses 2 mim parts, but I'm not 100% on that. The earliest ones had none, 2010 models have two, and current ones are said to have more. One way to find out - detail strip it and report your finidings, along with the date on the case of your pistol.  The factory wood grips are always really nice. I just wish they didn't have to be marked "SIG Auer" so that I could use them on other brands of pistols wihtout it looking completely white trash. 
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MIM parts will typically have what I call "potholes" in them. They are usually circular in shape and they are where the material was injected into the mold. Often times they will have a small, rough burr of metal in the pothole, but that is not always the case. Cast parts will usually have parting lines leftover from the casting mold, but I will add that I have seen some MIM parts that have such a line as well. Here is a relevant thread over at the 1911forum. When you start looking at them, the MIM parts become obvious. |
From what I read the slide stop and disconnector are MIM parts, with the grip safety and thumb safety probably being MIM as well. The slide stop has a bit of odd wear on it, it looks like it wasn't fitted completely at the factory. Since I've still got my Glock for a carry gun I'm going to document the wear and see if it gets any worse. I don't remember if it was as bad as it is during the initial cleaning, but I wasn't paying very close attention as I was really excited to get out and shoot my new pistol. I'm kind of pissed that an almost $900 pistol would have this at only 100 rounds, but I'm sure it either won't be a problem or Sig will make it right. I might end up just going with a higher quality slide stop, I'm not sure yet.
Please forgive my terrible photography. My main concern is the wear on the peg, it seems like that might be a possible failure point. |
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My slide stop has a couple odd marks like yours. I think they are from the fitting process at the factory.
Quoted:
From what I read the slide stop and disconnector are MIM parts, with the grip safety and thumb safety probably being MIM as well. The slide stop has a bit of odd wear on it, it looks like it wasn't fitted completely at the factory. Since I've still got my Glock for a carry gun I'm going to document the wear and see if it gets any worse. I don't remember if it was as bad as it is during the initial cleaning, but I wasn't paying very close attention as I was really excited to get out and shoot my new pistol. I'm kind of pissed that an almost $900 pistol would have this at only 100 rounds, but I'm sure it either won't be a problem or Sig will make it right. I might end up just going with a higher quality slide stop, I'm not sure yet. http://i.imgur.com/CjKSt.jpg http://i.imgur.com/rvVLV.jpg Please forgive my terrible photography. My main concern is the wear on the peg, it seems like that might be a possible failure point. |
Hey, wait a minute. I just noticed that your slide is of the more traditional slab-sided profile and not the Sig 1911 profile. Is that how they're coming from the factory or did you have some work done? Their website still shows the pistols having the Sig profile.
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Quoted:
Hey, wait a minute. I just noticed that your slide is of the more traditional slab-sided profile and not the Sig 1911 profile. Is that how they're coming from the factory or did you have some work done? Their website still shows the pistols having the Sig profile. They have "traditional" slide 1911s now too. I've seen a solid black one on Gunbroker, but Sig's website only shows traditional slide 1911s with two-tone finish. |
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Yes Sig does produce this traditional shaped slide alongside their Sig shaped slides.
I called Sig the other day and they are sending me a new slide stop free of charge. Shot another 150 rounds through it the other day with 2 failures. I purchased 2 spare magazines, both Colt brand with hybrid feed lips, and one of them repeatedly failed to lock back the slide on empty. Comparing the 2 it looks like the follower is bent slightly. The other failure was with the other Colt mag close to the end of my shooting session. The gun is still pretty tight and was starting to feel gritty, when the slide failed to return to battery. A quick smack on the back and it was ready to rock with no other failures. All in all I'm still very happy with the purchase. There have been a few very minor hiccups along the way, and if given the chance to make the purchase again, I would still go with the Sig. As of now it has had fewer failures than my Glock, both of which are up to about 300 rounds. Also, the slide stop wear is staying roughly the same. There is no new wear that I can see. It will be interesting to see if the new slide stop develops the same type of wear as I can't seem to find any burrs or other imperfections that would cause the damage. Here's some better pictures of the slide stop 
Now time to search for some reliable mags. The factory mags look very similar to Chip Mccormick mags so they will be the next mags I try. Now that I look a bit closer the factory mags look exactly like Check-Mate mags. |
| Nice piece! I ordered a Sig tac pac 1911r (railed). I like the look and it comes with extras. I'm hoping that it will be here by the end of the week! I'm anxious to try it out. I'm glad to hear that they have been producing a reliable and functional pistol in 1911. I've never owned a Sig so I'm not sure what to expect, but we'll see what happens. Also glad to hear they have good customer service. Thanks for posting all the pics and goodluck with yours. |