I'm looking at buying my first 1911 style pistol. Does anyone have any personal experience with the Sig Sauer GSR. So far I'm looking at the Kimber Tactical Custom II, the Springfield TRP, and the Sig GSR. Any help from personal experience regarding good or bad experiences with these weapons would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Scott

I bought a GSR back in March having serial no. 33xx sight unseen.  It had various cosmetic and functional issues; one being a slanted hammer that rubbed the slide.  It was so bad, I didn't even bother putting a magazine in it.  I headed straight for the phone.  

I called SIG customer service and they transferred me to the head manager of the GSR line.  He offered to take the gun back totally at their expense both ways and have it corrected in one week.  I shipped it on a Friday and had it back in my hands the following Thursday.  To my pleasant amazement, every single defect was 100% completely remedied; approx 10 in all.

I now have 1500 rounds through it without the slightest of hiccups.  Other folks can probably attest to having similar issues with GSR's out of the box as well.  But SIG has been very responsive in taking care of them.  

I hope this helps.

Gary    

To be honest I never shot one, but SIG is a quality name.  However I have a personal dislike for external extractors.  I'm an old school internal guy.  If you are going to spend that kind of scratch on a GSR you could get a kimber warrior or another higher end brand with an internal extractor.

FWIW

A friend of my who basically has a Sig tattoo on his ass
has finally bought a GRS after 2 years of waiting .
apparently  Sig has corrected the issues that
were common on early guns .

I haven’t shot it yet , but he tells me it is perfect .
I usually don't take anyone’s word on a weapon until I see
it for myself , but in this instance I am confident that
it is what he says it is . Since anal retentive is an understatement
when it comes to this guy and sigs

I've shot one. A former co-worker got his hands on one as soon as the distributors got one in. It was tight and shot great but they didn't QC the finishing very good - had some machining marks on the slide. With the added weight in the snout from the rail it was a lot of fun to shoot.

Thanks for the info guys. I love the feel of the 1911's, but was curious about Sig's venture into the 1911 market. I know their name is synonamous with high quality weapons, but I'm always hesitant to buy first when they are taking on new (to them) designs. Again, thanks for the info.

My story with the GSR.

I bought a GSR and was very excited about it.  I had been wanting a 1911 with a rail and bought one of the first ones at my dealer.  I loved that Sig.  

I took it to the range and shot it.  It was the most accurate 1911 I had ever shot.  There were a few failures to feed, but I figured that was just break-in issues.  I loved that Sig.

It then began to bother me that it consitstently failed to feed.  I tried several magazines and different brands of ammo with the same results.  Out of ever box of 50, I'd have 3 or 4 failures to feed.  I sent it back to Sig and within a few days had it back.  Problem was solved by recontouring the feed ramp.  I loved that Sig.

Then, I began to notice that the grip safety didn't feel as comfortable as on my other 1911 pistols.  The speed bump safety was an annoyance.  I decided to replace it and bought a Wilsons.  The Wilson was not a drop-in unit so I broke out the Dremel tool and contoured the frame to fit the safety.  The results were pretty damned good.  I replaced the mainspring housing at the same time and I now had a personalized GSR.  I loved that Sig.

I also decided there was too much grit in the trigger pull.  That's common on guns with a firing pin safety.  I hate firing pin safeties.  I took it apart and polished every internal component, including the two little arms.  Reassembly was a complete bitch and I discovered that its possible to install them wrong.  I didn't find this out until I took it to the range and it wouldn't go bang.  Yes, that was my fault, but it does illustrate that added complexity is not a good thing.  I finally got used to how to deal with the safety and the trigger pull was smoother.  I considered removing the safety, but didn't due to liability concerns.  Yeah, I still loved the Sig, but the affair was not as passionate.

Then, I noticed that the pin that retained the extractor could move.  It was easy to make it move, simply by pressing down on the extractor.  Hmmm... didn't like that.  I did some reading and found a few guys who had this pin drop down during cycling and rammed it into the back of the frame, thereby damaging the gun and taking it out of commission.  Didn't like that at all.

Hey, how come I don't have night sights?  

Finally, it stopped extracting on a consistent basis.  I am told this is fairly common and the extractor spring is known to be weak.  Maybe that is why they made the retainer pin so easy to remove.  I started contemplating this and realized I no longer loved my Sig.  As a matter of fact, it just pissed me off.  I don't mind putting time, money and effort into a gun to make it just right, but there is a limit.  I hit mine when the extractor started acting up.  

I sold it for a stupid low price and never looked back.  I now own a Springfiled MC Operator and couldn't be happier.  Everything that pissed me off about the Sig was not an issue of the Springer.  It isn't quite as accurate, but does pretty well.  

It does not feel right to me. Add that to the external extractor, aesthetics, safeties, etcetera, and it just doesn't work for me.

Be well!

[email protected]

Quoted: To be honest I never shot one, but SIG is a quality name.  However I have a personal dislike for external extractors.  I'm an old school internal guy.  If you are going to spend that kind of scratch on a GSR you could get a kimber warrior or another higher end brand with an internal extractor.

Just so you know, John Moses Browning originally designed the M191 with an external extractor but the US Army asked for an internal extractor, thinking it would be more easily disassembled and cleaned in the field.  While that was true 90+ years ago, today's metallurgy and manufacturing improvements make an external extractor just as easy to maintain.  Just some food for thought.

Justin (ProudOwnerOfTwoColtSeries70Reproductions)

Oh and about the Sig GSR, the first few production runs definately had some problems (which were promptly corrected by Sig Customer Service, of course) but these issues were later addressed and corrected with the later models.  

Quoted: Quoted: To be honest I never shot one, but SIG is a quality name.  However I have a personal dislike for external extractors.  I'm an old school internal guy.  If you are going to spend that kind of scratch on a GSR you could get a kimber warrior or another higher end brand with an internal extractor. Just so you know, John Moses Browning originally designed the M191 with an external extractor but the US Army asked for an internal extractor, thinking it would be more easily disassembled and cleaned in the field.  While that was true 90+ years ago, today's metallurgy and manufacturing improvements make an external extractor just as easy to maintain.  Just some food for thought. Justin (ProudOwnerOfTwoColtSeries70Reproductions) Oh and about the Sig GSR, the first few production runs definately had some problems (which were promptly corrected by Sig Customer Service, of course) but these issues were later addressed and corrected with the later models.

Who said the Army never did anything right!

What's the spanner screw for?  Just curious.  I love my Sig P226, accurate, dependable, simple.  It's like Sig Sauer R&D guys were asleep on this one.

Quoted: What's the spanner screw for?  Just curious.  I love my Sig P226, accurate, dependable, simple.  It's like Sig Sauer R&D guys were asleep on this one.

The spanner screw is to retain the firing pin block.  Go ahead... ask me how much I love firing pin safeties... go on, ask me.  

Quoted: Quoted: What's the spanner screw for?  Just curious.  I love my Sig P226, accurate, dependable, simple.  It's like Sig Sauer R&D guys were asleep on this one. The spanner screw is to retain the firing pin block.  Go ahead... ask me how much I love firing pin safeties... go on, ask me.

How much do you love firing pin safties?




Justin

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: What's the spanner screw for?  Just curious.  I love my Sig P226, accurate, dependable, simple.  It's like Sig Sauer R&D guys were asleep on this one. The spanner screw is to retain the firing pin block.  Go ahead... ask me how much I love firing pin safeties... go on, ask me.   How much do you love firing pin safties? Justin

How could you expect a company from a country to build a gun that kicked its arse in 2 world wars?

What were you thinking?

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: What's the spanner screw for?  Just curious.  I love my Sig P226, accurate, dependable, simple.  It's like Sig Sauer R&D guys were asleep on this one. The spanner screw is to retain the firing pin block.  Go ahead... ask me how much I love firing pin safeties... go on, ask me.   How much do you love firing pin safties? Justin