First things first...here are some pics!

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u258/Karl_101_photos/DSC_0015.jpg

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u258/Karl_101_photos/DSC_0027.jpg

After a hiatus of several years from the 1911 platform (I use Gl...  Gllloo...  Glllooooo... Well, black plastic guns, anyway, at work), I recently got the 1911 bug again, and it wouldn't stop biting. I had owned and shot Springfields, Kimbers, Colts, and even Charles Dalys (yikes!), and wasn't sure what I wanted this time around. After reading up, I had almost decided to go with a Springfield TRP or Operator. Then I saw this SIG Blackwater edition. I've done some training at the venue "formerly known as Blackwater," and have worked on occasion with some of their folks overseas, so there's a little personal hook there to explain my attraction to the 'ol bear paw logo. Now I was in a quandary. What little info I could find about SIG 1911's was ambivalent at best, with 1911 purists seemingly absolutely hating them. As nearly as I could tell, however, most of the issues with the SIG 1911's seemed to have occurred with older models, and the sparse owner opinions for newer models seemed to be good (albeit always a little sheepish or defensive!) Mustering up the ample confidence I have in the "to hell and back reliability" of the P226, I finally decided to go with the Blackwater 1911.

At first glance, I am smitten. Bear paws aside, to my eye this is a gorgeous weapon. Personally, I like the SIG slides, and the Nitron finish is perfect. The Siglite night sights are bright, and the fit is tight and silky smooth. I know that some folks feel that an external extractor is anathema on a 1911, but I'm not a purist. They work well on plenty of other weapon systems, and nostalgia aside, I see no reason not to think that they can work well on 1911's as well. I particularly appreciate the checkering on the front and rear of the grip; I think I read somewhere that it is 25 LPI, but whatever it is, my hands tell me it's "juuuust right.  " It's not too sharp to be painful, and not so small as to be ineffective. See the below pic for a close-up.

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u258/Karl_101_photos/DSC_0012.jpg

I've only been able to shoot it once so far - and I only had 25 rounds of 230 grain Speer Gold Dots on hand - so I won't pretend to know yet whether there will be any functionality issues in the future. What I can say is that there was nary a hiccup with the 25 aforementioned hollowpoints, which grouped into a nice, tight fist-sized group at 15 meters off-hand. It left me yearning for more, and acutely saddened that I only had the one box of (rather expensive!) plinking ammo!

I will update more as I continue to break it in, but thought I'd at least share the pics and initial impressions for now.

(Edited to change the subject line...)

Very nice, that's a really good looking pistol! I was checking it out on their site the other day.

Holy shit that is a nice weapon. Congratulations. How much did she run if you don't mind me asking?

I don't mind at all - I think it was $1,199.00; I bought it off of GunBroker from a shop in AZ. S&H + transfer fees brought me up to something like $1,275.00. It was in the same ballpark as a TRP, and has more or less the same bells and whistles. The fact that SIG doesn't use any MIM parts was a factor in my decision as well. Came with four 8-round stainless mags w/bumper pads, lock, stickers, big blue Sig case, etc.

wow that is a very nice gun.



i would change the solid trigger but that is a personal preference.

Very nice!!

I appreciate your fondness for the bearpaw.  Now get out there and find some more ammo!

Damn nice pistol, I look forward to a range report.  I seriously considered the Sig 1911 before going with the SA 1911-A1 Loaded.  My reasons were the same as what you mentioned... previous issues.  I am really interested in seeing how yours performs.

What holster options do you have?  Will the Sig 1911's fit regular railed 1911 holsters?  I heard they won't but I don't know...

Very nice.

nice!!!

Wonder when the Xe edition comes out .


I like how they kept the slide a bit "Sigish" Reminds me of the Sig220

For a non-traditional 1911 that is damn sexy...  Very Nice!

That is gorgeous!  Happy shooting!

nice, it looks great.  im curious how the external extractor treats you as well

i want one now

Been fine on mine.

Great gun you got there. I hope you enjoy it like the many, many others on this board do.

Looks to be almost the twin of my older model GSR.  I bought it used last August, having heard good things about GSRs.  I know some of the ones from that time period were hit or miss with reliability, but mine has run without any stoppages at all.  I recently put an Ed Brown ambi safety on mine and a Smith & Alexander curved mainspring housing/magwell.  Makes an already excellent gun even better.  

The only downsides are the horrendous weight of the thing (means you need a decent holster), the fact that the slide profile makes it difficult to find said holsters for it, and the fact that the external extractor is Sig specific if it goes tango uniform.  I found that if you pull the tensioning screw all the way out of a Blackhawk Serpa holster that it will accommodate it fairly easily (with a little plastic rubbed off near the muzzle...wipes right off).  That's my favorite holster for mine, since the paddle distributes the weight very well.

Nice photography.

Thanks. I will note the need to acquire a couple of spare SIG external extractors along with the other replacement parts. I tend to be of the "two is one, one is none" mentality, so I like to have backups available. That's good to know about the Serpas. I have some for my Gll... Glllooo... Gllooooooo... - black plastic guns (just can't bring myself to say the name - seems like sacrilege in a 1911 forum!) - which I like a great deal.

PS...when you pull out the tensioning screw and pry out the threaded anchor on the other side, that little vertical plastic doodad that it adjusts inside will probably come out.  It's not a big deal...the holster still locks up just fine and if anything it makes the fit better with the bigger Sig slide.  

I generally don't like the looks of rails on a 1911. That Sig, though, looks nice.

Except for the ambi-safety and the external extractor that is one fine weapon.

What is this Xe edition you are talking about?

EGW makes a replacement.  At least they used to.

Blackwater is no more, it is now Xe <zee>

Blackwater Name Change


 

Should have bought the Springfield.

He didn't want one with a frame / slide made in the Philipines, and one that worked out of the box

Nice Sig OP.

Very nice pistol indeed.

ETA: nevrmind

I'm sure he meant Brazil...

It's called sarcasm, learn it.

charilehorse: Should have bought the Springfield

sick1: He didn't want one(a 1911)...that worked out of the box

I love the looks of that pistol.

oops, i guess my sarcasm meter is broken today, i just read it real quick

ETA: nice looking pistol OP

The new Sig 1911's are absolutely fantastic aren't they?  I own Colt and Springfield in addition to a Sig, and the Sig is handsdown my favorite bar none.

See above.  Between my SS Loaded and the GSR, the Sig is a much more refined pistola.  If I did it all over again, I would have never bought the Springer, but then again its a fine weapon in its own right and I've had for 7 years.

Don't let the Sig haters bother you.

Nice shooter you've got there.

VERY NICE!

Damn that's gorgeous!  Yours are the first pics of a Sig Blackwater 1911 I've seen, just gorgeous.  

I love the looks of Sig 1911, just small changes to the slide profile really modernize it.  My 2 Sig 1911's have both been 100%, and I have a 3rd on the way ... a C3 Compact.  

Enjoy, and post some range reports!

NICE!

Looking Good. I didnt know the had a blackwater 1911 edition. simply awesome. I would love to put a set of those grips on my operator I dont care if they came from sig

If I were going to buy a new 1911 tomorrow for serious social purposes, it would be this gun.

I'm not a rail guy, but that is a sharp looking gun.

 

Found a decent price on one of these, don't think I'll be able to resist for more than 48 hours

wow very nice. My opinion of SIG just went up.

Great looking 1911, dont have a SIG 1911, but my two SIG pistols are top notch dont see why thier 1911's would'nt be.

You need the P226 Blackwater tactical now, what a pair of bookends that would be.

This is about the 5th time I've come back to this thread to look at those pics ... not sure what it is, but that gun really does it for me!  And I've always been more of a stainless guy. I'm ready to grab one while this 'deal' is on the table, just hoping you could help out with a few more pics.

That looks like one of the thicker bushings, like my Carry Nitron has that is actually an EGW melt bushing.  Could you take a close up shot of the muzzle end for me (us) ... and a few other pics, like one of the rear of the slide, and one to show the magwell blending and fit?

Thanks, and more range reports!

very nice