1911 Mil-Specs from Springfield Armory: a "super-super" and a "fine .45"

After attending a Springfield Armory writer's event, I asked for several models to be shipped back to me for some serious testing. Cold weather had put a chilly end to much of the shooting at the event. Two of the guns ordered were Springfield Armory's military-style 1911s--the Mil-Specs in both .45 ACP and .38 Super. Both of these take me back to my teenage years. The choice of the .45 is obvious, as this has always been THE chambering for military-style 1911s. It was also very easy to find government issued .45s in the price range of $7.50 to $15 in the mid to late 1950s. My first 1911 in 1957 cost all of $7.50, complete with a flap holster. Those were definitely good old days!

About this same time a young ex-Marine and handgun writer by the name of Jeff Cooper was starting to make a name for himself and he caught my attention with an article called "Trail Guns" in which he pictured a custom .38 Super with adjustable sights and special grips.

The total cost of that gun complete with accurizing, sights and grips totaled $130. Yes, those certainly were the good old days!

I have wanted such a .38 Super ever since I saw that picture more than 40 years ago. In the late 1960s I did purchase a Colt Commander .38 Super, which proved to be very disappointing. I could not keep all the shots on a 12" square target at 25 yards with that gun.

It was put away until sometime in the late 1980s when I finally sent it off to Bill Wilson. The addition of one of his barrels brought group size down from somewhere over 12" at 25 yards to less than 2" at the same distance. I now had a good shooting .38 Super, but it was still not the full-sized 1911 I dreamed about for so many years.

John Tries Again

I had planned several times to have my dream gun built, but nothing ever seemed to work out. So I ordered a test gun in .38 Super from Springfield Armory with the hope it would be a good, solid, basic .38 Super I could build into a medium bore, semiauto, trail gun. It turned out to be more than I could even hope for.

Springfield Armory's Mil-Spec 1911A1 semiautos are, just as the name implies, made to emulate the original military 1911 .45 ACPs that have been part of the fighting handgun scene for 90 years. These are not accurized pistols with adjustable sights or any other bells and whistles. Springfield Armory says of their military style 1911s: "Springfield's Mil-Spec pistol is a faithful recreation of John Browning's classic 1911-A1. If you're looking for traditional features and quality in a no-nonsense package, the Parkerized Mil-Spec is for you."

Unfortunately I no longer have the Government Model I purchased in 1957 to use as a comparison, however I do have a "MODEL OF 1911 U.S. ARMY" produced in 1914. There are the three obvious changes that occurred when the 1911 became the 1911-A1, namely the trigger was shortened, the main spring housing was arched, and the back of the top of the grip safety was made slightly longer.

A most positive change is the sights. The original Colt has a very small and narrow front site mated up with a rear sight has a very small notch made for young eyes. Springfield Armory's Mil-Specs have much easier to see three-dot sights that are big and bold and square, and much easier for my eyes to see. Springfield calls these sights "Hi-Viz Fixed Combat" and they are a great improvement over the originals. Both the .45 ACP and the .38 Super have 5" barrels with a 1:16 twist, left-hand for the .45 and right-hand for the .38.

Trigger pulls are advertised to be five to six and one-half pounds, and using my RCBS Premium Trigger Pull Gauge, I found the .45 measured five pounds while the 38 was one-half pound heavier. Fully loaded the .38 Super with 10 rounds of 130 grain FMJs and the .45 ACP with eight 230 grain hardball rounds both weigh two pounds, thirteen ounces. There is a third example of the Mil-Spec I did not test, the Ultra Compact with a 3.5" barrel and slightly shortened grip frame. All three guns are furnished with a military style Parkerized finish. I made one change to both the .45 ACP and the .38 Super to suit myself and also to make both 1911s more pleasing to the eye. Both guns now wear grip panels of exotic woods from Herrett's Stocks, fully checkered on the .38 Super and diamond checkered on the .45 ACP. They not only look good when contrasted with the flat black finish of the guns themselves, they also help me to tell one from the other at a glance.

The Spirit Lives

It's interesting to me that in many quarters, such as the Texas Rangers, the 1911 was the only handgun deemed good enough to replace the Colt Single Action Army. This theme was carried out in the movie The Wild Bunch as Pike Bishop packed and used both a Single Action Army and the 1911. Today I carry these Springfield Armory Mil-Specs in a Pike Rig from San Pedro Saddlery of Tombstone Arizona. This is a superb rig consisting of a tapered belt, holster and double cartridge case all of oiled single weight leather except for the Mexican loop style holster, which is lined with pigskin. Belt, holster and cartridge case are all border stamped while the belt is furnished with a brass Gunfighter-style buckle. As with all leather from San Pedro Saddlery both workmanship and material are excellent. For a little fancier style carrying of the Mil-Specs I use another holster that carries on the pant's belt. This fancy fully-carved and lined 1911 holster was made by Dudley Lewis of Greasewood Leather, also from Arizona. Two excellent 1911's--two excellent holsters.