Hi gang. I just took delivery of a Springfield Loaded Pakerized with Night Sights last night. I have to say that I'm impressed and disappointed at the same time. Things that I'm impressed with so far:
1) Flat packerized finish. I have to say that it is pretty good finish in a tactical sense. Compared to the $2000+ Black-T brother, it has a slightly flatter finish so it would not reflect any type of light. I can see a lot of wear on this pistola because I will wear it a lot, but I think it will build character that way.
2) Novak's tritium night sights. I guess I don't really need to say much here. The sights provides a soft green glow in the dark.
3) The tight, but yet smooth action. The slide and frame fit is tight and there are no vertical or lateral movements just like any other SA pistols. The action is pretty smooth out of the box. It is as if someone has worked the slide couple hundred times so it smoothed out. The TGOII and Professional certainly did not have this type of smooth action until I've hand racked it at least a hundred times or so with some CLP. Of course the actions on the TGOII and Professional are buttery smooth now compare to the Loaded. Hopefully it will get just as butter smooth. I highly doubt it because of the finish, but only one can hope. :biglaugh:
Now with the disappointments:
1) Fit and finish on the extractor. Usually on a 1911 pistol the extractor is flushed at the back of the slide. Not this Loaded. It protrudes out at least 1mm so it's kind of an annoyance. Although it probably doesn't affect function, it's still annoying.
2) Fit and finish on the thumb safety. This is where you can see the difference between this pistol and it's more expensive brothers. Although it has a positive click like it's brothers, it feels somewhat "loose." When I disengage the thumb safety, there tend to be a little play unlike the positive feedback like the TGO and the Pro. You can push down the safety a tad bit further if you don't realize it's been down.
3) The roughness of the feedramp. It's somewhat rough that it prevented the first round to chamber every time. As I felt the feedramp on the frame, it catches the bullet on it's way up when loading. I had to take the gun apart and smooth out the feedramp. It's a small annoyance, but was an easy fix. The pistol feeds okay now. I guess only a range session can tell if it really worked or not.
Summary:
I bought this pistol as my future main work horse. After, I'm done breaking it in and evaluate it's reliability, it will be my main carry weapon when I'm allowed to carry.
There is definitely a big difference in terms of parts and build quality of this Springfield vs. it's more expensive brothers. The fit and finish is good, but not when compare to others. I think my $1000 Kimber has better fit and finish than this $650 Springfield. As you can see, there is a $350+ difference between the two. I guess you generally do get what you paid for.
Couple of things I would like to change on this work horse. One being the two piece guiderod. Althought I never really had one come loose on me, I am more incline to switch that to a GI or a one piece guiderod. Many of you may say it's a waste of money, but in my little feeble mind it may increase reliability. I don't know. I guess I'll shoot 500 rds or so then find out. Another thing is replacing the Titanium firing pin. I know it's a safety feature, but I also heard it has a tendency to break. I guess you have to weight in safety vs. reliability.
All in all I think this is a damn fine pistol for the money. As a matter of fact, I think it's hard to beat. Other than the gripes I have, I think I can overlook them for the amount I paid. After it is broken in and reliability determined, I see it to be my main carry weapon for years to come. I'll probably write a range report after some range time. Thanks for the bandwidth and time.
1) Flat packerized finish. I have to say that it is pretty good finish in a tactical sense. Compared to the $2000+ Black-T brother, it has a slightly flatter finish so it would not reflect any type of light. I can see a lot of wear on this pistola because I will wear it a lot, but I think it will build character that way.
2) Novak's tritium night sights. I guess I don't really need to say much here. The sights provides a soft green glow in the dark.
3) The tight, but yet smooth action. The slide and frame fit is tight and there are no vertical or lateral movements just like any other SA pistols. The action is pretty smooth out of the box. It is as if someone has worked the slide couple hundred times so it smoothed out. The TGOII and Professional certainly did not have this type of smooth action until I've hand racked it at least a hundred times or so with some CLP. Of course the actions on the TGOII and Professional are buttery smooth now compare to the Loaded. Hopefully it will get just as butter smooth. I highly doubt it because of the finish, but only one can hope. :biglaugh:
Now with the disappointments:
1) Fit and finish on the extractor. Usually on a 1911 pistol the extractor is flushed at the back of the slide. Not this Loaded. It protrudes out at least 1mm so it's kind of an annoyance. Although it probably doesn't affect function, it's still annoying.
2) Fit and finish on the thumb safety. This is where you can see the difference between this pistol and it's more expensive brothers. Although it has a positive click like it's brothers, it feels somewhat "loose." When I disengage the thumb safety, there tend to be a little play unlike the positive feedback like the TGO and the Pro. You can push down the safety a tad bit further if you don't realize it's been down.
3) The roughness of the feedramp. It's somewhat rough that it prevented the first round to chamber every time. As I felt the feedramp on the frame, it catches the bullet on it's way up when loading. I had to take the gun apart and smooth out the feedramp. It's a small annoyance, but was an easy fix. The pistol feeds okay now. I guess only a range session can tell if it really worked or not.
Summary:
I bought this pistol as my future main work horse. After, I'm done breaking it in and evaluate it's reliability, it will be my main carry weapon when I'm allowed to carry.
There is definitely a big difference in terms of parts and build quality of this Springfield vs. it's more expensive brothers. The fit and finish is good, but not when compare to others. I think my $1000 Kimber has better fit and finish than this $650 Springfield. As you can see, there is a $350+ difference between the two. I guess you generally do get what you paid for.
Couple of things I would like to change on this work horse. One being the two piece guiderod. Althought I never really had one come loose on me, I am more incline to switch that to a GI or a one piece guiderod. Many of you may say it's a waste of money, but in my little feeble mind it may increase reliability. I don't know. I guess I'll shoot 500 rds or so then find out. Another thing is replacing the Titanium firing pin. I know it's a safety feature, but I also heard it has a tendency to break. I guess you have to weight in safety vs. reliability.
All in all I think this is a damn fine pistol for the money. As a matter of fact, I think it's hard to beat. Other than the gripes I have, I think I can overlook them for the amount I paid. After it is broken in and reliability determined, I see it to be my main carry weapon for years to come. I'll probably write a range report after some range time. Thanks for the bandwidth and time.
