It’s with heavy heart that I write this review. Springfield Armory has a great history. It’s truly a part of gun culture, real americana. From the Trapdoor, to the M1A, not to mention the iconic 1903. These firearms have shaped the shooting landscape. I, myself, competed with the Springfield M14/M1A as a military / civilian competitor. I have a long history with that rifle filled with happy memories. I’ve literally disassembled and assembled them with my eyes closed. I had equally high hopes for a beautiful stainless Springfield 1911. Those expectations were shattered. This review is not going to be a rave.

I have been testing this handsome stainless, loaded, Springfield 1911. What could go wrong. I mean, it’s a classic American work horse, metal on metal, stainless, hardwood, American made, full size handgun by a classic gun company. Well, as it turns out, quite a lot can, and has, gone wrong. At least this gun is heavy so you could beat someone to death with it, since it’s likely not to work.

First, for a gun to be good, it has to be reliable. This 1911 failed horribly. Name a malfunction, and this pistol had it. The most common malfunction was the slide not going all the way into battery after a round had been fired. At first, I assumed it was the ammo, but these rounds worked in other “lesser” at least less expensive pistols. They were 230 grain ball FMJ. I have also tried 185 gr flat points. Not to mention expensive 230 Grain Federal HST.

Next, I assumed that it was the magazines. I used the factory magazines with poor results so I tried factory Colt 7 Round magazine. I ended up trying 5 magazines with not one being reliable. Failure to return fully into battery was the most common problem, sadly not the only, or the worst, problem. I was happy to get a full magazine to feed. It also had double feeds & stove pipes. New springs were put into the pistol. These did nothing to help.

Even more disturbing was while my wife and father in law were in the middle of a shooting session, the front sight fell out. Yep you read it right the front sight fell out! I wrote to Springfield since it should have been covered under warranty. They still, to this day, have never gotten back to me. It’s been months. To make things worse, this 1911 has its own proprietary pinned front sight. A new one had to be installed (owner's expense). The 1911 has sights now but it's still is not very reliable.

I will keep this review short mostly because I have not been able to get this weapon to function well enough to really train with it. Like I said, Springfield is a classic American company and it is entirely possible that this is just a lemon. The next one one on the assembly line may have been fine, maybe not. But I will say this, with the trouble that I have had with this firearm, and the lack of customer support I have experienced, I'm not likely to spend money on another Springfield 1911. There are so many good 1911’s, especially in this price range (and many that are far cheaper) that work so much better than this one.

I realize that this review may upset some people. Trust me I'm not thrilled, I have that expensive pistol sitting in my gun cabinet doing nothing. I know there may be a lot of Springfield fans that are up in arms, they may have a Springfield 1911 that runs great. But, with my experience, I cannot recommend a Springfield 1911.

Thankfully, I am very blessed to have many pistols; if I knew I was going to get in a gunfight today, this would be the very last handgun I would want grab out of the gun cabinet, that includes a .25 auto. I wonder how upset John Browning would be if I handed him this pistol?

P.S. I sent this review to Springfield first before I published it. It seemed only fair. They did finally write back and said that I could send the pistol in and they would look at it. Now if they fix it and it comes back running right I will amend this and give it a fitting review.