SIG 1911s?

Mosin44az

New member
Are SIG’s 1911 models good? Have they had problems? Interesting looks, but I recall my old gunsmith referring to quality problems when they first came out. How have they been lately? Thanks
 
Mine may be the smoothest 1911 I own (but I don't own many). Eats everything I feed it and very accurate. The external extractor doesn't bother me, but I sure wish they'd stick with the traditional slide contour.
 
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I have two, one in 45acp and one in 9mm. The 45 has the sig 1911 contour but the 9mm slide the regular 1911 contour. Both run great and are very accurate.
 
Great guns. I have the Sig 1911 RCS in .45 ACP. Here are the specs: Match bbl. and trigger, Novak Tritium sights, 4"bbl. shortened "Officers Model" length grip, flared mag well, full 7 round mag capacity, checkered for and aft grip frame, smoothed and rounded frame 'melted', SS slide, alloy frame, and Sig's great customer service. Of the dozen or so 1911's I've owned including a pair of Series 70 Colt Gold Cups, this Sig is the best carry gun of substantial caliber I've ever owned or shot. 2" gps at 25 yds are the rule with WWB FMJ's or my handloads and it's been 100% reliable over the past three years. Discontinued now, you can find them readily on gunbroker at substantial discounts. It's one superb fighting handgun. HTH's Rod
 
I see more and more of them around the local range lately...I think they are solid guns for the money.

I consider them a mid range quality 1911...nothing close to Ed Brown or Wilson Combat / but certainly equivalent to most of the higher end Springfield models like the TRP.
 
When SIG first introduced their 1911s, they were a complete disaster. They were so bad that SIG shut down production and completely revamped the supply chain, blaming all the problems on the supplier of the frames and slides: Caspian Arms. Curiously, Caspian was stuck with a bunch of cancelled SIG frames and slides, so they sold them as kits ... and none of the kit buyers seemed to have any problems with them.

Meanwhile, SIG released their second generation 1911s, which were nearly as bad as the first generation. So they again revamped the entire 1911 production system. "Third time's the charm," according to a well-worn saying, and with the third generation SIG was finally able to produce some 1911s that were up to the standards of middle-of-the-pack competitors' pistols. And that's where they sit today. The current SIG 1911s seem to be okay guns, acceptable but not exemplary, but it's difficult to understand why anyone would buy one when there are better 1911s available for the same (or less) money.
 
I cant get past the external extractor...just not a true 1911 with one of em. Friends I know who work at Sig (I'm in NH) wont even use their discount to own one...I avoid them too. Sig isn't the same company it was 9 years ago.
 
Mosin44az said:
Thanks for the info everyone. Aguila, which brands do you consider to be better values?
I always begin with Colt. I think Colt offers the most value for the money in a 1911. If you don't want Colt, a notch below them on the price scale brings us to Ruger and Rock Island Armory. If you want to spend more than the price of Colt's higher-priced pistols, then you're into custom or semi-custom territory. Take your pick of Wilson Combat, Ed Brown, or Les Baer. My choice would be Guncrafters.
 
This was the best deal I ever came across in a M1911. Cabelas had them on sale for $399 and I had a $100.00 gift card. These pistols are tight, as tight as a Kimber, the trigger pull excellent.

Factory grips:

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Herrett grips installed.

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I have around 400 rounds through mine, the magazine release was too short, magazines ejected during firing. Customer service sent me a new one, and it works great. The same company makes similiar low cost, M1911's, with different brand names. I handled a Llama brand, made by the same company, the Llama had extended safeties, beavertails, adjustable sights. It was also very tight.

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I have short fingers and wanted the short GI trigger. I wanted a thumb cocker, I don't want a M1911 that has to be carried cocked and locked. I don't want a beavertail in the way of cocking the hammer, and I did not want a safety that is easily tripped to the on or off position. Extended safeties have a habit of doing that, I have seen competitors on Top Gun accidentally trip their safeties, and waste time figuring out why their pistol won't go bang. I talked to a Range Officer, he sees that at the range often enough to recognize that is a problem.
 
I'm not a Ruger fan...and while I think they are ok, they're pretty far down the list of acceptable in the 1911 world in my opinion ......but I really have to disagree on Rock Island, nothing Rock Island makes has an inkling of quality in it - they're just junk.

I think around $1,000 Colt is making some very solid mid grade guns .... / ..I think one of the best guns for the money out there is Springfield TRP with a lot of features many shooters like - ambi safeties, mag well, checkered front strap for around $1,500. To me, Sigs 1911's are in the mix with Colt & Springfield.

Part of looking at 1911's is figuring out what features you want in a gun... .45 acp or 9mm / 4" - 5" barrels, bull barrels or a bushing, ambi safety, mag well, bob tail, type of sights, checkered front & back straps, cocking serrations front or back of slide - or both...internal or external extractors....etc.../ ..its not just about picking a Colt or Sig...

For my money, Wilson Combat makes the best 1911's on the market - but you are quickly into $3,000 - $4,000 prices even on their entry level guns like his CQB model.
 
While not a 1911, the SIG P220 in .45 ACP is very similar in terms of capability yet has the benefit of a more modern simplified action and great reliability:

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They were used and continue to be used by many police departments around the country and are counted as an excellent and reliable duty pistol.
 
Slamfire said:
I have around 400 rounds through mine, the magazine release was too short, magazines ejected during firing. Customer service sent me a new one, and it works great. The same company makes similiar low cost, M1911's, with different brand names. I handled a Llama brand, made by the same company, the Llama had extended safeties, beavertails, adjustable sights. It was also very tight.
The pistols currently wearing the Llama brand are not made by Armscor (Rock Island). They are made by one of the other two Philippine 1911 makers. I think they are made by Metro Arms.
 
Mosin44az said:
Thanks Aguila. Rock Island, interesting thought. Know the others are good. Better than Springfield and Kimber?
Everyone has their favorites. Springfields are better than Rock Islands (in general), but not as good as Colts (in general). Kimber has their fans, but there are many other people whose motto is "Friends don't let friends buy Kimber." Kimber is (IMHO) more about advertising and gimmicky finishes than they are about quality firearms.
 
Everyone has their favorites. Springfields are better than Rock Islands (in general), but not as good as Colts (in general). Kimber has their fans, but there are many other people whose motto is "Friends don't let friends buy Kimber." Kimber is (IMHO) more about advertising and gimmicky finishes than they are about quality firearms.
A Sig Emperor Scorpion Carry 1911 has been my EDC for almost a year now. It's been a fine pistol with zero hiccups.

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I’ve had more luck with my Springfield Armory than I did with my Colt and at 1000+ rds I seem to shoot it as well if not better and the function is notably better (the ejection was terrible on the Colt and in likelihood it needed to go back to the factory). The metallurgy may well be better on the Colt but I haven’t noticed a deficiency with the SA yet.

A friend of mine picked up a SIG 1911 some time back. It had repeated failures to extract out of the box. I kept telling him to send it in but idk if he ever did. That was a sample of one of course. That said nothing about it seemed better than say a SA and certainly not a Colt, which they’re often close to in price.

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It sounds like SIG has improved, but not flawless. My old gunsmith touted Colt’s metallurgy as superior. Sounds like SIG is roughly with Kimber, maybe a bit below Springfield. Thanks for the replies
 
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