If I were in the market for another full sized, railed 1911, I’d be looking for a Springfield Armory MC Operator. Let me tell you why…
Back when I was still in the Gun Industry, a Springer Rep came with a number of guns to try out first hand. I shot the lot of them, but the one I kept coming back to was the MC Operator. It just felt awesome in the hand, was exceptionally accurate for me, and it was flawlessly reliable.
A couple years after that, I was visiting the MARSOC armory at Camp Lejeune. We were fitting holsters for their new Colt Rail Guns, that won the contract to replace the MC Operators. The Marine Operators there spoke highly of the Springers and talked about how they never had problems with them… and the new Colts were giving them fits and nightmares. This made a lasting impression on me… and here I am years later again, and the MC Operator remains just as accurate and reliable for those that I know that have them and shoot them.
There are a lot of great railed 1911’s out there on the market. But few provide the bang for the buck value that the Springfield MC Operator gives you.
I’m gonna disagree with you on this one, Ogre. Nothing at all to do with Springfield’s politics, I just don’t think they’re as good a value for the money as they used to be.
I owned a Range Officer Compact for a number of years. I think I paid maybe $850 for it all told (traded in a .380 towards it, so I’m not 100% sure on the price). And it was a reasonably good gun. Pretty dead-nuts reliable unless I let it get dry and dirty (it’d run dry, it’d run dirty, but not both). Only real problem was the grip screws would back out under recoil after about 50 or so rounds of regular 230-grain hardball ammo.
But about a year or so after I bought the gun, a buddy of mine picked up a Ruger SR1911 Commander. I think he paid $50-$100 less out the door than I did on my Springer. And the fit & finish were just as good if not better than my Springer. And the Ruger has a better out of the box trigger too (I’d estimate at least a pound or two lighter and with noticeably less overtravel).
If I was going to spend $1200-$1300 on a railed 1911, I’d look at a SIG TACOPS or Specialist, or a S&W E-series if you don’t like the SIG’s slide profile. Though to be honest, if I was gonna buy a railed 1911 at all, I’d save up for a Dan Wesson Specialist.