Tag Archives: 45 acp

You’ve heard of the 1911 X Carry, yeah?

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SIG Sauer isn’t well-known for its 1911 line, but the company has invested enough time to create an excellent entry to the genre in the XCarry series.

SIG has been in the 1911 game for over 20 years, entering the market around 2004. They hit the ground running and were one of the first M1913 “railgun” pistol makers available then continued to enhance the century-old design and produced models with characteristic styling including the Granite, Super Target, and Spartan.

The SIG 1911 Fastback Nightmare– one of the best gun names ever– was always a favorite of ours. (All photos: Chris Eger/Guns.com)

Today, SIG catalogs five distinctive 1911 variants in .45 ACP, a more or less classic stainless 5-inch barreled government model for California markets, and four 1911-X models which balance classic engineering with modern features– namely a direct cut for Shield RMSc optics footprints, an excellent flat-faced trigger, and an accessory rail. Two of these 1911-X models are Emperor Scorpions and as such sports a Coyote PVD finish over a steel slide and frame, offered in both government and commander (SIG calls it Carry) sizes.

Then there is the all-black 1911-XFull (5-inch) and 1911-XCarry (4.25-inch), the latter of which we feature in this review. Like the rest of SIG’s 1911s, they use stainless steel frames and slides but carry the company’s traditional black Nitron finish just like the well-loved P226s, P229s, etc.

The SIG Sauer 1911-XCarry. This model was sent to us with an optional SIG Romeo-X Compact 3 MOA fully enclosed mailbox-style red dot optic installed, a package that is available to consumers.

The commander-length 1911-XCarry runs a 4.25-inch barrel which gives it an overall length of 8 inches.

I’ve been kicking one around since last November and have the full report in my column over at Guns.com.

 

Kicking around the Tisas Raider

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So I’ve spent the past couple of months putting 500 rounds through the SDS Imports Tisas-made Raider B45 M1911A1 railgun, which strives to emulate the Colt M45A1 CQBP used by the Marines until just very recently.

In a nutshell, the Raider looks good, shoots good, and faithfully recreates the aesthetic railgun used by the Marines in recent years without just slaughtering your bank account. I’d personally like some better sights and a trigger job to remove the “bounce” in the trigger, or a swap out for a shorter aluminum trigger but then again that would start cutting into that aesthetic that it so clearly strives to meet. It is ready for the range or for home defense but beware that, if carrying, holster fits could be funny due to the rail. 

The wonderful thing about the price is that you can use that saved cash to buy more ammo, a Kabar, and contribute the Toys for Tots program.

More in my column at Guns.com.

Emissary, now in Commander and 9mm versions

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Following up on the popularity of the Government-sized Emissary .45ACP M1911, Springfield Armory on Thursday announced a Commander-length model as well as one in 9mm.

As with the earlier model, the Emissary line sports a two-tone finish, with a blued carbon-steel slide and a stainless-steel frame with a squared trigger guard. Carrying a “Tri-Top” cut to the slide, the single-action pistols run a bushingless heavy stainless-steel bull barrel with a one-piece full-length guide rod. For those who want texture in their grip, the series has a grenade-pattern texture on the front and back of the grip as well as the slimline G10 VZ panels.

And they are as easy on the eye and they are capable on the range.

More in my column at Guns.com.

The 1911 is a Perma Staple of the Gun Community

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With a narrow profile and an excellent reputation for “stopping power” (in certain calibers) coupled with a host of on-board safety features, John Browning’s big M1911 format single-action pistols can be exceptionally accurate, and, if given a few tweaks and made correctly, can last a lifetime so long as the small internals and barrel are swapped out when overworn. Plus, there is probably no other platform other than the Glock that is backed up by so wide a spread of aftermarket parts and skilled smiths who know how to wring every ounce of performance out of them. Little wonder that gun companies seem to always be introducing new takes on the same gun.

Speaking of which, Springfield Armory this week came out with a new version of Mr. Browning’s single-action single-stack.

Using a forged steel barrel, slide, and frame, Springfield’s new Emissary sports a two-tone finish, with a blued carbon steel slide and a stainless-steel frame with a squared trigger guard. Carrying a “Tri-Top” cut to the slide, the single-action pistol runs a bushing-less heavy stainless steel bull barrel with a one-piece full-length guide rod. For those who want texture in their grip, the Emissary is fully wrapped in a grenade pattern texture from its slimline G10 VZ grips to the matching machining on the mainspring housing and front strap.

The Emissary is billed as blending defensive and custom pistols to create a striking .45 ACP railgun that looks great while still being very capable.

More in my column at Guns.com.

Repairman Jack’s Gatt

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Originally billed as a “vest pocket .45” built for maximum concealment in mind, the 4+1 Semmerling LM-4 pistol was only 5.2-inches long, 3.7-inches high, and a svelte 1-inch wide. For reference, this puts it in the same neighborhood as common .32ACP and .25ACP pocket pistols, but in a much larger caliber. Today it still holds the title as perhaps the smallest .45ACP that isn’t a derringer and, for comparison, it is about the same size as a Ruger LCP.

It is also the only manually-worked slide action .45ACP carry gun I can think of…

And I have been fooling around with serial number #31 lately

More in my column at Guns.com.