Sw1911 108282

[Miles2014]

Anyone have on of these pre- e series 1911’s. How do you like it, how do they rate compared to the e series?

Thanks!

[JDBerg]

Mine has been an accurate & gun at the range. I’d highly recommend one if these to just about anyone!

[jfruser]

Love mine. Reliable and accurate.

OTOH, I contemplate removing the FP safety guts and replacing them with E-series guts every once and a while.

[Fishbed77]

My only experience is with the SW1911 owned by my brother. It made 3 trips back to S&W after he purchased it for constant failures to go into battery and the occasional failure to eject. It still experiences the occasional failure every dozen or so mags, but being a range toy only, he deals with it.

At about the same time, I purchased a Colt XSE for about $100 more. It has never had a failure.

[Z400ACDC]

I had one. It went back because it was a bit tight and was ammo sensitive. It ran fine on return.

[larryf1952]

I have owned one for 9 or 10 years. It's a well made, perfectly functioning and attractive 1911. The trigger is at least as good as my Colt XSE. It's also just as accurate, if not moreso. I have no complaints.

The only ammo that I have ever shot out of it are my own reloads using a 185 grain Magnus, Montana Gold or Precision Delta JHP. I have never experienced a jam or any type of problem with any of them.

I have not handled or fired an E series, so I can't make that comparison. I would surmise that the guns feel very similar and differ mostly in cosmetics.

[Brian48]

I had the adjustable site version (sku# 108284). It had some chambering issues initially. Sent it in to SW and they were able to take care of it citing "adjusted barrel to slide". Overall, I thought it was a well made 1911 and was reliable after they had fixed it. Traded it in to help fund another purchase.

[Brian48]

Forgot to mention, mine came with a really loose trigger. Not really noticeable when shooting, but otherwise drove me nuts. Easy enough fix as I had a spare Wilson Ultra-Light in the spare parts box.

[Miles2014]

Thanks, Larry
Sweet grips...I may switch mine out as well. Where’d you get them?

[fastbolt]

I've owned a SW1911SC 5" since I ordered it brand new from the factory back in '05 (stainless slide and light finished Scandium aluminum frame).

It's fed, fired, extracted and ejected a variety of JHP duty loads I've used over the years with equal aplomb.

It's every bit as reliable and as accurate as a new Colt XSE Stainless Government I ordered from Colt about the same time (armorer class discounts for both guns).

The Colt had the factory ambi thumb safety (vendor part) snap off during the first range session (bad cast part), but other than that it's been excellent.

I noticed the SW1911SC's plunger tube was loosened a few years after I'd been using it (noticed before it caused a functioning issue). Although I'm a Colt 1911 pistol armorer, I decided to return the gun to S&W and let them install a new plunger tube. If it had been a steel frame I'd have done it myself, but I figured with an aluminum frame I'd let the repair techs deal with it, just in case. It came back and resumed being reliable and accurate.

I never got around to ordering one of the SW1911E/Enhanced models before I gave up my badge (and lost the ability to order off-roster guns in CA ), but I've seen them and tried one belonging to another instructor. That was very nice model, but no more accurate or with a better trigger than my '05 SC gun. The E models (and the short Pro) do have the PC Oversize extractor, though, which some folks seem to prefer for the taller extractor hook (which uses an extractor recess cut that's just a bit lower in the slide).

As a longtime 1911 shooter, if I were going to start building a collection of newer factory 1911's again, the current S&W's would be right up there on my list.