Springfield 1911A1 TRP Review
The Springfield TRP is or Tactical Response Pistol is kind of a different animal in today’s market of buyers. Law enforcement and anti-everything groups say “too aggressive of a pistol” is what they have labeled 1911. If you asked me what that meant I couldn’t tell you because when we asked for details to the statement we got deer in the headlights stares in return. Sounds like reliability and repeatability is a problem if your looking for statistics of why no one should carry a firearm.
It’s important to first time buyers to understand the difference between a match pistol and a tactical pistol. In our opinion and anyone whose life would depend on their firearm. Accuracy is not the most important aspect of a tactical pistol. Reliability is always item number one on the list of must have. In that aspect we found this Springfield 1911A1 to be top flight. We loaded swollen, worn out brass, semi-wad cutter’s without any problem. A match pistol on the other hand accuracy is everything. Match handguns won't get dropped or dirty and are not carried for weeks at a time gathering sweat which can rust parts. For these reasons tolerances on a match pistol can be much tighter from the factory. The average engagement of an attacker is at 7ft that is feet. Accuracy is not the problem you deal with in a tactical situation the damn thing just better work and right now.
On the accuracy issue we found the Springfield TRP was most comfortable with 180 grain +P Hollow points. With that round we got groups that laid on top of each other reliably. We were looking for the TRP to be a good pistol for shooting IPSC and not to say that its not but the sites definitely have to be changed in order to use a IPSC style load. IPSC loads tend to be lighter and we saw 4 inches of drop from 180 grain to 200 SWC that we use for our local IPSC shoots.
The 1911A1 TRP comes standard with night sights. The slide to frame fit was perfectly tight. I wouldn’t recommend the full-length guide rod that came with the factory I would replace with a stock guide rod. Full Length guide rods are really a “fix” for bad bushings on new guns they can do more harm than good by spreading your groups rather than tighten them. Adding them to pistols from the factory is really a marketing ploy and not a good idea in engineering. A good hard metal bushing with a tight bushing to barrel to slide fit is the secret and has been the secret to all the accuracy and repeatability in the 1911A1 since it was first dreamt up by father of modern firearms John Browning.
For those that don’t know or think that a Glock Pistol is the answer to all problems let me clear this up. Glock is a “Hollywood Gun” like most things in Hollywood the reality and the image rarely is the same. You see my dad told me once that God and John Browning got together and built the perfect handgun, from that was born the 1911A1. Any man who dares to mess with it will be sent straight to hell. It’s the Eleventh commandment you just have to read the fine print.
What we didn’t like was the use of Novak night sights from the factory. Not that there is anything wrong with Novak sights that company just uses the widest footprint of metal cut to insert their sites and once you have had Novak sights on a gun you will always have Novak sights on it.
I recommend the Springfield TRP for anyone who has been looking at a Kimber for a carry gun. We had better groups and zero malfunctions where as the Kimber pistols we tested tended to be picky about what it would shoot and when it wanted to do it. Kimber is an excellent firearm but really made for those who shoot a standard factory load or don’t re-use brass a bunch.
If your shopping for an IPSC Pistol I would recommend the TRP as long as you understand that your going to have to order Novak Adjustable sights before your first shoot. We found that the Springfield and the Chip McCormick 10 round magazines fit together flawlessly where as the same magazines had a problem engaging in our Kimber. We found the trigger pull on this pistol to be outstanding from the factory and I wouldn’t recommend anyone even try messing with any part of that trigger. I keep mentioning the Kimber 1911A1 for the reason that I have found over the past few years that their quality is slipping and while they sell more 1911’s than anyone else the industry leader in quality off the shelf right now is Springfield Armory. Definitely buy this pistol with pride.
Author: GunMuse Date: Tuesday Oct 05 2004 13:38:15 pm
