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Thread: A Brief Review of the Springfield Professional Operator

  1. #11
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    The newest of Professional pistols are using a NM barrel now instead of the Nowlin.

  2. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by kaltblitz View Post
    Todd,

    I'm pretty sure HRT spec'ed the guns and they were adopted by HRT as well as the regional SWAT teams. I know HRT had used P35's and later the Les Baer/Para combo guns. I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure the when the contract went out HRT was the source.
    Good write up. I love the two Professionals that I own. I agree that HRT spec'ed the gun.
    "No you do not have to think; it is an act of moral choice. But someone had to think to keep you alive; if you choose to default, you default on existance and you pass the deficit to some moral man, expecting him to sacrifice his good for the sake of letting you survive by your evil." - John Galt

  3. #13
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    no boys, Todd's right the gun was spec. for FBI SWAT first, the only thing that was HRT spec. was the use of the railed frame. the original spec. swat gun did not have the railed frame.

  4. #14
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    That was a VERY good, detailed write up.

    I did a small one on my 1st range trip with my custom shop operator, but not as detailed as yours. Very impressive!

    I would have gotten a Pro, but there were a few things I wanted different. So, I custom ordered mine.

    First, I went with 9mm. I ALWAYS wanted a 9mm 1911. And, this thing is awesome. VERY light recoil. And, while my hands aren't the steadiest, I shoot the tightest groups consistently than with any other gun I own in any caliber except 22. I am very tempted to carry this gun, but something about carrying a $3k gun bothers me :P

    I'm not a big fan of 20 LPI checkering either, so I went with 25 LPI. And, I can't stand the silver rings that Springfield uses on their night sights. I had them put Novak white ringed sights on mine. Although - I wish I would have asked for Champion brand Novaks. Ed Brown uses them on their guns. And, the white rings on my Special Forces are brighter and easier to see. If I were to order another, I'd ask for that to be used.

    I happen to LIKE the weight of the Springers. I've noticed that even their non railed 1911s feel heavier than other brands of 1911s. This translates into less felt recoil when shooting. I can fee the difference in my Ed Brown - more recoil than same size, non railed Springfields. Weird...

    I think they list the weights as the same on paper (for non railed version 1911s), but I'd swear I feel more recoil on my Brown.

    I ended up with the slide serrations that you wanted, apparently... The smaller ones that are closer together. I didn't specify this. I just ended up with them.

    I also asked for the rear slide serrations. I'd never had them before and always wanted them. The neg of these is that with the hard chrome finish, they are a pain in the butt to keep clean. On a black gun, this wouldn't be a real issue.

    I also have a bull barrel. Therefore, I don't need to worry about the bushing. But, I do wish that there would have been a nicer crown on the barrel.

    And, I ended up with a huge gap under the thumb safety (when it is in the "safe" position". I ended up sending the gun back, as the MC Operator I had a few months ago didn;t have this issue. I had them take off the Wilson ambi thumb safety and replace it with the Springfield version. That solved the issue.

    Dave at the custom shop told me that the internal connection between the two sides is actually stronger on the Springfield version vs the Wilson version. But, I did it because that gap I had showing was the largest I had ever seen before (my Brown just has a tiny, tin y gap showing).

    I think if I had to do it over again, I'd have gotten a single side safety, however. But, I already have the wear marks on the hard chrome finish on the right side - so it would look strange if I had it changed now.

    I posted a couple of pics of mine below, so you can compare the differences... The ones with the red background were taken by George at Gunslingers when he first got the gun in. I have tried to get a decent pic of the rear slide serrations myself - but my camera won't cooperate.

    You will also notice that despite the nice, hand checkered fronts trap - I have found that I much prefer the rubber Pachmeyer grips over frontstrap checkering. I sold my MC Operator a few months back to help pay for my new Ed Brown. And, I instantly missed the rubber grips that the MC Operator comes with stock. I now have a set on both the Custom Springer AND my Ed Brown.











    Here is a pic of it when I first got it - I put aluma grips on it initially. You can see the frontstrap in this pic:

    Last edited by ShipWreck; 10-25-09 at 21:58.

  5. #15
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    Did they stop stamping "Professional" on the slide? All of the early models I saw had that stamped on the slide. Great review. I have one of the original Operators. Sent it back to them to have it refinished in Black T, and while they had it, I had them fit a match bushing. Shoots like a mofo.


  6. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by civilian View Post
    Did they stop stamping "Professional" on the slide?

    I believe they only write "Professional" on the non railed versions.

  7. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by ShipWreck View Post
    I believe they only write "Professional" on the non railed versions.
    Correct.

    The non-railed version has "Professional" while the railed gun says "Operator".

  8. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by Detmongo View Post
    no boys, Todd's right the gun was spec. for FBI SWAT first, the only thing that was HRT spec. was the use of the railed frame. the original spec. swat gun did not have the railed frame.
    Sorry, I stand corrected. HRT got the Les Baer customized Para-Ordnance 45ACP in 1995 replacing their Hi-Powers.
    "No you do not have to think; it is an act of moral choice. But someone had to think to keep you alive; if you choose to default, you default on existance and you pass the deficit to some moral man, expecting him to sacrifice his good for the sake of letting you survive by your evil." - John Galt

  9. #19
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    Great writeup. I love mine (except for the 20 lpi checkering and the non-highcut front strap...)

    One other small modification. Unless they've changed the specs, the slide stop, surprisingly, is a MIM unit.

  10. #20
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    HRT gun

    I remember hearing about all kinds of (alleged) problems with the pistols Baer built on the Para frames, and then FBI brought Steve Nastoff in to work on them, etc.

    Can anyone verify what happened back then, and what HRT is using now?

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