Operator ?

[KDG]

I was out for a bike ride today, stopped in at a local gun shop and they had a new Springfield Armory Operator for around $850.00

It is a 4 inch barrel, lightweight with forged aluminum frame - 31oz.

Stainless match grade barrel
Fixed tritium 3 dot sights

I like the shorter length and lighter weight for carry.

Should I be concerned about the aluminum frame?

Does anyone have any thoughts, concerns or opinions on this particular model?

The serial # started with LW unlike the picture below off of SA web site

I really liked it and had to get out of there before my wallet jumped out of my back pocket

http://shutter12.pictures.aol.com/data/pictures/08/005/77/FF/C4/0D/dBdcaYq3Iuk4agCg+uSm7MCKmU21l-Ss0300.jpg

[DKircher]

I was out for a bike ride today, stopped in at a local gun shop and they had a new Springfield Armory Operator for around $850.00

It is a 4 inch barrel, lightweight with forged aluminum frame - 31oz.

Stainless match grade barrel
Fixed tritium 3 dot sights

I like the shorter length and lighter weight for carry.

Should I be concerned about the aluminum frame?

Does anyone have any thoughts, concerns or opinions on this particular model?

The serial # started with LW unlike the picture below off of SA web site

I really liked it and had to get out of there before my wallet jumped out of my back pocket

http://shutter12.pictures.aol.com/data/pictures/08/005/77/FF/C4/0D/dBdcaYq3Iuk4agCg+uSm7MCKmU21l-Ss0300.jpg


If its truly NIB I believe that is a good price. Serial # starting with LW = lightweight maybe?

[trio]

ive owned several SA 1911s...

Operators (both TRP and Loaded) as well as lightweight commanders...

so whereas I havent owned your specific pistol, i feel I can speak safely on it...


As far as the frame goes, does the gun have a ramped barrel? I have had lighweight champions, and IIRC it had a ramped bull barrel on it....

for aluminum framed guns the majority of the stress and wear a lot of people worry about occurs in and around the feed ramp (although not exclusively, certainly)...the ramped barrel is designed to help with this...

Having said that, if you are buying this gun new, it is likely you wont have to worry about the stress on aluminum frame in your lifetime....unless you are shooting it A LOT...i have heard of people with colt lightweight guns with 20,000 rounds through them....

Plus, unless something has changed, Springfield has a lifetime warranty on their guns....so...even if something bad does happen...

As far as downsides....

1) I HATE the recoil spring/capture system on a lot of bull barrel 1911s, and springfield seems to be the worst....you are either depressing the spring and trying to shove a small metal paper-clip like tool in the guide rod...or capturing it with a piece of plastic....and it absolutely sucks....and losing them sucks...if you lose the metal tool, you can substitute with a paper clip...but if you have the plastic capture thingy type (which I bet that gun is) and you lose it, it is a huge PITA...in fact, this is the MAIN reason I no longer own any of the aforementioned guns...its THAT big a PITA....

2) Holsters will be a little bit harder to find/more expensive for a railed 4" 1911....although not by too much....railed 1911s have been common place enough that for the right cash you can get a nice one....

3) I dont know what you normally carry, but 31 oz aint that light....the smith and wesson scadium guns run in the 27-28 oz range, and have a good track record too (for what its worth, IMO, in this price range, Springfield, Colt, S&W all seem to be comprable....some folks hate them and have had issues, some swear by them...for me personally, my problem has been with Kimbers, which is why i dont include them witht he above list).....for the record I had an Ed Brown Kobra Carry (thats all steel) that weighed 33 oz unloaded...(but costs a lot more, admittedly)...i'm just saying, if you dont have to have the rail, it makes things easier, and lighter....also...if you really want the rail because you are going to carry the gun with light attached, that will add weight....


at any rate, thats my 2 cents...good luck!

[KDG]

Hey thanks for the feedback.
Am not sure what the LW stands for, the one in the pic is different and I thought for an SA it had to do where it was assembled.

I didn't realize it had such a complicated way to field strip and re assemble in this gun. The 45 I have now which is a 3 1/2" barrel takes 1 second to strip and about 10 seconds to put back together.
There are no tools needed.

http://shutter07.pictures.aol.com/data/pictures/14/008/77/BD/BF/A1/Y4mcu6lUu+QNWGfiQNYei9ZlZE2hkEAX0191.jpg

I will take that into consideration.

As you can see in the pic, the 45 I have has a cut down grip, and I want to again own one with a full size grip. I used to, many years ago, had a Colt Commander - should have kept it!

This 45 I have now is going on about 30 years old I guess and just have an itch for a new one, but it has worked flawlessly ( have had it for 20 years). The barrel has no bushing but is tapered and fits tight to the slide to provide very good accuracy - much better then the 2 off the shelf Colts I had.

I like the shorter barrels for carry, for me it is just easier. The light rail I could care less about.

The SA looked nice with some good features but can see I need to do some research and make a smart buy.

Thanks for the input,

Ken

[FNFAN]

Hey thanks for the feedback.
Am not sure what the LW stands for, the one in the pic is different and I thought for an SA it had to do where it was assembled.

I didn't realize it had such a complicated way to field strip and re assemble in this gun. The 45 I have now which is a 3 1/2" barrel takes 1 second to strip and about 10 seconds to put back together.
There are no tools needed.

http://shutter07.pictures.aol.com/data/pictures/14/008/77/BD/BF/A1/Y4mcu6lUu+QNWGfiQNYei9ZlZE2hkEAX0191.jpg

I will take that into consideration.

As you can see in the pic, the 45 I have has a cut down grip, and I want to again own one with a full size grip. I used to, many years ago, had a Colt Commander - should have kept it!

This 45 I have now is going on about 30 years old I guess and just have an itch for a new one, but it has worked flawlessly ( have had it for 20 years). The barrel has no bushing but is tapered and fits tight to the slide to provide very good accuracy - much better then the 2 off the shelf Colts I had.

I like the shorter barrels for carry, for me it is just easier. The light rail I could care less about.

The SA looked nice with some good features but can see I need to do some research and make a smart buy.

Thanks for the input,

Ken

Vintage DETONICS! Nice!

[Bushytale]

Springfield Armory uses LW in the serial number to indicate an alloy frame, they use the term light weight hence the LW. I have a Light Weight Compact that was made for a short time, about 1 year, that I purchased in Jan 2004. It had the captured double spring recoil system that Trio refered to. I removed that and installed a short spring guide and single Wolff spring. It is basically the same top end as the operator model you referenced. It came with the 4 inch ramped bull barrel(no bushing) and Novak night sights. I did have to clean up the feed ramp area of the frame as the frame overhung the ramp on the sides(poor). I also replaced most of the parts with some old style Colt stuff that I had laying around. It has been a great carry gun ever since. I forgot to mention that it is the ofc length frame.

Billy

[Bushytale]

KDG after re-reading your original post, to answer your question about the durability of the alloy frame. The only real problem seems to be the feed ramp area of alloy guns that do not have a ramped barrel and the use of some hollow point designs. The Springfield you are looking at has a ramped barrel so no problem. Any alloy frame gun that does not have a ramped barrel can be upgraded by the addition of a steel feed ramp insert. Novak does the mod and Caspian makes an insert and I would guess others do as well.

Billy

[gyp_c2]

...Detonics!
Way cool and the only short and stubby .45 available during its' day...Hang onto it, I sold mine to a good friend and miss it every day!
I had a steel Champion model that took a lot of work, but ran fine after about 1000 rds.
Paper clips...large and pre-bent are your friend! http://emoticons4u.com/smoking/rauch06.gif

[KDG]

Yes when I bought the Detonics the only other downsize 45 was a Commander that I knew of. And the Detonics was much smaller. Even then I never heard of it till I came across a used one, bought it on the spot. Came with 2 sets of grips, the Packmayers on it in the pic and nice checkered wood grips, holster and original soft case.

It has been utterly reliable eating JHP's and FMJ rounds with no failures to date, but it doesn't have a huge round count through it, just enough to insure it keeps working reliably. The bluing needs to be refinished and am sure the springs could use updating after 30 years but have no idea if parts are available and who would be comfortable working on it. I may give EGW a call to see if they would look at it - not all that far from me.

Will never sell it.

I stopped back to the gun shop during lunch yesterday ( only had an hour, so knew I could only look and not buy :p )

I just love the looks and feel of that Operator, definitly not the way to purchase something but you know how it is when you see something, it catches you.

BUT, they also had 2 XS full size Colts - looks really nice, blue and stainless, 2 full size series 70's and a few others, no Commanders - ALL for around the same price.

So I walked out more confused then I went in !

Ken

[olds442tyguy]

LW does stand for lightweight.

Because of the LW serial number, the only way to tell if it's a Brazilian gun is by looking for the Brazil stamping. This should not be the case for an Operator though, because as far as I know they're all America guns (well, more American than Brazilian I guess you could say).

I'd really like to check out one of the Champion Operators, but none of the local stores have received any yet. :mad: Online reviews seem pretty favorable though.

[Bushytale]

Springfield Armory has the frames and slides forged by Imbel in Brazil and then does the machine work and hand fitting in Geneseo.

Billy

[olds442tyguy]

Springfield Armory has the frames and slides forged by Imbel in Brazil and then does the machine work and hand fitting in Geneseo.

Billy
Not in all cases. The GI guns are 100% completed in Brazil. N serial numbered guns were complete or more than 80% finished upon importation. NM guns and Operators are less than 80% complete upon importation. Pros are built from blank forgings.

[KDG]

Went out this morning to go shooting.
On the way passed a gunshop I haven't been in, picked up a few targets.
Started looking around and they had the Operator there for $120.00 less then previous shop I first saw it in. NIB

Since I first saw the SA and been itching for a new 45, I have gone from wanting the SA to Colt, then on up...Wilson Combat Profesional, Brown Executive carry with the Bobtail and so on.....went from under a grand to upwards of 2 grand :eek: Anyway when I saw this for under $730.00 brand new, I couldn't resist, so I bought it.

Fit and finish is great. Barrel locks solid. Slide has no movement at all.

Came with holster, 2 mag belt pouch, both plastic with an allen wrench to adjust tension, and 2 mags.

Went immediately to the range with it, was well oiled out of the box, just ran a patch through the barrel first.

Shoot 100 rounds through it, 50 from each magazine. Worked flawlessly.
Rounds fed from full mags with slingshot method and using the slide lock.
Locked back after each empty mag. Needless to say was happy no failures occured at all.

Was quite accurate but no bench shooting or anything past about 10/15 yards, just wanted to have fun with it and see how it ran.

I think it's going to make a pretty good carry gun

Bet it would look great with some black G10 grips on it.

Here's the pics

http://shutter13.pictures.aol.com/data/pictures/14/009/4F/AD/F7/40/5MNlZp3umid-2N270lh1OrQpJEl1h0sY0300.jpg

http://shutter15.pictures.aol.com/data/pictures/13/004/4F/77/CE/E9/lSGK6abBA7wkdbx0728-qhmdGwP87SaY02A4.jpg


http://shutter13.pictures.aol.com/data/pictures/14/00A/45/FB/60/4A/0MEGDCfCDcyhHCEZIUYNZEtdTymUHebV0272.jpg

[olds442tyguy]

Nice! I think it'd look awesome with the LD G10 grips from the TRP.