This gun may see occasional duty use but primarily will be a range toy and house gun. I was set on the TRP but I really hate the aggressive front strap since I never use gloves. Sold a crapper Kimber a few years back so I have a mountain of 47d mags that I don’t plan on getting rid of. Not a huge fan of mim in a 1911, so I’ll open the floor to you gents. Railgun or 2015 LB operator? Or save a little more and go for a GRP Recon or Wilson CQB LE?
I recently got rid of a Colt Rail gun, which I did love but I didn’t like it as much as my full rail TRP operator. It just wasn’t quite as refined I guess. It ate everything I threw at it though.
A GRP recon or CQB LE would be sweet, but both of those are going to be like… 3x what a long beach operator or a railgun will be. You could always go somewhere in the middle and get maybe a Dan Wesson?
I know for sure that I do not know nearly enough about 1911s to get a full house custom gun. I want a production, single stack, .45, 5 inch with a rail. I’d like to keep it around the mentioned guns price point, but I also don’t want crap.
I’d go with the Colt.
I like their cocking serrations 100% better than SA’s which are shallow and slippery. Their fire control parts are excellent quality and are worth keeping. SA’s are mediocre MIM parts. Colt has a pinned ejector, SA glued, Colt has a normal disco hole in the frame, SA oversized and required a ball head disco, Colt uses a standard steel firing pin with a standard spring, SA titanium pin with XXheavy spring, new Colts have Novak dovetails front and rear, SA Novak rear SA front, Colts dimpled barrels make for super reliable feeding, SA has a tendency to cut their ramps on the shallow side.
I would not use either as they come.
The Colt needs a 16lb Wolff recoil spring. The 32 coil Colt spring is too light.
I Would also lose the ambi, the FLGR, and hex head grip screws.
The SA would also need to lose the ambi, hex head grip screws, FLGR, ILS MSH, titanium firing pin, firing pin spring.
The Colt costs a little more than the SA but it is unarguably a better quality gun.
I did not mention anything about 'fit ‘n finish’ because it doesn’t matter on a gun in this price range. The Serious 80 parts are a non-issue as they do not and have never caused a reliability issue.
I would absolutely not trust a 47D for use with full powered ammo. The springs are way too light and you will have inertia feeds sooner than later. My 1st choice for a serious mag is a CMC Powemag with a Tripp kit. It’s a 7 round mag that works and is tough. The only other mag I would use would be an ETM+p mag. Period.
Colt rail gun comes with a standard guide rod and grip screws or at least those I have handled did. I will admit to being biased toward colt , the argument is a little Pontiac vs Oldsmobile both good with pluses minuses on both.
I didn’t know the Colt came with a standard guide rod. Another plus. Colt rods 'n plugs are the best.
I’m Biased towards Colt because I’ve owned and worked on plenty of both and Colt builds a better gun.
Tough call. I was faced with the same decision last year, and ended up going with the LBO, but I’m not going to try to sell you on it to make me feel better about my purchase. I’m more than happy with the gun, and I’m sure I’d feel the same if I’d bought the CRG.
samuse: Some SA guns, like the MC Operator do have glued extractors, but the “LBO” doesn’t. It’s pinned in.
If the Colt and the LBO are your only options I would say get the Colt. They both run MIM parts. MIM parts well executed will last a long time. If they break then you can replace them with better parts. Samuse went over exactly what I would change on the CRG and LBO to make them ready to run.
I’ll throw another option out there, Dan Wesson Specialist. Costs a little more but is MIM free with very well executed fit and finish. Mine got abused at the LE academy but didn’t falter. For a railed production 1911 I’m not sure there is anything better right now. My only complaint is the rear sight used to walk to the left on me. A little loctite and a punch solved that problem. Mine is the Duty Black and ran great with FMJ, Speer Gold Dot HPs and a lot of frangible ammo.
What Samuse said
While I do not own the LBO, I do own the MC Operator, which is basically the same gun with some minor differences. I also own the Colt CRG.
The meat and potatoes differences have already been somewhat summed up here, samuse is on point as usual with his observations so I wont rehash any of that. But some other observations to consider.
Colt has a higher grip cut in the front strap. Some call it the Colt “divot”. I find this to be pretty beneficial in the overall ergo’s.
Colt is still probably the most correct from the overall dimensional standpoint, which may or may not benefit you in the long term in regards to future work. Just depends on what your long term plans are for the gun.
My CRG came with a NM barrel. Not sure if this is still the case since mine is over 2 years old.
If considering it for even only occasional duty carry, the Series 80 is a plus IMHO, and like stated, not of concern from a reliability stand point.
My CRG finish sucks though, it has shown to be about as durable as peanut butter. Hopefully newer production guns are better.
I’ve carried my CRG a lot. It has been through, snow, rain, dust storms, neglect, loaned out for quals, and had some inexperienced 1911 shooters behind it, and has yet to skip a beat. Reliability has been superb for a 1911 that has had no work done to it.
Mine did not come with night sights.
Some of the edges are pretty damn sharp and will need to be knocked down in the future.
The Springer is also a great gun. Mine is newer production (less than a year) and the fit and finish is pretty damn nice all things considered. The gun is tight, shoots extremely well for a production gun and comes with night sights. I personally do not worry myself to much about the MIM that Springfield uses. If any of the parts ever pose a problem, then I will upgrade.
The Springfield’s do have some dimensional differences. Some have been stated already by samuse, like the disconnector difference. The other thing I don’t like is the there is no bow tie cut for the barrel lugs. Admittedly this may or may not, depending on who you ask, make an overall difference, but for me it is something I look for in a gun that has the intentions of long term durability.
My ejector is not pinned. But apparently they are pinning the LBO’s, so no worries there.
Either gun will probably serve you very well for your intended purpose.
Good luck with your decision, and let us know what you end up with.
Either or both, as the prices on these production guns compared to a semi-custom means you could shoot the heck out of one until it breaks, if it breaks. While the broken one is getting fixed you could already have the other as a spare or buy the other one at that time. Personally, I’d get both.
You (the OP) mentioned an adversity to MIM. I’m thinking the Colt has less, but don’t have a list in my head for a part by part comparison between the models you’re considering.
Besides MIM, check some of the major differences between the two models:
-sights, 3-dot vs. night sights
-MSH/magwell
-Series 80 firing pin safety (Colt) vs. ILS MSH (Springfield)
If you’re going to open it up to other brands, then that’s a different question. I’m also hearing good things about CZ-USA/Dan Wesson Specialist.
Keep in mind as you’re deciding:
-cost of ammo; 5K rounds will equate to ~$2K+
-you want a gun which plain works right out of the box; either choice will likely do so (but still be at least knowledgeable on how to adjust a 1911 extractor).
-Get a sense on how much you plan to shoot and decide on what the 1911 platform is worth to you as, what you said: Duty Gun, Range Gun, House Gun.
Comment to post #4 on mags. I also use TrippResearch “Super 7 Upgrade Kits” in both my CMC PowerMag and WilsonCombat 47D mag bodies. I also later went with TrippResearch’s “Cobra” mags which are full 8-round bodies with their appropriate springs and their followers.
Why does the CRG “need” a different recoil spring? I have about 3.5k through my stock spring of all kinds of ball and some Gold Dots without any problems.
In my experience the 32 coil Colt spring is light and usually lasts about 1200 rounds.
If you have one that’s gone 3.5K, then cool, you got a good one.