Specifications from the manufacturer:
Barrel Length: 4 inches
Capacity: 7 rounds
Sights: fixed box rear and blade front
As promised, my baby, my Springfield Armory GI Champion. This is the somewhat little brother of the well know 1911A1. It has a 4 in. instead of the standard 5 in. barrel 1911s are known for. The grip, however, is still full size. Meaning, although it has a shortened barrel the GI Champion will still accept just about standard 1911 mag.
There are a lot of options when youre in the market for a 1911. Size, hammer type,beavertail safety types and trigger style to name a few. I choose Springfield because of 2 things. 1. Its history, Springfield Armory being a major provider of the weapons carried by our troops in World War II. I seem to watch a lot of WWII stuff. 2. I choose Springfield for price. Springfield Armory produces a wide variety of 1911s for a resonably low price. Some people like Kimbers Custom Pistols. My opinion... Kimbers are very nice guns but they are also expensive. I choose the GI for its simplicity. The Springfield Armory GI series is designed to appear just like the actual Colt and Springfield 1911s of WWII. The GI series has a standard spur hammer, a stripped down trigger and a smoothed beaver tail safety. The GI series also have a parkerized finish and kind of a matte like finish. similar to the rough finish on a shotgun. Other 1911s have combinations of the following, Skeletonized hammer, skeleton or match trigger, extended beaver tail and hand guard, and come in nickel or black finish.
I actually have 3 different magazines for my Springfield. I have the 1 Springfield 7-round mag. that came with it, 1 7-round Kimber mag. and 1 ProMag 8-round mag. I bought the Kimber mag. at the same time I bought the gun because I like to have atleast 2 magazines, if for no other reason, simply to make shooting and reloading at the range faster and easier. I ended up buying the 8-round ProMag a few weeks later because I have a 2 mag. carrier that came in the box with the gun.
When I bought the ProMag I started carrying that in the gun because it gave me an 8th round. I have since decided that I like the way the standard mag. fits flush with the bottom of the gun better and have resigned the ProMag 8-rounder to my carrier for range use.
On the issue of Concealed Carry some people feel that spare mags. are necessary to be carried at all times. Personally it is easier to just carry the gun in a holster without the hassle of trying to decide how and where you want to put your extra mags. My opinion is if the gun itself doesn't deescalate the conflict it really isn't going to matter if you have spare ammunition. You have a bigger problem that a few more rounds probably won't fix.
In the packaging with the pistol was also a tension holster that seems to be standard with the purchase of a Springfield pistol. It is a pretty nice holster for hip carry or to stow your empty weapon at the range.
I like a standard pancake belt holster for versatility on the range better. The holster I have for my 229, a Goodrich and Gould black leather Pancake holster, seems to be able to hold just about any of my guns, somewhat loose but still on your person comfortably for the range. I would not carry a gun in a holster not intended for it for concealed carry, but I think this setup is fine for on the range.
My favorite holster for concealing the Springfield is a Desantis Small of the Back in black leather. I am however, still getting used to the Desantis holster. my standard pancake has a snap and strap to secure the weapon. the Desantis Small of the Back does not have the security strap but instead a tension bolt similar to the polymer tension holster I got with the gun. It does hold the gun secure, but, probably just being paranoid again, I feel like the .45 might fall out. It won't, I've checked. Just seems odd without the security strap and snap.
Seeing as I digressed quite a bit there on holsters I should probably do a post on what I'm talking about soon. So I guess in the near future I will do a basic run down, with pics for the visual minded, of a few of the different holster I have come in contact with.
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