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I was really looking forward to this gun. If you've done your research, then most of what I have to say about it won't come as a surprise. The finish is a very nice matte stainless. I tried several of my 1911 grips on the gun, but ended up keeping the RoCo grips on the gun.They fit good and unlike my Hogues, they don't cover up the nice 30lpi checkering on the front strap. I did notice that the grip screw bushings were not at all tightened and came off with the screws. The fit of the ambidextrous thumb safety was excellent with very positive off/on movement and no marring of finish on the sides of the grip frame. Barrel/bushing and slide to frame fit was also very tight. The trigger was a bit loose as others have reported on Smith 1911's, but that is easy to fix. The sights on this model are adjustable and solid black. The gun shot a little to the left for me but not a problem thanks to the adjustable rear sight. The grip safety is about the only negative aspect of the gun. The fit appearance is good, but it is prone to sometimes sticking preventing the trigger from dropping the hammer. The trigger is crisp and about 4lbs. I fired 60 rounds of 115 FMJ handloads with about a half dozen failures of the slide to return to battery – just a nudge with my thumb and it went home. (the same handloads feed perfect in my other 3 9mm's) Initially, I lubed the gun with Mobil 1 oil on the rails. After the first 60 rounds, I took the slide off and cleaned the rails and used Rig +P stainless lube instead. The next 60 rounds of 115 FMJ and 147 Ranger JHP had no feed issues whatsoever. I recommend the Rig +P lube 100%. Accuracy – this gun will shoot rathole groups and eat the center out of a target. It is exceptionally accurate and gets back on target quickly thanks to the modest recoil. As far as the grip safety is concerned, it also functions as part of the drop safety. Much like a Series 80 Colt, there is a lever in the frame that pushes a plunger in the slide that allows the firing pin to travel. However, the frame lever is activated when the grip safety is depressed on the Smith where it is activated by the trigger on the Colt. In my opinion, unless you plan to drop your gun muzzle first from a helicopter onto concrete, a drop safety is a complete waste of time. As I said, the grip safety does stick from time to time but it does seem to be getter better. If it doesn't resolve itself over the next 400 rounds, I will send it back to Smith and Wesson for repair. As a informal target gun, this is a great piece but I wouldn't recommend it for competition or carry unless you make sure the grip safety works properly. I also have a Colt 38 Super, and have had Colt 1911's in .45 as well as Springfield and Para Ordnance. For carry, Colt is the way to go for reliability. If you're not tied to the 1911 platform, the gun you should be looking at at is the CZ 75 SP01 Shadow Target Custom. It is about the same price, excellent trigger in SA and DA, no drop safety, and is also very accurate. Mine also has the .22LR Kadet adapter and it will not disappoint and feed anything you put in it. I'm going to give this gun 5 stars for it's intended purpose. As a target/range gun, I don't think you could get better for anywhere near the same price in a 1911 even though the grip safety leaves something to be desired. Rumor has it that Colt will produce a Gold Cup 9mm next year and if so that will be on my list too.
