My son got one of these
And we shot together on his last visit home before going back overseas (Korea, this time). I can only compare it against my old Colt Govt. model (mine has target sights). The S&W is lighter, no doubt due to the alloy frame. I found it to have a bit more muzzle flip than my all steel Colt. The S&W is a very fine gun, the only problem I had with it was I found the "hump" at the bottom of the grip safety uncomfortable when shooting. My son did not, infact, he said he never noticed it.
I would own one of these without question (even though I don't care for the rail) if it could be had without that hump on the grip safety. It is a personal thing, no doubt.
Be aware that standard 1911 grips will not fit on the SW1911PD, because the spacing on the grip screws is slightly different than on a Colt 1911A1. Not much, but just enough different that you cannot put regular grips on this gun. You must use grips made for the S&W 1911. And, I forgot to mention, it has a full length guide rod, but the nice plastic case it comes in has a bushing wrench, and you will need to use it. I did find the huge beavertail took some getting used to, mostly how it made it difficult for me to easily thumb cock the hammer. I have never had any trouble with the regular GI configuration, so this gun with "all the bells and whistles" was both a treat and enough different from what I was used to to be a little unsettling. Nice gun though.
The gun had now about 400 rnds through it, and functions well. My son was a bit disappointed because he could only get 2.5" 7 shot groups @25 yds. Of course, he was using Blazers!
