Archer1440
New member
After a week of Gunsite training using an HK USP Compact .45, I had a lengthy discussion with one of my instructors, Ed Head, and the upshot was a decision to switch over to a full size 1911.
Even though I did reasonably well with the HK, it isn't as easy to shoot well as a 1911 or even a Glock, hence the decision. However, the HK is stone-cold reliable, and always has been. I was not willing to compromise reliability for shootability.
My choices were narrowed to the Springfield Professional, Wilson CQB, Baer TRS, Gunsite Colt. I had an opportunity to shoot most of those pistols, and as a result I now have a Professional on order with a delivery time to be measured in months.
As an interim step, I decided to purchase a Springfield TRP in stainless. Many of my friends carry Springfields, and I have shot their products quite a bit. Since the TRP is the mass-market version of the Professional, I felt that this would make for an easy transition later.
I anticipated some issues with the TRP. At the least, I expected to have some issues with initial feed reliability and expected to need to look at some parts upgrades.
Out of the box, there was nothing wrong with it (for me) that a set of smooth cocobolos, Wilson-Rogers 8-rounders, and 30 seconds with a diamond file didn't fix.
The initial field strip of the pistol showed a number of hard chromed MIM process parts including the slide stop, firing pin retaining plate, hammer, disconnector. Presumably the sear is also MIM. Given the present state of MIM technology (pretty good) I don't have a problem with a "wait and see" approach on the performance of these parts.
The right side of the AMBI safety was a bit wiggly, which was easily fixed with a slight pinch to the engagement fork of the control shaft.
Some major components have a hand-marked (with a vibrating pen) number corresponding to the frame serial number. This makes it appear that these components were either fitted, or more likely mixed and matched for optimal fit and or function with the specific piece. These include the extractor, slide, ejector, and barrel.
The barrel is nicely made, reportedly fabricated by Storm Lake Machine, with a mirror finish on the throat and a full metal polish inside and out. The grooves and lands are sharply defined, and flawless. The crown is decidedly sharp but smooth, concentric, and even. The locking lugs are well-machined and burr-free. The frame is nicely finished, burr-free and it has a good, smooth and well-polished ramp.
The slide was fairly well finished, but has a number of small irregularities that could have benefited from a bit more aggressive bead-blast.
Springfield does not seem to think the bottom of the slide needs any sort of work. As a result the outboard bottoms of the rear grasping grooves have very effective sawteeth that can and will cut you if your thumb is anywhere near them. A quick swipe with a diamond file and there was a huge improvement in this spot. (also an advantage of stainless- no effect on appearance from this).
The frontstrap is full radiused in the Colt manner and is perfectly machine-checkered with very pointy and sharp 20 LPI diamonds. I have reasonably tough hands from years of archery, but felt some irritation in a specific spot after a few dozen presentations.
This type of checkering affords a very positive grip but would without a doubt wear a hole in your right hand ring finger's center segment in a Gunsite class. Planning to knock the points down. Tape or a Band-aid on the specific hot spot would fix the problem too.
Grips were sharply checkered cocobolo, functional and well made but somewhat uncomfortable in an IWB belt holster- I normally carry IWB with an Underarmour shirt between me and the grip, and this was tolerable, but why put up with it ?
I replaced them with smooth cocobolo grips after the first 200 rounds, as this is my preference.
The trigger started out is a mite heavy, perhaps 4.5#, but now completly free of creep after a 20-cycle hammer-boost run with Militec on the hooks. This trigger has a very clean break and a short reset. The trigger overtravel screw was set to a midpoint, and I set it properly, backed it out a bit for a safety margin, and Loctited it in place (242 removeable). If it ever shows the slightest change in setting, it's coming out.
The extractor is nicely radiused and functions as it is supposed to, but is very loose in the channel, a drop-in-out fit. It can rock slightly as the firing pin retaining plate is also a drop-in fit and needs to be peened to achieve a light press fit. The firing pin is a titanium affair, nicely finished, with what seems to be an extra-power return spring. The FP channel is burr-free and concentric. Due to the low-mass and high return rate of the firing pin, I would think a type 5 malfunction from drop-out of the FP plate would be nearly impossible in spite of the loose fit, but plan to fix it anyhow because I'm not comfortable with "nearly"...
The ejector functions con brio sending brass far far away, and although Springfield doesn't seem to like to knock down the sawteeth formed on the bottom of the slide at the rear grooves, a couple of swipes with a diamond file and the issue was resolved permanently and invisibly.
The slide racks like it's on roller bearings, lockup is like a bank vault (with that satisfying little "snick" sound as the barrel engages) and the bright, shiny Storm Lake match barrel cleans up easily and completely. There's the right kind of barrel-bushing wear ring starting to form in the right spot, and the barrel lugs look brand new with no signs of timing or battering problems. After the first few hundred rounds, I polished the guide rod from its approximate 16 RMS finish (with radial machine grooves) to a full metal polish to eliminate spring friction and noise (reeka-reeka) and smooth the action. It had the desired effect and did not compromise the bushing to barrel relationship.
The piece comes with the Novak low-mount rear sight, fitted with a pair of Trijicon capsules. These are installed without the usual white paint rings, which is fine for the rear. The front sight is dovetailed and pinned in place, and also contains a Trijicon capsule. It also lacks the usual white ring, which I have mixed feelings about, as that ring does help you pick up the front sight for the flash sight picture, but can also direct your attention to the wrong part of the blade during precision use. The Trijicons are dimmer than equivalent Meprolights but are adequate for their purpose. The Novak rear has the usual set screw and press-fit dovetail. This same arrangement has been a problem on one friend's Springfield Champion Loaded, with the set screw tending to buzz loose and the sight tending to move.
After adjusting the sights to correct a right-side grouping tendency, I applied Loctite 242 to the setscrew, and the thing hasn't budged since. The Novak presents a good sight picture and no sharp edges at all. The front sight is quite a bit sharper but acceptable. It is nicely serrated on the ramp and glare-free.
The beavertail safety is sensitive, and çorrectly activates for me when the piece is presented from the holster (I have a very high grip and large hands, and this is no small thing, as I normally would be inclined to pin the thing). One oddity is that the beavertail appears to be unfinished, bead-blasted aluminum, and is therefore quite a bit darker than the rest of the piece- an oddity. It especially contrasts with the Mainspring housing which is hardchromed.
The pistol is equipped with a two piece magwell done in the style of the Smith & Alexander magwell. This is pinned to the frame and screwed to the MSH with a flathead hex screw, and is threfore quite solid.
Initial shooting and break-in was done with 200 rounds of Pro-Load 230 grain jacketed ammunition, followed by 200 rounds of Federal XM1911 230 Grain Match (full house load) followed by 200 rounds of CCI Blazer. Cleaning and a component check were performed after every 200 rounds. Lubrication was TW25B grease on the rails and lugs, Militec in the trigger group, and a light coat of Breakfree Stainless lube elsewhere as needed.
That was followed by 200 rounds of "cocktail loads" including old CCI Flying Ashtrays, Gold Dot 200+P, Federal HS 185+P, and finally, 200 rounds of my preferred carry load for the Government model, the Federal 230 HydraShok. I did not experience any stoppages, misfeeds, or any other issues in those 1000 rounds.
I was pleasantly surprised to say the least.
If I do my part, the pistol is effective on Pepper poppers past 75 yards, yields confident (careful) headshots on poppers out to 50, and from sandbags, this is a sub-2.5" at 25 yard piece.
So far, an excellent item for the money, half the price of the Springfield Professional, the arrival of which, I look forward to.
But one now wonders if simply acquiring a second TRP might be sufficient...
Even though I did reasonably well with the HK, it isn't as easy to shoot well as a 1911 or even a Glock, hence the decision. However, the HK is stone-cold reliable, and always has been. I was not willing to compromise reliability for shootability.
My choices were narrowed to the Springfield Professional, Wilson CQB, Baer TRS, Gunsite Colt. I had an opportunity to shoot most of those pistols, and as a result I now have a Professional on order with a delivery time to be measured in months.
As an interim step, I decided to purchase a Springfield TRP in stainless. Many of my friends carry Springfields, and I have shot their products quite a bit. Since the TRP is the mass-market version of the Professional, I felt that this would make for an easy transition later.
I anticipated some issues with the TRP. At the least, I expected to have some issues with initial feed reliability and expected to need to look at some parts upgrades.
Out of the box, there was nothing wrong with it (for me) that a set of smooth cocobolos, Wilson-Rogers 8-rounders, and 30 seconds with a diamond file didn't fix.
The initial field strip of the pistol showed a number of hard chromed MIM process parts including the slide stop, firing pin retaining plate, hammer, disconnector. Presumably the sear is also MIM. Given the present state of MIM technology (pretty good) I don't have a problem with a "wait and see" approach on the performance of these parts.
The right side of the AMBI safety was a bit wiggly, which was easily fixed with a slight pinch to the engagement fork of the control shaft.
Some major components have a hand-marked (with a vibrating pen) number corresponding to the frame serial number. This makes it appear that these components were either fitted, or more likely mixed and matched for optimal fit and or function with the specific piece. These include the extractor, slide, ejector, and barrel.
The barrel is nicely made, reportedly fabricated by Storm Lake Machine, with a mirror finish on the throat and a full metal polish inside and out. The grooves and lands are sharply defined, and flawless. The crown is decidedly sharp but smooth, concentric, and even. The locking lugs are well-machined and burr-free. The frame is nicely finished, burr-free and it has a good, smooth and well-polished ramp.
The slide was fairly well finished, but has a number of small irregularities that could have benefited from a bit more aggressive bead-blast.
Springfield does not seem to think the bottom of the slide needs any sort of work. As a result the outboard bottoms of the rear grasping grooves have very effective sawteeth that can and will cut you if your thumb is anywhere near them. A quick swipe with a diamond file and there was a huge improvement in this spot. (also an advantage of stainless- no effect on appearance from this).
The frontstrap is full radiused in the Colt manner and is perfectly machine-checkered with very pointy and sharp 20 LPI diamonds. I have reasonably tough hands from years of archery, but felt some irritation in a specific spot after a few dozen presentations.
This type of checkering affords a very positive grip but would without a doubt wear a hole in your right hand ring finger's center segment in a Gunsite class. Planning to knock the points down. Tape or a Band-aid on the specific hot spot would fix the problem too.
Grips were sharply checkered cocobolo, functional and well made but somewhat uncomfortable in an IWB belt holster- I normally carry IWB with an Underarmour shirt between me and the grip, and this was tolerable, but why put up with it ?
I replaced them with smooth cocobolo grips after the first 200 rounds, as this is my preference.
The trigger started out is a mite heavy, perhaps 4.5#, but now completly free of creep after a 20-cycle hammer-boost run with Militec on the hooks. This trigger has a very clean break and a short reset. The trigger overtravel screw was set to a midpoint, and I set it properly, backed it out a bit for a safety margin, and Loctited it in place (242 removeable). If it ever shows the slightest change in setting, it's coming out.
The extractor is nicely radiused and functions as it is supposed to, but is very loose in the channel, a drop-in-out fit. It can rock slightly as the firing pin retaining plate is also a drop-in fit and needs to be peened to achieve a light press fit. The firing pin is a titanium affair, nicely finished, with what seems to be an extra-power return spring. The FP channel is burr-free and concentric. Due to the low-mass and high return rate of the firing pin, I would think a type 5 malfunction from drop-out of the FP plate would be nearly impossible in spite of the loose fit, but plan to fix it anyhow because I'm not comfortable with "nearly"...
The ejector functions con brio sending brass far far away, and although Springfield doesn't seem to like to knock down the sawteeth formed on the bottom of the slide at the rear grooves, a couple of swipes with a diamond file and the issue was resolved permanently and invisibly.
The slide racks like it's on roller bearings, lockup is like a bank vault (with that satisfying little "snick" sound as the barrel engages) and the bright, shiny Storm Lake match barrel cleans up easily and completely. There's the right kind of barrel-bushing wear ring starting to form in the right spot, and the barrel lugs look brand new with no signs of timing or battering problems. After the first few hundred rounds, I polished the guide rod from its approximate 16 RMS finish (with radial machine grooves) to a full metal polish to eliminate spring friction and noise (reeka-reeka) and smooth the action. It had the desired effect and did not compromise the bushing to barrel relationship.
The piece comes with the Novak low-mount rear sight, fitted with a pair of Trijicon capsules. These are installed without the usual white paint rings, which is fine for the rear. The front sight is dovetailed and pinned in place, and also contains a Trijicon capsule. It also lacks the usual white ring, which I have mixed feelings about, as that ring does help you pick up the front sight for the flash sight picture, but can also direct your attention to the wrong part of the blade during precision use. The Trijicons are dimmer than equivalent Meprolights but are adequate for their purpose. The Novak rear has the usual set screw and press-fit dovetail. This same arrangement has been a problem on one friend's Springfield Champion Loaded, with the set screw tending to buzz loose and the sight tending to move.
After adjusting the sights to correct a right-side grouping tendency, I applied Loctite 242 to the setscrew, and the thing hasn't budged since. The Novak presents a good sight picture and no sharp edges at all. The front sight is quite a bit sharper but acceptable. It is nicely serrated on the ramp and glare-free.
The beavertail safety is sensitive, and çorrectly activates for me when the piece is presented from the holster (I have a very high grip and large hands, and this is no small thing, as I normally would be inclined to pin the thing). One oddity is that the beavertail appears to be unfinished, bead-blasted aluminum, and is therefore quite a bit darker than the rest of the piece- an oddity. It especially contrasts with the Mainspring housing which is hardchromed.
The pistol is equipped with a two piece magwell done in the style of the Smith & Alexander magwell. This is pinned to the frame and screwed to the MSH with a flathead hex screw, and is threfore quite solid.
Initial shooting and break-in was done with 200 rounds of Pro-Load 230 grain jacketed ammunition, followed by 200 rounds of Federal XM1911 230 Grain Match (full house load) followed by 200 rounds of CCI Blazer. Cleaning and a component check were performed after every 200 rounds. Lubrication was TW25B grease on the rails and lugs, Militec in the trigger group, and a light coat of Breakfree Stainless lube elsewhere as needed.
That was followed by 200 rounds of "cocktail loads" including old CCI Flying Ashtrays, Gold Dot 200+P, Federal HS 185+P, and finally, 200 rounds of my preferred carry load for the Government model, the Federal 230 HydraShok. I did not experience any stoppages, misfeeds, or any other issues in those 1000 rounds.
I was pleasantly surprised to say the least.
If I do my part, the pistol is effective on Pepper poppers past 75 yards, yields confident (careful) headshots on poppers out to 50, and from sandbags, this is a sub-2.5" at 25 yard piece.
So far, an excellent item for the money, half the price of the Springfield Professional, the arrival of which, I look forward to.
But one now wonders if simply acquiring a second TRP might be sufficient...
