Who's got a Springfield Champion?

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glockopop

New member
I ran into one today at a local gun shop, and I'm thinking about buying it. It appears to be very little used. It has a beavertail grip safety and an extended thumb safety, grips that are covered in some sort of gritty surface, (does anybody know what kind of grips these are?) and what appears to be Champion adjustable Novak-style sights. Also includes 2 factory mags and a Galco holster. It's on consignment, and they're asking $459.

I opened it up, and inside it has a buffer. Is this from the factory, or an add-on? Does it need to be replaced periodically? It appeared to be much beefier than the Shok-Buff that came in my Wilson. How do you field strip a 1911 with a bushingless barrel? With its compact size an lightweight frame, is this gun brutal to shoot? My Wilson is a polymer framed gun, so I'm accustomed to shooting a lightweight .45. Any other general info on this gun and impressions from owners is appreciated.
 
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buckster

New member
Champ owner

That price is good. The buffer seems to be after market, a fairly expensive add on.
Mine is a GI with GI grips. the recoil is not much more than the full size and the buffer should make it even better. Mine gets 3/4" at 25 ft. The thing about the Champ that I like is it is balanced, not to barrel heavy. You are considering a gun that you can really build up in the future, go with it. Great for concealed carry, the Novak sights suggest that some parts of a tune up have been installed. Is it a Loaded? Take some snap caps over there and see if it feeds correctly. I love mine. 1911forum.com
 
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glockopop

New member
I was just looking at the Springfield website, and I don't see exactly the same thing there. It's definitely the lightweight model, but it's an all black finish, not black over OD green, and it has a single-sided thumb safety, so it's a little different from the one shown on their site. I'm a little confused.
 
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Hank's Dad

New member
I would go for it.

I have a Springfield Lightweight Champion Operator on order and can't wait until it gets here. I think the Champions are a great balance of concealment and performance, and as stated earlier, they balance well in the hands.

It sounds like an OK deal, so why not?
 
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Lonestar.45

New member
It sounds like a gun someone modified or had some work done to it, to be honest. Not sure if that's good or bad. Price sounds good. I'll tell you this, I love my GI Champion. Even the sights! Now, if I was going to do anything to it, it might be a sight change, but I shoot pretty good with what came with it so I figure if it isn't broke, don't fix it. I really like the Champion sized 1911's. They just look and feel "right" to me.
 
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Iceman12

New member
I have a GI Champion as well, although mine is all steel. My dad has a Colt Commander that has an aluminum frame, recoil is more noticable, but far from bad on his.

As far as the all black color and one sided safty goes, it sounds like it is (or at least used to be) a GI or a Mil Spec. I know some eary GI models had plain black grips, but the ones on the gun could easily be aftermarket. The finish sounds like my parkerized GI. A plain mostly flat black? plain black safety only on one side.

Oh, and you disasemble by pulling the slide back till the lil notch in the slide lines up with the part of the slide release your finger touches, then press slide release out by pressing the nub on other side. Then slowly let the slide forward, should slide right off, then you can remove recoil springs/rod and the barrel.

hope this helps.
 
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tex45acp

New member
glockopop,

I have had two Champions. The first was a GI WW2, absolutely zero frills model that I bought to start learning to customize with. I kept it for about a year and after customizing it to my liking sold it to my best friend. The second was a stainless pre-loaded with a bushed barrel. I also did some work on it. Both were good guns. I then traded the second one and one other gun on the Wilson Combat equivelent called the Professional. It will never leave my ownership. I love the 4" 1911's. To me the balance is perfect and they are a little easier to conceal than the 5" guns.

As far as field stripping goes, your gun should have a captive recoil spring system that uses a little half round plastic clip to hold it in a compressed position. This is accomplished by locking the slide back and snapping the plastic lock into place and then, by hand releasing the slide, slowly onto the plastic lock. The only problem is that you cannot remove it to clean the spring assy. So I decided to just hold the slide in position by hand, remove the slide lock and remove the slide. It worked great and you get the fully expanded return spring assy that is easier to clean. My Professional has a full length guide rod so I done worry about such things any more. If you have the captive spring system and need the plastic locks, email Deb Else at Springfield and she will send you a couple at little or no charge.

debe@springfield-armory.com

tex45acp

Here they are respectively:

GI WW2 Parkerized
P1010012.jpg


Stainless Pre Loaded
SSCHAMPLSMALL.jpg


and my favorite the Wilson Professional
WPRORH.jpg
 
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glockopop

New member
Well, I took another look at it tonight, and I'm definitely buying it. I spoke with the old boy who works there, and he actually knows the guy who sold it so I got some more info. As I expected, the previous owner meticulously cleans and takes care of his guns. Based on the black finish and single-sided safety, I think this pistol started it's life as a GI model. The guy told me that all the work that was done on it was done by Dick Becker, who is my IPSC club's unofficial "resident gunsmith", and he does excellent work, especially on 1911s. Based largely on the fact that I know it's been customized by a top-notch gunsmith who I'm personally acquainted with and see at least once a month, I've decided to go for it.

Unfortunately, I'm going to have to layaway it. I could buy it with my tax refund that should be coming next week, but I told my girlfriend I would give up buying any more guns for Lent (her and her dang Catholic guilt!:( ) and I'm buying a .38 on Friday, so I think it would be prudent for me to not actually finish paying for it until mid-April. I'll post a pic and range report when the day comes.
 
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Eghad

New member
I had a SA SS Loaded Champion and a Kimber TP II. The SA Champion felt like it weighed 10 lbs. So I traded it in on another pistol becaue the Kimber felt better. Nothing wrong with the Champion just didnt need two or more guns that were essentially for the same thing. It was a very nice pistol.
 
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