Advice: Dad's SA Milspec 1911

[Sprout]

I just inherited my father's only gun, a Springfield Milspec 1911. Dad always wanted the gun to look like a Milspec but shoot like a bullseye gun, so I was planning to send it to the Springfield Custom Shop to have some entirely non-cosmetic work done. The plan was to do the following:

Fit slide to frame (tighten); parkerizing or bluing included . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$175.00
Fit match barrel & bushing (.45ACP, non-supported chamber) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$265.00
Action job, with SI match tool steel hammer & sear (Required for trigger pull less than 4 lb.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $195.00

Because everybody here is so knowledgeable, I was hoping I could ask some questions and get some opinions. First, I was planning on sending the gun to Springfield because I’ve heard good things about them and it wouldn’t void the warranty; is this a good idea or is there somewhere much better? Second, what is the practical difference between the ~$75 4 lb. action job with stock parts and the $195 < 4 lb. action job with the match tool steel hammer and sear? Would it feel noticeably better and/or last noticeably longer? Third, for a gun that will never have anything better than the original Milspec sights, how much of the accurizing that I plan to do is going to be overkill? Right now I can shoot 3-4 inch unsupported groups with by CZ-75 (or my 686) at 25 yards on a good day, and I can’t get better than 8 inch groups with the 1911 on the same day, even with my wrists resting on a jacket that I put on the bench.

Sorry for the long post, and thanks for the help.

 

[Bladeandbarrel]

I would get a trigger job, decent sights and a fitted bushing ONLY before you drop that kind of coin on a spartan pistol. That gun should do at least 3-3.5" groups at 25 yards with a somewhat snug bushing and manageble trigger and sights.

 

[HSMITH]

For what you are going to spend you could buy another really nice 1911. Keep in mind that the $265 doesn't include the price of the barrel, that is just the charge for fitting.

That said, the prices are a good bit high. Contact Benny Hill at Triangle Shooting Sports, www.triangleshootingsports.com His trigger work, accuracy work and reliability work are truly second to none. That man can make a gun shoot insanely well. You will have the gun back in a fraction of the time SA will have it, there will be no sending it back, and his prices are probably a bit friendlier.

Spend the money on good trigger components if you are going to shoot the gun much, good components fitted correctly will last 100K rounds and todays stock parts won't come close to that.

 

[XavierBreath]

In this case, I would keep your Dad's gun as he left it to you. $635 in labor plus money for parts and shipping is a lot to spend. Toss in a Kart or Barsto barrel for $150-250, plus $60 shipping, and you are close to a grand. You can buy another excellent 1911 for that money.

If you truely want it to be a bullseye gun, send it to Clark Custom with a check for $775. Just tell them to omit the beavertail and the scope base. You will come out way ahead of the game, and get an accuracy guarantee of 2.5" - 10 shot group at 50 yards.....if you can shoot to that level of accuracy.

 

[Sprout]

Wow, really good advice from everybody, thank you. The Springfield shop really is expensive. I'm new to having custom work done, and I noticed that Yost will "Supply and install Kart barrel only" for $255, so I figured Springfield would be comparable. Thank you for the alternate suggestions. I'll check with Clark and Triangle.