Good value on a new 1911 not made in Turkey: Savage

[Bongo Lewi]

This is a real bargain. Savage 1911 Government .45 ACP 5" Stainless 67203

Savage is re-entering the pistol biz after many years. Their first entry into the 1911 realm is very respectable. It doesn't have the garish slide cuts and silly names like a Kimber, but the guts of this gun are high quality. It was obviously understood that their foray into this class of gun needed to be credible. Mission accomplished.

I fondled this model a few weeks back. Impressive. I came across this sale today. The only flaw I saw in this gun is the lack of front strap checkering. I think that was a miss. But it also adds to the cost.

For anyone looking for a new 1911 that isn't $3000+ or made in Turkey, this would be a good choice.

NOTE: I have nothing against Turk 1911s. I have some of those. Or $3000+ 1911's. If you are really on a tight budget, The Girsan or Tisas will not let you down. Reliable as it gets. Just not fancy.

 

[Racer88]

I guess I don't know the going prices for 1911s. But it was more than I expected.

 

[Bongo Lewi]

I guess I don't know the going prices for 1911s. But it was more than I expected.

View attachment 14243

They start at $500 and go to $8000. On the high end of the mass-produced type ... $2000-3000. Semi-custom, $4000. One gunsmith, hand-built, between 4 and 8k. Rock, Tisas, Girsan... all good on the affordable $500-$1000 guns. Reliable and accurate. Just not as refined. The In between high and low ... S&W, Ruger, Sig. $1500-2000. Some a little more, some less. All good though. I avoid new Kimbers but some people love them. If you win the lotto. Buy a Cabot.

 

[Racer88]

They start at $500 and go to $8000. On the high end of the mass-produced type ... $2000-3000. Semi-custom, $4000. One gunsmith, hand-built, between 4 and 8k. Rock, Tisas, Girsan... all good on the affordable $500-$1000 guns. Reliable and accurate. Just not as refined. The In between high and low ... S&W, Ruger, Sig. $1500-2000. Some a little more, some less. All good though. I avoid new Kimbers but some people love them. If you win the lotto. Buy a Cabot.

Well, I knew about the high-end models going for several thousand. I meant that I don't know what the low-end are going for. I recall my friend bought his Kimbers (several years ago) for around $1200.

I don't think of Savage as "high" or even "medium" level. So, when I saw that the regular price is $1400... that's a bit much, IMO... for a Savage.

 

[Bongo Lewi]

It's in the bill of materials and workmanship, as they say. This is definitely not a cheap gun and puts new Kimbers to shame. I didn't get to shoot it, but this gun is tight and has the best trigger I've seen on a 1911 under 2 grand. Guessing.. 4 lbs, short takeup. Breaks clean. As close to a competition trigger as you can get out of the box. Decent Novak factory sights too.

Savage in general.... not the prettiest long guns in the world but they are widely known for being affordable, reliable and accurate hunting rifles. To my surprise, I saw a few of them last year at PRS matches. Very easy to modify and accurize. A healthy aftermarket too. I prefer my Tikka for hunting, but it costs a lot more than a Savage or Ruger American, which is also a good bolt gun equivalent to the Savage Axis.

Anyway... The fit and finish of this Savage 1911 is well beyond its normal street price. Nice, target-crowned barrel, the grip safety looks like it was hand-fitted. On production 1911s almost no one can make that claim. BUL is one that does - and their better models tend to be pricey. If were new to 1911s and wanted to put an oar in that water, this would be a very good choice. Especially at $1000.

 

[Alpa Chino]

My brother from a different mother has a different budget too.
One of the very few guns I’ve bought new, a Taylor 1911 on sale for $349 I think it was.
Still sitting unfired in my safe.
I should do something about that.

 

[Bongo Lewi]

Regarding Savage the brand... The Savage 99 is legendary. Out of production for ages but it's been said by many an old timer and collectors that it was the best deer rifle ever made. Ranchers are required to have one hanging on their wall.

@Alpa Chino I'm with you that there's nothing wrong with those budget 1911's. Especially the Tisas and Girsan models. They run great. Faithful to Browning's design, no frills. Gets the job done. Basically a Series 70 Colt on the inside. Stepping up a notch or two, you simply get a better fit and finish. Also customer service. The Turks aren't great at that.

 

[Bobster]

One man's "value" is another man's "I can't afford that!"

 

[Bobster]

I almost bought a Ruger SS SR1911 a while back... LINK

Of course you could get the "real" thing in SS... LINK

 

[Bongo Lewi]

I almost bought a Ruger SS SR1911 a while back... LINK

Of course you could get the "real" thing in SS... LINK

Walther rescued Colt from the depths. It's been a good thing for them in terms of quality, which had tanked in recent years. Colts still aren't the best out there but the nostalgia for the brand is still strong.

Ruger... you can't go wrong. Always reliable. Nothing fancy. S&W is awesome. Especially the Pro Series.

1911s are buy once cry once in terms of features/options/build quality. Most commonly the grip, trigger, and extractor type (internal vs external). The latter is one of those debates that never ends. Unlike grip treatments, fancy tooling on the slide never impressed me. Eye candy. It does increase the cost and adds very little to the function of the gun.

Then there's the subject of how many parts are MIM. Just about everyone has some MIM parts now, but purists still wrinkle their noses. MIM parts made right work and wear just fine. Kimber, a.k.a. MIMber, screwed the pooch by adopting cheap MIM parts years ago. That was the turning point for them on their once excellent rep for building a quality 1911. They also switched to an external extractor and did it badly from a QA perspective. Having to send a new gun back to the factory tends to piss people off. The other rub with them is they adopted the Swartz safety used on Model 80 Colts. Which made everyone hate both Colt and Kimber. The legend is, that with the Kimber, you hope it doesn't refuse to go bang when you pull the trigger. That's attributed to their alleged poor implementation of the Swartz system.

In general, there's a huge difference among 1911 in terms of fit and finish. The cheaper guns usually run great out of the box. The more expensive, the tighter they are and thus need some time to break in. Also Series 80 vs Series 70. The Turk guns tend to stick with the Series 70 design... closer to Browning's original design. It's one reason they run so reliably.

 

[Alpa Chino]

I specifically wanted a bare bones copy of the original.
Since I can’t afford/justify the original WW1’s.

 

[Bongo Lewi]

I specifically wanted a bare-bones copy of the original.
Since I can’t afford/justify the original WW1’s.

Indeed those WW1 and 2 era guns are definitely in big demand now. The Tisas US Army A1 is pretty close to the original and dirt cheap. Rock Island and Citadel too. A Remington I took in trade for something eons ago has a very original Parkerized finish and the 'US" double diamond grips.

Relevant anecdote: In the US Army's early 1900's pistol trial, runner-up to Browning's design, later named the Colt 1911, was.... Savage. They went with Browning's design because the Savage was more complex and thus expensive to manufacture. The French Army chose Savage and the gun was wildly popular in the civilian market.

Savage 1907