7 Aug 03

Yesterday, I handled a S&W 1911 at a retail gun shop in Nebraska. Like the one I handled in Orlando, and unlike the one my friend handled in Colorado, this one was slick, and everything on it worked well. I'm making it a point to handle every one I can. S&W is obviously working on quality control, and deserve credit for that. The one in Colorado may have been an aberration.

This same gun shop had for sale several SigPro pistols with a two-position, slide-mounted, manual safety! I had never seen this arrangement before. The pistols also had the traditional, SIG single-state decocking lever. The clerk explained to me that SIG made a run of pistols for a foreign government, and the buyer insisted that SIG install a manual safety lever, even though a manual safety on this particular pistol is a silly redundancy.

The safety lever faces forward, and must be pushed down to get it into the "off" position. Only the largest of hands can accomplish this maneuver without compromising the master grip, so, for most shooters, this manual safety isn't useable as such. This is an example of bureaucrats, who know nothing about guns or fighting (and couldn't care less), buying serious, defensive firearms for police officers who will actually have to use them.

We've had many SigPros in courses, and, like all SIG pistols, they work just fine. These special ones were all reduced in price by $100.00. If I owned one, I would simply leave the manual safety in the "off" position. I sincerely hope that is what the ultimate users of these pistols do.

/John