Springfield GI 45

[Depmur]

Well I bought this a few weeks ago, the Stainless Springfield Armory GI model 1911. It appears to be well put together with a decent trigger, slide fit and 1 piece barrel. I bought it with the intentions of swapping a few parts and still having a retro type 1911. Anyone have suggestions for a retro type of sight and a good source for a Commander type hammer. Sorry to be asking questions for my 1st post...

[1911Tuner]

Howdy Depmur,

Better take a closer look at that barrel. It's a two-piece. The joint line is just forward of the roll-mark on the hood. It's put together very well, and
will be hard to see...but it's there. Not a thing wrong with a good two-piece barrel in a service-grade pistol...They hold up well and are more than accurate enough for what the gun was designed for.

Swapping out one part of the basic trigger group is a crapshoot. Ed Brown
makes a very good slotted rowel hammer, but you'll need to make sure you get the barstock Hardcore for the best hammer. Brown markets both a machined barstock and a cast hammer...both under the tm of Hardcore.
I strongly recommend changing the sear, hammer and disconnect as a unit,
and it really should be checked for correct fit by a smith who understands the 1911's inner secrets. For the other two parts, I recommend Nowlin Pro-Match sears and Briley machined barstock disconnectors.

Using that hammer also requires a different grip safety. You can go with a
Wilson Drop-in ducktail, or a S&A fitted type, which requires modification to the frame tangs. The Springfield has a different radius on the tangs tham a Colt. .220 for the Springer vs .250 for the Colt and others...so be sure to get the right one. The other approach is to modify the stock safety to work with
the rowel-type hammer.

[Depmur]

Tuner I appreciate your input. I'm real interested in maintaining the retro type of look and figure it might be easier to modify the current grip safety than replace it. I figured after a period of time I would need to replace other internal parts. I'm mainly interested in changing out the sights with something along the lines of the Yost or Kings hardball sights in keeping with the retro look. Any thought on either of these sights? I know the kings have been around for awhile but the Yost look sturdy.