I bought a 1911A1 Mil-Spec some months back, which is very similar in appearance, and comes with 3-dot sights. It was just over $700 with sales tax and California fee. Supposedly the gun is similar to the Defender, but made of higher quality steel.
I found the GI style short trigger not to my liking. My gunsmith replaced it with a "Colt" brand long trigger that works great. . I weighed the trigger pull after 200 rounds fired, and was quite happy with the consistency. i prefer the parkerized finish because it looks great over the decades as it ages.
Aside from the supposed difference in steel quality I have no idea what corners were cut to get to the lower price for the Defender. But, as a point of reference I can share that I am quite happy with what my $700 bought for me.
i sold all my handguns. . . . . . . . . . except for the 1911 style pistols in .45 ACP.
Bookmarks