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Thread: G.I. vs MIL-SPEC - A Comparison

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  1. #1
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    Icon17 G.I. vs MIL-SPEC - A Comparison

    As this question is frequently asked, I thought it would be prudent to have a concise comparison of the two models.

    First, the G.I.


    And the MIL-SPEC
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  2. #2
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    If there are other differences worth noting, I'll update the source images accordingly.
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  3. #3
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    Tom, I believe the Mil-Spec comes with a stainless barrel also.

  4. #4
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    Is the barrel in the Mil-Spec stainless, or is it that the barrel in the G.I.'s are also stainless but colored dark to blend in? When my wife had her G.I. Micro Compact, one of the things I did was work the barrel hood over with some 2000-grit paper to polish it up and make it look shiny like my Mil-Spec. So other than a coating, aren't the barrels identical?
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  5. #5
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    No, I'm pretty sure the barrels in GIs are carbon with parkerizing on them, and the Mil-Specs are stainless barrels.
    OD* will chime in here shortly I expect

  6. #6
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    And here I thought I wouldn't actually HAVE to play with the images. Man, this gig is turning out to be real work!

    I also shot an email to Springfield asking about the barrels.
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    Last edited by Tom; 16th April 2008 at 13:48.


  7. #7
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    Don't know if this is an actual difference, but when I was looking at them side-by-side, the trigger on the Mil-Spec seemed a bit crisper than the GI. The GI trigger felt a little grittier and creepy, but not enough to notice without having the other one to compare it to.

    I suppose others will have to comment if the factory does extra fitting of the innards on the Mil-Spec. Based on the minor price difference I really doubt it. This was probably just the normal range of variation in 1911s.

    -J.

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    Tom,

    I don't know if this will help or not, but the barrel on my parkerized G.I. is just like Brian pointed out... and I'm wondering if a stainless G.I. has an all stainless/polished barrel.

    My parkerized N prefix parkerized Mil-Spec has a polished barrel hood... the rest of the barrel is "parkerized". My NM prefix parkerized Mil-Spec has a 100% polished barrel... might be stainless. Ditto my NM prefix stainless Mil-Spec.

    This too... I believe there exist a difference in the tang on the backstrap between the G.I. and Mil-Spec.

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  9. #9
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    Springfield confirmed that barrel, too. The G.I. uses a Parkerized, carbon steel barrel. The Mil-Spec (and all other models) use a stainless barrel.

    Hmmm. I'm pretty sure my N-serialed Mil-Spec is polished stainless throughout, but I'll check that on my next detail strip/clean.

    When I have more time this weekend I'll update my images and upload them.
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  10. #10
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    my gi model is parked . but has ww starting the serial number . what does the ww stand for

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