Year by year, I tend to get drawn down the rabbit hole of a particular firearm platform. For a while, it was takedown .22s, then cap-and-ball revolvers. Now I am working my way around the popular 1911 platform. After thousands of rounds across several makes and models, the Springfield Mil-Spec is one that continues to impress.
Springfield Armory has a healthy portfolio of 1911-style pistols, but it all began with their Mil-Spec model. The Mil-Spec rejects sculpted modernity for the straightforward tradition of a GI 1911. More recently, Springfield released a homage to the M1911A1 in their Defend Your Legacy lineup. As a historian and shooter, this version delivers in spades.
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The Defend Your Legacy series consists of a pair of classic GI-style 1911 pistols chambered in the .45 ACP cartridge. Each features a forged steel frame with a standard right-handed magazine release button, slide release, and manual thumb safety. The pistol features a serrated arched mainspring housing, GI-sized grip safety, and a narrow spur hammer that mark this model as an A1 model, just like those used throughout World War II and into the Cold War. The Mil-Spec wears a short trigger with A1 scallops to accommodate smaller hands. The pistol would not be GI without the use of a GI guide rod and recoil spring with a barrel bushing.
Although the Mil-Spec mostly sticks to the script, notable departures include an enlarged ejection port, stainless bushing, stainless 5-inch barrel, three-dot sights, and a titanium firing pin to make this Series 70-style pistol drop safe.
The Defend Your Legacy Mil-Spec 1911 comes with a pair of plain checkered wood grips and either a brushed stainless or gray parkerized finish. The pistol ships with a hard case and one seven-round flush-fitting magazine.
On the Inside: First Impressions
In the hand, the Springfield Mil-Spec is a handsome, if subdued, handgun, thanks in no small part to the unadorned grips and smooth parkerization. On first inspection, the action was smooth out of the box, and I checked the trigger pull weight at a clean 4 lbs. even with two millimeters of travel before the wall. The thumb safety is a natural sweep, and the grip safety protects well from hammer and slide bite. Although not everyone will cotton to a 39-ounce carry pistol, the Mil-Spec’s titanium firing pin and three-dot sights lend themselves well to that function right out of the box.
Many 1911 pistols are tight out of the box, which makes them frustrating to disassemble. That is particularly true when it comes to getting the slide release back into the frame on reassembly. Even my Colt required the smack of a plastic hammer on the first few tries before loosening up. Others never loosen up and people have come up with some many creative ways to make a buck and sell you on something to avoid the idiot scratch you could get on the frame. In the case of the Mil-Spec, the pistol disassembles easily, and the slide release pushes home with firm pressure of both thumbs. Easy peasy.
On the inside, the Mil-Spec is largely free of scratching or machine marks, although the parkerization is carried over from outside to the inside. My personal Colt Government Model, which costs a bit more, is less well finished inside and out.
Shooting Impressions
I have a little over three hundred rounds downrange through the Defend Your Legacy Mil-Spec 1911. This includes defensive hollow point ammunitions such as Hornady American Gunner 185 gr. XTPs, Barnes Tac-XPD 185 gr.+P, Sig 200 gr. V-Crown, and Winchester 230 grain Defense. Also included are 150 rounds of Winchester 230 grain hard ball. With nothing more than a lube job at the start, I counted three hundred rounds and zero malfunctions. The journey to that destination is somewhat more interesting.
I started with a standard ten-yard offhand accuracy test with the included ammunition. The Hornady XTP load gave a clean 1.3-inch group at that distance, but the other loads were not far behind. At twenty-five yards off a bench rest, the Springfield’s three-dot sights appear bigger on eight-inch bullseye targets, but I could still get 3-inch groups at that distance. The clean, consistent trigger pull and commanding A1 mainspring housing that took up room in my larger hands made all the difference.
The remainder of my round count was spent cleaning the A-zone of USPSA targets at seven yards and taking my shots at an eight-inch steel plate at fifty yards. The muzzle rise of the .45 ACP is pronounced, but the weight of the Mil-Spec ensured that felt recoil was as slow as Christmas. There isn’t a snap to the wrist like there is with 9mm handguns, and whatever recoil there is thumps into the beavertail of the grip safety. After a while, I began to notice my hand reddening but not cracking open. In practice, the grip safety is large enough and smooth along the edges to keep the hand safe from hammer bite. That is something I can’t say for my Colt. The thumb safety is mechanically clean and is just large enough to rest the thumb of the shooting hand.
On the seven-yard targets, the three-dot sights appear big and visible and do well on the timer. At fifty yards, the trigger takes over where the sights leave off. With a six inch holdover, I could connect more times than not. Holdover was a little less with the lighter 185-grain loads, as was felt recoil.
Needless to say, the Mil-Spec is as humble a shooter as they come, filling the appetite of those who prefer a plain-Jane 1911.
About Terril Hebert:
Terril Hebert is a firearm writer native to south Louisiana. Under his motto—Guns, Never Politics—he tackles firearm and reloading topics both in print and on his Mark3smle YouTube channel, where he got his start. He has a soft spot for ballistics testing, pocket pistols, and French rifles. When he is not burning ammo, he is indulging his unhealthy wildlife photography obsession or working on his latest novel. Scourge of God was published in 2017.”
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