I guess for me it would depend on what exact gun I wanted, there's a wide variety from each. A lot of the S&W models I've laid hands on seemed a little rough compared to Springfield. If I wanted a lightweight gun, I'd probably go with S&W.

Both have a pretty good reputation for customer support. Springfield will take care of the gun regardless of whether or not you're the original owner, I'm not sure about S&W.

Originally Posted by bowhunthard

I was looking at 1911s. Which is better or preferred, Springfield Armory or S&W. I personally was leaning towards the S&W.

I was also wondering if I should buy used or new. I was looking at some handguns on http://www.armslist.com/p/286?returnurl=/, it's kinda like a Craigslist for guns. Anybody who would like to check it out, welcome.

Thanks for the advice.

IMHO...Id rank them as this
1) Kimber
2) S&W
3) Springfield

Ive never owned a S&W 1911. Presently own 3 Kimbers..previously owned 2 different SA's. And while its 100% correct that SA will stand beind their 1911's 101%..It takes 8 weeks turnaround for the slightest thing. Im speaking here for their "lessor cost" 1911's...I have no idea what their 1500-2500 guns are like.

I had the factory made horror story in one of their full sized SST 1911's.

I have a S&W 1911, never had any problems.

My daily carry is a S&W 1911 PD-SC Commander. I have had it for about 5yrs. My range pistol is a Kimber Team Match II all stainless steele.

IMHO...Id rank them as this
1) Kimber
2) S&W
3) Colt
4) Springfield

Originally Posted by VAMarine

Springfield will take care of the gun regardless of whether or not you're the original owner, I'm not sure about S&W.

Im a big Springfield fan, My only 1911 is a Springfield and works like a champ, but to be honest All the 1911s I have owned have worked well.

The XD/XDm series though is why I like Springfield, They took the HS2000 and marketed the crap out of it as the XD.

I had not heard that Springfield had adopted a non-owner specific lifetime warranty policy. Do you have a link to this at their sight by chance. And do you know if they cover the HS2000?

I am fortunate enough to have bought a used HS2000 almost a year ago. And it is a sweet shooting gun. It does not need any work, I was just asking for future reference. Or do you know if they work on them at all, seems they might since the HS2000 is basically the XD Service model.

S&W is a good brand, but recently and in years past many people complained about the quality of their semi-autos for the price you pay. And it has caused me to shy from them. I will still buy older used S&W revolvers. But I have heard more negative reviews (from actual owners on the gun forums around the WWW) on the newer S&W products than good.

Personally I prefer the Springfield. Don't like the external extractor on the S&W.

Originally Posted by Sully2

IMHO...Id rank them as this
1) Kimber
2) S&W
3) Springfield

Ive never owned a S&W 1911. Presently own 3 Kimbers..previously owned 2 different SA's. And while its 100% correct that SA will stand beind their 1911's 101%..It takes 8 weeks turnaround for the slightest thing. Im speaking here for their "lessor cost" 1911's...I have no idea what their 1500-2500 guns are like.

I had the factory made horror story in one of their full sized SST 1911's.

Perhaps they just had a bad day or perhaps I just got lucky, because just recently I sent my 9mm Springfield XD(m) back to the custom shop for addition of Dawson fully adjustable rear sights, a fiber optic front sight and a competition trigger job and it took them only about 4 days to get the pistol back to me.

I am sure glad I chose to send my Springfield back to them to have this work done, especially the competition trigger job (which included setting the trigger pull weight to 4 lbs. and practically eliminating all of the pre-travel on the trigger) because then I got the pistol back, it is like I have a completely different pistol. Now I can actually hit something with this pistol. When I took it out last weekend, I managed to put 3 shots practically touching each other at 10 yards (which it really good for me, in that, I am not a very good pistol shot) without even trying very hard whereas before the trigger job, I could only shoot about 3 to 4 inch groups at best.

That is one thing to keep in mind when considering what pistol to buy, is does it come from the factory with fully adjustable sights (important in my mind, even in a defensive weapon) and is the trigger setup to specs. that makes it possible to make the gun go bang without having to GUESS when the gun is going to fire !!! If you can find a pistol that has these features built in at the factory, you probably save yourself a good bit of money and perhaps time in getting these features added to the gun after-the-fact.

Thanks.

Originally Posted by wpshooter

Perhaps they just had a bad day or perhaps I just got lucky, because just recently I sent my 9mm Springfield XD(m) back to the custom shop for addition of Dawson fully adjustable rear sights, a fiber optic front sight and a competition trigger job and it took them only about 4 days to get the pistol back to me.

I am sure glad I chose to send my Springfield back to them to have this work done, especially the competition trigger job (which included setting the trigger pull weight to 4 lbs. and practically eliminating all of the pre-travel on the trigger) because then I got the pistol back, it is like I have a completely different pistol. Now I can actually hit something with this pistol. When I took it out last weekend, I managed to put 3 shots practically touching each other at 10 yards (which it really good for me, in that, I am not a very good pistol shot) without even trying very hard whereas before the trigger job, I could only shoot about 3 to 4 inch groups at best.

That is one thing to keep in mind when considering what pistol to buy, is does it come from the factory with fully adjustable sights (important in my mind, even in a defensive weapon) and is the trigger setup to specs. that makes it possible to make the gun go bang without having to GUESS when the gun is going to fire !!! If you can find a pistol that has these features built in at the factory, you probably save yourself a good bit of money and perhaps time in getting these features added to the gun after-the-fact.

Thanks.

Bad day? Maybe? My second was a full sized SST loaded model.
1) The disconnector had a burr on it I didnt see and it gauled the underneath of the slide something fierce. That took me 4 nights by hand to get polished out and then I had to deburr th disconnector being carefull to NOT remove any real amount of material
2) Barrel bushing was such a sloppy fit it wouldnt group worth squat (WW white box). I installed a tight bushing and it shot good enough groups then..but never could center then up ( always low and left) ( PS It wasnt jerking the trigger as many told me it was)
3) Installed SA's adjustable rear sight and now at least when cranked all the way to the right the groups were still low but right under the bullseye ??..but I knew something was still wrong because you shouldnt have to adjust a rear sight 100% in any direction
4) Realized the front sight was low now ( after installing their rear sight) so I had to drill out the tiny pin and install a new front sight that was higher..BUT...then adjusted to shoot a centered tight group the FRONT sight was all the way to one side with the rear sight centered. After measuring the front sight had been installed and drilled and pinned .035 out of position!...

I gave up at this point! I traded it for my first Kimber Custom Target II and went to the range before my CCW class...and shot a tighter group than the SA had ever shot in its life. Kimber full of grease; oil; monkey snot or whatever they pack those thigs with ( No..I didnt even clean it) and THATS when I knew I had made the right decision!