how cool any handgun is it has to do two things to impress me; be reli- able and accurate. I tried three loads in the test pistol and my wife and I fired a total of 200 rounds during the test. There were two hiccups. A single round of Remington’s 124-grain +P Golden Saber load would not cham- ber. (That cartridge would not cham- ber in my CZ75 either.) And, there was a light-primer strike on one Dou- bleTap round. This cartridge fired on the second try. Accuracy was good averaging
or clean, but Smith & Wesson’s ap- proach seems to work just fine. There were no failures to extract. Aside from the extractor, remaining differ- ences were purely cosmetic … such as the slide profile. The stainless steel slide has been
relieved just forward of the rear grasping grooves by about .03". This relief extends to the front of the slide and almost all the way to the bottom edge. This relief makes the slide slim- mer and seemed to help the pistol slide into leather easier. Other cos- metic treatments involve the contrast of the blued-steel, external extractor, extended-grip safety, thumb safety and magazine release. This gives the pistol a subdued, 2-tone appearance. The blued-steel, Novak LoMount
rear sight and dovetailed front add to this color contrast. Speaking of the sights, they are a 3-dot affair and the rear notch is cut to the perfect width to make sight alignment quick and easy, even in low light. Still, I would swap these sights out for a set of XS Big Dot 24/7 sights or do away with the two rear dots if the pistol were
mine; Drema agreed. The last cosmetic touch applied
by S&W concerns the grips. They’re a very attractive set of walnut grip panels that have been stippled instead of checkered. I liked their looks and their feel, but for my hand they were a tad thick. Drema agreed and would have preferred a shorter trigger be- cause of her smaller hands. It may sound as though I’m picking
nits with the SW1911 Pro Series 9mm and, in fact, I am. I’ve been shooting 1911s since I was a teenager and have developed specific likes and dislikes. That isn’t to mean my way is the right way, it’s just my way. Unlike a review of a totally new handgun design, when I evaluate a 1911, I have almost a lifetime of experience to compare it to. Another 1911 aficionado might disagree with me and that’s one of the great things about the 1911; there are so many choices, you can have one any way you like it or customize one on your own. There’s nothing like a cool gun
and the SW1911 9mm Pro Series rates "cool" in my book. But, no matter
2.22" for nine, 5-shot groups with the three different loads. It was especial- ly accurate with the DoubleTap load, but in two of the groups I had a single flyer, which opened the average up to a still respectable 1.88". Drema and I also ran the gun through several tac- tical drills. It was unbelievably easy to control and offered very fast fol- low up shots. This of course can be attributed to the fact it is a 9mm that weighs 41 ounces, and inspired some number crunching, which produced a neat bit of mathematical trivia: a 41 ounce, 9mm handgun offers 147 ft-lbs of muzzle energy (ME) per pound of recoil. In comparison, a 1911 in .45 ACP provides 76 ft-lbs of ME per pound of recoil and a Glock 22 in .40 S&W is even less efficient delivering 61 ft-lbs of ME per pound of recoil. What does this mean in hillbilly
language? For one, it means a heavy 9mm like the SW1911 Pro Series is very easy to shoot and explains Dre- ma’s affinity for the handgun. She won’t shoot a 1911 in .45 ACP but shot the SW1911 9mm fast and accurately. It also means that regardless of how experienced a shooter you are, you can put more rounds on target fast- er with this handgun than you can any 1911 in .45 ACP. This makes the SW1911 a good choice for competi- tion or self-defense. I’m kinda picky when it comes
to 1911s. I’m not apologizing, that’s just the way I am. I’m picky when it comes to whiskey and the way I like my steaks cooked too. Aside from the ambi-safety, which I do not like on a 1911, I like this pistol; it was reliable, accurate and easy to shoot. S&W de- serves an atta-boy for offering a 1911 in 9mm because the best fighting pis- tol in the world, should also be cham- bered for the most popular handgun cartridge in the world. *
Ambidextrous thumb safeties are stan- dard on the SW1911 9mm Pro Series pistol. This is a great 1911 enhance- ment for left-handed shooters.
WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM
The SW1911 9mm Pro Series comes with an extended and flared magazine well. This is generally a custom feature much appreciated by competition shooters.
FOR MORE INFO: SMITH & WESSON
www.smith-wesson.com (800) 331-0852
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