SIG Sauer firearms need little introduction. Quality and reliability are hallmarks of these pistols. Lets look at one of my favorites. The original SIG 1911 featured a slide similar in profile to the P series. While resemblance to the P220/P226 is fine other shooters wanted a traditional 1911 from SIG. The Traditional pistol is the result.
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The Traditional Reverse Two Tone is a full size Government Model 1911. It is a general purpose .45 ACP pistol for target shooting, concealed carry, home defense, and some types of competetion. This pistol features a round top slide of the traditional outline. The slide features forward cocking serrations. The SIG Reverse Two Tone features a skeletonized hammer, upswept custom grade grip safety, target style trigger, extended slide lock safety, flat mainspring housing, and a well fitted barrel with a snug but finger tight barrel bushing. The pistol is the traditional Government Model height at 5.5 inches tall with an overall length of 8.7 inches. Weight is just under forty ounces. The barrel is a five inch type. The slide is stainless steel but coated in black nitron. This is as corrosion resistant as possible. The frame is forged stainless steel. The grips are nicely checkered distinctive blackwood. The front strap features 25 line per inch checkering. This is a requirement for a true hard service 1911 making for practically a non slip gripping surface. The pistol is supplied with two eight round SIG magazines. These magazines have proven reliable in service. The pistol features a beveled magazine well that makes for rapid magazine changes, simply funnel the magazine into the grip well.
The sights are the popular low profile type similar to the famous Novak Lo Mount sight. The SIG sight, however, if adjustable for windage and elevation. Since this is a 24 hour service pistol the SIG features tritium sight inserts. These miniature nuclear furnaces feature a glowing point of reference in dim to dark conditions. Most SIG night sights are the three dot type. I was lucky enough to obtain a SIG Traditional Reverse Two Tone pistol with bar dot type sights. These are the minority in preference among shooters but a configuration I appreciate. The rear sight features a horizontal bar while the front sight features a single dot. This makes for an accurate sight picture, fast to pick up in dim light, and with good speed potential. Just the same everyone doesn’t like this set up and that is why the three dot is more popular.
The pistol was lubricated along the slide rails, barrel hood, barrel bushing and cocking block before firing. Initial inspection showed good fit and finish. The barrel and frame feed ramp feature the requisite 1/32nd inch gap between the two halves of the feed ramp. This insures feed reliability especially if you adhere to the original specification of an overall loaded cartridge length of 1.250 inch. All controls are crisp and sharp in operation. Trigger compression is a smooth 5.1 pounds with rapid reset. This is a controllable trigger that makes for good practical accuracy. I loaded SIG magazines with Black Hills Ammunition 230 grain FMJ for the initial test and also added a good supply of Wilson Combat Magazines. While SIG magazines work fine Wilson Combat Magazines are in my experience the single most reliable 1911 magazines, especially if you experiment with shorter overall length cartridges and wide mouth hollow point bullets.
The pistol comes on target quickly from leather and offers a high probability of a first shot hit. There really isn’t anything faster to an accurate first shot hit at close range than a cocked and locked 1911 handgun. Draw get on target press the trigger to the rear and you have a hit. Muzzle flip is limited due to a low bore axis and the pistol’s weight. I enjoyed the range workout as I extended off hand fire from 7 to 35 yards. As for absolute accuracy the pistol is plenty accurate. I fired from the MTM Caseguard K Zone shooting rest, firing five shot groups for accuracy. The results follow. The SIG 1911 in general and the pistol reviewed in particular are good examples of the 1911 breed well suited to personal defense.
Five shot groups, 25 yards
- Black Hills 230 grain FMJ: 2.5 in.
- Black Hills 135 grain Honey Badger: 2.0 in.
- Black Hills 200 grain Lead semi wadcutter: 2.2 in.
