First things first, I know you guys are going to want a photo, so let's get that out of the way:



I've been in the hunt for a .45ACP 1911 for quite some time, and finally dropped the hammer on one last week. I really wanted a stainless RO for the adjustable sights, non-ambi safety, and GI guide rod, but I couldn't find one in .45 anywhere (although the 9mm variants were EVERYWHERE!). A local shop had this Loaded on the shelf, and the price was fair, so I bit.

Overall I'm really happy with the gun. Trigger is not quite perfect, but very close. I already have a GI guide rod and cap on the way to get rid of the stupid two-piece thing that this came with. The safety functions so positively I think I'm going to leave it alone...I'd rather put up with a lever on the right side than risk messing up that positive "snick" on and off. The grip safety is very well fitted, and the gun has only had one failure to feed in the first 350 rounds...and that was early enough on that I attribute it to break-in.

The issue is the sights. As you can see from the target (forgive the flyer...shot off-hand at 20 yards), the thing shoots high. Like 4-5 inches high at 20 yards. The target pictured was my 230gr handloads, but I had similar results with 230gr Hydrashocks. I've been told Springfield sets these up for a 6 o-clock hold, which IMO is stupid with combat sights. Some of us have to shoot things of varying sizes at various ranges...we're not all bullseye shooters...and I don't see why a bullseye shooter would want combat sights anyway.

So something needs to be done about the sights. The options I'm considering are sending it back to Springfield to get them to replace the front sight, ordering a taller front sight and installing it myself (which looks like a pain since it's pinned), or installing an adjustable rear-sight that fits the Novak cut (from my research it looks like Kensight and Novak seem to be the big sellers in this arena).

I'm looking for feedback...has anybody had any experience with the Novak or Kensight adjustable sights? Do they hold up? Which is a better choice? Or are there any out of the box suggestions that would help me achieve my goal of a reliable POA/POI sight picture?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: 92fstech,

I had the kensight bomars on a 1911 colt that worked very well and never moved. Although I prefer fixed sights on a 1911.

How tall is the front sight?
Most adjustables are taller than fixed sights, even at the bottom of their range. I think you need a taller front sight.

If you can get a adjustable rear you may need to replace as a set. I dont know if there is a sight which fits the Novak cut. I had the early stainless Loaded model. I installed, fitted my own beavertail grip safety, better quality sear, hammer and match trigger. Did the single best trigger tune on mine that I've ever shot. It came out better than a Clark bullseye gun I had. My cast 200 grain target bullets would shoot the X all day if I did my part.

I would just get a taller, front sight. although it's seldom, adjustable sights have been known to fail.
Unless, you use a variety of loads, and want the ability to adjust your sights to different loads

Fooey on those traitors.

Nice gun, though.

Thanks for the feedback guys. I finally got a couple of days off of work and got a chance to do a little more work with the gun. I measured the front sight...it's .180. I also took it out and shot sone groups at various distances, which began to climb the further back I got from the target, which definitely indicates to me that I'm consistently shooting it high.

Next days off, I'm planning to get together with a buddy and have him shoot it in a similar sequence of varying distances to what I did. I'm also hoping to shoot his Colt 1991 just to make sure it's not something with my grip and the 1911 platform that's causing me to push high. If after all that it's still shooting high, it's going to be time for new sights. Based off the feedback here, I'll probably go with something fixed rather than adjustible.

I don't consort with traitors.

find someone who you have seen shoot well, and have them fire it for three mags, to see what it does for them , before you go throwing money at it.

glad to hear you like it , its a great looking gun

An update with resolution:

I ended up having my buddy shoot the gun, and also shot his Colt side by side with my Springfield. He was also high with my gun, and I was dead center with his Colt, so we concluded the problem had to be with the gun.

I contacted Springfield, and they sent me a lower rear sight free of charge under warranty. This was my first ever attempt at changing handgun sights, and let me tell you, they were a bear to get off! My buddy brought a Wheeler universal sight tool home from work, but we couldn't get it to budge the rear sight. We finally ended up driving it out with a hammer and brass punch...it was in there tight! We used the sight tool to install the new sight (also very tight!), and it's dead on now. I put about 150 rounds through it today and was very impressed with the accuracy, which is much more apparent now that it's shooting to point of aim.

One additional note about the wheeler sight tool...not only did it fail to budge the rear sight, but it also scratched the sides of the slide pretty good, even though I'd wrapped in a piece of card stock. Being stainless I was able to polish it out, but overall I wasn't really impressed with the tool, especially considering what they run new.

The barrel of my Loaded model looked like it was cut with dull tooling. Compared to any other 1911 barrel I've ever looked through, the Springfield barrel looked like a plowed field. Very rough finish. It had no affect on its accuracy. Judging by its 50 foot accuracy, it would have printed very well at 50 yards which I seldom shot one handed. I attribute the ragged hole 50 foot targets to its tuned trigger and seer/hammer quality.

This is a very common problem with Springfield 1911s.
Just swap out your sights.