Months ago, I purchased one of these SA-35's and my initial impression was, where is the nearest trash can. I had never had such an unreliable, jam-a-matic, frustrating weapon before. Factory ammo or handloads, made no difference. I've previously owned 4 Hi-Powers and they were wonderful weapons, with a bit of fine tuning. So, I had high expectations, only to be really disappointed. Couldn't make it through any magazine without issues, new SA, new MecGar, or, old Browning's. First weapon that I've ever had to return for warranty service. Sent it in and received it back 3 wks later, with a new barrel & extractor.

Shoots like a dream, first 900 rds since and not any hiccups. I've only replaced the grips with some nice Hogue's because the factory ones were fairly ordinary and the checkering was not well done. The SA finish is acceptable, sights are really nice (to me), trigger is decent for a factory gun, slide to frame fit is tight (unlike my old HP's), and, it's accurate. All things considered, I can live with it, it may not be a Browning, but it feels like all the HP's that I've owned, and, has some better features (sights, barrel, trigger). That's my 2cents worth.

C4

Interesting. That's rather telling, even if it's an isolated occurrence. I've not heard of such behavior from a new FN/Browning High Power, ever.

FWIW, I'm at something over a thousand rounds of assorted factory ammo with my SA-35. Reliability is starting to get boring. Thus far, mine still just works.

@rock 185, I remain emboldened by reports like yours!

I’ve just managed to acquire one from a person I’ve done business with before on another forum, new-in-box / unfired. Lord willing, I should start its range journey by mid-November or so and will report on progress.

^^^^

Have you had it at the range yet?

quote:

Originally posted by Lord Vaalic:
^^^^

Have you had it at the range yet?

I was just thinking about this thread the other day haha…

I’ve had my SA-35 to the range a few times now, and am at almost 1,000 rounds downrange at this point. FWIW, the s/n on my gun is in the 9,000-range.

First session was about 200 rounds or so, zero issues.

Second session saw some sudden instances of the slide not going forward when using the slide stop to release the slide on loading. Slingshotting the gun continued to work. I like using the slide lock on guns like the BHP and SIG P225 because the lever is perfectly positioned for me to do so. While at the range, I took the gun apart and found that it appeared the recoil spring and guide rod were not correctly positioned. This would be on me entirely, as I’m the only one to ever take the gun down for cleaning (and did so both before the first session and between each successive session). The guide rod felt like it had not “clicked” fully into place against the barrel if that makes sense. I removed the spring and rod then reinstalled them - no further issues that session, though I did pull the still-relatively-new recoil spring from the gun after this session and replaced it with a new one ordered from BH Spring Solutions.

Next session saw the gun delivering exceptional accuracy. Not that I considered it inaccurate prior; perhaps I was now getting better dialed-in to it. For at least some of these sessions, I shot the SA-35 alongside a Browning Hi Power for direct comparison, and I was getting solid results downrange from leather at distances out to 10 yards, drawing and reloading from concealment, usually firing 2- or 3-shot strings at a time.

Following session saw the gun now depositing most of its brass back toward my face haha. This was a new situation and the gun was otherwise rocking right along. I’m no expert, but I suspect that the BHP mags I had along this session may have been the culprit. I use MecGar 13-rounders exclusively, and had a couple of older ones along that session that had been sold to me with my Browning. While the BHP has not had a similar issue with these or other magazines, I’m guessing that the springs in those mags may be old or worn to such an extent that the SA-35 was affected by it? I don’t know…though, at the following session, I made sure to use only the newer MecGars that I’ve bought within the last few months after getting first the BHP and then the SA-35, and I’ve had no further brass to the face.

My most recent session was around 250 rounds and took me to nearly 1,000 overall to-date. No problems, and accuracy continued to impress.

All along the route so far, I’ve shot mostly 115- or 124-grain FMJ from various manufacturers along with 115-grain JHPs and some +P JHPs from SuperVel. No feeding issues.

I have found that shooting this gun with my strong-hand thumb riding the thumb safety like I do with a 1911 tends to invite me to get a little hammer-bite with either the SA-35 or the BHP. I’ve made a point to park the thumb below the thumb safety and have had no further nipping of the hammer.

Overall, I like the look and feel of what Springfield has done with this pistol. I’d like to see another issue-free 200 rounds or so downrange before putting the gun “on-duty,” so to speak, for concealed-carry.

I’m seeing that I have no pictures of the gun handy to accompany this Wall o’ Text that I’ve composed - I’ll come back and add some soon.

Thank you for this very nice report.

Emailed Springfield warranty last night. Mine, (#14xxx) has to go back to be fixed. Getting constant fail to extracts. Have about 700 rds through it. Federal, S & B, Magtech. It was flawless the first 300 rounds. Then it started and got progressively worse. Happens almost every mag now. Hope they fix it right. I like the gun itself a lot.

Update.
I got my SA-35 back from Springfield. Took them about 1 month exactly. The invoice said they tuned the extractor. I got to the range this morning and shot 200 rounds through it. It ran perfectly. Sure hope it stays that way.

I was definitely interested in these when they came out but I saw one the other day and the shop wanted over 1K for it. I think I’ll just get an FEG until I can find an older real one.

quote:

Originally posted by Pale Horse:
I was definitely interested in these when they came out but I saw one the other day and the shop wanted over 1K for it. I think I’ll just get an FEG until I can find an older real one.

Find a different shop. $1K is way too high

quote:

Originally posted by 22940:
The invoice said they tuned the extractor.

Weak extractor springs seem to be the main failing with these pistols. I wouldn't be surprised if their "tuning" was no more than replacing the spring.

quote:

Originally posted by Dwill104:

quote:

Originally posted by Pale Horse:
I was definitely interested in these when they came out but I saw one the other day and the shop wanted over 1K for it. I think I’ll just get an FEG until I can find an older real one.

Find a different shop. $1K is way too high

Fair enough, the shop I saw it at tends to have high prices on a lot of guns.

Same issue with the Beretta 92X Performance; weak extractor springs.