[ifishbaja]

Hi all,

I think this is the first time I have actually posted here, but I have been hanging around for some time now. I finally find I need to ask a couple of pistol questions. I know some may seem lame, but bear with me as I am kind of new to pistols.

First, I just bought a Springfield Armory 1911 "loaded" model pistol. It had all of the bells and whistles except an adjustable sight. I was fairly happy with my purchase until I got home. I was logging the serial number down in my log book as I do with all of my guns and there it was. In big huge letters it was stamped, "MADE IN BRAZIL". I nearly fainted. I thought SA was a well respected American gun maker and here in my hand was something different. I looked again at the slide and sure enough, it said Springfield Armory, but on the frame, (the letters seemed to be getting bigger, I kid you not) MADE IN BRAZIL was stamped. I bought an American pistol that was made in Brazil! Surely there had to be a mistake I thought. I checked their web site and looked at each and every pistol they show and sure enough, none say anything about Brazil. I emailed the company and received a quick (albeit curt) response that simply said that "all of our frames and slides are forged in Brazil and sent here for fitting and assembly. If a pistol is more than 50% made in Brazil, it is stamped as such". Ok I'm sorry about the long winded rant( I do feel a little better though), but once again, I thought I was buying an American made pistol. So here (finally) is the first question. Do I have a right to be ticked off?

The second and third questions have to do with Colt pistols. Since I feel was burned, taken advantage of and a victim of false advertising by Springfield Armory, I think I am going to cut my losses on the pistol and buy a gold cup. So my second question is, What is the difference between a Series 70 and a Series 80 pistol? Question number 3 is, What is a Gold Cup "Trophy" model and is it better than the other Gold Cup models?

Thanks in advance.

Doug Gordon

 

[huntswithdogs]

I wouldn't say that you got screwed, any more than the rest of us. A lot of products carrying the "Made in America" label are out there and have been for years. Browning rifles and shotguns have been made in Japan for years. The same goes for cars and trucks. A lot of component parts are made out of the country and shipped in for assembly and fitting. If most of the work is done here, it can be labeled as Made in America.

Barring what it says on the frame,the reports I've heard on these have all been good.

HWD

 

[uglydog]

I agree with HWD, I don't feel you got "screwed" as there are so many things that are stamped "Made in the U.S.A." that are really not. A vehicle made in Canada has been called a "Domestic car" for many years as have many of them made in Mexico. The Ford Crown Victoria has been an import for at least a decade though most think it is still a domestic. Springfield has long been know for importing its 1911 frame and slides from Brazil (as well as the whole XD from Croatia) so I also feel this is a bit of poor research on the buyer's part. Personally, I feel more screwed buying a Colt as one will pay about a 20% premium over a comparable model from SA. The Colt is also more likely to need some tuning to work properly, even if new. Plus, the factory mags are frequently not functional which means new mags. So, adding the price of a good tuning and new mags to the inflated initial price and that is a whole lotta money. I place more value on function than the presence of a rearing pony or where it was made so the Colt is not even a consideration for me. Needless to say, I have not been a fan of Colt for many years; at best they have been indifferent to the civilian market and are quickly losing ground in the law enforcement market too. I'd keep the SA knowing you got a good value for your money and not an expensive "work in progress."