PMCI - JULY 2015

SIG SAUER
1911 TACOPS
Trampas Swanson gets to grips with a
modern take on a timeless classic; the SIG
SAUER 1911 TACOPS!
For over a century now, the king of auto pistols has
been John Moses Browning’s 1911 design. Topping
U.S. sales almost every year of its existence, the
1911 has continued to find its way into military
and law enforcement service around the globe as
well as a huge civilian following. Despite numerous
attempts at anti-gun legislation and the invention
of the polymer frame pistol, the 1911 has had
more manufacturers produce its design than any
other platform in history with very little noticeable
changes along the way.
Since crossing over into the new Millennium 15 years ago, we
now live in the “world of tomorrow” with space age polymer
technology that seems to dominate the mainstream firearm
production industry. While I do not give up on the tried and true
steel frame war horses of days past, I do however; now tend to
expect more from the 1911 platform than just my grandfather’s
spur hammer government model Colt .45 ACP. Year after year,
the firearms industry has been working on the age old question
of “How do you improve on an already proven timeless design?”
In 2012, Sig Sauer introduced a new take on the age old
1911 design with their Tactical Operations (better known as
TACOPS) line of pistols chambered in the American classic .45
ACP. Sig decided to integrate an accessory rail cut into the TACOPS
dustcover giving shooters the option of installing their favourite
gun mounted tactical light. While Sig Sauer wasn’t the only
company producing rails on a 1911 frame, it was the quality
and clean lines of the rest of the pistol that helped set it apart
from the others. After all, Sig Sauer is known worldwide for their
precision and high quality in everything they do. Early reviews
of the TACOPS 1911s seemed to be positive overall with only a
few disparaging remarks about its irregular ejection patterns and
failures to extract with the magazine removed. As time passed,
the end user reviews seemed to increase with more positive
comments and less noise about one review writer’s negative
ejection comments. Ever since then, I had been keeping a
watchful eye on the TACOPS series of 1911s in the market.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Flash forward to April of this year, I had the pleasure of receiving
a TACOPS - TB 1911 for review from my long-time shooting buddy
and former co-worker, Mike Daughtridge. In the proceeding
weeks until his arrival from North Carolina to my home in Florida,
GEAR ON TEST: SIG SAUER 1911 TACOPS
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