Pawn shop find: Springfield Armory Long Slide .45

olivehead1

olivehead1

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This was only out for a day when I stumbled upon it, and being a very good customer, I got a significant discount. Meaning I basically paid FMV based on most recent sold listings. IMHO it was ridiculously priced in the first place, but that's pawn shops for you. It looks like that pricing was based on some ported models that actually sold for a lot more than these "standard" models have sold. I exceeded the max. I'd normally spend by about 100% but figured, what the heck (I do have a pretty low max. as far as firearms go). Not sure I wanted or "needed" a long slide, but it just struck my fancy and I've never seen one in the wild.

Serial number N569xxx. Per SA customer service, manufactured August 2011. Very good condition or better. No significant wear, with some light handling marks, mostly on the matte finish, most probably from holstering in the plastic "Gear" holster. No dings or significant scratches, etc.

Any thoughts are welcome.
 

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Nice grab !!!
My only objection to Springfield 1911s (and I have 2) is the model name on the slide. Kind of silly to mark it “long slide” - that’s kind of obvious . How about just the maker name and a model number somewhere? And their newest ones - “Ronin” and “Operator”. I wouldn’t buy one just for that reason. What’s a “Ronin” anyways ? Same with Wilson Combat / Dan Wesson, etc. But …. To each his own
 
Baxter6551 said:
Nice grab !!!
My only objection to Springfield 1911s (and I have 2) is the model name on the slide. Kind of silly to mark it “long slide” - that’s kind of obvious . How about just the maker name and a model number somewhere? And their newest ones - “Ronin” and “Operator”. I wouldn’t buy one just for that reason. What’s a “Ronin” anyways ? Same with Wilson Combat / Dan Wesson, etc. But …. To each his own
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I mostly agree with you. Up until about 3-4 years ago, I think this (the Long Slide) was the only SA 1911 with something other than "1911A1" on the left side of the slide (The "TRP" on that model was marked aft of the slide serrations, but the left side was still marked "1911A1"). I always liked that consistency, and that's what I always disliked about Kimbers: they'd put the individual model name on the right side of every slide. If it was (obviously) stainless, they'd add "stainless" to the slide. Even if it came from the factory with Crimson Trace grips, they'd put "Crimson" on the slide. Hated that. Then SA decides to follow the Kimber model and put the model name on its slides, in an even more obvious location, i.e., the left side of the slide, albeit in relatively small font. I think it mostly looks terrible, especially "Milspec." Ironically, the only one I think is an improvement is the very subtle "TRP" on the recent models.

BTW, to answer your question, a ronin is a samauri without a master. Not entirely sure how that fits in the context of a 1911, but I think it's a fairly cool name.
 
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I remember when you could actually get some great deals on guns in pawn shops. The last few times I've been in them though they had their prices set right around MSRP for (naturally) used guns. Too bad. It used to be fun going into a pawn shop in another town just to look around.
 
1sailor said:
I remember when you could actually get some great deals on guns in pawn shops. The last few times I've been in them though they had their prices set right around MSRP for (naturally) used guns. Too bad. It used to be fun going into a pawn shop in another town just to look around.
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I agree. There are still deals to be had, but during the two-year Covid period, they pretty much went nuts, like most gun sellers. Paying in the ballpark of the few comparables I could find for this particular gun is what nowadays constitutes "a good deal."
 
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canoeguy said:
What comes to my mind seeing that Long Slide is Arnold Scwarzenager shopping at the Alamo Sport Shop in the movie "Terminator",

"Give me the 12 gauge pump, the .45 Long Slide with lazer sighting, and the Uzi 9mm, also a 40 watt plasma gun"......

Click to expand...

Actually its "Phased plasma rifle in the 40 watts range"

"Only what you see pal"

"Uzi 9 millimeter"

And it doesn't end well for the gun store owner.
 
I felt obligated to buy one of those about ten years ago. (Long boring story). I was involved in a Sherriff's Dept bullseye league. Shot a match with it and took it home to clean it. I couldn't get the barrel out of the slide. Still can't.
I recently found a competent gunsmith and will have him give it a going over.
I remember it shooting well, but all the edges were pretty sharp.
Neat gun.

OZ
 
I always thought the long slide 1911's were cool, but never cool enough for me to buy. Yes, an AMT long slide would be neat, but only for the Terminator connection. The longer sight radius would certainly make precision shooting a bit easier, but I prefer the handiness of a Commander size 1911.
 
canoeguy said:
What comes to my mind seeing that Long Slide is Arnold Scwarzenager shopping at the Alamo Sport Shop in the movie "Terminator",

"Give me the 12 gauge pump, the .45 Long Slide with lazer sighting, and the Uzi 9mm, also a 40 watt plasma gun"......

Click to expand...

The "Long Slide" Arnold uses in the movie is in fact a stainless steel ... AMT Hardballer Longslide (1980) When AMT came out with the stainless steel Hardballer ... about 1977 , nobody made a S.S. 1911 , not even Colt ... I got a Hardballer in 1979 and thought it the best thing since sliced bread ... then the Longslide came out ... but I was happy-happy with my Hardballer ...
In fact it's sitting on this desk as I type ...
Gary
 
gwpercle said:
The "Long Slide" Arnold uses in the movie is in fact a stainless steel ... AMT Hardballer Longslide (1980) When AMT came out with the stainless steel Hardballer ... about 1977 , nobody made a S.S. 1911 , not even Colt ... I got a Hardballer in 1979 and thought it the best thing since sliced bread ... then the Longslide came out ... but I was happy-happy with my Hardballer ...
In fact it's sitting on this desk as I type ...
Gary
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When I was stationed in Calif., one of my Sgt.'s bought an AMT Hardballer in SS. This was 1987. He had more problems with FTF than the law allows. We tried every type of gun oil, clp and greases trying to get that gun to run. Finally one day he soaked it in 30 weight motor oil and it worked! After he got about 500 rounds through it, it would work with just a good gun oil.
 
AJ said:
Finally one day he soaked it in 30 weight motor oil and it worked! After he got about 500 rounds through it, it would work with just a good gun oil.
Click to expand...

Sometimes the simplest solutions are the best. And necessity is the mother of invention. How did he get the idea to do that?
 
The only thing rollmarked on my longslide.

Is Ed Brown Custom.
 

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I have a Clark heavy long slide .45 that had that designation clearly set out on the slide. I found it in a hole in the wall gun shop in a little strip plaza in the Cleveland suburbs. My brother and I were celebrating a joyous second opinion on my heart from the Cleveland Clinic by running the town roads instead of taking the freeway back to my brother's house. We were running U.S. 322 when we saw the gun shop and did a quick turnaround back to it. We went into the shop and there it was. I never thought I would ever see a Jim Clark gun, much less have a chance to buy one. My brother said the shop owner needed a mop because I was drooling so much. After a long conversation with the owner we finally got down to $$$ and he made me a decent offer. I put down at least one Golden Dollar to seal the deal and we got the money from the bank and I became the owner of the Clark Heavy Long Slide and had it shipped to my FFL holder in PA. It's a beautiful piece of work.
 
Protocall_Design said:
The Long Slides made good bowling pin guns back in the day. Not too many pin matches around now.
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My friend used this early (checkered front strap) comped, V16 long slide as his Pin Match gun. When he passed away the family asked me to sell many of his guns. I really thought about buying it myself but ultimately it went to one of the guys we shot pin matches with.
 

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Golddollar said:
I have a Clark heavy long slide .45 that had that designation clearly set out on the slide. I found it in a hole in the wall gun shop in a little strip plaza in the Cleveland suburbs. My brother and I were celebrating a joyous second opinion on my heart from the Cleveland Clinic by running the town roads instead of taking the freeway back to my brother's house. We were running U.S. 322 when we saw the gun shop and did a quick turnaround back to it. We went into the shop and there it was. I never thought I would ever see a Jim Clark gun, much less have a chance to buy one. My brother said the shop owner needed a mop because I was drooling so much. After a long conversation with the owner we finally got down to $$$ and he made me a decent offer. I put down at least one Golden Dollar to seal the deal and we got the money from the bank and I became the owner of the Clark Heavy Long Slide and had it shipped to my FFL holder in PA. It's a beautiful piece of work.
Click to expand...
I bought one from a fellow BE shooter who was getting out of the sport and never got around to shooting it in a match myself. Now that my BE days have wound down it doesn't see much use. I took it out to the range a few months back and shot it some - its much heavier than I remembered!
 

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