Been trying to convince myself to take a chance on one of these for a while now, so for xmas I took the plunge. I don't own a .40, this is my first, which was one of the reasons I went for it, as well as the other positive reviews of the 9mm and .45 SAM pistols. I like steel and wood, detest plastic pistols, so for $575 from Wolverine figured why not...
It came in a brown cardboard box, one fold out page of instructions, a safety/inspection certificate, pistol and 1 mag, both sealed in plastic bags covered in oil. Mag is a 8 round Mecgar which was nice and it inserts smooth and drops free. First thing I did was tear it right down for a clean and inspection. I was trying really hard to be critical, trying to find flaws, tool marks, other things I wouldn't like about it, but there were very few
On the barrel, slide, and frame, I can count the number of tool marks on 1 hand. Frame is cast, but it is very hard to tell, barrel is very smooth and well machined with a blued finish and polished hood, slide is machined very well and had very few tool marks on some inside/hard to see areas. Everything seems to have been tumble polished, blasted, then blued...no sharp edges anywhere except where they are suppose to be....the thumb safety, mag release, slide release are all grippy serrations. Very little in the way of slide/frame markings, left side is bare, right side has s/n, small logo, small model name, where it's made, and that's it. No big grotesque warnings and other bull
which is a nice change
Since 2008 SAM has been CNC machining 1911's, prior to that they made them the old fashioned way. One of the first things I noticed out of the box was how tight and well fit everything was,slide to frame, barrel to bushing, bushing to slide...all tight, thumb safety has positive clics, and the excellent trigger...3.5lbs out of the box. Even the grip screws are perfectly flush with the grips...which turned out to be wood even though I was expecting plastic based on the web pics. The finish was very even all around, from the smallest pin, to all the guts, and the slide & frame, all a nice matte blue. And as a bonus it came with a full length guide rod which I wasn't expecting as they don't show that on the website, just the standard GI type shown there. Feed ramp was polished well as a bonus.
Almost all the small parts are cast/MIM, and the main pieces are really well done...grip safety, thumb safety, hammer, slide release, sear, disconnect, sights....cast and cleaned up really well. And the extractor is REALLY beefy....don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing yet.
Few of the cons...and I had to dig hard to come up with these. The MSH had a rough finish on the sides you can't see, and it was considerably thinner then most flat MSH I've ever handled. I had an EGW spare and installed it instead as the thin SAM one made the grip a touch small for me.
Sear spring needed some adjustment, not enough tension on the grip safety, about a 2 second fix so no big deal.
I don't think the recoil spring is correct for .40 s&w...should be 19lbs, this one feels like a 9mm spring which is much lighter at 14lbs. Firing pin spring also was shorter then standard. I don't think these would have caused any short term issues, but over the long haul could lead to some problems. Had spares on hand anyway, so no big deal.
FLGR had a few marks on it...was polished fairly well, but needed a final go. Hammer strut was pretty roughly finished, again, not a big deal and easily cleaned up but doesn't make any difference to function either way.
First impressions are quite good, how it stands up to a steady diet of shooting will be the real test if this is a good buy or not.
few crappy pics, I'll have to take some good ones out at the range.
It came in a brown cardboard box, one fold out page of instructions, a safety/inspection certificate, pistol and 1 mag, both sealed in plastic bags covered in oil. Mag is a 8 round Mecgar which was nice and it inserts smooth and drops free. First thing I did was tear it right down for a clean and inspection. I was trying really hard to be critical, trying to find flaws, tool marks, other things I wouldn't like about it, but there were very few
On the barrel, slide, and frame, I can count the number of tool marks on 1 hand. Frame is cast, but it is very hard to tell, barrel is very smooth and well machined with a blued finish and polished hood, slide is machined very well and had very few tool marks on some inside/hard to see areas. Everything seems to have been tumble polished, blasted, then blued...no sharp edges anywhere except where they are suppose to be....the thumb safety, mag release, slide release are all grippy serrations. Very little in the way of slide/frame markings, left side is bare, right side has s/n, small logo, small model name, where it's made, and that's it. No big grotesque warnings and other bull
which is a nice change Since 2008 SAM has been CNC machining 1911's, prior to that they made them the old fashioned way. One of the first things I noticed out of the box was how tight and well fit everything was,slide to frame, barrel to bushing, bushing to slide...all tight, thumb safety has positive clics, and the excellent trigger...3.5lbs out of the box. Even the grip screws are perfectly flush with the grips...which turned out to be wood even though I was expecting plastic based on the web pics. The finish was very even all around, from the smallest pin, to all the guts, and the slide & frame, all a nice matte blue. And as a bonus it came with a full length guide rod which I wasn't expecting as they don't show that on the website, just the standard GI type shown there. Feed ramp was polished well as a bonus.
Almost all the small parts are cast/MIM, and the main pieces are really well done...grip safety, thumb safety, hammer, slide release, sear, disconnect, sights....cast and cleaned up really well. And the extractor is REALLY beefy....don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing yet.
Few of the cons...and I had to dig hard to come up with these. The MSH had a rough finish on the sides you can't see, and it was considerably thinner then most flat MSH I've ever handled. I had an EGW spare and installed it instead as the thin SAM one made the grip a touch small for me.
Sear spring needed some adjustment, not enough tension on the grip safety, about a 2 second fix so no big deal.
I don't think the recoil spring is correct for .40 s&w...should be 19lbs, this one feels like a 9mm spring which is much lighter at 14lbs. Firing pin spring also was shorter then standard. I don't think these would have caused any short term issues, but over the long haul could lead to some problems. Had spares on hand anyway, so no big deal.
FLGR had a few marks on it...was polished fairly well, but needed a final go. Hammer strut was pretty roughly finished, again, not a big deal and easily cleaned up but doesn't make any difference to function either way.
First impressions are quite good, how it stands up to a steady diet of shooting will be the real test if this is a good buy or not.
few crappy pics, I'll have to take some good ones out at the range.
give 12# a try 
