SAM Thunderbolt 1911 Stainless

wayupnorth

wayupnorth

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Picked this new 1911 up and thought id share my findings with the initial take down and cleaning.

so far im very impressed with this gun.
i paid just over $600 for it and it could easily pass for a gun at the $1000 mark.
ill get more into it with a full review tomorrow after i hit the range with it.

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Very nice. Fantastic value. That would be my sub 1k recommendation to anyone looking.
 
I agree with both of you SAM makes a great firearm at a bargain price no matter what the peiople who have never handled or fired one might say! Right Derek?
Let alone touch something made in the Phillipines or China! Right Derek?
Some people express their biases without ever backing them up with any experience or evidence regarding these firearms!
Some justify their bias by saying I would not touch anything made by children in a sweat shop.
Trust me the fellows ( grown men ) in the Phillipines that hand fit and finish these SAM's are skilled craftsmen!
I love my SAM's!
 
Best bang for your buck. Fit, Finish and Function is way better than a Norc. One of my somewhat neutral comment is the weight. It feels a lot heavier than a similar but branded model. Maybe the material used by SAM is not as good as the better branded ones. Reliability/Longevity and parts compatibility with mil-spec 1911 is also a concern. I do not have one but have shot a few models so I cannot chime on these concerns.
 
Had the same one last year. It was very accurate. Had a nice fit & finish. But.....the recoil spring was to light. It would hardly chamber the first round unless you let the Slide really Snap shut. I put a stock Nork spring in and it worked perfect and made the recoil ALOT better. It was pretty Stout with the stock spring.
Another point is.....its to darn tight. After 4 consecutive mag dumps,...the action was getting tight. So I took 400 grit WET emery cloth and spent an hour on the rails and slide. It greatly improved the performance. Its way tight out of the box. The trigger was good, but my Nork "bottom pic" with the Wilson Combat parts was a bit better. The nork is just as accurate at 25 and 50 yards.
Be careful, The stainless finish is not as durable as you think it might be. It does scratch . All in all I really liked mine, but I did have to do these mods. I would buy another.

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All I needed to do to make a much better trigger on my SAM was to lighten the sear and disconnector spring legs down to about 10-11oz each. I had also put a 17lb mainspring in, but I don't think that made much difference

I might have a go at polishing the sear and other bearing surfaces with a fine stone, but I don't think that it's really necessary.
 
I've pretty much made up my mind to pick up a SAM 9mm Stainless Enhanced later in the spring. 9mm over .45 just for the cost savings. After that I may pick up a .45 for fun. Has anyone measured the dust cover on the Thunderbolt to see if it falls within the length for IPSC Classic? And did I read somewhere that there may be a Thunderbolt in 9mm coming in?
 
28gaugefan said:
I've pretty much made up my mind to pick up a SAM 9mm Stainless Enhanced later in the spring. 9mm over .45 just for the cost savings. After that I may pick up a .45 for fun. Has anyone measured the dust cover on the Thunderbolt to see if it falls within the length for IPSC Classic? And did I read somewhere that there may be a Thunderbolt in 9mm coming in?
Click to expand...

if you can explain it to me in small easy to digest words i can measure mine for you.
i just have no idea where the dust cover is and what ya need measured.
 
The dust cover is the part of the frame in front of the trigger guard. I've always see it called that. I wonder if it has a more official name? For IPSC Classic there is a maximum length allowed for the dust cover. I think it's 75mm. They measure from the back of the slidestop pin to the front of the cover.

I'm curious because the Thunderbolt has every other feature I'd like in a 1911 without having to add a bunch of things to it after purchase. I'm not a huge fan of the rail but would live with it for the features at that price.
 
Thanks wayupnorth. That makes it too long for Classic. Which is moot for me at this point anyway. Have to actually pick up a pistol and get some range time. It's been years since I fired any handgun. I really should get a .22 and spend a year emptying a few bricks of ammo learning the basics. But the "cool factor" of a 9mm appeals to me so much more. I keep bouncing around between wanting a SAM Stainless Enhanced 9mm, an M&P9 or a CZ 75B. I shot 1911s a fair bit when I was younger with a friends dad. He had an old Remington Rand and a Colt that was made sometime in the early 80s. I bet my marksmanship wasn't nearly as good as my murky memory recalls. LOL
 
I just toured the SAM factory and can confirm that most of the workers are adults.

Fretman said:
I agree with both of you SAM makes a great firearm at a bargain price no matter what the peiople who have never handled or fired one might say! Right Derek?
Let alone touch something made in the Phillipines or China! Right Derek?
Some people express their biases without ever backing them up with any experience or evidence regarding these firearms!
Some justify their bias by saying I would not touch anything made by children in a sweat shop.
Trust me the fellows ( grown men ) in the Phillipines that hand fit and finish these SAM's are skilled craftsmen!
I love my SAM's!
Click to expand...
 
I got mine from Wolverine.
they must have just run out because i got mine there 2 weeks ago.

i see they have a couple other Stainless ones in other then the Thunderbolt.

Enhanced Commander 45
Military Enhanced 45
Military Enhanced 9mm
Sigma 9 9mm
Titan (officer size) in both V1 and V2 stainless

your best bet would be to call Guy and ask him when they are gonna get more Thunderbolts in.
 
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