Handguns

Let's face it--1911s are neat. Big ones are really cool, and little ones can sometimes be even cooler. It took the genius of John Browning to make the Government Model work as well as it does, and it's a tribute to all those designers who have come after him that they can compose so many fascinating variations on his theme.

One of these is Springfield Armory's Micro-Compact. In .45 ACP caliber, it's one of the latest incarnations of the ever-shrinking 1911. The original had a 5-inch barrel and overall length and heft of 8.59 inches and 2.44 pounds, respectively.

The Micro-Compact, as befits its name, trims those specs by a considerable margin, making the gun eminently concealable without sacrificing all of the features (safety, slide stop, grip safety, etc.) that make a Government Model a Government Model.

Now, of course, Springfield wouldn't be doing its job if it didn't tweak the basics just a little, and the company has fulfilled its mission in the Micro-Compact by adding an ambidextrous safety, extended beavertail grip safety and low-profile, three-dot Novak tritium-style sights.

There are other Micro-Compacts in the Springfield line. The one I evaluated, the Operator, is termed by the manufacturer "Lightweight" and "Loaded," and this it is, complete with an aluminum frame grooved for the XML Mini Light, thin-line-checkered cocobolo grips and Novak tritium sights.

The gun comes standard with the XML sight, probably the smallest tactical light available. It's so small that it tucks neatly below the frame, only projecting to the fore about one-quarter of an inch past the muzzle--and this in a gun with a barrel length of only 3 inches. The fully supported barrel, by the way, is of the bull configuration.

This single-stacker has a magazine capacity of 6+1 rounds, weighs but 24 ounces, is comfortable in the hand and has a snappy 5 1/4-pound single-action trigger pull.

Finish is two-tone, with a stainless slide and matte-black anodized frame--altogether quite a handsome package.

I took my evaluation pistol to the Angeles Range in Tujunga, California, where I gave it a run-through with Federal American Eagle and Magtech 230-grain FMJs. Functioning was nigh on perfect, and best five-shot, 25-yard rested groups averaged between 2 1/2 and three inches while rapid-fire seven-foot "combat" offhand spreads all stayed in the eight-inch K-zone of a standard silhouette target.

All in all, performance was just about what I have come to expect with Springfield excellent. The gun was responsive, recoil not prohibitive and target acquisition excellent. Overall impression a class act and a good choice for a carry pistol.