1911A1, GI Specs., Matte Black Finish, .45Cal, MA Approved

This is my second AO M1911A1. The first had a parkerized finish that I purchased in 2005. At that time this was the only 1911 model pistol of any manufacturer that was “Massachusetts Compliant”. The gun was better than any M1911 that I have seen while serving in the Army and Army National Guard. I was very pleased even though I had to put a heavier main spring in so it would go into battery and finding a competent gunsmith to stake on a new front sight blade after the original flew off. Soon I was able to add a number of Smith and Wesson 1911’s to my collection as well as a few used Colts that I was able to come across. The Colt Competition Model became available in Massachusetts so I soon had one of those as well. A trip to Hawaii for my son’s wedding forced me (it was actually my wife who forced me) to sell a big chuck of my collection so the packerized AO went along with all the other 1911’s except the Colt Competition. Soon though I realized that of all those other guns the only one I truly missed was the plain Jane GI AO with the U.S. Army roll mark. With the high volume of handgun sales it to me over a year to find another Mass Compliant AO 1911. This time the new matte black finish. As much as I liked my first AO, this new one made 15 years after my first is simply incredible. The finish looks great, it’s tight, no rattling, no machine marks, no cheap looking parts (the first AO had a few parts like the safety and slide stop that looked like leftovers from West Hurley). The front sight blade seems to be solidly mated to the slide. The magazine was a vast improvement over the one from 15 years ago. I read that they now us Checkmate magazines, but the one I received had no markings other that 45ACP. It seems the have a different follower design from the Checkmate magazine that came with my Colt so not sure who exactly made it but it works just fine. I don’t mind that the gun only came with with the one magazine because I a plenty of Chip McCormick Shooting Star magazines that work great, could be had at very reasonable prices and come with a black finish as well as stainless. Today a shoot 150 rounds through it on my backyard range without a single hiccup. It’s as accurate as my Colt Competition if you make an allowance for the very small yet historically correct sights. The trigger was not a light target trigger but it wasn’t bad at all. In fact I would say the trigger was surprisingly better than expected. You wouldn’t think it had a firing pin safety of the Series 80 style by pulling the trigger. So, to finish up: If you want a very good GI style M1911A1 that is a mirror image of a WW2 through 1984 gun at a great price that is American made, then the AO1911A1 deserves a hard look. Kahr Arms has earned it.