Posted: 10/24/2008 5:01:35 PM EDT
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I finally got one. I only buy 1911's... for the most part. I own plenty of SA's and Ed Browns... you find something you like that works, and you keep buying it. For years I've lusted after one handgun more than the others but I've never gotten it until now. The ultimate 1911 to me is the FBI Professional model. It's the only 1911 to have been tested extensively by the FBI and passed their rigorous accuracy and reliability tests for use by their HRT teams. SA only builds a handful every 45 days to satisfy the FBI contract. The FBI takes what they need and the rest from that run are sold to the general public. The last one I saw had a serial number in the 3k range. Since they have been making them almost 10 years now, that means they are only doing about 300 some guns a year. Since the FBI gets a good number of these, I feel pretty lucky to have this pistol. Each pistol is hand built by the SA Custom Shop under the watchful eye of Master Gunsmith David Williams. Keep in mind that Wilson Combat, Ed Brown, Les Baer and other masters tried twice to win this contract and failed. Les Baer won it originally, but failed to produce the handguns up to the quality standards of the FBI, so he lost the contract shortly after winning it. SA won on the second trial and has been the soul manufacturer going forward. This pistols are the ultimate 1911, and in my opinion the ultimate fighting handgun. I am so happy I finally got this bad boy. The serial number is in the 400 range so it's one of the early runs. It's been in a private collection since the first year they were offered and it's not been fired.   I can't wait to shoot this bad boy in the morning. :D |
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First of all, congratulations on the buy. Second, thank you for immediately posting pictures, not to mention good quality ones. I have browsed the net a few times to find nothing if not crap pictures of clones with respect to a bonafide Pro. Feel free to spam this thread with more if you get a chance. Third, as an owner of such a collection of 1911s it would be a great service to all of us (should you have the time) if you'd do a writeup of your impressions of the pistol compared to your favorite Brown and Baer - say fit, finish, performance, etc. |
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First of all, congratulations. That's a great looking 1911. I can't wait to have one of my own. Hopefully some time next year, as I have one on order. One thing I question is about the building part. 
They say when they are being built, the builders have no idea whether that pistol is going to an FBI agent or a civilian. They also say, the leftovers are the ones sold to civilians. Well, only the FBI agents get "FBI" prefix on the SN, as DoubleARon mentioned. Civilian models get the "CRG" prefix. So does S.A. produce a bunch, then wait till the FBI orders some, then stamps the SN on them and have them finished? Which are rarer, so to speak? The railed ones or the non rail? |
I believe all Pros are stamped with a CRG prefix for the serial.
And IIRC, Bear simply would not provide the lifetime warranty the the FBI wanted. I don't believe it have anything to do with quality. |
 .......... mine is a 1100 
Correct. The Initial guns had FBI prefix to the Ser #, however the FBI did not want that prefix being sold to the general public so SA changed the Ser # prefix to CRG. All current production Professional models have the CRG prefix in the serial number. |
This is what happened.
Those 75 pistols must be worth a MINT though... |
SA builds the guns every 45 days. In each batch they will make between 45-50 guns. When they are making them, there is no serial number on the guns. The gunsmiths do not know if the gun they are building will be picked up by the FBI or if it will be over-run and get sold to the public. Once the FBI tells SA how many from the build they want (sometimes they take them all, other times they may take none), the guns are serial numbered for the FBI and the others are serial numbered for civilian sales then shipped to fulfill standing orders. I don't know what the story is on the railed ones. |
I don't know where you got your information but it's wrong. Springfield originally designated all pistols built to the FBI standard as the “Bureau Model” and prefixed the serial number with FBI on the first 258 pistols, but the FBI protested, so the name was changed to Professional Model. All Professional Model pistols whether for government issue or commercial sale are identical and carry the serial number prefix “CRG.” American Handgunner Jan 2000, bottom of page 6 |
I stand corrected. This is where I got my info from, though. I guess they were wrong. I don't know how old the article is, but they do state what I mentioned earlier and they clearly show a picture of a Pro with a SN higher than 258.
springfield-armory.primediaoutdoors.com/SPstory06.php 
The civilian consumer can NOT purchase an actual FBI SWAT 1911 pistol because all of those guns have the prefix "FBI" in their serial numbers and the Bureau will not allow any of the FBI-serial numbered guns be sold to anyone other than the agency itself. Civilians and individual police officers may purchase the CRG-prefix pistol, otherwise known as the Springfield Armory PROFESSIONAL pistol. |
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Quoted: Unfortunately that article has some misinformation in it. For example the Author Frank James states ...I stand corrected.http://www.ar15.com/images/smilies/smiley_abused.gif This is where I got my info from, though. I guess they were wrong. I don't know how old the article is, but they do state what I mentioned earlier and they clearly show a picture of a Pro with a SN higher than 258. springfield-armory.primediaoutdoors.com/SPstory06.php http://springfield-armory.primediaoutdoors.com/images/SPhg_story6C_544.jpg The civilian consumer can NOT purchase an actual FBI SWAT 1911 pistol because all of those guns have the prefix "FBI" in their serial numbers and the Bureau will not allow any of the FBI-serial numbered guns be sold to anyone other than the agency itself. Civilians and individual police officers may purchase the CRG-prefix pistol, otherwise known as the Springfield Armory PROFESSIONAL pistol. "When Springfield Armory representatives were asked what the acronym 'CRG' stood for, they replied "Close Range Group". This seems an odd name for a pistol built to such exacting standards for one of America's premier law enforcement organizations, but it's the answer that was given." ....... seems a little odd doesn't it? However when you consider that the FBI's specifications for the SWAT pistol were enumerated by the Critical Incident Response Group (CIRG), an oversight group that coordinates the HRT with the regional SWAT teams it's not hard to extrapolate the true origin of the current CRG prefix. Here is one of the ORIGINAL "Bureau Model" 1911s Serial Number FBI 33 compliments of Novaksights.com As you can see the difference is a little more than just a serial number prefix. Springfield currently builds the Professional to spec for both the FBI's SWAT and HRT teams. As a side note......... the railed version of the Professional is rollmarked "OPERATOR" on the slide but still carries the CRG prefixed serial number.  |
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