I bought one about 3 years ago after reading a good review on them in a couple of gun magazines. They are marketed as being "GI" which is what I was expecting, but it isn't. It is a 1911a1 clone in most respects, and it looks GI, but really isn't. Because it is supposed to be a military copy (they never said who's military) it has very small sights and the ejection port isn't enlarged, but it functions very well and I intend to hang on to it. It has military thumb safety and standard grip safety, with no beaver-tail. One side of the slide has Springfield markings, with "Champion" on the other. On the bottom of the dust cover is marked "Brazil." Springfield makes and sells a Champion model, which is pretty well tricked out, but this isn't it. This is their
GI model, not to be confused with the
mil spec model.
http://www.springfield-armory.com/armory.php?version=16I really don't care if it is actually made in Brazil. If Springfield allows their name and reputation to be marked on it, that's good enuf for me.
I use it as a back-up carry gun when my regular carry gun (S&W 457) is on vacation. I was able to spend less than the asking price, at the time being in the gun business with a friend who has a friend at Springfield and got it wholesale.
Here's mine........