When most people think of a 1911, they think of Colt or Springfield. Truth be told, SIG SAUER is America’s number one maker of 1911 handguns. The New Hampshire manufacturer has been cranking out John Moses Browning’s masterpiece as fast as their CNC machines can turn, in a stunning variety of models. While many favor the clean aesthetics of a bog standard 1911, SIG’s got something for shooters who demand a more refined and precise shooting experience: the Super Target.
The Super Target’s beautifully figured birch grips are the firearm’s most striking feature. The pistol’s laser-carved grips offer a compelling contrast to the gun’s gleaming slide and frame. The handle’s checkering is well-judged and precisely rendered. The SIG logo never looked so good as it does here in 3D. What’s more, the Super Target’s beauty is more than skin deep.
A typical 1911 focuses the recoil pulse into a few small pressure points. The Super Target’s grips wrap around the firearm, distributing the force of the recoil across the whole of your palm.
The Super Target’s grips are perfect for shooters with meaty mitts; I can wrap my entire hand around the gun. Shooters with smaller hands should try before they buy, to make sure they can get a proper grip on the .45 caliber firearm.
The lower edge of the Super Target’s grips stands slightly proud of the bottom of the frame. Standard 1911 magazines will fit, but competition shooters will immediately see that slamming a fresh mag home could be devilishly difficult. For that application at least, an extended baseplate mag need apply.
I find the rough edges of cheaper 1911’s endlessly annoying. A bit of quality time with a buffing wheel does wonders for shooting comfort. As you’d expect from a $1600 1911, your money buys you that extra love and attention here.
All of the Super Target’s controls balance smooth surfaces with aggressive design. The safety, for example, offers plenty of purchase for your thumb to flick the safety on and off in a hurry. But it’s not so rough that you need a set of welder’s gloves to avoid an end-of-the-day Band-Aid.
The Super Target’s two-tone hammer treatment is a treat. Eschewing the usual fully skeletonized approach, SIG SAUER lightened the hammer by removing some extra material, then added in a bit of black to highlight the attractive outline. Right answer.
That said, I have a bit of an issue with the SIG SAUER Super Taregt’s trigger.
The current state-of-the-art for adjustable 1911 triggers: a screw in the trigger blade. The shooter tightens or loosens the screw to adjust the overtravel to his or her liking.
On the downside, the design leaves a big hole in the trigger directly under your trigger finger. Shoot a standard 1911 long enough and the indent can leave a sore spot on the pad of your finger. When you’re looking for extreme precision, these things matter.
I appreciate the Super Target’s adjustable (and extremely crisp) trigger, and the ability to adjust it without breaking down the gun is nice. But I think I’d rather have to take the ten seconds to field strip the gun to adjust that trigger — something I’ll only do a couple times a year, tops — than to end each range session with a hot spot on the tip of my finger.
SIG SAUER — a company with a known weakness for over-the-top special editions — kept the Super Target simple. They finished the pistol’s stainless steel body in a bead-blasted matte. A highly polished pinstripe runs down the slide, interrupted halfway by a bright shiny round SIG logo. It’s enough bling to make the gun stand out without screaming “douchebag.”
The Super Target’s sights are tall enough to see over an attached suppressor (threaded barrel required). The rear sight is fully adjustable for both windage and elevation. The front sight blade sports a bright green fiber optic bead. It’s extremely easy to pick up the Super Target’s front sight no matter the weather or the lighting conditions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxOtY5kDFcs
Out on the range, the Super Target delivers groups that are almost boringly small. The combination of the five-inch long barrel and the wraparound grips makes recoil as manageable as a professionally trained Alsatian, and as pleasant to shoot as a thoroughbred race gun.
The $1600 SIG SAUER Super Target 1911 is an expensive gun. Yes, but Springfield’s Loaded 1911 (which doesn’t have the same quality fit or adjustable sights) runs $1,200-ish. And the big SIG gives the serious money 1911s — the Wilsons, Nighthawks and Ed Browns of this world — a decent run for their money.
Purists may howl, but I believe SIG SAUER has improved on a classic design — save the trigger adjustment hole and the fact that the Super Target won’t fit in standard 1911 holsters (due to the slide’s design). Nit picks, really. Money aside, the accurate, reliable and beautiful Super Target could well be the pinnacle of SIG SAUER’s 1911 line.
SPECIFICATIONS: SIG SAUER 1911 Stainless Super Target
Caliber: .45 Auto
Action Type: Semi-Auto
Frame size: Full-Size
Frame finish and frame and slide material: Stainless Steel
Trigger: Single Action Only
Trigger pull weight (factory setting): 5 lbs.
Barrel length: 5.0 in (127 mm)
Overall length: 8.7 in (221 mm)
Overall width: 1.4 in (36 mm)
Height: 5.5 in (140 mm)
Weight: 41.6 oz (1179 g)
MSRP: $1,600
RATINGS (out of five stars):
Fit and Finish * * * * *
Amazing. Beautiful and durable.
Function * * * * *
Like buddah
Accuracy * * * * *
More accurate than I am, for sure.
Overall Rating * * * * *
The perfect balance of accuracy, beauty, and value. Even the prophet JMB himself would approve.
The grips are beautiful
Would like those grips on my Glock.
Put lipstick on a pig, it’s still a pig! BWAHAHAHAHAHA!
Yes, but it’s a better looking pig!
And that pig can still shoot.
Then trade the Glock and buy a real gun: that would be Sig Sauer. We have 15 Sig 1911’s, Glock will never be a Sig. Come to a Sig review and talk about your Glock? man, that’s some ballz.
You gotta’ be kidding me. On a plastic gun? Heh, it’s America.
The first 1911 I shot was a Sig, and I immediately fell in love. They’re great guns.
“SIG SAUER is America’s number one maker of 1911 handguns”
I assume you mean the highest number of currently produced 1911s inside the United States? I don’t doubt it, there are very few large US makers anymore.
Colt has made more 1911 Government models than literally all of Sig Sauer’s firearms put together. Cohen says their peak production is 43K firearms in total per year, and there are at least 3 million Colt Government 1911s in .45ACP made. That doesn’t count 9mms or other models.
Correct. Largest current output.
What’s your point? “The largest producer of 1911’s”. Not really that hard
I love my Ruger SR1911 CMD (all-steel). SIGs are great, but they could never make a gun like mine for $700. BTW, I also love my SIG P365 MS for CCW, but Ruger can’t make one like it. Invisible under my t-shirt. (Vedder IWB holster.)
Um,last year 2020, total sales to civilian market by Sig was a tad over 500k. Now as I stated those sales were to you and me, well maybe not you as I get the impression you don’t care for Sig, however world wide military sales worldwide was 1.36 million. I am not bashing Colt as I am a serious Colt shooter. Love em’. Sig, IMHO, is a far superior 1911. I have carried both as duty guns. I prefer the Sig. They seem smoother, triggers are far better. NOW: Just took home a new Anaconda. It is a beautiful gun.
Colt 1911s, which have been banned by Boston for many years, are once again available in MA pursuant to the “target pistol” exemption from Beanbag’s draconian gun regs.
Having shot both Colt’s pistols and SIG’s, while I like them both, I think I prefer the ones with the prancing pony.
So sad, as of Jan 1, 2017, there is nary a Colt hand gun, pistol or revolver, available in California. They stopped paying the extortion fee to stay on the roster.
not a fan, even though i love sigs.
What is your opinion on the external extractor?
I’m thinking it doubles as a loaded chamber indicator as required by law now.
Darn good looking pistol for the price!
Personally I like it. It increases the reliability because you’re not relying on a slender internal extractor which is prone to breaking, especially when running cheap steel cased ammo. Some people don’t like the look of it but I’m not bothered.
I bet it is MIM. I have a Sig P226 Legion SAO ($1200.00!) that has the MIM extractor. It broke, shattered, self destructed, after only 160 rd of factory ammo. brand new gun!
Sig fixed it of course. But I no longer trust that “made for professionals” (very expensive one at that!) handgun. I only bought it for range and competition use anyway, not SD. But to advertise it for military/LEO use, and use sub par parts is a bit disingenuous.
I had a 229 Legion. It had intermittent reliability issues and would never get past 300 rounds before it started choking, failing to return to battery. Sent to Sig. Returned with the same issue. Sent to Sig. Returned with the same issue. Sold it.
I carried a Sig for 13 years. I own over 30 of them. MIM? What the hell are the molded plastic guns? PIM!!! That’s right bucky PIM> PLASTIC INDUCED MOLDING. External extractor…fired over 500K rds out of Sigs…NEVER AN ISSUE.
Uhh, I own a Sig 1911, but for that kind of money, especially with grips that don’t fit any but the huge handed among us, I’ll go with a Dan Wesson or Les Baer
P.S. I like the new look of the website, but as soon as I click on an article I have ads at the top, bottom and both sides, and I’m still entering my name and e-mail, even though I have enabled cookies for this website. No bueno.
Double click where your name goes, and your screen name should show up below the space. Same with the e-mail address. Works for me any way.
Ugly slide. I prefer the rounded slide that John Browning designed. Yeah yeah, I know, it follow Sig’s square edged stylistic pattern, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. The grips are pretty awesome though.
Saw 1 of these at LGS. Should have tried it on for size. Gone when I went back. I would have to assume it was designed for bullseye. I dont like the little itty bitty thumb safeties. For the money they should guarantee the accuracy and provide a test target.
“That said, I have a bit of an issue with the SIG SAUER Super Taregt’s trigger.”
wtf is a Taregt??
TO: ATFAgentBob – Well, Bob … IF ya hafta ask, THEN ya probably wouldn’t understand anyway !!!
Ooops, Sorry – My Bad !!! … Nevermind, your UserName explains it all away . . . heh, heh, heh !!!
Then don’t buy the gun. OH, by the way, ATF Agent Bob…after all of the corruption coming out of “The Swamp” about so called Federal Law Enforcement being so damn corrupt..I think I would keep a low profile..you ain’t the effing spell check police.
Who cares what you think, moron.
Fog horn what kind of accracy did you get from sign super target and what yardage
Great looking 1911. I’m quite fananitical about Sig products they have quietly been taking over my collection for the last ten years.
If the $$$ on this particular 1911 is more than one would like to spend i’de like to recommend the Sig XO 1911.
Reasonably priced, flawless operation, and one of the most accurate 1911’s I’ve ever owned.
I’m also a fan of Sig for their exemplary customer service. I’ve only had to return one pistol, a compact Nitron that was a law enforcement trade in, for light hammer strikes. Sig rebuilt the slide and I had it back in 8 days. No further issues.
My Sig 1911 Super Target is ridiculously accurate. It is not uncommon to have my bullets touching each other on my bowling pins at 15 yards. I have shot at least a thousand rounds of Montana Gold 185 JHP with 9.5 grains of HS6 and had only one jam. This may have been an under charge. I have had no failures shooting factory ammo of any power. The only problem I have had with this pistol is the rear sight blade coming loose because the retainer on the left hand side would come off. Then the windage pen would wallow its hole out. Sig sent me a new sight at no charge but it did not last long either. I replace it with a Dawson and I feel like this 1911 shoots as well as any.
9.5 of HS6 with 185gr of Montana Gold is my load too. Approx 1000 fps. When I do it right, my bullets are touching each other at 40 feet. The only problem I have had is my rear sight falling apart. I did change my recoil spring out to a 20lb flat coil chromium oxide spring. Sig gave me a new sight free with no questions ask. It lasted about 1500 rounds. I finally replace the sight with a Dawson and after 2000 or 3000 it is still like new. The Dawson has two green fibers and now the front has red. The front sight is a .190″ so now I can find a holster fit my pistol. My Neutron Super Target 1911 functions as well or better than any 1911 I have ever shot.. I have a well tuned STI Edge. I have a hard time choosing which pistol to pull out of the bag for pins. I have had only 2 malfunctions except the sight coming apart for with 2000 rounds and both times I could attributed to a bad load. Out of the box, you pulled the trigger and it went boom! My Edge did after putting a dawson extractor in it.
Oh, the Neutron finish is tough but if you scratch it there is no way to fix it. you have to send it of for 200.00. Get the stainless version! If it were blued you could touch it up yourself.
Over all, I have a Kimber Ultra Cary II, Ruger commander stainless, STI Edge and a Sig Super Target. With the Dawsin sights and I had to hit 1000 pins at 15yard without a malfunction out of the box, Wow! I will take my Sig if the pistol must fire if i am to live.!
Ken Luikart!
boring slop, get a ransom rest and tell us about 50 yard groups, you did say super target’
can it win at camp perry. or a local match.
? does it have a oversize barrel.
I own sig sauer, supreme , good pistols, stop pissing on a first rate manufactuer, you come across like a used car dealer.
so can you change the trigger out so that you don’t have a hole in it? shot mine again this weekend and got a red spot on my finger after a 50 rounds or so. any ideas on choice for replacement trigger?
You may consider smoothing the trigger you have. You pistol can be fitted with any 1911 trigger by a gunsmith. I also wonder about your holding technique. 75% of you grip should be with your holding hand, not the trigger hand. Jerry Miculek has some wonderful training video.
Gear up as your favorite Delsin Rowe Vest. Slim Fit Leather Jackets brings this iconic jacket from animation to reality, especially for all the fans of this video game. Delsin Rowe is the main protagonist and playable character, a young Native-American man who later realizes he’s a Conduit with special powers.
Comments are closed.