FBI SWAT'S MOST WANTED

The Springfield Armory Professional Model .45 Auto.

By Frank W. James

Many years ago I happened upon a little museum in Nashville, Indiana, dedicated to John Dillinger, one of Indiana's more infamous criminals. Mostly, the museum consisted of dioramas and a few artifacts from Dillinger's highly sensationalized, but relatively short lived crime spree. One of the more interesting exhibits was a clear acrylic bust of a human head detailing the interior ballistic path taken by the bullet that killed Dillinger instantly.

While not the best target group shot by the author during his testing, this indoor 50-foot target represents what he could do on command with 230-gr FMJ CCI Lawman ammunition. The author is convinced the PROFESSIONAL is far more accurate than his ability to shoot offhand.

According to the explanation accompanying the display the fatal round was fired by a .45 caliber Colt semi-auto pistol. The bullet entered the skull just behind the right ear and exited the top of the head, just aft of the left forehead hairline. There was no mention as to the specific type of bullet, but one would assume it was the standard 230-gr. FMJ round used by the United States military for many decades.

Regardless of its manufacture and design, the end result was the same: Mr. Dillinger was no longer a threat to peaceful American society and he was brought down by gunfire from FBI Special Agent Clarence Hurt, a former Oklahoma City chief of detectives, and Special Agent Charles Winstead, who was later known to carry a .357 Magnum revolver in the years before World War II. At least one of these two Special Agents was using a 1911 Government Model .45 Auto pistol that night and he used it well.

(Contrary to popular legend, Melvin Purvis did not shoot or even fire a shot at John Dillinger. Purvis is supposed to have yelled to Dillinger just before the confrontation began, "Stick 'em up, Johnny. We have you surrounded." Dillinger reacted by pulling a Colt .380 to which the armed agents responded appropriately.)

For the last fifty years the 1911 style pistol has been noticeably absent from the arsenal of the personnel of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Regardless of its many merits, the 1911 pistol has become persona non-grata in American law enforcement and the FBI can not deny its influence on this decision by many police administrators across the nation.

The problem as hypothesized by opponents of the 1911 pistol is it is simply unsafe for American law enforcement. This single action semi-auto pistol is capable of firing when loading the chamber from the magazine and it is equally capable of firing when unloading, if you keep your finger inside the trigger guard during either procedure. Anal retentive administrators want their troops equipped with pistols that won't fire during either loading or unloading. In fact, cynics would argue rather tongue in cheek many police administrators really want pistols that won't fire at all. The opponents feel the 1911 pistol fires all too easily and it is an unsafe design primarily because of innumerable anecdotal war-stories told by untrained or poorly trained servicemen from three major wars.

(left) The Springfield Armory PROFESSIONAL is a locked breech, short recoil operated semi-automatic handgun in .45 ACP caliber. It features the John Browning designed dropping barrel and has an empty weight of 35.0 ounces. (right) The Springfield Armory PROFESSIONAL Model is a top-of-the-line handgun. It has been built to withstand and survive an amazingly tough set of acceptance trials and it is an accurate pistol.

A result of this discrimination against single action autopistols is the demand from many liability conscious police administrators for double-action autopistols with increasingly heavier trigger pulls and multiple, all too often excessively redundant, safety systems. The net result is a more difficult law enforcement sidearm to master and shoot accurately, particularly under the stress of a gunfight.

The momentum for this train of thought suffered a serious power shortage when FBI SWAT team leaders and leaders from the Bureau's Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) began to review the handgun situation within their own areas of responsibility. HRT had been equipped with Browning High Power pistol in 9x19mm caliber (another single action semi-autopistol), but these guns were discarded for the .45 ACP caliber "Swift Response" pistols, a single action, highly customized, high capacity .45 Auto pistol. The Swift Response project turned into a can of worms with neither the supplier, nor the end-users becoming comfortable or happy with the results.

Field agents in the meantime had been subjected to an embarrassing episode with the unreliable Smith & Wesson Model 1076 in 10mm Auto and wound up going back to the lesser caliber Sig P-228 in 9x19mm. Plainly, no one was happy or satisfied with the choices made or forced by circumstances in sidearms for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Add to this discontent, the situation surrounding the Waco incident for FBI HRT personnel and it was apparent a reappraisal was needed for all concerned. One of the great problems for the FBI HRT at Waco was the lack of adequate back-up personnel as the affair progressed beyond the initial stages of a siege. HRT personnel needed physical relief and the only federal law enforcement tactical teams capable of relief were the FBI's own SWAT teams from various locations around the country. However, due to the aforementioned handgun procurement programs, no one was using the same sidearm as the other, and in some cases no one was even using the same caliber of ammunition. All of this was addressed in an internal FBI report that recommended among many other things the FBI tactical squads, both HRT and SWAT, standardize their equipment because of the increased possibility of their interaction in future armed incidents.

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.

The long and the short of it after much evaluation is the FBI's return (for tactical team members only) to a specialized form of the fabled single column, .45 caliber, 1911 pistol. A Request For Proposal (RFP) was issued and after the dust settled, only one pistol from those submitted by seven different firms stood tall. It was the Springfield Armory Custom Shop M1911 in .45 ACP caliber. The Springfield FBI SWAT .45 is a highly customized 1911, but one that most any IPSC or IDPA competitor would readily covet and recognize. An important point that needs to be mentioned is the civilian consumer can NOT purchase an actual FBI SWAT 1911 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 sold to anyone other than the agency itself.

Civilian consumers and individual police officers may purchase, the CRG-prefix pistol otherwise known as the Springfield Armory PROFESSIONAL pistol, which is identical in all aspects, save the serial number, to the FBI SWAT 1911 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.

The Springfield Armory PROFESSIONAL pistol uses many custom made parts as standard features. Chief among them is the Wilson grip safety, the Wilson ambidextrous manual safeties, and the Springfield Armory Custom Shop 'Delta' hammer.

The Springfield Armory PROFESSIONAL Model is a top-of-the-line pistol. It has been built to withstand and survive an amazingly tough set of acceptance trials, and it is an accurate pistol. It also proved itself one of the more accurate 1911 pistols this author has ever tested.

The CRG-prefix serial number Springfield Armory PROFESSIONAL 1911 is a semi-automatic, locked breech, short recoil handgun with the John Browning designed dropping barrel. The slide and frame, both, are forged from 4140 ordnance steel. The empty weight of the Springfield Armory PROFESSIONAL Model is 35.0 ounces. The overall length of the PROFESSIONAL is 8.75 inches and the height is 5.85 inches. The widest part of the test pistol was measured at the ambidextrous safety levers and that width was 1.364 inches. While obviously not the smallest of self-defense concealed carry pistols on the market, the 1911 pistol remains a relatively narrow, not to mention well balanced, service pistol because a Sig P-226, by comparison, measures 1.428 inches at its widest point.

It is the little touches that endears this pistol to any who have worked extensively with a 1911 style pistol. The sharp edges have been removed from the frame and slide and the frame has been undercut where the trigger guard meets the grip portion of the frame. This last feature allows the shooter to grasp the gun higher in relation to the boreline of the pistol. This is a major plus in terms of increased control and accuracy and makes the Springfield Armory PROFESSIONAL one of the more comfortable 1911 pistols of those currently available in the hand.

The ejection port on the slide has been lowered and radiused at the rear to increase reliability and decrease wear and tear on the shooter's spent brass. No law enforcement agency is concerned about the wear and tear on the spent brass, but reliability remains a major concern.

The Springfield Armory PROFESSIONAL pistol fieldstrips like any other 1911 pistol, but the author notes a bushing wrench is needed to remove the bushing from the slide. It is a tight fit between the match grade barrel and the bushing.

In terms of 'designed-in-reliability' I found it interesting this pistol does not feature a full-length guide rod, nor does it offer a synthetic buffer pad over the spring base plug. This pistol is a return to the John Browning designed full length recoil spring, spring plug and base plug. In this application the recoil spring is a 17 pound Wolf unit.

The argument among many is a guide rod centers the slide on the frame and helps the gun to run smoother and operate more consistently. They also argue it keeps the slide to frame fit tighter longer. All of which may be true, but my complaint against the full-length guide rod is it makes it more difficult to cycle the gun during one hand emergency clearance drills.

Without the full-length guide rod, as the Springfield Armory PROFESSIONAL Model is so equipped, it is an easy fix to simply push the front of the spring plug portion on the lower part of the slide against any available edge such as that offered by a tabletop, a car door, or the corner of a building to cycle the slide, eject a bad round and load a fresh round in the chamber while using only one hand. A vital consideration for anyone seeking survival in a gunfight.

Is this maneuver hard on the gun's finish? Of course it is, but it's a darn sight better than the alternative of having to fight with a gun that won't fire because of an empty chamber or a bad round.

The finish on the CRG pistol is "Black T" as provided by W.E. Birdsong in Jackson, Mississippi. Black T is a combination polymer and Teflon finish and has received high marks among members of the Special Ops community. The only comment I can voice is the test gun showed slight traces of finish wear on the front edges of the slide after approximately 500 draw presentations from a Milt Sparks Executive Companion holster. It is a simple finish to maintain and seems to work quite well in high humidity atmospheres like that experienced in the American Mid-West during the months of May through August. A simple rub-down with an cloth spotted with a few drops of a good lubricant were all that was necessary to clean the gun and keep its finish spotless.

The front of the grip portion of the frame has been checkered at 20 lines per inch, as is the flat steel mainspring housing on the back. Most custom pistolsmiths checker the front grip area at 30 lines per inch, but the courser 20 lines per inch is more aggressive and more conducive to control if the shooter's hand were covered in blood from either himself or that of his partner. Some may feel this analogy is a little on the dramatic side of things, but remember this is a 'fighting pistol', and to win gunfights you have to train and prepare for the worst possible series of events.

Prepare and Train Hard--To Fight Easy
The ambidextrous safety levers are from Bill Wilson at Wilson Combat. The right side is more subdued than the left side lever, but neither is the wide 'gas pedal' style so favored by all out competition shooters. Additionally, these levers work in a positive on/off manner and do not move easily from the safety engaged position. That is a big plus.

While reliability is a key feature of the Springfield Armory PROFESSIONAL pistol, it can honestly be said that accuracy was an absolute demand. During the FBI trials for the pistol, a storm of controversy arose over the accuracy requirements of the Bureau. The Bureau simply stated the test guns had to produce three 1.25 inch, 10-shot, 25-yard groups using Remington 230-grain Golden Saber hollowpoint ammunition, the issued FBI duty load. Multiple vendors during the FBI trials complained about the accuracy potential of the Remington Golden Sabor round and the 1.25-inch requirement was later relaxed to 1.5 inches, but the fact remains the accuracy requirements were quite high for this RFP.

Part of the accuracy achievement by the S.A. PROFESSIONAL can be directly traced to the 5-inch Nowlin premium barrel and its fit to the slide. Pushing down on the hood of the barrel when the gun is in battery reveals no movement whatsoever. It's like pushing on the top strap of a revolver. It's that solid. The Nowlin barrel features six grooves and a left hand twist with one turn in sixteen inches. Naturally, the frame opening for the barrel has been opened up to improve feeding and the feed ramp has been polished. This is an area where the Black-T finish was beginning to wear precipitously after approximately 800 rounds of test ammunition.

The sights are from Wayne Novak and they are among the very best available. Novak's sights work especially well with tritium inserts and that's what the FBI specified on their pistols. There is a tritium insert on either side of the square cut u-notch of the Novak rear sight and a single insert in front blade. The back face of the 0.125 inches thick front blade is smooth and not serrated. The front sight is mounted to the slide via a cross-cut dovetail and is secure enough no one should worry about front sight loss.

The trigger is a Videcki aluminum unit with a set screw to adjust over-travel. The trigger specification calls for a pull weight of no less than four pounds and no more than six pounds. The test pistol consistently measured 4.25 pounds on the RCBS trigger pull scale. The RFP also called for a quick reset and this has been accomplished through proper adjustment of the over-travel setting. When the sear breaks, the trigger stops moving. Period.

SPECIFICATIONS PROFESSIONAL MODEL .45 ACP PISTOL
IMPORTER:	Springfield Armory
MECHANISM TYPE:	Locked breech, short recoil operated, single action, semi-automatic pistol. Classic John Browning design developed to a high performance level
CALIBER:	.45 ACP
CAPACITY:	8 rounds
BARREL LENGTH:	5.0 inches
OVERALL LENGTH:	8.75 inches
BARREL:	Match grade Nowlin barrel with a six groove, left hand twist with one turn in sixteen inches
WEIGHT, EMPTY:	35 ounces
SAFETIES:	Ambidextrous, frame mounted safeties from Wilson Combat; grip safety is also from Wilson Combat and features the lower "memory" bump
SIGHTS:	Novak Lo Mount rear sight with two tritium powered dots on either side of a large square cut u-notch, front sight features a single tritium dot on a cross-cut dovetail mounted blade
GRIPS:	Hogue, Coco Bolo
FINISH:	Birdsong's Black T over carbon steel slide and frame

The hammer on the Springfield Armory PROFESSIONAL is a 'Delta' hammer from the Springfield Custom Shop, while the grip safety is from Wilson Combat and also features a prominent 'memory bump' at the bottom to insure engagement of the grip safety during fast action drills. Wilson Combat also was the vendor providing the extractor, the ejector and the specified eight round magazine used on the PROFESSIONAL pistol from Springfield Armory.

The Springfield Armory PROFESSIONAL sold to civilians will, like the Bureau guns, each be shipped with five Wilson magazines, each one tuned to the specific gun sold. The theory here is the same as practiced by the FBI Special Agents who are issued these pistols. Load three magazines and carry them with the pistol, use the remaining two as replacements to allow the magazine springs a chance to relax. Mag springs do take a 'set' and thereby raise the possibility of a feeding failure if not routinely emptied and rotated.

Our first test with the Springfield Armory PROFESSIONAL coincided with a periodic qualification for our county Sheriff's department. Deputy Jim Martin soon proved just how superior this pistol is in terms of accuracy as he proceeded to put the contents of his first magazine, eight rounds, through a single hole at a distance of seven yards. I later would test the pistol at a distance of 25 yards, but most police officers aren't really interested in shooting at those distances. What concerns them is how quick and how good the pistol is at 'interview distances', which is the infamous 21 feet or less. (This a point that many civilian shooters lose sight of when discussing law enforcement handguns and their perceived needs for super accuracy.)

When shooting from a sandbag rest I did shoot one five shot group at 25 yards that measured well under two inches and this was with Black Hills 230-gr. JHP ammo, but the truth is this pistol is far more accurate than I am and that pretty much says it all. It would take someone with a skill level of an international Super-Master to really find the limits of this pistol in hand held shooting.

The Springfield Armory PROFESSIONAL 'CRG' pistol is not inexpensive as it has a suggested retail price of $2,395. Quality has never been cheap. In this instance, the retail price simply indicates the level of work performed to meet some of the most demanding specifications any law enforcement pistol has ever been asked to meet. The amazing thing, in my view, is how well these specifications have been met.

As a result, I can honestly say the Springfield Armory PROFESSIONAL pistol is truly a "Professional's Pistol" and leaves me wondering what those 1930's Special Agents Hurt and Winstead would have thought of a pistol as a good as this one.