Quack's Gun Stuff: A Tale of 3 Springfield's

Well i had the day off (when i originally posted this) and decided to finally take some pics of the 3 different level's of guns Springfield sells. I guess I could've borrowed a friends Mil-Spec to add to this too.

I used the TGO-1 form the Custom Shop, the Trophy Match and the Loaded for this comparison. They are visually similar guns (target & FO sights, magwells, and flat triggers) but are different levels of guns that Springfield produces. This thread is just to show the differences that one is getting for the money that they are paying. I frequently post the Springfield vs. Springfield article when someone wants to know the difference between the Trophy Match, Loaded and Mil-Spec. I'm a visual type of guy, which also shows that i grew up in Missouri (the "Show Me" state) and thought pictures can show the details better than words.

The TGO-1 is a Custom Shop gun which less than 160 (to my knowledge) have been produced. The last one I've seen for sale was made 6/25/2010 and was number 154. It's a really tight gun and is the tightest gun that I own.

The Trophy Match is "high-end" production gun. What's this mean? It receive's more attention to fitting, but not as much as a semi-custom.

The Loaded is a production gun. Most people buy guns in this category. The parts are mass produced and has less attention to fitting than the other 2 groups.

The outward appearance of the guns is pretty much the same at first glance. The main difference is the TGO-1's finish and lack of FCS.

From the shooter's perspective the look similar as well.

The TM's slide is serrated on top

Taking a closer look, you can see the difference in fit. One can see that the Loaded's extractor isn't flush with the back of the slide (and slightly clocked) and the slides to frame fit also vary. I should note that the Loaded was tighter when it was new, but after thousands of rounds it has loosened up a little. The Trophy Match was bought used (don't know the round count) is slightly loose as well.

TGO-1

Trophy Match

Loaded

The beavertail fitting is nice, and they are similar, but you can see that a little more care was taken with the TGO-1 with the blending at the top. These photo's where taken with the GS depressed.

TGO-1

Trophy Match

Loaded

I added a magwell to the Loaded, but the TGO-1 and Trophy Match had them as standard parts. You can see the difference in the blending and what a drop-in magwell would look like.

Pulling the slides off, you can see the different detail's taken between each one. I have the most rounds through the Loaded, and the wear shows.

Loaded, Trophy Match, TGO-1

An interesting note is that the Loaded didn't have the last 3 digits scribed into the barrel. I'm not sure if this is true on all the Loaded's or if it was because it was a ramped barrel.

There are other little details that were on the TGO-1 such as the digits on the slide stop, bushing and even the barrel link pin.

The TGO-1 has a "hidden leaf cut" for the rear sight, while the other 2 didn't.
This show's more work that is needed when they machine the slide.

Lastly is barrel fit. It should be no surprise that the TGO-1 locks up tight, while the TM & Loaded both have slight side to side movement when locked up. Another thing that i would add is that the Loaded had a loose fit bushing barrel, which resulted in poor accuracy. I had fit a new barrel bushing and the accuracy greatly improved.