Springfield Armory SA-35 Introductional Pics

[Tokarev]

So I just picked this up from my local dealer. This is the first live specimen we've seen.

Being that the original P-F thread is pushing 800 posts, I thought it might be better to just start a new thread. Lots of non-specific stuff in that thread, anyway.

So here's the gun as taken from the box. I have done nothing with it yet other than dry fire it a few times and look it over.

The safety is a bit mushy when moved from safe to fire. The trigger is fairly light but does have some creep and crunch. Reset is typically Hi Power aka pretty indistinct.

Grips fit well. Frame to slide fit is good. Overall the gun appears free of machine marks and looks nice. Note the one-piece barrel. It lacks the index lug up top. This is also missing on late production FN and Turkish guns.

More when I can. Probably not likely to have any actual shooting news until next weekend.

Happy Holidays!

Edit--tapatalk didn't seem to upload these in the order I wanted. Ugh. I don't feel like rearranging them. Sorry.



























And for conversation, here is a Novak rear installed by Karl Sokol compared to the SA-35 rear.

[Tokarev]

Tisas and SA sights/dovetail cuts.







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[Stephanie B]

Am I seeing it correctly; the barrel looks pre-rusted from the factory.

[Tokarev]

Am I seeing it correctly; the barrel looks pre-rusted from the factory.

Nope. I think we're seeing the reddish color of whatever oil they're using at the factory combined with lighting and exposure idiosyncrasies off my phone.

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[Tensaw]

Well you are obviously crazy for buying this thing after what went on in the other thread. I will be watching with interest for reports as you get rounds through it. (Mine will be getting ordered in the next month or so.)

[MattyD380]

Thanks for sharing. Curious to hear your take on it.

[Tokarev]

So I tried a couple other mags in the gun. It comes with one 15rd mag made. This mag seats easily and drops free. It also locks the slide open without issue.

Also test fit in the gun is one FN marked 13rd and two unmarked 13rd mags. All three also fit and fall free smoothly and lock the slide open.

I will use these mags for live fire when I get some range time. Plan for today is to take the gun apart and give it a good wipe down followed by a light oiling. Not that this is probably necessary but it won't hurt anything either. I also should throw a trigger pull gauge on and see what we get.

Overall impressions are still good. Fit and finish seems fine. The trigger is decent. Not great but certainly usable. Only complaints at this point are the sharp edges around the grip tang and thumb safety. Other owners have complaints here as well. SA should consider a light radius to these parts before finish and assembly.

More soon...


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[Tokarev]

Behind on so many things but I did finally put 50 rounds through the pistol. Ammo used was a mix of aluminum and brass cases.

No failures of any kind save one stovepipe while running the gun with no magazine in. This only happened once in the five rounds I fired this way.

Sights are correct for windage but the gun shoots a little low for my taste. At 10 yards the gun shoots to the center of the front sight's white dot and not to the top of the front sight blade. This is with 147gr ammo. I'll try other weights and other distances later.

Mag used was the factory "SA" Mec-Gar. I will also try additional magazines later.

Overall I'd say we're off to a good start. Nowhere near as many rounds as I wanted to have fired but better than nothing.

General comments:

The underside of the grip tang is kind of sharp but I'm not abbraded and the hammer didn't bite me.

Trigger is okay. Nothing fantastic. Good enough for most uses.

The grips are kind of too round. I prefer more of a rectangular shape.

The front sight is leaching bluing salts. There is kind of a white crust forming where the sight is mated into the dovetail.

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[Tokarev]

Here is a gun owned and worked over a bit by Tiger McKee.

Some dehorn aka carry bevel work was done. The thumb safety was replaced with a later model FN part. The hammer was bobbed and the extractor was replaced.






Afterwards he had the pistol parkerized.



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[JonInWA]

Now run it for 1,000 rounds and get back to us, please.

Best, Jon