Springfield Armory SA-35 Introductional Pics

[JonInWA]

I had not seen that armorylife article, but had seen something about Jason Burton doing an SA-35 before. So many seem to think that the SA-35 is Turkish junk compared to the FN/Browning. Wonder if they think Jason Burton would associate himself with working on Turkish junk?

I've owned a number of FN/Browning Hi Powers since the '60s and admit that since the first, have been a fan. I used one my first trip to Gunsite, carried one off duty, etc. The FNs are excellent, but when I got an SA-35 over a year ago, I thought overall build quality, machine work, etc. was as good as my FN/Browning guns. Reliability has been flawless with the several types of factory ammo I've used, and accuracy is also as good as my FN/Brownings. Looks like Mr. Burton and Mr. Leatham might not disagree with my evaluation of the SA-35..

Ummm, a couple of things....

Have Mr. Burton or Mr. Leatham personally handled, examined and worked on your specific SA 35? The devil seems to be in the details of these things-particularly over time and roundcount. And I strongly suspect that particularly in the case of Mr. Burton any "endorsement" would be contingent on not just looking at, but replacing and/or modifying components, which probably would come (as it should) at a not insignificant price. If and when that is factored it, it should be compared to the price of a decent used FN/Browning, with minor judicious upgrades (like thoroughly re-springing, for example).

How many rounds have you actually put through it? Anecdotal empirical evidence seems to strongly indicate that things can be going swimmingly until around the 800 roundcount point is reached.

And one further thing: No matter how good these superficially appear (and they do look pretty decent), keep in mind that they're essentially reverse-engineered, without the benefits of the FN blueprints, master schematics, steels, manufacturing/manufacturing techniques and quality control.

I'm not suggesting that a SA35 couldn't be made to work/be reliable/be durable. I'm suggesting, however, that it's unlikely to occur with an out of the box pistol, and that users (as opposed to collectors or shoot-it-once-and-sock-drawer-it owners) might be well advised to have some preemptive work factored into their costing matrix, or choose another route. I would have little issue with getting a new FN High Power, cleaning. lubing, performing some reliability and familiarization firing/qualification, and then comfortably carrying; a SA 35, not so much.

Best, Jon

[Rock185]

John, No those gentlemen have not handled, examined or worked on my specific SA-35. And of course I understand that my one example is not definitive for all the thousands of SA-35 pistols produced. I can only say I've had my example for over a year now, and have something over a thousand assorted factory rounds through it. The reverse engineering must be pretty precise. In mixing and matching some of my Browning and SA-35 components, and a BarSto barrel, it appears that function would be normal if I chose to actually fire these mixed combinations. As expected, the BarSto barrel fit the SA-35 slide more precisely than the factory barrel, with no fitting required. I did shoot the SA-35 with the BarSto barrel. Groups tightened up a bit, but function was normal. I don't recall trying the factory MecGar/SA-35 magazine in any of my Brownings, but the Browning magazines fit and function just fine in the SA-35. Just one longtime Hi Power fan's experience.