Rifleman Review: Springfield Armory Garrison 1911

At the tail end of 2021, Springfield Armory rolled out its Garrison collection of M1911 pistols. These guns featured classic M1911 styling and were built on forged frames with forged slides and barrels, providing an ultra-durable, yet still affordable, M1911 for enthusiasts. Watch our "American Rifleman Television" Rifleman Review segment above for the full story on the Garrison.


"You can get the Garrisons in .45 ACP or as we have in this case, you can order your garrison in 9 mm Luger," said American Rifleman Editor in Chief Brian Sheetz. "Now you might say, 'Why would I want a 9 mm 1911? While a lot of people find a 9 mm 1911 as being one of the easiest-to-shoot guns, most-pleasant-to-shoot guns because you still get the mass of a full-size pistol, but you get the benefit of having a somewhat easier-to-shoot cartridge out of that same mass."

The Springfield Armory Garrison is not only offered in several chamberings, it can also be had in several different finishes, too. All stainless-steel models are available, as well as carbon-steel guns with hot-blued finishes. All models of the Garrison are built with skeletonized hammers and triggers, and the trigger shoe includes a serrated face along with an overtravel adjustment screw. The guns also include an extended beavertail and a checkered mainspring housing.

"This is also a pistol design in 9 mm Luger that benefits from a fully supported ramp to the barrel, in which the ramp is mostly integral with the barrel, and then that sits into the frame in such a way that, when these cartridges come off of the follower, they are guided into the barrel chamber by the ramp that is part of, again, the barrel itself," Sheetz said. "So there's really nothing that can go wrong there."

In keeping with the Garrison's classic construction and styling, there's a traditional left-side, push-button magazine release, along with a single-sided slide release and extended thumb safety. The Garrison also includes a set of traditional, three-dot iron sights.

"You look at the features of the Garrison, and you say to yourself, 'This is a pistol where I think Springfield tried to give you every dollar's worth of value that it could in terms of features, no matter which one you get,'" Sheetz concluded. "You're getting one of the very best examples of a modern M1911 handgun."

To watch complete segments of past episodes of American Rifleman TV, go to americanrifleman.org/artv. For all-new episodes of ARTV, tune in Wednesday nights to Outdoor Channel 8:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. EST.