New member. One question.

[DHoback]

Hello everyone. Have been reading the site for some time now and finally registered. I have an SP01 on order. I was unable to find one locally to feel, but I did get my hands on a 97B. Are these two pistols very similar in feel, balance, trigger etc.? Or, are they completely different in these aspects?

BTW, what a great site you guys have maintained.

[William Chase]

I haven't shot a 97b, but I have held one. The balance is similar to the SP-01, but the grip felt like a much bigger gun. That is, I can handle the SP-01 just fine, but the 97b seemed just to big for my long-fingered smallish hands. Hard to reach the trigger.

Edited To Add: In full disclosure, for my USPSA shooting, I did get some slightly thinner grips for my SP-01 so my trigger finger placement would be more uniform.

Bill

[RioGrande481]

Hi,

The 97b does have what seems like a much larger grip. I almost bought one but could not find a blued one to buy... then a Springfield XD got in the way... perhaps I will still add a 97b to my collection of .45s. The SP-01 seemed more front heavy than a 97b - a benefit of the extended dust cover with tactical rail. However, handling either gun with a fully loaded magazine feels a lot more balanced.

The SP-01 is great. I have a Tactical which had a trigger job by Angus. After seeing the photos of two-tone and hard chromed SP-01s I am tempted to buy another and send it off to Tripp. It looks great in hard chrome with wood grips!

[DHoback]

Thank you for the replies. The 97B felt good to me. But I have huge hands, so large frame weapons dont bother me. I had no desire for the 97B though. I have my 1911's for low capacity 45. The SP01 is going to fill the high capacity niche very nicely.

[DHoback]

Went and picked up my SP01 last night. Man this thing is sweet. I love how it points... perhaps better than my 1911. The trigger is horrible. That will have to be remedied. I am really impressed with the overall fit and finish. The slide to fram fit is super tight. Cant wait to take it for a spin this weekend.

[Planetar]

Dhoback, if it is available in your region, you might also try SP-01 Shadow. It is different (newer too?) version of SP-01 and has slightly different and in my opinion, improved trigger.

[DHoback]

To me the shadow just seems like an overpriced SP-01. Sure the trigger is better, but a trigger job fixes that. Even if you had to have a smith to do the trigger(which I don't), you would still be under the Shadow's price tag.

[Kelly]

I am about in the same boat as you, however I sure would like the shadow, I HATE that goofy hole in my slide where I took the FPB out.

My parts should be in shortly to "fix" the trigger, but if I hadn't been so impatient I would have waited for the extra money and got the Shadow, which already had the hammer, sights, and no FPB. Oh well, maybe I'll just have to save up and get another one, but I doubt Angus Hobdell will have any left then, plus I hate dealing with begging someone to do a transfer around here.

Anyway, I am impressed with the fit, finish, and workmanship on my SP-01, it has a good feel and it is all steel, nice and heavy up front. I wouldn't call it a bad trigger compared to any other production gun, in fact it is quite good, but I know it can be so much better with just a few tweeks, and downright awesome with a SA trigger. Plus it just looks cool!

Shadow is $750, you can buy an SP01 around here for $500 out the door. adding the sights, springs, hammer to get it up to shadow specs puts another $150 into it. Of course you can always order a custom with all the work already done if you dont like to tinker (I do). Still, it would be cool to have it stamped "Shadow" and not have that annoying hole. My SP01 has extended mag release, extended slide release and night sights, is this normal?

anyway, Congratulations!

[Kelly]

Oops, just noticed, the shadow does NOT have the different hammer, but it does have a larger safety, so the price to make an SP01 into a shadow would still be close to $150?, I don't know exactly what the larger safety costs though, I wouldn't mind having that. I can't edit my posts? so I am forced to add on...