I thought it would be interesting to compare side by side performance between these two optic equipped and light-railed guns. While the 1911 feels good in the hand, the P35 feels better. The 1911 trigger is better. Does any of that matter? Will they both shoot the same, or wildly different? I am curious as to what they do in my hands across a couple of range sessions. Why? Steve often asked me, “If you could only choose one?”
Okay, we all know how this is going to go. They will shoot about the same. Moreover, what works best for me might not be the same for you. However, I was itching to shoot the Girsan P35 in the middle of trying to put some rounds through the TRP, so here you go.
The 50 yard accuracy on this day was better than the initial testing I did with the Girsan HP and I attribute that to the bag and standing upright instead of being hunched over a table. . It is not as good as a fitted 1911 barrel but then again, you can just drop a new barrel into this gun with the same performance. More importantly, I can live with 3.75″ accuracy at 50 yards. The 2.25″ group with the TRP is just icing.
I decided to run both of these guns on a couple of courses that I have not run in quite some time. I shot them on back to back days, running the GHP first. I had just changed the optic out to the Holosun EPS Carry because the 507K died. I had been doing several short dry practice sessions with the GHP and felt I was tuned up for it. I should have done some more dry practice.
The heavy 5″ slide on the 1911 returned so fast that I was shooting behind the gun for the entire course. The difference, for me, between the GHP and TRP is really the big ragged hole in the bottom of X and 10 ring, as well as the time on the last stage for the 1911.
If you have ever seen the movie Tin Cup, where Kevin Costner plays a golfer, then you may recognize a quote that has always resonated with me when I am running a new gun or I have not practiced in a while. “My swing is like an unfolding lawn chair!” My draws, reloads, trigger prep, and just about everything else were not coming together, it seemed, with the TRP. The GHP ran as I expected, though it was not a great shooting day.
The two guns shot exactly the same score on the target and the 1911 was but 1 exact second quicker across all the stages. I will say that the first 6 rounds were shot in almost the same amount of time, with the GHP being slightly quicker at 3.57 vs 3.59. However, all 6 of the 1911 shots were in the X ring. I sped up after that and the 1911 was walking away until I fumbled the spare magazine on the reload!
The Hi Power has a beautiful light feel to the muzzle that Steve would say, “Points like it was meant for me.” I totally agree. I can pick up a Hi Power, close my eyes, aim it at something, and open my eyes to find the sights on the target and those sights will have equal light/ equal height. The other side of that light muzzle feel is that the gun dances around a little more when firing multi-shot strings, compared to the 1911. When the bank vault slide closes on the TRP it is back on target and if you do not have your wrist locked, it will push the muzzle down past the initial point of aim. It points just like Ole’ Slab Sides always has, which is great, but it is not alive in the hand like a Hi Power.
If I were back in 1995 and about to attend the police academy, knowing what I know now about how to get 1911s to run with 9mm…I would send a Hi Power off to Karl Sokol (RIP) to have a beavertail welded on. You could choose one of several other smiths to do the work but I would have liked to have had a gun made by him.
I might could argue that I shoot the 1911 better but I believe it is primarily a matter of practice. I spent a lot of time on 1911s and comparatively little on Hi Powers.
To bolster my take in this discussion, I grabbed a spare Glock 17 and the practice magazines for my Glock 48. I ran the Armada standards with both of them, the G48 first…because I was wearing it.
If we used the Armada standards for me to choose a carry gun, then the G17 would win hands down. However, that is primarily due to the majority of my practice in the last 10 years being with a Glock.
If it were completely up to me, I believe I could get a Hi Power set up the way I want it, dedicate the practice time to it, and score higher in a few months than with the G17.
I enjoy the Hi Power as much now as I do the 1911, even with the 6lb trigger of the GHP vs the 4.25lb trigger in the TRP. This change for me is primarily due to the extended tang on the Girsan. The HP is also lighter and has more ammo on board. The Armada Standards images above show the 1911 with 2 empty magazines after a 20 round course. Meanwhile the P35 still has half a mag left after the same course. If I knew then what I know now…