Description
The Springfield Garrison Target 45 ACP is the same traditional Government pattern 1911 with one change that matters more than its price suggests: the rear sight adjusts. Fixed sights are fine until your preferred load prints three inches left, and then they are a gunsmithing problem. This one you fix with a screwdriver.
Why Adjustable Sights Belong On A Forty Five
Point of impact in .45 ACP moves noticeably with bullet weight. A 185 grain match load and a 230 grain hardball do not land in the same place at 25 yards out of the same gun, and neither necessarily lands where a fixed sight was regulated. With an adjustable rear sight you zero for the load you actually shoot instead of holding off and hoping.
That flexibility is worth the most to people who shoot the gun a lot. Bullseye competitors, anyone loading their own ammunition, and shooters who like to test different defensive loads all benefit directly. It also helps if you simply want to confirm the gun is capable of what the match barrel promises rather than wondering whether the sights are the problem.
The tradeoff is honest and worth naming. An adjustable rear sight has more parts than a fixed one and sits slightly proud of the slide, so it can snag on a holster mouth or a cover garment and it is marginally more vulnerable to a hard knock. For a range and competition gun that is a non issue. For a hard use carry pistol a fixed rear is more sensible.
The Rest Of The Gun Is Deliberately Traditional
The barrel is 5 inches of forged stainless steel, match grade, with a 1:16 twist, fitted tightly to the bushing and slide rather than dropped in the way GI production guns were. That fit is most of what determines mechanical accuracy in a 1911, and it is the reason an adjustable sight is worth putting on this gun rather than a base model. Pairing precise sights with a loose barrel would be pointless.
Slide and frame are both forged carbon steel, blued rather than coated, which puts 39 ounces in your hand before you load it. That weight is why .45 ACP feels like a push here instead of a snap, and it is also what steadies the gun for slow fire at distance. Bluing looks better than any coating when new and develops an honest patina, but it wants wiping down and a light film of oil if the gun lives somewhere humid.
Thinline wood grips narrow the grip circumference compared with standard panels, which helps shooters with smaller hands and gives the pistol its classic look. The GI style recoil system keeps a plug and short guide rod rather than a full length rod, so field stripping needs no tools and replacement springs cost almost nothing and are available anywhere.
Springfield Garrison Target 45 ACP Specifications
- Caliber: .45 ACP
- Model: PX9420-ADJ
- Barrel: 5 inch forged stainless steel, match grade barrel, 1:16 twist
- Slide: Forged carbon steel, blued
- Frame: Forged carbon steel, blued
- Rear sight: Adjustable rear sight
- Front sight: White dot
- Grips: Thinline wood grips
- Recoil system: GI style recoil system
- Magazine: One 7 round magazine included
- Weight: 39 ounces
- Overall length: 8.6 inches
- Height: 5.5 inches
- Trigger: Single action 1911 pattern
- Finish: Blued throughout
One magazine ships with the pistol, which is thin at this price. Buy two or three quality spares before your first serious range session, because magazine quality is the single biggest reliability variable in the 1911 platform and cheap aftermarket magazines cause more stoppages than any other factor.
Why Buyers Choose The Springfield Garrison Target 45 ACP
This is the version of the Garrison built for people who care where the bullets land. A fitted match barrel and a sight you can actually zero are a matched pair, and together they let you find the load the gun likes and then shoot it to its potential.
Thirty nine ounces of forged steel makes .45 ACP genuinely comfortable. The heavy bullet moves slowly, the gun is heavy, and the slide sits low over your hand, so recoil is a push rather than a snap. For slow fire at distance that mass also steadies the sight picture in a way a lighter pistol cannot.
Traditional construction has practical value. No rail means the enormous back catalog of 1911 holsters fits, GI recoil parts cost almost nothing, and a forged frame and slide carry the design through decades of shooting. This is a gun people keep rather than trade.
The honest limitations: an adjustable rear sight is a range and competition feature, and it snags more readily than a fixed sight on a carry gun. Seven rounds is modest capacity, and .45 ACP costs more per round than 9mm. Thirty nine ounces is a real commitment on a belt. And there is no rail for a weapon light, which matters for a dedicated home defense pistol.
Who Should Buy The Springfield Garrison Target 45 ACP
This is aimed at the range shooter, the bullseye competitor and the handloader who wants to zero precisely for a chosen load. It also suits anyone who simply wants the most accurate configuration Springfield offers in this line without moving to a custom shop pistol. Home defense works for shooters comfortable without a mounted light.
Concealed carry buyers are better served by a fixed sight Commander length model, and anyone who wants higher capacity or a weapon light should look at a railed or double stack pistol. Shooters new to the 1911 should budget for quality spare magazines and instruction on the thumb and grip safeties.
Learn more about this 1911 pistol from the manufacturer, or see more firearms available at MAG5 Firearms.
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