@@guntoter_official Read “First Casualty,” a firsthand account of Team Alpha inserted into Afghanistan 17 October 2001. David Tyson was a case officer who survived the prisoner uprising with the aid of his Browning Hi-Power. CIA paramilitary officer Mike Spann wouldn’t be so lucky.
The P-35 was developed for French Military trials. The French never adopted it, instead choosing an inferior French pistol. It was adopted by about 80 other countries.
I found one of these and the walnut grips are FANTASTIC! The point of the SA-35 is that it is a great blend between the new and the old. Also, love the improved safety. It’s a fantastic and fun gun to shoot!
Good video and all points fairly covered - the good and the bad. I agree with the previously mentioned comment about wearing a shirt or having a background that allows for a contrast with the pistol being presented for better visibility. I agree with you that SA, ( and other companies, ) should include at least one or two more magazines with each pistol. SA didn't even include a free magazine, ( a number of companies do, ) with my pistol when it came back from having RMA/warranty work done. Speaking of RMA, my SA35, ( very upper 3K S/N range ) that I bought in April '22, had consistent failures to extract with every magazine fired, after I fired the first 15 rounds without issue. I gave up just before firing 150 rounds. At that time, I had the factory 15 round magazine and five new, 13 round mags, ( 4 Mecgars and one Browning, ) and I was firing factory 124gr and a box of 115gr FMJs. I was also getting the periodic 'dead trigger' - pull trigger, hold trigger, gun fires and release to reset, then begin pulling only to have it stop cold with no further movement. I found that flipping the safety on, then off would remedy this - still annoying as hell. I've had my Browning Tactical Hi Power in .40 S&W since the mid '90s, having bought it while I was stationed in Germany. Great shooting pistol, despite the slightly annoying mag-disconnect, ( and 10 round capacity too! Grrr! ) After getting my pistol back from SA recently, ( they replaced the extractor and barrel, ) I was able to fire 170 nearly trouble free rounds this last week. ( The dead trigger issue still reared its head a couple times. ) I really love how this pistol looks, feels and fires. It's a good shooting pistol - when everything is going right. Like you, I have not tried JHP ammo in mine yet. I wanted just to get it functioning reliably, first. While this pistol looks and feels solid, I no plans at this time to ever carry it in a defensive capacity.
I will definitely take note of the shirt/background point. After listening to that list of issues, I can see how SA is having reputation problems. Mine hasn't demonstrated anything that bad yet, but I'll definitely be watching as the round count gets above 600...
A process point. Wearing a black shirt and holding a dark finish piece in front of it….I really enjoyed what you have to say. Good points, thoughtfully presented.
I just picked the SA 35 up yesterday (July 19) and went to the range and I had failure to feed right out of the box on the secon round. In total I had 3 failures to feed shooting a box of 50 rds of Federal ammo. Worst performance out of any handgun I have owned. Going back to Springfield!!
I, on the other hand, LOVE the wood grips! The original had wood grips; however, I disliked the original grips' contour. The flat grip panels gave me the unpleasant feeling of holding a 2x4. The SA's grips are just rounded enough to prevent thT slab-sided feel.
Have finally got one and have put a couple hundred rds with no issues. Love everything about it but do agree about the sharp edges. I am and have been a 1911 guy forever but as I age Ive noticed that I am becoming a puss. The Springfield SA-35 has been a great option for my 1911's :) Oh ..... I like the wood grips, Im old and a traditionalist. I agree with your review.
Great review. I wonder if wood grips was Springfield trying to give that classic look to bring in more interest? I also don't get Springfield only including a single mag, are they assuming that that hi-power mags are ubiquitous enough on the aftermarket/surplus market to skip on including more?
My assumption on the grips is that they were going for the classic look. And while I do think they look good, it's just not in line with the "modernized" idea they're pitching. As far as the mags, I dug around a little and apparently SA just sends one mag with most of their guns. Even the XDs only come with one, at least from what I saw on their site. Maybe they're shooting for making money off the accessories.
Could you tell what the issue was? Mag? Stop out of spec? Not loving the QC issues I’m hearing about. We’ll see what happens when I hit a higher round count.
@@guntoter_official Something was clearly out of spec. The slide would lock back manually, but the supplied mag refused to engage. Poor QC and very disappointing. I own two FN Mark-3 Hi Powers (9mm and .40) with no issues whatsoever.
@@agoogleuser4410 that is really disappointing. I've had three MkIIIs (9mm FN Israeli surplus, 9mm Browning, .40 FN SFS), and I really loved shooting those. My particular SA-35 seems to be holding up well, but the random QC issues I'm hearing from other buyers worries me.
With the caveat that I'm only 400 rounds in, it really doesn't have any rattle. From other reviewers, I'll definitely be watching around the 600-800 round mark for rattle and the extraction issue.
Valid point, and probably one of the most disappointing things about them. They really didn't have to figure out anything new, just copy a design and make it work. I don't trust it enough yet to carry it, but it is a fun shooter for those of us with nostalgia for the design.
This video has a long disclaimer of about what this video “isn’t.” Well, that was boring so I “jumped off” to a channel that that wasn’t such a bore with this topic. Adios.
