Perfect Pair...Sig 1911 XO & RCS Review

[Seabee CO]

I have never felt strongly enough to review a pistol, but have to put the word out about SIG's 1911 XO and RCS. I started out looking for a quality 1911 with only the features that I wanted and nothing that I didn't. I wanted a skeleton hammer/beaver tail w/memory bump, front 25 lpi and rea 20 lpi checkering, Novak sights and a larger (but not obnoxious) safety. More importantly, what I didn't want was front serations (why?), full length guide rod (the original design didn't need fixing) and no rail (hanging lights or lasers off of a pistol is just plain silly).

I liked the Ruger SR1911 but got very tired of waiting to get my hands on one. I am sure glad Ruger had delivery problems becuase my dealer (Quinby's) showed me the SIG XO. Wow, everything I wanted as described above and at a decent price. I took the XO out to the range and it really impressed me. Accurate and reliable (no issues in the first 350 rounds). The XO (8+1 capacity) is a full size, all steel, 1911. Great to carry while walking around but not to wear in a holster seated. The grip jams me in the kidney while driving. I wanted a smaller sized 1911 but did not like the Commander (grip was still too long) and I always heard that the Officer's model had reliability issues with the 3.5 inch bbl.

I was so impressed with the XO's performance that I took a look at SIG's RCS. The RCS is SIG's answer to Colt's CCO. The RCS (7+1 capacity) mates the Commander 4.25 inch bbl with the Officer's model 3.5" ALUMINUM frame. IT JUST FEELS RIGHT that I purchased it and took it to the range. Just like the XO, very accurate, reliable but most importantly it carries great! I have put 250 round through it without issue. I will put 200+ more through it before it becomes my regular CCW pistol. The RCS is fully dehorned (they advertise that the RCS comes out of their custom shop) and has Novak tritium night sights. Both the XO and RCS have external extractors which to me are a better design than the internal extractor.

SIG has shaken out the bugs from their original GSR 1911 series and their current product of 1911's are top notch. I have posted pictures for a size comparison between the two.

[Rex Havoc]

That's a real nice pair there.