U.S.A. –-(Ammoland.com)- There are ways to honor a classic while making it modern. Modernity itself is, in many parts of our culture, represented with images and objects of complete degeneracy and moral bankruptcy, all thanks to the rising tide of cultural Marxism and destructive progressivism. What does this have to do with a gun review, you may ask? Well, it has everything to do with it.
Today we are often, sometimes hourly, confronted with the literal insanity of our world. We have a side of truth and reason, which we are on, and we honor our traditions and uphold the morals that we know to be good and right. Then, lamentably, there is the side that seeks to wipe out all that we stand for and replace it with a bitter mediocrity in which everyone is equal in victimhood and misery.
The gun world is at the center of this chaos. We have a duty to uphold and defend our rights and traditions against assault. The very objects we have, our guns, are sacred and are the tangible realization of the dreams of our founders. To disrespect the gun is to disrespect the man, and Sig Sauer offers no offense with their 1911 Fastback Emperor Scorpion .45ACP. See, I told you this was about guns.
The 1911 is a heavily reviewed gun. It would be fair to say that there are probably more in circulation than most other pistols made and they are about as American as apple pie. When I decided to review this gun, it wasn’t without some doubt. A 1911 review is like low-hanging fruit, or as my friend said to me at the range, “How do you review this? It’s like reviewing a pizza. Everyone’s had one and everyone has their favorites. You can’t change people’s minds.” Well, being an expert on both pizza and guns, I decided to give it a go.
What Sig Sauer managed to do with this gun is nothing short of extraordinary. A 1911 is a gun that has such tradition and such heritage in our culture that altering it in a tasteless way is seen as an affront. In fact, I’m pretty sure that you may damn your eternal soul by putting Punisher grips on one. Every alteration on this pistol that deviates from the original model has a purpose and is pure function. The problem with so many others out there is that they have cosmetic upgrades, multi-thousand dollar pricetags, and spotty reliability. I put close to 1,000 rounds through this pistol and it was nothing short of awesome in every category.
The slide and frame of the weapon are both made of extremely rugged PVD-coated stainless steel. In the day and age of polymer framed guns, a real-steel real-deal setup like this feels solid and hefty. The slide-to-frame fit is tight with no rattle or movement. The color? I like it. I have never really been a fan of all-black guns. I prefer my weapons to have some character, but not too much. The tan color isn’t a new thing and has really been all the rage for the last ten years or more. I do appreciate that it is more of a bronze as opposed to the coyote tan I’ve seen before.
One of the most noticeable- and ergonomic features- is the fastback curve on the grip. Holding it side-by-side with a standard 1911 is an interesting experience. They feel like two totally different guns. The way the rounded grip fills the hand makes it feel very organic. Speaking of how it feels in the hand, the grips, while aggressive in texture, aren’t painful. I’ve used some grips in the past that are like holding onto razor blades. When you place your hand on the grip, it feels firm and steady, which no doubt contributes to the great accuracy this gun can generate.
Additional features include an ambidextrous safety, a crisp single-action trigger, a shorter and handier 4.2” barrel, external extractor, and bright SIGLITE night sights. The finish on these features is black.
I took this great pistol to the range (many, many times) and recorded data over my Oehler 35P chronograph. Testing was done at 45 degrees Fahrenheit while five feet from the muzzle. Groups are an average of three, five-shot groups at 15 yards from a rest. I was happy to test a variety of ammo in this gun, including some great new stuff.
Black Hills 135gr Honey Badger———————————————1196fps, .90”
Lehigh Defense 120gr Xtreme Defense———————————–1319fps, .75”
Hornady Critical Defense 220gr +P—————————————–977fps, 1.1”
Sig Sauer 230gr V-Crown—————————————————–885fps, 1.75”
Sig Sauer 230gr FMJ———————————————————–850fps, 1.5”
Since this gun was so accurate and I essentially wasted my time at 15 yards proving that that, I decided to move out to 25 yards and then 50 yards on steel plates. The 25 yard targets saw groups open up, but not my a very large margin. The ammo I have been using with Lehigh bullets, such as their own ammo and the Honey Badger line from Black Hills, have demonstrated superior velocity, low recoil, and impressive accuracy. I am a huge fan of these bullets now and you’d do yourself a favor by checking them out if you haven’t already.
At 50 yards making hits on steel was easy, especially with the Lehigh bullets. I noticed no lack of hits with Sig ammo or Hornady at 50 yards on my 10” plate either. The gun handles recoil like a champ and sends brass flying out with gusto. I had zero failures to feed or fire at any point during testing. The thing is almost describable boring with how regular hits were. I had no surprises with it and, in the end I was glad for it. The Fastback 1911 ES is a gun meant for everyday carry and shot frequently.
Speaking of carry, I did in fact get this gun in some leather and walked around with it for a good many miles. The rounded frame is a joy and the shorter barrel makes it unobtrusive. The only downsides to this gun are what makes it so good. A 1911 is a heavy gun and .45ACP is a powerful caliber. It is reliable and accurate, but only holds nine rounds total. This isn’t a place where I will get into the whole carry gun debate and whether or not 9mm is better or whatever. The Sig Sauer Fastback 1911 Emperor Scorpion is a modern .45 that delivers superb performance and features while not compromising on tradition and history.
Those things are more important to me than weight.
I think, at the end of the day, the 1911 will always be a sacred emblem of our freedoms. The modern age we live in sees people tearing down monuments to our past because they are suddenly considered racist or bigoted. These radicals seek to erase these displays and traditions not because they are really offended, but rather because they wish to rewrite history in their own image. The biggest threat to their success is what the storied 1911 represents, and that it cannot be erased.
Knife in the feature images is an excellent ESEE Camp-Lore RB3.
Special Thanks to:
- Sig Sauer
- Hornady
- Lehigh Defense
- Black Hills Ammo
About Josh Wayner
Josh Wayner has been writing in the gun industry for five years. He is an active competition shooter with 14 medals from Camp Perry. In addition to firearms-related work, Josh enjoys working with animals and researching conservation projects in his home state of Michigan.
I appreciated your review. I bought a Scorpion, “Sig Sauer 1911CAR-45-SCPN “Scorpion”. I liked it a lot but when then produced the same gun in my preferred caliber, 357Sig, I bought one and promptly bought another. Interesting, to me, they came from sources over 1,000 miles apart, but are only two serial number apart. I had one puzzle. The guns hit two inches below point of aim. Every P-series Sig I owned or was issued, and three other Sig 1911-pattern guns, hit to a 6-o-clock hold. I called Sig. I was told “all” Sig pistols are made with a “combat… Read more »
I think Frank is describing himself.
Yeah I’m black. Trump thinks McCain is a loser for being captured. Along that vein I say tear down all war monuments to traitors, successionists and Losers. The OP sullied an otherwise good review with his partisan political opinions so I call bullshit.
Why hasn’t the 357sig made it out yet? The round is a beast, I was under the impression that was going be offered up in a number of the newer models?
I saw a bunch of numbers in here, but none of them were followed by the word “ounces” or preceded by a dollar sign. Did I miss something? Or is the 1911 Trust hiding something? (The tentacles of Big 1911 reach everywhere!) So, a 1911 with a backstrap curved at the butt like a Glock’s. Quelle modern! Some serious questions: Will 1911 makers ever dump the grip safety? The Detonics I carried on duty back in 1981 didn’t have one, and the gun was perfectly safe to carry, much like JMB’s real best design, the Hi-Power. And will a 1911… Read more »
I have the full frame SIG 1911 and I love it so I’m sure this one will end up in my collection
Hmmmm…. if only Sig would introduce a 9mm version of this beautiful firearm…
That would Solve Alot of guilty conscience for me….Since I have never bought anything but a Colt or Browning semi-auto that I didn’t sell later because I’m so used to the 1911 features…Heck , I even put a ambidextrous safety on my Hi-Power to make it feel more 1911ish….Didn’t tho…Lol
I want one.
That last bit about tearing monuments was pretty shoehorned. I could see if we were going to rewrite WW1 and 2 and make the Nazis look like the good guys (as many neo-Nazis would love) how your comment would make sense. But don’t correlate one of the most popular handguns in history with a racist minority group of whites, please.
Go away……your take on this is rediculouse ……
Learn how to spell dumbass
You sound like a Black Lives Matter fan. Or maybe you’re an Hispanic or a fruitcake. Could be just a jerk with a chip on his/her shoulder.
People like you make everything sound racist with your own “shoehorned” comments “Racist minority group of whites” why does it need to be this way? It’s bullshit that today’s society tears down monuments or changes the name of mascots etc. because people all of a sudden get so Butt-Hurt about everything little thing, why didn’t it bother all of these people in the past??
It did. It always has. Not butt hurt about every little thing. If people take issue because of either their legacy of being affected, or their ongoing slights, because of a culture or symbolism of iconic imagery such as monuments to traitors, why should anyone not so affected feel umbrage at those affected calling foul? America is chock full and overflowing with American cultural and symbolic imagery reflecting our collective celebration of sustaining the America idea: Arlington and Normandy Cemeteries, Freedom Tower, holes in the ground in Afghanistan and Iraq, jazz and rock & roll, Marines, Gettysburg, Monticello, others. Maturity… Read more »
I was able to shoot one last weekend at a demo day. I found the exact things the author did. Very nice to shoot, accurate, and the fastback feels like it is made for your hand. It is a feature that should be offered on more models.
Alright enough with the BS don’t know what some of you ate to make you so ignorant. It’s a 1911 45 acp yes with a back strap safety that’s what it is. Sig makes many models to choose from in which some of you are describing and wanting. IT IS AN UPDATED 1911 45ACP CARRY. with that said. I’m all about accuracy because the way some of you are talking I might need it. It looks nice and I’m all about the rounded frame, being that I own a few nightmares, in which they no longer make and I really… Read more »
@TimVA Y, Of course you are aware that you are replying to a year old string of comments. And we are all … so … much smarter, now. Except the ones that don’t come to this site anymore by choice, stop loss redeployment or prison sentence. And then theres the ones that died. So much can happen in a year.