Sig P211 GTO review: why Hop still doesn't care about 2011s

Key points: Sig P211 GTO review

• Hop's case against 2011s is cost and practicality: they are expensive, and concealed carry is the one handgun role worth optimizing for.
• The P211 is mechanically a 1911, with the swinging-link Browning short recoil system, but it is built around a true double stack 9mm magazine, so the grip is slimmer than a widened .45 frame.
• It takes P320-pattern magazines, but factory 320 base plates won't fit past the magwell; compatible 320 mags are still cheaper and generally more reliable than 2011 magazines.
• The trigger is a series 80 design with a firing pin block, decent by 2011 standards but short of the series 70 Staccato triggers Hop has tried.
• On the stock 8 lb spring the pistol ran 2,500 to 3,000 rounds without a failure but felt soft and slow to settle; a 12 lb spring felt great and made it unreliable, and a 10 lb spring shot better but turned picky with cheap 115 grain ball.
• The GTO's compensator puts it in USPSA Open division, where 2011s are less at home than in Limited Optics; other shooting sports don't penalize it.
• Verdict: fast and fun to shoot, but Hop would pick a bigger Glock for competition and would never carry a 2011, the P211 GT4 included.

About this Gun Review video

Sig P211 GTO review from Hop, a self-described 2011 skeptic, on a friend's pistol that Sig did not supply. Sig's double stack 1911 takes P320-pattern magazines (factory 320 base plates won't clear the magwell), runs a series 80 trigger with a firing pin block, and went 2,500 to 3,000 rounds without a failure on the stock 8 lb spring. Hop tests 10 and 12 lb recoil springs, flags the compensator's USPSA Open division problem, and rules the 2011 out as a carry gun.

Transcript: Sig P211 GTO