The response to the pistol was overwhelming, as was the demand for pistols.
As I write this article, that demand has no sign of ceasing.
Then I run a box or two of ball through it for photographs and fun.
In this SA-35 review, the author pulls the pistol apart, thoroughly examines it and shoots hundreds of rounds through it in a range test.
Therefore, this column will cover my initial impressions and the results of the tests.
Let me briefly hit what I consider the high points of the SA-35.
Finish
Springfield gave the SA-35 a matte blue finish.
The author’s personal Springfield SA-35 was used for the testing in this article.
Some of us remember the horrible painted finishes on original guns!
This gun should be blued.
The use of a proven 15-round magazine negates any trivial critiques about capacity.
Springfield Armory loaded the hammer-fired SA-35 handgun with highly desirable features.
My SA-35 results were half of the old standard.
Stocks
Kudos to Springfield for equipping the SA-35 with contoured wood stocks.
The original stocks were not only thick but had no real contour on the edges.
The author made sure he had a good supply of magazines to run the pistol with during his testing.
The SA-35 stocks are very similar to Spegels and taper to meet the frame with no overlap.
Aesthetics
Externally, the finish was void of any machine marks.
The markings were clean and minimal.
Federal’s Syntech ammunition is becoming a favorite for a lot of people – especially folks who spend a lot of time on indoor ranges.
In my opinion, it just would not have looked right!
This is purely cosmetic and are found on originals as well.
Other than that, all machines was crisp and clean.
The only way to see if a gun is reliable is to shoot it. The author did just that, with a wide selection of loads.
The barrel was properly throated and the feed ramp was polished.
However, I wanted to gather as much information on the SA-35 as possible, given certain limitations.
The first stage of the test was to evaluate the SA-35 for reliability.
The SA-35 proved to be very accurate at 25 yards. This exceeds the minimum accuracy needs for defensive work.
I dug way back in the ammo bunker and was able to gather 21 different loads.
These ranged from new production Super Vel 90-gr.
+P to vintage Winchester 115-gr.
The author shot the Springfield Armory SA-35 with a broad range of ammunition loads during testing.
Silvertip and Federal 115-gr.
I also included as many current production, premium loads, as possible.
The test protocol was to shoot 10 rounds from each load.
Who wouldn’t want to shoot groups like this one? This Springfield 9mm was capable of very accurate and precise shooting.
This also reduced the total rounds of premium ammo needed for this part of the evaluation.
The 10 rounds were fired from a bag rest at a B-8 bullseye target, positioned 25 yards downrange.
They were also shot through my ProChronoDLX chronograph.
The hottest load was the Double Tap 80-gr.
TAC-XP, which averaged 1,471 fps.
The Super Vel 158-gr.
Hushpuppy Subsonic load was the slowest at 891 fps.
I had no ammo-related issues during this phase of the test.
To evaluate the accuracy, I measured the best five-shot group.
This mitigated shooter error and was a better reflection of the potential accuracy of the SA-35.
The reader will note the N/A comment on the chart.
There were a couple of times when I failed to replace the target between loads.
About 100 rounds in, we did notice that the rear sight retention screw had worked loose.
This was a quick fix with the proper wrench.
This was the only issue we had with the actual pistol.
To evaluate the extractor and ejection pattern, I fired 15 rounds of 115-gr.
Each round was fired without having a magazine in the gun.
All rounds landed at three to four feet, between 3:30 and 5:00 from the pistol.
The three magazines contained a mixed selection of the loads tested for accuracy.
These loads were all considered premium personal defensive loads.
During this test, we had one failure.
On the second magazine, one Super Vel 90 gr.
+P JHP hung up on the feed ramp and failed to feed.
This was the only malfunction we had in the entire test series.
We did not clean or lube the pistol during this process.
An examination of the frame, slide, and barrel, showed no excessive wear or peening.
This is an easy fix for Springfield on future guns.
Thanks for coming along on the trip.
There will be more to come.
Go to forum thread
