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Sig Sauer 1911 C3 No. 19GS0031 45 ACP

Courtesy, Gun Tests

We thought the Sig Sauer looked a bit cleaner than the Colt CCO. The C3 moniker comes from “Concealed Carry Compact,” Sig tells us. There’s an even more rounded version that we haven’t seen yet. We liked the thin wood grips, the finish details, and the accuracy.

An the opinion of many experienced shooters, the 45 Auto is the caliber of choice in self-defensive pistols. However, most of these guns, like the classic 1911 Colt, are big and heavy. Therefore, they often get left behind for a lighter piece, which generally is of lower power. If you still want the power of a 45, why not go to a smaller and lighter gun?

Some of us had come to believe the Colt CCO was the finest 45 available. However, the last version of it, called the Gunsite number O9840CGP, is now discontinued. But fear not, the Sig Sauer 1911 C3 is here, and is an even better, more refined version of the CCO. And it’s cheaper.

Our first impression of the Sig C3 was that someone had stolen the CCO we had on hand, and had copied it in great detail. Only the engraving was missing. Then we noticed some differences, and on inspection these became very significant, entirely in the favor of Sig Sauer. First up were the thin grips. After handling the CCO we grasped the C3 with its grip of slim, fancy-wood panels, and immediately liked it. These make the gun feel smaller and lighter, and about half as thick as the CCO. The slim grip panels were checkered in a pleasing pattern that left smooth wood under the thumb and index finger.

The mainspring housing was checkered steel, not plastic. The frame also had a finely checkered front strap, something lacking—and needed—on the CCO. The well-done handle of the C3 put the Colt in second place, said our test crew. The entire gun had been dehorned, just like all the aftermarket work done to the CCO by its owner. There were no offending sharp edges anywhere. There was an external extractor behind the ejection port. The slide

Courtesy, Gun Tests

The CCO, on top, has its integral rib cross-hatched by a metal-checkering file to cut glare. This works well, though you can’t tell it from this photo. The Sig Sauer slide has a smooth, plain top that showed off the excellent metal finish. Both guns had the front sights set into dovetails. The Sig had a retaining roll pin through it.

The dovetailed front sight of the Sig was not as slanted at its rear as that of the CCO, so we expected it to grab on the front of our Bachman Slide. It did. Ordinary holsters won’t have that problem. The rear sight was a Novak, adjustable by drifting, and locked with a small Allen screw. The sights had green tritium inserts, and the sight picture was excellent.

Takedown was classic 1911. As on the CCO, there was no spring rod at the front, and we had no trouble at all taking this fine handgun apart nor in putting it back together. Fit and finish inside and out were outstanding, superior to that of the Colt and Kahr. To our surprise we found a firing-pin lock in the Sig’s slide.

On the range, the 4.6-pound trigger felt about as good as that of the CCO. Recoil was essentially identical, but accuracy with all loads was superior to that of the CCO. Our best groups were clusters around an inch with Winchester 230-grain ball. We had one failure to feed with Cor-Bon 185-grain ammo, the only failure with this handgun. Accuracy with Cor-Bon in this gun was the worst of any ammo tried. Yet Cor-Bon gave the finest (qualified) accuracy with the Kahr. Obviously any serious handgun needs serious testing with your chosen ammo.

Reader Comments

i have one & it is GREAT i took it home cleaned it lubed it added a Wilson buffer & went to the range.it is very very accurate.if you spent 3000.00 more you could not do better.

Comment by: gary g | July 23, 2009

Sure wish I could @ least get a look at one here in the Portland area. It's gotten so hard to find ammo @ a reasonable price I'm ready to start relaoading again.

Comment by: William E | July 23, 2009

I have been a subscriber to the hard copy for years. Wonderful Pub. Have no comment on the new SIG offering. Troy

Comment by: Troy | July 23, 2009

After reading this article first published in February I ordered A C3 from mylocal dealer and was informed it would be in by June. I received an email today from Sig saying they are awaiting material from Germany. This is unbelievable. What do you think?

Comment by: Raymond Y | July 23, 2009

That's a slick piece. Won't go wrong with Sig/Sauer. Does it compare in price with the Taurus .45? I have two .45's, one is the Taurus, the other is a Kimber CDP II which cloverleafs rounds at 25 yards. The Kimber was mucho dinero. Wonder what the price is on this baby.

Comment by: DOUGLAS W | July 23, 2009

I have a 220 , 220carry and a 245 I want one bad

Comment by: ldubu | July 23, 2009

How are we to know it's "cheaper" when you don't publish the suggested retail OR the actual price you paid?

Comment by: longarm45 | July 23, 2009

Another fine piece you can not buy in California

Comment by: Anders K | July 23, 2009

It's a Sig..............own 5 & a Kimber!, it doesn't get any better than a Sig

Comment by: Ken Johnson | July 23, 2009

I purchased one last year after reading about it. My local deal was impressed. This is an awesome gun, about 1000.00 and worth it. Shot a spent 20 gauge in a pumpkin dead center the spent primer. It's a Sig!

Comment by: macdude | July 23, 2009

Suggested retail price would be appreciated.

Comment by: Jeffrey O | July 25, 2009

1. Are any of the interal pats made of the newly developed "junk" MIM brittle castings? What is the slide made of, castings or bar stock? 2. The external extractor is inferior to the originally designed internal extractor as found on the "original 1911 design". 3. The heavy trigger pull is not to my liking either. 4. Lastly I would rather see the gun made in 9mm, lower recoil and superior penetration with expanding ammo. The superiority of the .45acp is a myth as my hunting experiences with it have found it kills no better than the 9mm at point blank range and the .45 acp is totally inferior once the range exceeds 25 yards.

Comment by: wild romanian | July 26, 2009

SIG marketing materials say they use no MIM parts. The one I own but have not shot yet gives the appearance of very high quality manufacturing. The grips are beautifully made of rosewood. Appears to be exceptional.

Comment by: STACY T | July 26, 2009

I work in a level one trauma center. The most common gunshot wounds we see are multiple hits from a 9mm, 99+ percent of whom survive. The rarest we see,that is, make it to the hospital are those from a .45acp. The last (and only) two that came in over the last year were "code traumas" who were essentially DOA. Neither survived. There is no substitute for shot placement but under less than optimum conditions a heavier bullet of larger caliber will always do a better job as a stopper.

Comment by: RONALD B | July 26, 2009

I am a SIG dealer in Phoenix, SIG has had some issues with parts, you may wait a bit but it will come. SIG (coming from a colt guy who is also a firearm instructor) is one of the best semi to full custom 1911's on the market. This is a very nice weapon system, much nicer than a Taurus, S/W, Wilson, Kimber, rates along with a Night-Hawk without the mortgage to buy it. The Gun Guy Here

Comment by: The Gun Guy Here | July 29, 2009

You can't argue with physics. For self-defense (by definition, close range), few cartridges beat the 45.

When F = ma, a high velocity 9mm may have the same F as a low velocity .45, but if the 9 passes through a body, it doesn't have time to expand fully and impart its full Force on the offender.

A low velocity .45 that fully expands and stops inside the offender imparts every foot-pound of Force into the body of the offender.

That's why 6 or 7 rounds from a 1911 will always be worth more than 15 from a hi-cap 9mm, and why people who know prefer the .45.

The SIGs are really nice weapons. When SIG makes a concealable, short-barrelled 1911, I'll get one. For now, their 1911 offerings aren't small enough for my tastes and I'll keep my Kimber CDP II.

Comment by: James E | July 29, 2009

James E, Sig just came out with a small 1911 style pistol in .380 cal. For some a .380 is adequate and others claim it to small. I judge people on how well they shoot, not the size cal. they carry. I have not seen one yet, just in the magazines.

Comment by: Robert J | July 31, 2009

Comment by: Marv S/August 06,2009 The Sig looks pretty good. I've fired a Sig 9mm, model unknown I borrowed from a shooting pal. Liked the way it handled. Don't care for the caliber.

To show how long it has been since I bought a 45, my Colt Combat Commander, steel frame has only once showed a sign of failing to feed/eject. Poor box of reloads. I paid around $260 for it when I was stationd at Ft. Bliss. Times change. Accurate, reliable and handles well.

Comment by: mudby4 | August 6, 2009

I don't know why the fascination with an old, antiquainted design which has not been able to pass a military qualification test since the Korean War. Why spend 1,000 on a .45 and then another 1,000 to make it work reliably when for about $550 you can have a Glock in any caliber you want and it will shoot 20,000 rounds without a cleaning and minimal lubrication (2 lifetimes for an alloy framed .45 pistol)? The .45 pistol is 1/4 the value.

Momentum and cross sectional area, which are the only attributes that a 230 grain round at 750 fps have in abundance, are only good at knocking down steel plates, IMHO. Police aren't even issuing .45 ACP pistols anymore because they can't reliably penetrate car doors and other concealment.

If 99% of the victims at the trauma center receive survivable wounds, it is because 100% of the shooters are untrained gang-bangers. The .45 shooters are probably more seasoned individuals paid a lot of money to get their guns reliable and who have trained hard to place their .45 slugs well. This shooting statistic is irrelevant and misleading.

Comment by: andy0007 | August 7, 2009

I don't know why the fascination with an old, antiquainted design which has not been able to pass a military qualification test since the Korean War. Why spend 1,000 on a .45 and then another 1,000 to make it work reliably when for about $550 you can have a Glock in any caliber you want and it will shoot 20,000 rounds without a cleaning and minimal lubrication (2 lifetimes for an alloy framed .45 pistol)? The .45 pistol is 1/4 the value.

Momentum and cross sectional area, which are the only attributes that a 230 grain round at 750 fps have in abundance, are only good at knocking down steel plates, IMHO. Police aren't even issuing .45 ACP pistols anymore because they can't reliably penetrate car doors and other concealment.

If 99% of the victims at the trauma center receive survivable wounds, it is because 100% of the shooters are untrained gang-bangers. The .45 shooters are probably more seasoned individuals paid a lot of money to get their guns reliable and who have trained hard to place their .45 slugs well. This shooting statistic is irrelevant and misleading.

Comment by: andy0007 | August 7, 2009

Very good point andy0007, I remember when we switched over in the military from .45 Colts to 9mm Berreta's. Our 1911 .45's were not very reliable and the Berreta's almost never failed to shoot. Then I was really happy when we got H&K's, which IMHO are the most reliable gun I have ever had along with Sig's. The 1911 does have a sweet trigger system for target shooting. Bullet placement is the most important issue, most people shoot 9mm better than .45 cal. Actually my favorite carry is the .40 cal., best of both worlds high cap., managable recoil, good stopping power.

Comment by: Robert J | August 7, 2009