The Sig Sauer 1911 Carry Nightmare is my new favorite pistol. It is a very well thought out design and build for a production gun. I first saw the 1911 Carry Nightmare at SHOT Show and had to wait a bit until production caught up with demand. Now that I have had some range time it appears that my first impressions were correct – this is a very cool gun for the price.
The first thing you notice is the “Sig” design elements – most notably the square slide. This gives the gun a more modern look than the traditional round slide. Specifications:
- Stainless steel “Fastback” rounded frame.
- Rounded grip and mainspring housing.
- 4.2″ match grade barrel.
- External extractor.
- Hogue G-10 double-diamond grips.
- Nitron finish with stainless controls.
- Front and backstrap checkering.
- Low profile SigLite night sights.
- 38.8 ounces weight with magazine.
- .45 ACP or .357 Sig.
- MSRP $1,242.
“Carry” refers to the Commander size.
“Fastback” is the rounded mainspring housing and grip.
“Nightmare” is the black/stainless appearance.
It is definitely an attractive gun that immediately jumps out at you from a sea of lookalikes. The standard Sig mag holds 8 rounds. To further streamline the “carry” element I am running the Wilson Combat 7 round mag. The Wilson Combat 7 round magazine really fits flush, enhances the appearance, and improves the concealed carry presentation (less to snag on clothing).
Fine checkering is a nice touch on a 1911 at this price point. It is well done. The slanted serrations on the slide are wide and easily gripped.
The safety and mag release are on the left side only – not ambidextrous (which is fine with me).
Trigger has a slight take-up and then breaks cleanly registering just under 5lb on my RCBS trigger pull scale.
If you are a hardcore 1911 purists – this isn’t for you. Square slide, external extractor, firing pin block probably turn you off.
The square slide does have one big drawback – the lack of quality holsters that fit it. Luckily our good buddies at CompTac started producing a Sig 1911 kydex holster recently.
I have only run 100 rounds or so through it and need to shoot a lot more to make any accuracy claims but it grouped at least average or better. Certainly tighter than my HK45C shoots. I had zero malfunctions using either the Sig or Wilson Combat magazines with American Eagle and Freedom Munitions.
Altogether, Sig Sauer has a winner on their hands with the 1911 Carry Nightmare. It is certainly a great chassis from which to fully customize it to your specifications.
by Mike Coker
Mike Coker
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