The Design
This full-sized 1911 features a 5-inch barrel and full slide, along with traditional wood grips that contrast nicely with the black finish. This design is manufactured in Turkey at the Tisas factory and imported by SDS Imports. Tisas describes the Stakeout as combining "features from our popular Duty and Tank Commander models to give a touch of modern and military ruggedness."
The Stakeout is not ambidextrous but has standard 1911 controls like a left-mounted manual safety, magazine release, and slide stop/release. You’ll also find a traditional 1911 grip safety, giving an extra layer of protection.
Rather than the iconic M1911A1 Government layout, it has several mods that would have been popular for use in carry guns starting in the 1970s including a straight mainspring housing, a "combat" style rounded hammer spur rather than the traditional long spur, an extended beavertail safety, and a lowered and flared ejection port.
Another upgrade on the Stakeout over traditional M1911s is a set of quality sights. This style of iron sights, with a blacked-out rear and a gold bead front sight, is a popular feature on some of the high-end 1911s on the market.
Why Stakeout?
The name of this hybrid 1911 recalls old-school "Stakeout Squads" of the 1960s and '70s. Exemplified by retired cops like Jim Cirillo, who was a veteran of the NYPD's Stakeout Unit, many cops detailed to such teams, besides their standard-issue S&W Model 10 .38s, would often carry much-modified 1911s, a second snub-nosed revolver (aka "The New York Reload") and Ithaca Model 37 shotguns, as well as the occasional S&W Model 76 room broom for those hectic moments when they bumped into a robbery crew in the act.
Think a real-life version of the last 20 minutes of "Heat" but in 1970s New York. For reference, between May 1968 and June 1973 when it was disbanded, the 40 plainclothes officers on NYPD's controversial stakeout squad – considered among the best marksmen in the country – were in shootouts that ended with 25 "hold-up men" sent to the city morgue.
In the Box
