Action
The heart of any 1911 is the action. The SIG Emperor Scorpion uses the standard barrel and link design commonly found in vintage 1911s. It also uses the traditional bushing lockup with a ‘GI’-length guide rod and plug. Nowadays, bull barrels and full-length guide rods are more common. I don’t think there is a big performance difference with either system; bull barrels are just the current trend.
The only modern addition to the action is the external extractor, which adds reliability for those who don’t know how to hand-tune 1911 internal extractors. Usually, only experienced gunsmiths can do this well. Also, the internal parts themselves are metal-injection-molded to keep costs down.
Details
Besides the action, the other features are fairly modern:
- Novak-style night sights
- Front and rear cocking serrations
- Short dust cover with accessory rail
- Checkered front and back straps
- Skeletonized hammer
- Ambidextrous safeties
- Memory bump grip safety
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Integrated magazine well
This test gun is an all-steel, full-sized or “government” model with a 5-inch barrel. It weighs 2.6 pounds, and it comes with two eight-round magazines.
Shooting
On to my impressions. Picking up the gun, it feels solid and well-built. The tooling looks great. Slide-to-frame fit is tight and quite impressive for a production gun. Remember, these are not hand-fitted custom guns. Accuracy at 15 yards was also good.
The curved single-action trigger is about average for a 1911, which would be considered great for any striker-fired gun. It breaks at 4.5 pounds. There is a little bit of movement in the trigger itself, but the reset is short and strong. You won’t be disappointed in this trigger.
As for the grip safety, it disengages at around 50 percent of its travel, which is good. The memory bump is effective, and I had no issues with the grip safety. The other safety on a 1911 is the manual safety. The Emperor Scorpion ambi safeties are easy to actuate and snap positively.
Checkering on the front and back straps is very effective, as is the traction on the grips. They lock your hand in place – an important feature for a high-recoiling .45 ACP gun.
Pros & Cons
This is a beautiful gun that runs well and looks good. The other thing I like about the Scorpion is that it’s set up like an old-fashioned 1911, with a bushing and GI guide rod. This is the way classic Colts were built.
As for cons, I had an early issue with the slide locking back when it shouldn’t. Upon breaking down the gun, I found that a previous owner of this used gun had installed a shock recoil buffer. It was beat up and most likely gumming up the works. Once removed, I no longer had any problems.
I only have two real complaints. First, the sight picture doesn’t let a lot of light in between the front sight post and the rear notch. I find that slows down sight acquisition when shooting fast. This is common for night sights, as the front blade is wide to accommodate the tritium vial. Newer SIG 1911 designs now have red dot mounting options, but this one does not.
Second, the front serrations on the slide are small and don’t offer much purchase. I cut my thumb when my hand slipped from these serrations, and I would suggest using the much more robust rear serrations.
Conclusion
While not a budget gun, it is probably as low as I would go for a quality and reliable 1911. You can go less expensive, but the chances of a lemon increase. This classic design is just something nice to have in the collection.
