I stopped by Sarco in Sterling after stumbling upon them via the net. I was impressed with the varied inventory. The (one) counter help was occupied with someone else and their purchase and I waited my turn. Counter help was respectful, helpful and knowledgeable. I like what I saw and I will go back to purchase a Rock Island 1911 for sure.

Skip the Rock River and spend a bit more. Mine was a POS that jammed like crazy. Never trust a firearms made in the Phillipines.

Sarco definitely has a wide variety of guns and there is a lot of history in that building. Last time I visited they had quite a few weapons I would love to own but as we all know not in the state of New Jersey. Their prices tend to be high and some of the guns are in rough shape. I agree with Mauser88 take your time spend a little more for a 1911 it's very frustrating when they constantly jam, I experienced this with an Auto Ordinance 1911 it was less pricey when I purchased it, 2 trips to the gunsmith didn't improve things, finally I sold it cheap. Lesson learned.

Be aware that the prices that you see in the big ol SARCO ad in Shotgun News are not the actual prices they charge. In the fine print they say those are all dealer prices and retail prices may vary. I once went there to buy a PTR 91, that had 3 prices in their ad, the retail price, the dealer price and the SARCO price. Seems they advertise a SARCO price, but dont sell things for the same amount. They couldnt even explain what the SARCO price meant. That was the last time I went there.

I called about a 1911 frame and got 3 diferent prices from the same person, so i did not purchase from them.

1st call i was told it was dealer price that i was looking at.

second call and asked a question about frame and quoted another price?

Sarco definitely has a wide variety of guns and there is a lot of history in that building. Last time I visited they had quite a few weapons I would love to own but as we all know not in the state of New Jersey. Their prices tend to be high and some of the guns are in rough shape. I agree with Mauser88 take your time spend a little more for a 1911 it's very frustrating when they constantly jam, I experienced this with an Auto Ordinance 1911 it was less pricey when I purchased it, 2 trips to the gunsmith didn't improve things, finally I sold it cheap. Lesson learned.

 

I had an Auto Ordinance 1911 myself total POS. I paid $200 used put $150 into it with new sites solid op rod and new trigger sold it for $50. Total junk. Put the money into a good one. I have been to Sarcos a few times for parts for my Garand and FN-49. Watch the ammo if you shop there I bought some lose 8mm Mauser which had some odd sized ammo mixed in which jammed my gun so bad I had to ruin a cleaning rod to pound it out.

 

TC

OMG, I used to teach in that town and had many of my students work there over the last 35 years. The stories I would hear from them were frightening. Actually, an ex student is still there now and you are right about their pricing. They do have a large selection of old stuff and parts there. Can't count the number of times I had heard they were raided or shut down for something?

 

I saw a price in their ads for a Rock 1911 but when I went to look at one, the prices were substantially higher. I could get one from Shore Shot for a better price but decided to get something cheaper to shoot, as my son and I go through hundreds of rounds when we go to the range.

 

When we do the fun shoots on Monday Nights at Shore Shot, several of the regulars shoot real hopped up 1911 Race Guns and they are sweet but they do seem to jam a lot? Not sure if that is because they are so tweeked or if that is the nature of the beast. The only time my XD acts up is when I don't seat the mag up all the way when reloading.

A tuned 1911 race gun should not jam at all. There could be many factors such as reloaded ammo, mag or limp wristing to name a few. Sounds more like people buying accessories and tinkeing to make the guns look cool, but not being properly fitted..