SIG Sauer 1911 Fastback Emperor Scorpion Carry Pistol – Review

U.S.A. –-(Ammoland.com)- There are ways to honor a classic while making it modern. Modernity itself is, in many parts of our culture, represented with images and objects of complete degeneracy and moral bankruptcy, all thanks to the rising tide of cultural Marxism and destructive progressivism. What does this have to do with a gun review, you may ask? Well, it has everything to do with it.

Today we are often, sometimes hourly, confronted with the literal insanity of our world. We have a side of truth and reason, which we are on, and we honor our traditions and uphold the morals that we know to be good and right. Then, lamentably, there is the side that seeks to wipe out all that we stand for and replace it with a bitter mediocrity in which everyone is equal in victimhood and misery.

The gun world is at the center of this chaos. We have a duty to uphold and defend our rights and traditions against assault. The very objects we have, our guns, are sacred and are the tangible realization of the dreams of our founders. To disrespect the gun is to disrespect the man, and Sig Sauer offers no offense with their 1911 Fastback Emperor Scorpion .45ACP. See, I told you this was about guns.

The 1911 is a heavily reviewed gun. It would be fair to say that there are probably more in circulation than most other pistols made and they are about as American as apple pie. When I decided to review this gun, it wasn’t without some doubt. A 1911 review is like low-hanging fruit, or as my friend said to me at the range, “How do you review this? It’s like reviewing a pizza. Everyone’s had one and everyone has their favorites. You can’t change people’s minds.” Well, being an expert on both pizza and guns, I decided to give it a go.

What Sig Sauer managed to do with this gun is nothing short of extraordinary. A 1911 is a gun that has such tradition and such heritage in our culture that altering it in a tasteless way is seen as an affront. In fact, I’m pretty sure that you may damn your eternal soul by putting Punisher grips on one. Every alteration on this pistol that deviates from the original model has a purpose and is pure function. The problem with so many others out there is that they have cosmetic upgrades, multi-thousand dollar pricetags, and spotty reliability. I put close to 1,000 rounds through this pistol and it was nothing short of awesome in every category.

The slide and frame of the weapon are both made of extremely rugged PVD-coated stainless steel. In the day and age of polymer framed guns, a real-steel real-deal setup like this feels solid and hefty. The slide-to-frame fit is tight with no rattle or movement. The color? I like it. I have never really been a fan of all-black guns. I prefer my weapons to have some character, but not too much. The tan color isn’t a new thing and has really been all the rage for the last ten years or more. I do appreciate that it is more of a bronze as opposed to the coyote tan I’ve seen before.

One of the most noticeable- and ergonomic features- is the fastback curve on the grip. Holding it side-by-side with a standard 1911 is an interesting experience. They feel like two totally different guns. The way the rounded grip fills the hand makes it feel very organic. Speaking of how it feels in the hand, the grips, while aggressive in texture, aren’t painful. I’ve used some grips in the past that are like holding onto razor blades. When you place your hand on the grip, it feels firm and steady, which no doubt contributes to the great accuracy this gun can generate.

Additional features include an ambidextrous safety, a crisp single-action trigger, a shorter and handier 4.2” barrel, external extractor, and bright SIGLITE night sights. The finish on these features is black.

I took this great pistol to the range (many, many times) and recorded data over my Oehler 35P chronograph. Testing was done at 45 degrees Fahrenheit while five feet from the muzzle. Groups are an average of three, five-shot groups at 15 yards from a rest. I was happy to test a variety of ammo in this gun, including some great new stuff.

Black Hills 135gr Honey Badger———————————————1196fps, .90”

Lehigh Defense 120gr Xtreme Defense———————————–1319fps, .75”

Hornady Critical Defense 220gr +P—————————————–977fps, 1.1”

Sig Sauer 230gr V-Crown—————————————————–885fps, 1.75”

Sig Sauer 230gr FMJ———————————————————–850fps, 1.5”

Since this gun was so accurate and I essentially wasted my time at 15 yards proving that that, I decided to move out to 25 yards and then 50 yards on steel plates. The 25 yard targets saw groups open up, but not my a very large margin. The ammo I have been using with Lehigh bullets, such as their own ammo and the Honey Badger line from Black Hills, have demonstrated superior velocity, low recoil, and impressive accuracy. I am a huge fan of these bullets now and you’d do yourself a favor by checking them out if you haven’t already.

At 50 yards making hits on steel was easy, especially with the Lehigh bullets. I noticed no lack of hits with Sig ammo or Hornady at 50 yards on my 10” plate either. The gun handles recoil like a champ and sends brass flying out with gusto. I had zero failures to feed or fire at any point during testing. The thing is almost describable boring with how regular hits were. I had no surprises with it and, in the end I was glad for it. The Fastback 1911 ES is a gun meant for everyday carry and shot frequently.

Speaking of carry, I did in fact get this gun in some leather and walked around with it for a good many miles. The rounded frame is a joy and the shorter barrel makes it unobtrusive. The only downsides to this gun are what makes it so good. A 1911 is a heavy gun and .45ACP is a powerful caliber. It is reliable and accurate, but only holds nine rounds total. This isn’t a place where I will get into the whole carry gun debate and whether or not 9mm is better or whatever. The Sig Sauer Fastback 1911 Emperor Scorpion is a modern .45 that delivers superb performance and features while not compromising on tradition and history.

Those things are more important to me than weight.

I think, at the end of the day, the 1911 will always be a sacred emblem of our freedoms. The modern age we live in sees people tearing down monuments to our past because they are suddenly considered racist or bigoted. These radicals seek to erase these displays and traditions not because they are really offended, but rather because they wish to rewrite history in their own image. The biggest threat to their success is what the storied 1911 represents, and that it cannot be erased.

Knife in the feature images is an excellent ESEE Camp-Lore RB3.

Special Thanks to:

• Sig Sauer
• Hornady
• Lehigh Defense
• Black Hills Ammo

About Josh Wayner

Josh Wayner has been writing in the gun industry for five years. He is an active competition shooter with 14 medals from Camp Perry. In addition to firearms-related work, Josh enjoys working with animals and researching conservation projects in his home state of Michigan.