Identifying your target as quickly as possible has always been paramount in defensive situations. You have to know what you're shooting at, not what you think you're shooting at. And, of course, it's vital to know what's beyond your target as well. So in the darkened conditions where you might have to defend yourself, the only way to make this identification is with light.

When I became a police officer in Los Angeles in 1963, I was taught techniques for using my flashlight while shooting in low light. These techniques had improved by the time I retired nearly 30 years later, but they weren't the answer for some situations. Handgun lights were just coming into existence, helped along in 1989 by the development of the standardized M1913 rail--a system on which to locate and lock an accessory, most commonly a weapon light. After that, pistols began to emerge with built-in light mounts, and in 2001 Springfield came out with one of the best: the Operator.

Based on the time-proven Government Model 1911 blueprint, the Operator introduced a significantly different frame. Beginning just forward of the slide stop, the frame went from a standard width of 0.77 inch to 0.84 inch and continued this dimension all the way to the end. Called the dust cover, this portion of the frame is normally curved on the bottom, but not in the Operator. Here the frame is squared in order to accommodate its M1913 rail.

Like the frame, the slide of the original Operator was squared all the way to the muzzle and omitted the stylish cuts on its lower front. Here instead was a set of angular square serrations matching those at the rear of the slide. Early on, Springfield eliminated the full-length frame rail and reduced the dust cover/rail portion to roughly the length of a standard 1911 dust cover while also reinstating the flute-like cuts in the forward portion of the slide.

The new Lightweight Operator (top) is distinctly different from the original in terms of frame design and rail configuration, a change that lightened its weight considerably.

While users liked the integral 1913 rail, law enforcement and military folks--who carry guns for hours or even days at a time--didn't like the increased weight. I agreed with that assessment and, having been extremely impressed with the performance of the original Springfield Operator (along with several all steel Operators I tested later), I began to hound Springfield to bring out an Operator with a lightweight alloy light-rail frame. Springfield was all in favor of the idea, but it had so much on its plate with orders for its all-steel Operator pistols, XD pistols and other guns, an alloy-frame Operator simply had to wait.

The wait is over. Not too long ago, Springfield sent me the first Lightweight Operator to test for this Guns & Ammo exclusive. While it shares many of the features of the all-steel Operator, the new Lightweight Operator deserves some description.