1911’s in general, 9mm versions specifically

[TreeDog]

Finally caved and got one to try out

 

[JefeRey]

I'm cheap and just looking to get into a larger framed, plinking 1911. Any reason to spend $160 more for the tisas stingray over the plain Jane commander? What about the nightstalker vs either?

Sent from my SM-S931U using Tapatalk

Picked up the Night Stalker a couple months ago in 10mm. Loving it. Might pick up the 9mm in the Stingray to have a 9. Price is hard to beat.

 

[ztc92]

Finally caved and got one to try outView attachment 1015995

Welcome to the club! I think that’s the same model I own. Feel free to PM if I can help with anything should you decide to do any upgrades. Mine has ran flawlessly with the upgraded bulletproof extractor and Mecgar mags.

 

[Gstew1930]

Got my grips in yesterday. Ive been enjoying learning how these guns work. I had to hand fit my bullet proof extractor. It took quite a bit of time with a file & a shit load of videos to get it to fit & function. I wasn't ever able to get that mainsping housing pin out so I guess ill save that trigger for my next one lol

 

[TreeDog]

Welcome to the club! I think that’s the same model I own. Feel free to PM if I can help with anything should you decide to do any upgrades. Mine has ran flawlessly with the upgraded bulletproof extractor and Mecgar mags.

Thanks! Right now plan on basically the same: bulletproof extractor, good mags, and wood caliber grips. See about sights and trigger after I shoot it.

 

[Billogna]

Finally caved and got one to try outView attachment 1015995

Where did you find this model? If you don't mind me asking...

 

[lak2004]

Where did you find this model? If you don't mind me asking...

You can search gun.deals for the brand and/or sku and find the best deals usually.

 

[TreeDog]

Where did you find this model? If you don't mind me asking...

Guns.com. Price was a little higher than other models, but I’ve always wanted a commander length in 9mm and that was the only place I could find it in stock. They did have a $25 off code sign up thing that might still be active

 

[Billogna]

Guns.com. Price was a little higher than other models, but I’ve always wanted a commander length in 9mm and that was the only place I could find it in stock. They did have a $25 off code sign up thing that might still be active

Thank you!

 

[lak2004]

https://deleonrxgunsandammo.com/product-details?id=91909356

No affiliation and not the exact model as above, but thought this was a good price.

 

[Billogna]

Been looking for a carry gun for a while now. Found one of these at a really good price! All the reviews I could find were very positive regarding fit and finish! Gonna give it a go! Of course I have a WC bulletproof extrator and checkered front stap already on the way. And some Mec gar mags!

 

[fwafwow]

Picked up my P211 yesterday and mounted the red dot on it. I have absolutely zero idea how to evaluate the feel of a 2011 but the amount of slide wiggle is so small it's almost imperceptible. The trigger weight from the factory comes in at 3.5# as well so not horrible. It'll be a week or two until I can shoot it unfortunately. We have a snowstorm that will be shutting down the whole region for a few days and then I'm back to work.

Any update? Which model? Pics please!

 

[cubdriver84d]

I keep hearing and seeing this. It’s not hard at all to get a 45 auto 5” 1911 to run extremely well- that is 0 malfunctions for thousands of rounds. Staccato’s also are extremely reliable (gen 3 mags with Atlas +18% mag springs, or the C/CS, and HD models). And, I think it’s there or getting there for 9mm 1911’s.

Shoot legit full power 9mm ammo, use good mags- Mecgar 10 rounders seem to have the best design; and tune a Wilson bulletproof extractor. For me the only real question is the recoil spring weight.

Any 2011 mags on the market not need the +18% springs? Have you tried the new(ish) mec-gars?

 

[Formidilosus]

Any 2011 mags on the market not need the +18% springs? Have you tried the new(ish) mec-gars?

I haven’t seen any. Everything of mine gets the +18%.

 

[Bearsniper]

Realistically I’m more of a gun nerd and collector than a shooter, but I’m trying to move the balance more towards shooting and simplify things. At this point I pretty much use Form’s guidance as a starting point, but I like to test everything when possible. I am posting this in case my experience might help others starting to take pistol shooting more seriously like the OP.

I probably get a decent amount of shooting time trying out / testing guns, but never really shoot much outside that. I’ve never shot USPSA, but I shot two local GSSF (Glock) matches in the last 5 years—which I recommend btw— and a couple 3 gun matches 15 years ago.

I can’t afford to keep all these, so this is my attempt to try Form’s 1911/2011 ethos with the hope of settling on one (maybe two) guns to actually practice and get confident with. Trying out guns in the past left me underwhelmed with a Staccato P because I felt like my CZ Shadow 2 Compact performed better for less money, less size, and less weight. But this thread is hard to ignore, and with the Staccato C not long for this world I didn’t want miss my chance at experiencing pistol nirvana due to ignorance.


So I went down the rabbit hole, trying to start out affordably to get my feet wet…you can guess about how that went. Without making this post crazy long, here is what stood out, I don’t know much about 1911s, and I am still trying to learn how to grip a pistol properly. Except for CZ and Glock I already had I had never shot any of the following until a few days ago. I put about 10-20 rounds through each to check function and then went to the FBI test. Weights are with empty mag and trigger was measured with analog Wheeler scale.

 

[Bearsniper]

Tisas W 2# 9.6 oz Trigger 5#


Very smooth slide etc, but long trigger. trigger pull heavy but pretty crisp. Slide to frame fit pretty loose but tolerable. Sights lame 3 dot but usable in good light. Surprised by how smooth the gun’s action was.



Springfield W: 2# 10.7 oz Trigger 4.25#


My attempt at poor man’s Springfield Professional. Trigger maybe creepier and less pleasant than Tisas, safety needs to be blended (painful), slide to frame fit surprisingly super tight, no movement. Sights probably my least favorite, huge fiber optic on front. Came with Pachmyer wrap around grips which I changed to cheap dimple grips for testing consistency.





Kimber DS Warrior: W: 2# even Trigger 4#


This gun feels light, especially for a 5” gun, probably due to its aluminum frame. The grip feels nice and slimmer than the P, more like a 1911. Safety blending could be better. It feels like it might be oversprung or something compared to others—maybe mainspring? Slide to frame fit is extremely tight but smooth—no play up/down or side to side; it's tighter than the Staccato C on par with P. Sights pretty good. Trigger quite nice and will probably get better over time. Pretty nice sights, tritium front, but I prefer the Staccato C sights.


I only shot this gun about 10 times, the Staccato C shot way better even though it is smaller and lighter so I didn’t see a need to put more rounds on this as its going to be sold, and the number of guns to test was already overwhelming. Gun seems promising, but being lightweight and 5” it struggled against the competition here especially given its size/weight. It seemed to jump around or buck more in recoil than the other guns. I would be more interested in this if the Staccato C and CZ shadow 2 compact weren’t such animals. My instinct is that lighter springs might make this gun pretty nice.



Staccato P. W: 2# 7.1 oz Trigger 4.5#


If I had to summarize: Great gun that, for me, is simply outclassed and outperformed by the C. Preferred Kimber's trigger, P is creepy, heavy and the actual trigger wiggles all over the place in its slot-- unpleasant and laughable for the price. Tight slide to frame, tighter than any other Staccato I have felt, slide fit on par with Kimber. Grip feels bigger than kimber but comfier. I tried to shoot this with dot off cowitnessing the irons in the test, but unlike the C, the irons seemed to shoot way low. So I quickly zeroed the dot and used it.



Staccato C: W: 1# 13.9 oz Trigger 4#


Trigger had the cleanest break and nicest feel. Flat trigger not my choice, but what was available, not as comfortable as curved to me and hits right in front of my finger joint. I was worried the grip might be too small since I sometimes have trouble getting my support hand on guns, but the grip was goldilocks and probably my favorite (though the shadow 2 compact is also nice in its own, racier way). Tiny bit of side to slide play in slide, but less than another C I have felt. Sights were surprisingly nice and worked well.


---------------


Here are the two guns I had pretty much settled on before realizing my ignorance about 1911/2011s might be worth addressing. I usually shoot on some farmland at 25 yards fairly slowly. My actual use case is shooting smallish pests or hogs on the farm, so I test guns more for that than for self defence. I was/am willing to get rid of either or both to of these to fund whatever shoots best.


Shadow 2 Compact W: 1# 15oz. Trigger 3#


Stock except for Lok palmswell grips and holosun 507c 2moa dot. This gun has pretty much destroyed any gun I have put it up against, including guns listed as below as Glock 19 challengers and a full size Shadow 2 with 507 comp. This gun feels like a BMW m3 to me. The recoil is quick but precise and the trigger is light in single action. The grip feels like I can get high up, lock in and just rip. The second handgun I ever bought was a CZ SP01 and I really liked it— incidentally the first gun I ever bought was a Kimber Gold Match II in 45. Recoil is a little more "direct" than the Staccato C--C is plusher feeling.



Glock 19 Gen 5 W: 1# 8.6 oz Trigger 5#


Stock except taran tactical sights and handleit stick on grip. I have compared several guns to this gun (CZ P07, CZ P10c, CZ P01, 2x Glock 45’s, Gen4 Glock 34, 17, 19, Tisas 4.25” 9mm 1911, usaSig P226) and usually walk away feeling like if I had to perform on demand I would take the Glock 19g5 for both speed and accuracy. That said I am maybe a little more accurate with German sigs and considerably more with the CZ s2c.

 

[Bearsniper]

I tried to do the FBI test as indicated by Form, (25yds 4min, 2x 15yds 15sec, 2x 15yds, 10 sec). I don’t have holsters for any of these except the Shadow 2 compact and Glock 19. Those holsters are for lights and I removed the lights for testing. I did the best I could to Mcgyver a way get the others on my hip. I shot the CZ with hammer cocked and on safe like the 1911/2011.

The only hiccup was the sprinfield failed to lock open on an empty mecgar 10rd mag on the final shot of the 25yd string. I acquired that mag used and the spring is pretty soft.

I did these tests back to back yesterday afternoon using the “Shootontime” app for time. Trying to count all the holes about drove me crazy. I tried to count and score as best I could but probably mathed wrong and made a mistake somewhere. I scored shots off the paper as 0. If you see numbers next to holes that was me trying different ways to keep the strings straight.

 

[Formidilosus]

I tried to do the FBI test as indicated by Form, (25yds 4min, 2x 15yds 15sec, 2x 15yds, 10 sec). I don’t have holsters for any of these except the Shadow 2 compact and Glock 19. Those holsters are for lights and I removed the lights for testing. I did the best I could to Mcgyver a way get the others on my hip. I shot the CZ with hammer cocked and on safe like the 1911/2011.

The only hiccup was the sprinfield failed to lock open on an empty mecgar 10rd mag on the final shot of the 25yd string. I acquired that mag used and the spring is pretty soft.

I did these tests back to back yesterday afternoon using the “Shootontime” app for time. Trying to count all the holes about drove me crazy. I tried to count and score as best I could but probably mathed wrong and made a mistake somewhere. I scored shots off the paper as 0. If you see numbers next to holes that was me trying different ways to keep the strings straight.

Good that you’re shooting each. But, it shows that perception isn’t reality. You also need to separate the ones that had dots from irons as well- that’s a massive difference. Also, if all of them haven’t had the sights adjusted to you- aka, zeroed: the results are not really useful. I mean you can say that the G19 ain’t great- which they are a more difficult pistol to learn to shoot well on demand. The Springfield definitely isn’t zeroed, and it doesn’t look like the Tisas is either.

CZ Shadows are very shootable pistols, but they are designed to be carried in DA/SA mode- not cocked and locked. Every string should be started in DA with it.


Again, overall good on you for trying them. However if you are trying to determine which ones to keep, and which ones to get rid of- you must control for different sights and whether they are zeroed or not.


Also- score each string and paste the targets after each string.

 

[JF_Idaho]

CZ Shadows are very shootable pistols, but they are designed to be carried in DA/SA mode- not cocked and locked. Every string should be started in DA with it.

Have to question you on this one, Form. Best practice....likely. Designed? Not likely.

 

[Bearsniper]

Thanks for the feedback Form. I didn't mean it to be an exhaustive test, more of round one / out of the box impressions. I went way overboard getting guns and thought the test might be a good starting point to see which guns might be worth spending time / money on. In deciding which to keep I did the scoring / timing more to add stress. I usually look at group size, dispersion, and how the gun felt.

That said, I think I could be pretty happy just not spending any more time on the others and practicing with the C. I'm just not as sure that I want to put a dot on it as I originally did.
The Tisas and the C were probably all around the two standouts for me; I would like to see how the Tisas does with a different trigger and sights.