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1911 2011 Cyelee double-stack Fusion Firearms Optic XP Pro

The Cyelee Chameleon Has Been Mounted Onto the XP Pro!

To secure the plate adapter to the slide, use the short screws that came with the gun. I’ve used blue thread locker here, but some folks use red. Note that, to remove the screws, the red will require heat to be applied to the screws – the heat will dissolve the thread locker.
These screws were pefect. Anything longer than this will not screw onto the adapter plate. Max torque is 15 in-lb. Don’t red thread locker for these screws…use only blue!

I’ll let you all know when the optic has been zero’d and how it performs. This optic was highly recommended by competition shooters. I’m certain it will carry well, too.

Note that the optic was LONG in length…it’s the longest of all the Cyelee optics but also has the biggest view port. I thought it wouldn’t fit well, but it fit as if it were made for the gun.

The dot is 8 MOA, which some folks think is too big. It’s designed to lessen brightness of the dot, to lessen the effects of astigmatism. I’ve heard that it shoots fine at distance (and I’ve also heard that some folks have issues shooting this dot at distance due to the large size of the dot).

The battery is housed on top of the optic’s deck, between the glass and the screws.

The irons offer co-witness, as well. IMO, though, my RFX45 would offer excellent co-witness with this gun’s adapter plate, as the optic sits low already…it’s a pity this will not fit onto the adapter plate.

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1911 2011 Cyelee Optic Prodigy DS Springfield Armory

I Wanted To Share A Video of the Prodigy DS Compact

Check this out:

I took the Prodigy DS Compact to the range today and brought 150 rounds. The Prodigy ate all of it without issue – no fails (was Magtech 115gr FMJ). There are now 270 flawless rounds through the gun.

A Cyelee CAT is mounted to the DS. These are two mags of some good groups (for me and this particular gun).

I still don’t like the trigger, but I may have adapted to it (or learned to ignore what I don’t like about it). I’ve also been working on my support hand grip. Yeah, my support thumb isn’t glued to the gun – I’m fine with that, as THM says that doesn’t matter…what matters is that other portions of the support hand being glued to the grip. I noticed that I didn’t figet with my support hand as I normally do. Also, my strong side thumb isn’t resting on the thumb safety. My thumb does not like sitting up there (I’ve developing arthritis)., so I let it sit wherever it’s comfortable…I’m OK with that.

I’m shooting at orange 1″ pasties at 10 yards. My goal was to try to stack the rounds. I also challenged myself by trying to shoot at a decent pace. The first mag, I was shooting at the top orange pasty. The second mag, I was shooting at the left-side pasty. I was quite surprised, especially as it was toward the end of the range session, when I typically tire and start shooting badly.

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1911 2011 Fusion Firearms Prodigy DS Springfield Armory XP Pro

A Few Things About the XP Pro…

I was able to detail strip the gun. The only things I didn’t remove were the frame from the grip (couldn’t determine how to get them apart).

I was also not able to remove the firing pin stop from the slide, so I couldn’t remove the extractor or firing pin.

I detail stripped the gun because I wanted to see the internals and verify the parts were bar stock.

I found no MIM in the gun…that was no surprise but some folks think Fusion Firearms is lying when they say the gun has no MIM. Nah, they’re not lying. A video of the internals is below.

I also attempted to mount the Viridian RFX45 to the XP Pro. I was unable to. That optic is not compatible with the adapter plates that Fusion Firearms provides. The RFX45 also uses the Acro footprint, which means that I’d have to stack the Viridian Acro-to-RMR adapter onto the XP Pro adapter…I’m not wanting to stack adapters (and both of them are thick adapters).

This means that I’ve to find a compatible optic. I was initially contemplating buying the 507C, 507 Comp, or 508T, but was thinking I could just settle for the 407C. I then watched TheHumbleMarksman’s XP Pro video and saw that he’d mounted a Cyelee Wolf X Pro to his XP Pro. I think I’m going to buy either that optic or the Wolf EDG. A sub of my YT channel also recommended the Cyelee Chameleon, which has a WIDE viewport — I like that a lot and it’s cheaper than the above-mentioned optics. I’m still not sure on which, but I’m actually leaning toward the Wolf EDG, but I’m just not looking forward to spending close to $300 for another optic. UPDATE (4/15/2025): I went ahead and bought the Cyelee Chameleon. A viewer of my channel left a comment sharing some optics that fit on his XP Pro. He recommended quite a few (the Cyelee Wolf EDG (for duty) & Chameleon (for the range); the Swampfox Justice II (for competition). I ended up pinning his comment so that it could better help other viewers. The Chameleon should arrive in 2 days. I’ll mount it Thursday night and let the thread locker set for a visit to the range this weekend (maybe).

I’ll visit the range tomorrow after work so I can get some rounds through either the Prodigy DS or the XP Pro, although I should probably focus more on shooting the Prodigy since I eventually plan to EDC it. I do have the Cyelee CAT mounted onto the Prodigy, as well, so shooting it should be a bit less of a chore – we’ll see.

I also have ordered more ammo…I blew through 1000 rounds of Magtech pretty quickly. I bought 1000 more from Bereli again, although they raised their prices by $25-30 (the gun community is getting spooked again by politics and folks are predicting shortages soon). I bought more Magtech, although I bought 124-gr this go-around.

Categories
1911 2011 9mm

The XP Pro Feels Exclusive!

Yeah, it’s here! I picked it up a few days ago.

The gun is beautiful. I’m not just saying that or trying to justify a purchase. It’s actually a gorgeous gun, a gun that feels really good in the hand, has good fitment and finish, and is a greate shooter.

I shot it for an hour, maybe an half hour after I did the background checks. I shot 160-ish rounds from it. Because I immediately shot it, I couldn’t clean it and it was barely lubed (I could only lube the rear rail inserts. Because of that, it failed to return to battery maybe 3-4 times, but that could’ve also been due to the fact that the included Glock mags have tired springs – they’ve hardly any resistance and stopped locking back the slide after the last rounds. I’ve four new G17 mags and will use them from now on – it’s not worth replacing the springs, as the springs are $8 and with shipping fees, they’ll be close to a new mag in price.

You know what? I’ve talked about the gun in a video I posted on YouTube, so I’ll just share that video here.

And, some range footage showing the accuracy of the gun.

Enjoy!

Categories
1911 2011 Springfield Armory

I Fitted a New Single-Sided Safety to the Prodigy DS Compact

While I’ve a Nighthawk Customs single-sided thumb safety on the way to me, I found a Wilson Combat 6BN Tactical single sided lever in my parts bin. I decided to try that as a test – this part costs far less than the Nighthawk part, so I wanted to practice with it.

Well, I did very good with the fitting, to the point that I decided to actually use the part. It feels good on the gun and the thumb paddle is smaller than what’s on the OEM levers.

Fitting wasn’t difficult, either. I was surprised at how easy it was. My biggest worry was that I wouldn’t fit it in the correct place, but I was looking at the fitted area of the OEM part and was comparing the two parts as I fitted the new part.

I think 1911s and 2011s look cleaner with a single-sided safety, plus I’m right-handed, so it works for me.

Here are some pics:

I think I’ll put the Nighthawk safety on the Ultralight. There’s also the option of installing it on the XP Pro, as well. [UPDATE: no, there’s no option of installing this on the XP Pro, as the XP Pro is a bit wider than a normal 1911/2011 due to it using Glock mags].

Categories
1911 2011 9mm

Fusion Firearms XP Pro Chrome is on the Way!

Yeah, I changed my plans, although this was an alternative plan.

The plan was to obtain a 5″ 1911 in 9mm. I’d chosen to purchase the Prodigy DS 5″, but since I’m (sort of) not satisfied with the Prodigy DS Compact that I received last week (heavy trigger, pinching thumb safety), I was sort of not wanting to commit to another Prodigy.

Another alternative plan was to obtain a 5″ Emissary AOS 9mm, but then started thinking that I’d want a double-stack 1911 if this gun’s purpose was for training.

So, I decided to check pricing on what I’d been looking at a few weeks ago – the Fusion Firearms XP Pro Chrome 4″. Normally, it’s $1200+ for the chrome gun (and $100 less for the black version). I found a (new) chrome version for less than $1000 at KYGUNCO, so I bit on it.

I’m awaiting for KYGUNCO and my gun store/range to chat with one another, which they’ll probably do tomorrow or the day after.

I can’t remember if I’ve spoken about why I had the XP Pro on my list, but the reasons why I wanted it are:

  • There are no 2011-patterned guns under $2500 that have metal grips (although the grips don’t have the best texturing).
  • The gun has gotten great reviews.
  • The gun uses Glock 17 mags, which are far cheaper than 2011-pattern mags.
  • The gun includes several optic plate adapters (the Prodigy guns only come with an obsolete formatted plate and to switch plates, you’ve to pay $120).
  • Fusion Firearms have updates/upgrades in the works (grips, 5″ versions, comp barrels, etc).

This might also bump up my Youtube viewership count, too, as I’ve looked at what folks are searching on on both Youtube and my blog and there’s a LOT of folks looking for information on the XP Pro.

I’m not sure if the great characteristics of my Bul Armory Ultralight made my experience with the Prodigy DS a bit sour. Granted, I’ve the grip safety issue with my Ultralight, but the gun is outstanding to shoot. It has a great trigger, good finish and great fitment, and great performance in general. The things about the Prodigy that pissed me off were the trigger being heavy, the pinching safety, and the optics plate offering. The MSRP between my version of the Ultralight and the Prodigy DS Compact are almost the same, but the Prodigy Compact lacks when comparing the two.

Some folks might say, “Well, what did you expect?” I’m the type of guy that wants to experience things for myself. As well, there are many folks who shit on a gun they’ve never owned and parrot what they’ve heard other folks say. There have been plenty of times where I bought what folks think are shitty guns and those guns turned out to work as intended. I’m not a trusting person when it comes to information that resides on the internet. I’d rather find out on my own.

Folks say the Prodigy DS has reliability issues. I’ve not seen that yet with my example. It’s been dependable thus far. My issues are that I think Springfield Armory could’ve done better. The trigger is sloppy. The choice on optic plate is crappy. The safety lever pinching folks is something they should’ve caught — I’m not sure why this isn’t occurring with the larger Prodigy DS variants. So, all my issues have nothing to do with reliability/dependability.

I’m not sure when the XP Pro will be ready for me to pick up. If I’m lucky, it’ll be Friday or Saturday. If not, it’ll probably be early next week.

As well, I bought 4 x KCI mags for use with this gun.

UPDATE (4/2/2025): The two gun stores have chatted to one another. The gun is in final processing now and I think it may ship tomorrow (4/3). If it does, I might have it by 4/5.

UPDATE (4/5/2025): So, it appears that it will arrive on 4/7. I guess that means that I’ll have to go pick it up after work Monday evening. That’s not optimal but I’ll see about scheduling a range visit at 7:30 PM. If I can get that locked in, I’ll go pick up the gun at 6 PM. I’ll be able to shoot the gun almost immediately after picking it up. Stay tuned for updates.

UPDATE (4/9/2025): UPS flubbed up the delivery…was supposed to arrive on 4/7 but didn’t arrive until late 4/8, and because of that, my range didn’t process it until around noon on 4/9. Yeah, I had to cancel the range visit that I’d set up for 4/7. It is currently ready for pickup and I’ve locked in a range session for 7:30 PM tonight, which means I should show up at 6:30 PM to conduct the background checks.

Categories
1911 2011 Springfield Armory

I’ll Be Fitting A Different Safety To The Prodigy DS Compact

Today, I saw a few other folks complaining about the right side of the ambidextrous safety of the Prodigy DS Compact.

At least one person has removed the ambi safety and switched to a single-sided safety. He said he bought a Nighthawk safety and swapped it in. I asked him how much fitting it required and he said it took a bit of fitting, but he also said that he’s swapped in a new sear and that the sear required that he spend a bit more time than usual in fitting the safety.

I then went to Youtube to view videos showing how to fit 1911 safeties. I think this is something I can do. I’ve fit other parts in the past and I think this job is something that isn’t beyond me.

So, I’ll be swapping out the OEM safety levers for a single-sided safety. I’ve picked the Nighthawk Customs Carbon single-sided safety.

I also ordered a set of good gunsmithing files, as the ones I have are lacking as far as sharpness (they were bought from Harbor Freight).

I also have a spare safety to experiment with (it is unfitted).

If I mess this up, I’ll try a less expensive safety (EGW) next, but I don’t think I’ll fail in this.

The parts should arrive in 5 days. If this works, I’ll be converting a few other safeties on my 1911s, as I’ve no need for ambi safeties and I love the looks of the right side of a 1911/2011 that has a single-sided safety.

Yeah, I said I didn’t want to mod the Prodigy until I’d had a fair amount of rounds through it, but the safety pinches me badly and a new safety shouldn’t change the shooting characteristics of the gun any.

I’ll report back with the results of this effort.

Categories
1911 2011 Springfield Armory

I’m Now The Owner of a Prodigy DS Compact!

I neglected to update the blog to say that I have received the gun and have shot it.

This whole transfer experience was outstandingly great. The shipper, Gunprime, was quick in shipping the gun where I needed it to go. I’d never used my range as a receiving FFL, so I was anxious to see how that experience played out. My range received the gun and notified me within 2 hours that it was ready to be picked up, which was something I’ve never seen before. In my experience, receiving FFLs typically sit on the gun. In many cases, I’d wait 2-3 days in the past to get a call from receiving FFL that the gun was ready to be picked up, and in some cases, I had to make an appointment that was usually the week after it arrived to them.

When I went to pick up the gun, the transfer experience was pretty cool. There was no paper involved. Everything was done on e-forms, on a laptop. I’d fill out the e-form, and the range employee would look it over and ask me to make any corrections (or not). I did both forms in that manner and process took the same amount of time as if I’d done it on paper. And the background check results were done 5 minutes after submittal.

To top all that off, the transfer fee was a total of $17!

So, I got home and ended up racking the gun maybe 100-130 times while watching TV with my wife. The gun is stiff AF.

As it is my first Springfield Armory 1911/2011, I wasn’t sure what to expect. The gun is clean. Fitment and finish is good. Grip texture is great. Both mags are good. I ended up ordering three more, for $37 each – note that MSRP on those mags are $60 apiece.

The gun fits in my current 2011 holsters (but I haven’t tested the QVO IWB holster since it keys off the gun light and the only gun light that I have is currently on the Ultralight).

Some things I don’t like:

The optics plate adapter that comes with the gun — I’m not sure why they insist on sticking with including the Doctor plate with Prodigy handguns…IMO, that’s a seriously stupid choice of footprint, especially when most folks are going to end up having to buy another (they’re not cheap, either – $120). When I went to the SA page to order one in RMSc footprint, they were out of stock (WTF). In fact, they’re kinda scarce. I ended up ordering one from eBay (for $119).

Also, the right thumb safety is pinching the hell out of my hand when disabling the safety, unless I purposely shift my hand a certain way. I will either have to try to swap in a single sided safety, grind the stock right-side lever so that it won’t pinch me, or pay a gunsmith to sort it out for me.

The trigger measures at (an average of 5 pulls) 3 lb 8 oz but feels heavier. As with my experience with my Tisas DS, the trigger wall feels heavy.

Lastly, the gun feels seriously oversprung. I don’t want to mess with swapping springs, as I just received the gun and I don’t want to start swapping parts so soon. It may break in.

How does it shoot? I’m shooting left of most of my bullseyes – 1 inch left at 7 yards and 2-3 at 10 yards. I think it’s due to the trigger wall…as I’m negotiating the trigger, I’m inadvertently pulling my point of aim. With the Tisas DS, I waited until 500 rounds before I lost my patience and swapped in a different sear spring. I will do the same with the Prodigy, although I could just tweak the OEM spring, which may help.

The gun doesn’t feel snappy, probably due to the great grip textures – the Bul Armory Ultralight feels a lot snappier (probably due to lack of good grip texturing).

I shot 120 rounds through the gun before I ran out of range time. The gun didn’t choke or misfeed and the gun was dirty – I didn’t clean it, as I was working with limited time.

At some point, I need to try JHP through the gun, as I keep seeing folks saying that their Prodigy Compacts are experiencing feeding issues. I think that I should wait until maybe 500 rounds before I try JHP, as that will give the gun’s parts time to wear in.

Categories
1911 2011 9mm double-stack Springfield Armory

Will Be Picking Up Prodigy DS Compact This Evening

This gun came to my FFL in record time.

I ordered it from Gunprime LATE Thursday night. Gunprime processed it Friday around noon-ish and UPS picked it up that afteroon. UPS usually processes gun on a 2-day timeline, so, Monday and Tuesday were the transport days and they delivered it today (Tuesday around noon).

I was ready to wait for XCal to take a day or two to process it, but they sent me a text a few minutes ago saying it was ready for pickup. Wow! That’s exceptional, time-wise.

So, I’ll be heading out to XCal after work (maybe 6 or 6:30 PM) to do the background check, which shouldn’t take all that long to do.

As I’ve never used XCal as an FFL, I’m not sure what to expect. One thing that annoys me about FFLs is that I’ve been to more than a few that want you to process the background check without even looking at the gun. The problem with that is that the gun could have flaws (gun won’t cycle, or gun has massive scratches, for example) or might not have what was purchased (a mag, for example)…if they won’t let you see it and you do the paperwork first, it’s your gun, literally sight unseen. The gun isn’t yours until you perform the transfer (from FFL to you). Prior to that, the gun is being transferred from FFL (store) to FFL (store).

So, yeah, I’m excited. I also ordered three more mags from LockedLoaded.com, as they had them on sale for $37, vs the MSRP cost of $60 each.

I also scheduled a range visit for Wednesday evening…I’ll perform an initial assessment of the Prodigy DS then.

Categories
1911 2011 9mm Springfield Armory

I’ve a Prodigy DS Compact on the way to me!

So, I just completed the order of the next gun.

I had a seriously bad time trying to determine what guns I wanted this year.

I’ll be buying two within the next 30 days.

I just bought a Springfield Armory Prodigy DS Compact 3.5″, from Gunprime. I’d initially planned on buying the 4.25″ Compact but I do a lot of bending and squatting and when carrying AIWB, tasks such as tying shoes is sometimes difficult. I’ve carried Commander 1911s AIWB in the past, but it’s been a while. I was about to order the 4.25″ when I decided to keep it short, since I plan to replace my Bul Armory SAS II Ultralight with the Prodigy Compact.

I’m 100% sure the next gun that I’m buying is another Springfield Armory – I just don’t know which one I’m buying. It’s either the Prodigy 5″ (maybe Comp) or the 5″ Emissary AOS in 9mm. As I don’t have a full-size 1911/2011 in 9mm, I’d initially wanted a full sized prodigy, but the 5″ Emissary is BEAUTIFUL! I was locked onto a 5″ Prodigy Comp until I remembered the Emissary. There’s a very high chance I’ll end up getting the Emissary.

So, the wait is on. I’ve never ordered from Gunprime before, but I’ve been aware of them and have looked at their stock of guns in the past. I’m not sure how prompt they are in processing and shipping guns. There are several popular gun stores that I avoided because they insist on a 5-10 day processing regimen…that’s BS…yeah, I know they’re busy but waiting 10 days to have a gun processed is quite lame. What the hell – that’s like two business weeks!

Knowing my luck, this gun will come when I’m away. I’ve business in CA and will be gone week after next. I ordered this gun late Thursday night (3/20). It might not even be looked at until mid-week next week, and I fly out 3/29 and will be away a full week. That’s how my Ultralight came in – I got a call when I was fishing 300+ miles away. We’ll see how this plays out.

I’m excited but not excited. I know the Prodigy will be good, but it’s probably going to be similar to the Ultralight (not a bad thing exactly). Really, I just need it to be dependable and for ALL the controls to work – the Ultralight’s grip saftey doesn’t function properly (trigger can be dropped without touching the grip safety, although I’ve to hulk up a bit on the trigger). Bul Armory has had the UL twice but can’t (or won’t) fix the grip safety. I think they fucked up the gun when hand-fitting the grip safety – I think they may’ve removed too much material. When metal is removed, it can’t be returned (unless you weld more metal onto the part), which is probably why they’ve had a hard time fixing the issue, although I asked them to replace the part before I returned it the 2nd time, which they did not. I’m not even sure what they did to “repair” it, as the grip safety looked the same as before I sent it back to them, and the saftey was functioning for maye a month before it stopped working again. This is why I won’t buy another Bul Armory – they won’t stand by their own workmanship. I’ve never heard of Springfield Armory doing such a thing, and I’ve never owned a higher end Springfield Armory gun (I’ve two XD9 Mod 2 guns, though).

Of course, I’ll post here with initial thoughts and pics/videos once I’ve received the Prodigy Compact.

UPDATE (3/21/2025): It’s already shipped…Gunprime FTW! It’s supposed to be delivered early morning on Tuesday, via UPS. This is good. I do not know the receiving FFL’s policy on transfers (not sure how long I’ll have to wait for them to process it). They receive it on 3/25. I fly out on 3/29. That’ll leave 3/25 – 3/28 for them to process it. The earlier the better, so that I can have a day or 3 with the gun before I fly out. I’ve not used my range for a transfer since I’ve been a member (2+ years). I’ve been using a different store for that, but my range’s transfer fees are cheap, and I get a discount as a member. I’m curious how this will go, and excited, as well.