Author: r2kba.patriot

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1911 2011 Bul Armory SAS II Ultralight

SAS II Ultralight Is On It’s Way Back from Repair

I posted here that the Ultralight had to be sent back to Bul Armory for repair (again).

It is September 27th and I just got an email that the UL is on it’s way back to me. They received it September 11th.

The notes they provided:

The pistol underwent a full inspection where we made sure all the different components are within spec.

We then adjusted the main spring and test fired the pistol and the pistol works well as it should. 

I’m kinda wary, as the pistol itself was working well when I sent it to them…the issue was that the grip safety wasn’t working properly.

It should be back to me on October 1st.

If it’s not fixed (as I suspect), I’ll stop carrying it. I may sell it to finance a different 2011. I may research to see if I can fix it on my own. Or, I may find a gunsmith that can fix it.

I may be overly worried about this, but I don’t think that the issue was a mainspring adjustment issue, especially since since Bul Armory has had the chance to fix this (twice now). I do not have any other 1911 or 2011 that has ever had this issue and I don’t believe mainsprings just loose adjustability out of the blue to the point that the grip safety stops working.

Categories
1911 2011 holster Weapon-Mounted Light

QVO Tactical More Discreet Holster On the Way!

Two weeks ago, I bought a Streamlight TLR-7 X since I’ve never owned a good weapon mounted light (WML). I bought it during a Labor Day sale at Midway. I wanted a light that would fit my smaller 1911s and 2011s that wouldn’t stick out 3-4″ from the guns’ muzzles. BTW, this will fit on my Tisas DS9 Carry without using any of the extra keys that the TLR-7 came with.

I don’t currently carry with a WML but want to give it a try, so that’s the main reason I bought one. That means I need a holster that accommodates a WML, so…..

I ordered a QVO Tactical AIWB holster. The particular version I ordered was their More Discreet holster for 4.25″ 2011s so that I could use it with both my small and bigger 1911s and 2011s. I asked that the holster accommodate the TLR-7 format.

The only thing I didn’t opt for was the DCC clips, as they were a $30 add-on (!!!)

I will share my experience with this holster as I use it.

Categories
1911 2011 Bul Armory SAS II Ultralight

SAS II Ultralight Sent Back to Bul Armory for Repair

The grip safety was not stopping the hammer from falling.

This occurred back in January 2024 and I sent it back to Bul Armory then.

When I received it back, I tested it and the grip safety was functional.

Eight months later, I checked again, and the hammer is dropping again, although I’ve to hulk up on the trigger to get it to drop.

I went to Reddit and asked why this would be occurring and I got several answers. The first two were basically the same answer – that whoever built the gun removed too much material on the grip safety when fitting the part.

The last answer wasn’t really an answer…it was more of an accusation that I wasn’t engaging the grip safety fully, which excessively wore the part over time. I told the guy that that wasn’t the issue, and thanked him for his time. I highly doubt that was the issue, as I’ve to tightly grip the gun to control it and when I grip, the grip safety is disengaged.

Another guy chimed in stating that he’d had the exact same issue. He said he’d bought his gun from GP Arms, who was a Bul Armory importer up until a month or so before I bought my Ultralight. Gabe said that he’d seen the issue before with BA guns, and he fixed it. The guy said the issue never recurred.

So, this leads me to believe that this is indeed a manufacturing issue.

Keep in mind that the one-year warranty expired back in March 2024.

My options were to:

  1. Get the safety pinned – not an option on a $1500 gun.
  2. Find a gunsmith that could fix the safety – not an option on a $1500 gun.
  3. Reach out to Bul Armory and explain to them that they “fixed” this back in January, only for the issue to recur eight months later. Ask them to fix it under warranty and if they won’t, ask them to diagnose the issue and if the cost was reasonable, I’d pay to have it fixed.
  4. Fix it on my own – last resort option (would find a gunsmith before I did this).

I ended up reaching out to Bul Armory and explaining that whatever fix they applied did not work, that the gun was out of warranty but wasn’t when the “fix” was applied. I asked them to fix it under warranty since their fix didn’t remedy the issue. I explained to them that reliability was important to me, as the gun was a carry gun. I also asked that they ensure the gun stayed fixed this go-around and asked them if they needed to replace parts, to please do so.

Bul Armory honored my request. I sent the gun to them last week – they’ve had it a week, so far.

I’m carrying the Alpha Foxtrot while the SAS II UL is being repaired.

I will post an update once the gun has been returned to me.

Categories
Canik Canik TP9SA Holosun range visit TP9 Elite Subcompact

Canik Day Was Decent Fun

This is a follow up to the last post.

I had planned a lot for a one-hour range session – maybe a bit too much.

I ended up not shooting the S15 since I forgot to bring extra mags. I didn’t want to have to empty my carry mag and use one mag to shoot that gun, so I opted to not shoot it. It wasn’t a huge deal, since I’ve shot well over 1000 rounds through that gun — I’m not saying that that’s a huge amount but that amount certainly enables me to shoot the gun well enough.

I also opted to not use the Sig OHD app, as I didn’t want to mess with configuring the phone and tripod, as well as having to use the special targets (the printed targets are a turn-off for me, too). I do need to test the app and start using it, as it’s not cheap to subscribe to ($10/month).

I ended up shooting the two Caniks, starting with the TP9SA first. I shot 72 rounds from it, shooting it for roughly 30 minutes. I wanted to spend the time to learn the trigger and how to control this gun. It is full-sized but has a very light trigger and for some reason, I have issues shooting it accurately at 10+ yards. I did better this go-around than I did the prior range trip. If I shoot slowly, I can group the rounds somewhat tightly. As I speed it up, I lose all sorts of control, having pretty bad flyers.

At the half-way point of the range session, I swapped out the TP9SA for the TP9 Elite Subcompact. I had to zero the optic and was going the wrong direction in zeroing for a bit. Once I got it dialed in, I didn’t have a lot of time left. The optic worked well with this gun and I was also able to test out the irons through the optic, which I used o nail a bullseye at 10 yards. They barely cowitness (they cowitness like my SAS II UL does with the 507K, which is, barely). The gun is still difficult to control because it’s small and doesn’t offer a lot of grip support. It feels like it has a lot of muzzle flip, which is odd because my 1911s are roughly the same size and they don’t have nearly the same amount of flip. The Elite SC is far more top-heavy than the 1911s, though, and it’s also using a polymer lower. I shoot it a bit better than I did in past range visits, but it’s not really a fun gun to shoot, IMO. Well, it’s not bad, but is probably the least fun gun to shoot of my collection.

I’ll update this post with pics of the targets tomorrow.

Categories
9mm AF1911-S15 Alpha Foxtrot Canik Canik TP9SA range visit

Tomorrow is Canik Day

I plan to go to the range tomorrow. I will post the particulars after the range visit.

I’ll be taking my Canik TP9 Elite Subcompact, as I haven’t shot it in ages. I want to see if I have issues shooting it. One of the things I disliked about it is that it felt too small — I had a difficult time controlling it.

I’ll also be taking the original Canik TP9 SA. I shot it at my last range visit. I shot it well.

As well, I plan to take the Alpha Foxtrot S15 tomorrow, as I’m now carrying it since I’ve to send the SAS II UL back to Bul Armory this week.

The S15 will be getting the majority of the attention since I’m now carrying it, but since I removed my Holoson 507K from the SAS II UL, I installed it on the TP9 Elite. The optic will almost certainly need to be zeroed, though.

Categories
1911 2011 Alpha Foxtrot Bul Armory Springfield Armory

So, What’s Next?

I’ve been thinking on what my next handgun should be.

A listing:

  • Dan Wesson (CZ) DWX (full sized)
  • Cosaint COS21
  • Bul Armory Tac 5″ or Tac Pro 5″
  • Alpha Foxtrot Romulus 5″ or Spatha 5″
  • Stealth Arms Platypus
  • Springfield Armory 1911 DS (Prodigy) 5″
  • GP Arms Patriot 4.8″ or Forza 3.10″

My budget is between $1000 and $2000.

What I really want is something I don’t already have, configuration-wise. I do not have a 5″ 1911 that is chambered in 9mm. I’d prefer it to be double-stacked. I’d prefer it to not be over $2000. I do not want another cheap 2011, either – that includes any Tisas, MAC, LFA, or Witness…basically, nothing under $1000.

The Dan Wesson DWX is something that I’m curious about Dan Wesson makes great 1911s and this is apparently a blend of CZ and 1911. They’ve an MSRP of $1999 and can be found as low as $1700, so they’re within the budget. DWXs are a bit different and I love the unique guns. The con of this gun is that they are not optics-ready, which is a bit crazy considering that it costs that much and modern guns are usually cut for an optic.

I was thinking Cosaint COS21 (it’s their 5″ duty gun) but that’s rather expensive, starting at $2600! The smaller variants are $100 and $200 less (starting at $2500 for the Commander and $2400 for the Officer variants). If I’m going to spend that much money, it’ll be on a Stacatto, so scratch Cosaint off the list, simply because they assault my sensibilities. They’re probably great guns but I’ve a budget to consider.

I was also considering the new 5″ Bul Armory TAC or Tac Pro, in 5″ length. The Tac Pro is only a bit lessexpensive than the the Cosaint COS21. The Tac is $2250. Both are out of budget, sadly. As well, Bul Armory only have 1-year limited warranties on their guns, so no more Bul Armory guns for me.

I may do another Alpha Foxtrot – they’ve two new double-stacked 1911s that are in the pipeline: the Spatha and the Romulus. The Spatha appears to be a double-stacked 1911 that is solid-framed, and the Romulus appears to be a legit 2011. The con for Alpha Foxtrot is that, like Bul Armory, they only have limited 1-year warranties, but I love their guns, so I may be willing to overlook the warranty. Of the two (pictured below), the Romulus has more of my interest. Prices aren’t listed yet but I’m thinking they’ll be in the mid $1000s.

There’s the Stealth Arms Platypus. The Platypus’ pro is that it’s highly configurable. It’s cons are that it’s not really a 2011 and that most folks have them.

The Springfield Armory Prodigy is something I’ve always desired, and it has a full warranty, will take standard 2011 mags, has a very robust optics mounting system, has a great grip module, and is very flat-shooting. Yes, they initially had problems. I haven’t heard of any recent complaints, though.

The GP Arms Patriot is not new (they also have the 3.1″ Forza, which is very like the Bul Armory SAS II UL and is priced at $1590) but is very configurable. They are a tad bit pricey, though…they start at $1950.

Outside of 1911s/2011s, I’ve been curious about the Glock 43X and Glock 48. Hell, I can get both of them, in MOS configuration.

Of them all, the 5″ Prodigy is the stand-out option. I can even get the variant that has 3 mags and the HEX optic,which will certainly already have the optic mounting plate, and it will still be reasonably priced (at around $1400). Plus, I already have two Checkmate mags and a 17 round Duramag.

I’ll also keep watch on what else is released this year, as I’ve until next spring to decide.

Categories
1911 2011 9mm double-stack double-stacked Tisas

Carry DS9 – A Good Gun But Not In Love With It

The last time I posted about the Tisas Carry DS9, I’d only recently bought the gun.

That was back in February 2024. It is now June 2024. I’ve owned the gun right at four months and I’ve right at 1200 rounds through the gun! Yeah, it’s that much fun to shoot/own! And, of those 1200 rounds, it has only misfed one time. I was also able to shoot that same round from the gun after loading it back into the mag. It’s eaten steel cased ammo, lots of JHP, and lots of JHP that is considered good SD ammo. This may well make for a good gun for training courses. It can withstand gunk/carbon/dirt, too — I went maybe 400 rounds before I cleaned it, at one point.

I’ve a running thread at 1911forum.com that has somewhat detailed updates. I’ve also been posting video updates on YouTube.

Initially, I ran into an issue with the gun that I couldn’t ignore or adapt to. The gun had a trigger that was not only somewhat heavy, but it was difficult to work around. The trigger wall itself was super thick, to the point that I was pulling the gun out of target alignment when actuating it. The goal was to not modify the gun before I hit 1000 rounds. I made it to maybe 450 rounds before I decided that I had to either pay a gunsmith to make the trigger better or do it myself.

I ended up buying a 19 lb mainspring and a sear spring from EGW. The sear spring is what I thought would solve the issue. I actually pulled the OEM sear spring and looked at it. The OEM spring was bent oddly and didn’t have a lot of spring/give. It was also difficult to remove and re-install. I believe the main issue was the sear spring and I was correct – when I received the EGW sear spring, it immediately solved the issue. The new spring didn’t require any tuning, either. The trigger was a bit over 5 lb when I got the gun. By 450 rounds, it was at 4 lb 8 oz. The new sear spring didn’t change the trigger weight but did change the trigger wall. The wall was much more crisp after that upgrade.

I installed the 19 lb mainspring just to determine if I’d like the change. Initially, I didn’t like it. It made the trigger feel sloppy (added some slack). I put the OEM mainspring back into the gun. Oh – that’s also the first time I did something like that. I didn’t think I could do it without a workbench or clamp but I was able to replace it without issue. I ended up re-installing the EGW mainspring and the gun ended up wearing in – the gun’s trigger feels fantastic now.

I also did several detailed strips of the gun, just to look at the individual parts. I can verify that the gun has NO MIM parts. Not a single part is MIM. None of the parts, apart from the weird sear spring, has fitment issues. No, none are polished, but they’re standard parts and fit well enough.

After I crossed 1000 rounds, I decided to have a bit of fun with the gun. I ordered 14 lb and 12 lb flat recoil springs (from EGW). I thought they’d fit but they wouldn’t fit around the short guide rod. I ended up having to buy a full length guide rod (the requirement was I required a 1/4″ diameter rod), which came with a plug designed for use with a FLGR.

I installed the parts and was shocked again…the gun felt even better, just racking the slide. When I took it to the range, I was shooting quite a bit faster, while still being accurate. The lighter recoil spring makes the gun feel more manageable, control-wise. It seems to shoot flatter. The Prodigy comes stock with a 12-lb recoil spring and those guns shoot really well. There are more than a few videos that state the Tisas guns are over-sprung…I believe it’s true.

Another great thing about the gun is that iron sights will co-witness (1/3rd) with the optic. I’ve a Cyelee CAT that works well with this gun. This optic has been 100% dependable.

There are a few bad things about this gun, though.

The optics cut is crappy. Tisas CS is insisting that the issue isn’t that they’ve milled the optics cut wrong, but that the optics makers have milled their optics wrong. I don’t think that’s the case, as I tried two different brands (Holosun and Cyelee) and neither would fit well. I could see daylight between both optics and the slide. As well, both optics were factory zero’d to have the dot rendering generally within the center of the glass, but when I installed both, both dots were rendering super-high. I wasn’t the only person with this issue, either, and many of those folks complained that they couldn’t zero their optics because they ran out of elevation adjustment when trying to bring the dot down. I fixed my issue by using an optic ship (bought from Amazon). The shim allowed a better fit on the gun (no daylight between the optic and slide) and also allowed a lower shifting of the rendered dot. The shim doesn’t help everyone, though. Some folks stated they had to use two shims to get their optic to properly zero.

What’s funny is that Tisas keeps trying to dodge blame. Not only that, but folks keep insisting that Holosun is a cheap optic and that makes Holosun at fault. WTF. These aren’t EOTechs but they aren’t exactly cheap, either.

Tisas has a problem with milling in general. Initially, their single stacked 1911s had (and still do have) issues fitting standard 1911 sights. Part of this is because they’re avoiding licensing Novak specifications. Later on, folks started complaining that they couldn’t mount their standard-sized lights on the M1918 rail mount. Tisas stated that the rails will only mount small lights. This mainly affected their Carry line – they installed smaller rails for some reason. This issue migrated to their new line of Carry DS9s. Now there’s mounting issues with the optics and I know for a fact that it is indeed the slide milling that is the issue.

Those issues and the fact that Tisas didn’t jump to help folks means that I won’t be buying any other Tisas guns. There’s also another reason. I bought the Carry DS9 after already owning a couple of double stacked 1911s that cost over twice as much as the Tisas. Those two guns feel better and shoot better. They feel expensive. That’s not saying that someone with a DS9 won’t be able to outshoot someone with a SAS II UL. What I’m saying is that, no matter how much they make the DS9s cheaper, it’s still a cheap (as in cheaply made) gun. There are immediate and significant differences when comparing a DS9 to a SAS II UL, whether a person is just handling both or shooting both. No, most folks won’t cross-shop those two guns but I’m not the only person that has bought a DS9 after owning a Prodigy or SAS II UL or even a Staccato.

In summary, I didn’t need the DS9 and the SAS II UL almost certainly spoiled me. The DS9’s trigger will never feel like the UL’s trigger. The DS9 rattles. It has side to side play in the slide. The trigger is a bit sloppy. The DS9 right-side safety isn’t blended (it cuts my hand – my Tisas single stacked Duty 45 does the same thing and I ended up swapping in a single sided safety to save my hand). The DS9 isn’t bull-barreled. There’s the optics milling issue. That sear spring on the DS9 was shoddy. All of those 7-8 sentences I just typed is justification to stay away, in my humble opinion.

For those who don’t already own a 2011 or nicely crafted double stacked 1911, this gun is probably for you, as long as you remember that a cheaper gun is going to be built cheaper. There’s a reason why 2011s, up until recently, were priced at mid $1000. If you already own something twice the cost of a DS9 (or other variant), you’re going to be disappointed, unless you love to tinker.

I love it but I’m not in love with it.

Categories
1911 2011 double-stack double-stacked sub-compact subcompact

EAA Girsan Witness 2311 3.4″ – My Poor Wallet!

So, I haven’t yet committed to yet another gun purchase, but I was bored last week and was perusing the EAA website and saw that they’re finally listing their Girsan Witness 2311 3.4″ (subcompact) on their product page. It’s sort of hidden, as you specifically have to manipulate their product menu to display it.

So, it’s using the same grip as their larger 2311s, which is interesting. It has that mullet look, which is similar to the Bul Armory SAS II UL. The MSRP of $999 is quite high, though, but all of the Girsan 2311s are at that price.

I’m interested, yeah. I was interested last year when they had it listed, but they pulled it off of their website for some reason and it’s only now showing up again.

Now, it has to get good reviews, too. The larger Girsan 2311s aren’t doing so hot since they were released, as they were either rushed to the market or they are just built like shit…the reviews of those aren’t really good.

LFA is supposedly releasing an Officer-sized 2011 too (as an Apollo). Now, those have been getting good reviews, although they have MIM (they’re working to make those guns MIM-free). I also remember TheHumbleMarksman showing, in a review, the failure of a slide release that was supposedly MIM-free, which is NOT good. I’d eventually like to see how well their 3.5″ gun does.

I asked the Tisas representative on the 1911Forum.com website if Tisas was planning to release ANY Officer-sized guns and they said, “No”. Later on, when folks were discussing it, someone said that they spoke to another Tisas rep and he/she said that it was being worked on! Now, if they can do one as a 2011, that would be awesome!

I’m sure there will be more news on this and when I see it, I’ll post an update!

Categories
Cyelee Holosun Optic

Are Budget Optics an Option for Concealed Carriers?

I bought a Cyelee optic for the Tisas Carry DS9 two days ago.

Specifically, I bought their CAT, which is a 3MOA Micro Pistol Green Dot Sight With Motion Deactivated Standby (RMSc Footprint).

Why did I opt for a budget optic, and in this discussion, what consitutes “budget”?

My Holosun 507K X2 ACSS optic was not cheap, at $300+. I don’t need another $300 optic. I needed an optic that wouldn’t break the bank while also being reliable. The CAT is $116 and has a reputation of being robust in durability, so I wanted to try it.

I also wanted to try a green optic to see if it agrees with me better than red optics.

If the optic does well for me, I’ll buy a few more, depending on if they’ll fit my guns — they don’t have many RMSc-footprinted optics. 🙁

I’ll eventually conduct a video review of the optic, so stay tuned for that.

Categories
1911 2011 9mm double-stack double-stacked Tisas

Let’s Discuss Several Several Things About the Tisas Carry

I’ve been to the range twice with the Tisas Carry DS9.

I’ll share some information about the first range visit. I also suspected some of the things we discussed in my last post would be apparent during the first range visit.

The trigger had issues. The gun initially had a thick walled trigger. While the trigger itself wasn’t heavy, it wasn’t light either, so that’s a wash. The trigger wall was stiff, but I shot maybe 130 rounds from the gun, so the wall softened a bit. As well, the trigger is now lighter by 1 lb.

Between the trigger’s issues and the sights, I was having issues hitting where I aimed. I shot low (90 degrees low) with every shot — not low left, but directly low. I’m not sure how to use the U-notch sights, but I’m thinking they’re off by a bit, at least.

The gun didn’t hiccup at all during the first range visit. I shot a mix of ammo, some being HP, some being SD HP, and some being FMJ. The gun is flat-shooting, too.

When I got home from the first range visit, I sat while watching TV and kept racking the gun and pulling the trigger to get that thick wall to wear-in as quickly as possible.

When I went to the range next (two days later), I shot 187 rounds. Quite a bit of ammo was shot, some HP, some SD ammo, and a lot of range ammo. I had one fail to feed one one HP (I think it was Winchester range JHP). I put it back in the magazine and it feed and shot successfully.

The gun also shot a lot better, probably due to the trigger breaking in. Also, I man-handled the gun, as the first range visit, I was sloppy with gun control (recoil management and probably trigger control). My grouping were MUCH better this range visit.

I now have 317 rounds through the gun. The gun has yet to be cleaned, which says a lot, because I’ve looked in the gun and it’s pretty filthy. The rails were overly lubricated, which may have helped. I may clean it tomorrow, as I’m not intentionally trying to induce filth-related failures.

I also published a video. I’ll be producing a longer duration video soon. The short duration one below lacks some information (I had to make it fit into a 15 minute timeframe).