I wanted a place to discuss my handguns and firearms in general. Everyone seemingly has lots to say about guns, so I promise you this won't be a rant blog.
I talked about the EAA Girsan Witness 2311 Brat a few days ago. Well, it is now released for consumption (meaning that it is now actually being sold).
I’ve checked the street pricing and, as of 11/11/2024, it is showing as $540 as a lowest-price (see pricing here). That’s not a bad price for such a gun, but I’m suspecting that it will have QC issues, as the other EAA Girsan Witness 2311 variants have all had issues when being reviewed by independent YouTube channels. I’d be very surprised if the gun actually does well, especially with it being a smaller 1911/2011, as the smaller versions can sometimes be difficult to develop.
We’ll see how well it does, but I’m not holding my breath for a good review.
What is this gun bringing that the other 2011 variants aren’t? Well, You don’t see all that many 2011s chambered in 45ACP, especially in Officer size and while having a bull barrel.
That price is definitely attractive and offsets the fact that it’s an EAA/Girsan offering.
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!
Three weeks ago, I got a notice that Grabagun had TP9 Elite SC magazines back in stock, but I didn’t see the notice until 3 hours after it was posted – when I logged in to purchase some, they were again no longer in stock.
Last week, I got another notice and saw it within 20 minutes of receiving the e-mail. When I logged in to purchase, I saw they were still in stock, but when I tried to purchase two of them, the system would error out with an obscure message. After investigating and testing, I found that Grabagun only had one magazine left. Either all but one had sold within 20 minutes or Grabagun only got a few restocked. I ended up purchasing that one magazine.
A few things:
The mag was $37.69. Shipping was $5.42. With tax, the order was $44 and some change. That’s quite a bit for one magazine.
Also, the mag was a 10-round magazine with a flush mag plate. I’d wanted 12- or 15-round mags, but since I hadn’t seen any in stock going on six months, a 10-round magazine is better than no mag at all.
I also saw a post on the Canik reddit page that someone had bought a 10-round mag and had ground down the nubs that limit it, regaining the 2 extra rounds. I’d planned to do the same if I had to buy 10-round mags.
I received the magazine today.
Pictures are below. The 12-round mag with the pinky extension is depicted on the left, while the 10-round mag with the flat base plate is on the right. Notice the indented areas on the 10-round mag. That is what is limiting the magazine to a maximum of 10 rounds.
I was able to use a dremel to grind down the bumps that limit the capacity of the magazine. I then tested the magazine by loading it with snap caps. I was able to load 12 of them (max).
For those that might shun such a modification, the magazine already has ammo witness holes, as well at mag catch holes, as well as two round holes along it’s spine. Grinding the limiters isn’t going to cause any type of feed issue if you’ve not left irregularities after you’ve removed those bumps. I also really just wanted extra mags for range use. As I use the mag at the range, if I’ve not noticed any issues with using it after I’ve modified it, I’ll probably decide to use it for carry as well.
So, I received the holster shell for the Canik TP9 Elite SC on Saturday.
I installed it on my Alien Gear Cloak Tuck 2.0 holster base, although I hat to mess around with the mounting screws and bushings to customize the fit. As well, I used blue thread locker on the screws. I’ve been carrying the handgun in this holster half the day. It carries well with this holster. It doesn’t protect from the grip texture, though, but I installed rubber Talon Grip tape on the grips on Saturday, as well, so the texture doesn’t beat up my skin.
I’ve yet to give the N8 Tactical holster a try. Maybe soon.
Also, I want to give the holster that came with the handgun another try, soon, too.
I found that I’ve another box of Hevi Shot 100-gr frangible 9mm ammo. I shot most of a box (of 50) from the TP9 SC. I think I may attempt to use this ammo as SD/HD ammo. It shoots flat and doesn’t jam the handgun.
UPDATE:
I’ve been giving the Alien Gear holster a try, carrying it around the house. It carries well but the included Canik holster works surprisingly well. I still do not know which I’ll use. I suppose I can use all three over a long time span and report on my findings. So, with that being said, I’ll be carrying with the Alien Gear first!
Alien Gear Cloak Tuck 2.0 with TP9 Elite SC shell
TP9 Elite SC in the included holster provided by Canik
I revisited the range a few weeks ago with the Canik TP9 Elite SC again, using different ammo. I used some light for caliber ammo (90-grain 9mm), as well as some 124- and 147-grain, hoping that one of those would lessen the recoil.
While I love the handgun, it is snappy as hell. Keep in mind, I’ve been carrying a Springfield Armory XD45 Mod 2 subcompact the past 2 years, so when I say the TP9 SC is snappy, I’m not joking. And, prior to carrying that handgun, I was carrying the XD9 Mod 2 subcompact, which I also shoot well.
I’m not sure why I can shoot the XD45 without worrying about snap while I can shoot the XD9 and XD45 without issue. It could be that the XDs have great grip texturing while the TP9 SC’s grip texturing isn’t quite as robust.
I’m going to attempt to carry the TP9 SC. I’ve ordered some rubber Talon Grips for it. I’ve also swapped out the backstrap for the large one. I’m hoping that the backstrap alone will help me get a better purchase on the grip so that I can better control the muzzle flip. The Talon Grips will certainly help with that, too. I’m not sure when the Talon Grips will be delivered but hopefully I’ll have them within the next 7 days. While I’m waiting for them to arrive, I’ll visit the range and work on grip control with this handgun.
I also ordered a N8 Tactical OT2 IWB holster. I didn’t purchase a kydex holster, as I wanted a holster that would protect me from the grip’s texturing…it was rubbing me raw when I was test-carrying the handgun around the house. I can also order an Alien Gear shell for the TP9 SC (I’ve several Alien Gear Cloak Tuck 2.0 holsters), but I’ll do that if I find I don’t like the N8 Tactical holster.
Update (12/27/2021): I’ve been using the N8 Tactical holster as my primary holster, mainly because it keeps the grip texture from my skin. I sometimes use the OEM holster and sometimes use the Alien Gear hybrid holster, as well, but the go-to holster is the N8 Tactical holster.
If you weren’t aware that I recently bought a Canik TP9 Elite Subcompact, I posted about it.
I took the liberty of checking the weight of my Elite Subcompact’s trigger, but I already know that it’s going to be outstanding, as it’s well-known that TP9s typically have great triggers.
I did an average of 5 pulls.
The five pulls:
4 lb 0.5 oz
3 lb 15.4 oz
4 lb 2.9 oz
3 lb 13.4 oz
4 lb 1.5 oz
The average of the above is 4 lb 0.3 oz.
Aside, I’ve been trying to find a good holster for this handgun. There’s lots out there but I’ve not found what I’m looking for. I do not want to get an Alien Gear, but not particularly looking for kydex either. It would actually be nice if someone made a kydex version of the holster that came with the handgun. I may order an N82 Tactical holster for now, until I decide on a nice holster.
Yes, this is now a thing. It feels good enough to replace my XD45 Mod 2 as my daily carry. I’m tempted to use the holster that’s included with it (it’s configured by default to use as OWB, but I’ve rotated the clips so that I can use the holster as IWB) but when testing it, the grip rubs my skin, so I’d have to wear undershirts when using this holster. I’d looked at N8 Tactical but they don’t have a Pro model hostler for this specific handgun.
I’ll probably visit the range some time this week so that I can get some rounds through the gun (mandatory for me, before I can consider carrying it). Fortunately, I’ve a bit of 9mm ammo stashed away. I may even consider using a red dot optic on it, since it has an RMR slide cut.
I may also decide to sell my two TP9SAs and use the funds from selling those to obtain an SF Elite (looked at one of those yesterday at the LGS).
By the way, if you’re in Northern Virginia around Manassas or Gainesville, visit Clark Brothers. They’re a good LGS.
UPDATE: I’ve visited the range with the new Canik. I’ve a post range visit video here:
