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 Docter 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.