Tag: Bul Armory SAS II UL

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 I 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’m The New 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 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.

Categories
Bul Armory SAS II Ultralight

I’ve now shot 2000+ Rounds Thru the SAS II Ultralight

As of 12/20/2024, I’ve shot over 2000 rounds through the Bul Armory SAS II Ultralight!

There were no malfunctions this past range trip, but there’s not been a failure in a long while. The last I remember a malfunction occurring was October 25 of 2023. It was a few days after the pistol course I took. It was a failure to feed. That day, the round tally was 986 rounds through the gun. The total failures up to that point was 8 rounds. The failure rate was 0.81% (8 is 0.81% of 986).

As of now, the total round count through the gun is 2028. There’s been no failures since 10/25/2023, so the total failures is still 8 rounds. 8 is 0.394477% of 2028 – the current failure rate is 0.39%.

The gun has been having an issue with retaining the optic. The optic screws keep loosening and I don’t know why. I removed the screws a few weeks ago and cleaned them of old thread locker. I’ve been using blue. What I couldn’t do was clean the female threads, as I’ve no way to clean them. I think I might remove the optic again to clean the screw threads (I may also try to order more screws) – I’ll use the screws from the iron sights to attempt to push out any gunk that are on the threads of the screw holes on the slide.

It’s disappointing to see that my optic is moving when I’m trying to train. The optic isn’t loose to the point that I can feel it moving if I wiggle it with my fingers, but when I use a torx bit to test tightness, I can immediately tell that a screw (one screw specifically) is loose, as the screw isn’t snug when I check.

I’m still planning to buy another grip module for this gun – Bul Armory has them on their site for $149 and it has better texture. I’ll order that within the next month or two.

My journey with this gun will continue – I’ll have owned it 2 years in March. It’s been a good gun, thus far. Here’s to another upcoming good year with it!

Categories
ammo defensive ammo

New SD Ammo Ordered

I bought some SD ammo thru Target Sports USA.

When I went to the range last week, I shot a box of Federal Hydra-Shok 124-gr JHP and the gun (the Bul Armory SAS II UL) ate it without issue, so I ordered a box of 50 of P9HS1G1.

Now, I shot a magazine of Hydra-Shok 124-gr and the ammo functioned, but I didn’t want to buy another box from Cabelas, as their prices aren’t the best.

I also bought a 50-round box of Speer Gold Dot 124-gr JHP, as I’ve never shot 9mm of that brand before and it is a proven round (lots of LE usage).

Both boxes were under $35 and is far cheaper than what I can find at Cabelas (they don’t typically sell SD ammo in boxes of 50).

I’ll give the Speer Gold Dots a spin with the SAS II UL and let you all know how well they do.