Category: 2011

Categories
1911 2011 RIA Rock Island Armory Rock Ultra Tac Ultra

I Asked RIA-USA to Build A 2011-Pattern Firearm!

I checked my email this morning and saw that RIA-USA had sent me a survey. I usually don’t get much from them, but I have bought handgun items from them the past few years.

They basically asked me what gun(s) I had, which I told them. I’ve a Commander-sized TCM that came with 22TCM and 9mm barrels. I’ve a Rock Ultra Commander. I also have a Rock Ultra Government double-stacked 10mm. All three are the slate-gray parkerized variants, which I love. They’re extremely utilitarian but shoot well! I’ve hangups about the 10mm, though, but that’s just me.

They also asked me if I’d had any issues. I explained that I have an issue with the Rock Ultra Commander – the front sight came off and I can not get it back on. I’ve never asked for support, but I may do that soon, as the gun shoots great and I’d like to keep shooting it.

They also asked me what I think they could offer their customer base. While I know they already make double-stacked 1911s, I said I’d like to see an RIA 2011. If Live Free Armory or Tisas could do it, RIA-USA could also do it. I asked them to make a 2011-stype handgun that takes Glock mags – if they did that, I’d definitely buy it. I also stated that it would have to be under $1000.

We’ll see what they do with that suggestion!

Categories
1911 2011 9mm double-stack Fusion Firearms XP Comp XP Pro

I Was FINALLY Able To Obtain Support From Fusion Firearms!

Back in April, I tried to reach out to Fusion Firearms. I was unsuccessful. Why was I trying to contact Fusion Firearms? My XP Comp came with two RMSc plates instead of an RMR and RMSc.

I tried to reach out to them several times, without success, so I gave up. I had to remove the RMR plate that I was using on the XP Pro so that I could use it on the XP Comp.

Last week, I tried again, using their online support system. This time I was able to get through to Tyler. I had included a picture of the two optic plates that came with my XP Comp, which was enough to get him to send an RMR plate to me.

The RMR plate arrived yesterday. I will eventually use it on the XP Pro, once I obtain another RMR optic. Speaking of which, I might actually just get another RMSc-footprinted optic. There are a few RMSc optics that have large windows now. I just need an optic with a large view-port, as that’s what I prefer.

Categories
2011 ammo Fusion Firearms range ammo recoil spring steel-cased XP Comp XP Pro

I Changed the XP Comp’s Recoil Spring to 10-lb!

The last two range visits, I’ve been shooting my XP Comp 2011, attempting to test/review from an owner standpoint.

I’ve been shooting steel-cased ammo lately, specifically Magtech 115-gr FMJ. My Alpha Foxtrot Attila just eats up that ammo, without complaint. Both of my Fusion Firearms 2011s hate that ammo, though. I’ve both the XP Pro and XP Comp. While they eat will shoot the ammo, they ocassionally will not fully go back into battery (sometimes, but not always).s

The last range visit, I actually anticipated the issue and bought some brass-cased Federal 115-gr FMJ. I shot much of that ammo through both XPs, without issue (50 rounds of it). Whenever I’d swap back to the Magtech (purposely attempting to determine if it was an ammo issue), the failures would occur, so I know this is due to the ammo.

Now, this particular make/model of ammo is using polished steel casings, so it’s not the case coating that’s the issue. I think the ammo is slightly underpowered – most steel-cased ammo is cheaply made.

A while back, I bought a spring kit from Fusion Firearms. That kit comes with 7-, 9-, 10-, and 13-lb springs. The XP Comp comes with an 8-lb spring. As I didn’t think the 9-lb spring would cure the issue, I opted to install the 10-lb spring instead.

I also conducted research and the above is a satisfactory solution. Alternative solutions would be to switch to a better ammo type (brass cased or a make/model with a known good reliability history).

I do not blame the ammo as the cause of this issue, as most guns with comps will have light sprints and this is a known thing with the XP Comp. As well, the XP Pro has light springs from the factory, so that’s why it was exhibiting the same issue.

My fix will hopefully resolve the issue (at least with the XP Comp.

While I love Magtech ammo, I might need to switch to something with a bit more power, at least until the XP reaches 1000 rounds. I may go back to Winchester White Box, as it has power.

Categories
1911 2011 9mm Alpha Foxtrot Attila handgun

The Alpha Foxtrot Attila Now Has Over 1000 Rounds – Video Posted

This video details my ownership experience with the gun thus far.

1082 rounds have been shot out of the gun. There have been no feed/extract issues. There have been no reliability issues whatsoever.

As well, due to YouTube being extremely tyrannical, I’ve taken extra steps to ensure my videos are compliant with their terms of service. Because of that, there’s a banner being depicted when embedding the video into this blog post. This is something I can’t avoid. Apologies.

Below is the Rumble link. Although I’d rather use Rumble (to counter YouTube tyranny), YouTube gets far more traffic. I’ve had little success in getting my Rumble-posted videos to gain traction.

Categories
1911 2011 9mm Fusion Firearms Glock 17 magazines XP Comp XP Pro

RWB Glock 17 Mags Are Too Tight Of A Fit For Fusion Firearms XPs

I bought a few extra Glock 17 magazines for my Fusion Firearms XPs. They arrived today.

I’ve a handful of KCI magazines (not the sets that came with my XPs). While they fit, I don’t like them, as the springs are really weak. They’re weak straight out of the packaging.

Well, I’ll give it to the KCI mags – at least they actually fit into the gun. The RWB Glock mags do not fit. I can get them maybe halfway inserted before they bind.

To be fair, I think Fusion Firearms built their XP guns around the KCI mags, as this is a common problem – the mag well is rather tight.

They fit now, though, because I took sandpaper to them. They fit, but they look like ass, even after using smaller grit sandpaper to lessen the coarseness of the scoring. They won’t drop out of the gun – I have to pull them out (they pull out with a very small amount of effort). Over time, they’ll wear-in.

This weekend, I’ll try to visit some local gun shops in an effort to obtain a few more mags. I don’t have time to order a different brand, as today is 6/26 and the new laws take affect on 7/1.

Categories
1911 2011 9mm Alpha Foxtrot Attila double-stack

My Thoughts Regarding Alpha Foxtrot and the Attila

I’m still in the process of shooting 1000 rounds through the Alpha Foxtrot Attila. I’m at 702 rounds, so far.

What I’ve been wondering is, why is Alpha Foxtrot not sending T&E Attilas to the firearms press (press and influencers). I think that’s odd, because they’ve been doing it with their other guns – the Romulus and AF S15.

I wonder if they’re having issues with this gun, to the point that they’re not sending the gun to influencers to review. If things were that bad, you’d think they’d not have them within public circulation. I’m not sure things are that bad, but AF not sending out test guns is odd.

As well, there were no YT entities reviewing guns that they actually bought, which I also think is odd.

Another oddity is that AF’s product page for the Attila is bare of details. That page has no gun stats and no indication that the gun is in public circulation.

I have the honor of being the first non SHOT Show reviewer of this gun, but the second would be GBGuns on YouTube.

Here’s his review of the gun.

While I’ve had the gun a few months, I only had one of his issues with my gun.

He reported and demonstrated that only one of his two safety levers worked – the right-side lever worked intermittently. I had that issue, as well. Also, I know of two other owners that had the same issue. I detail stripped the gun (to document which internal parts are MIM) and noticed the ambi safeties were easy to remove (usually they are not easy), and that immediately grabbed my attention. I’m thinking that maybe the parts weren’t installed correctly because when reassembling the gun, it was difficult to align the two levers to install them, which is normal. The right lever was functioning.

His other issues were that the gun wasn’t accurate and upon further investigation, he found two issues: 1) the barrel and comp had exessive play, which would affect accuracy – a possible barrel lockup issue; 2) there were copper marks on the inside of his comp – they appear to be bullet strikes.

Another issue he had wasn’t with the gun but was with AF’s customer support. They initially said that they wouldn’t conduct warranty work on the safety since it was deemed an intermittent issue – that doesn’t even make sense, because a safety needs to work every time you enable/disable it. The also initially didn’t want to investigate it for possible lockup issues. They asked him to send a video showing the issue. He sent a portion of the review footage of him troubleshooting the issue and he thinks they noticed that he was a YouTube entity. They changed up and wanted to see the gun to remedy all of the issues.

This is both embarrassing to me and also quite hokey for AF.

I’m a GBGuns Patreon member. There are a bunch of us. We donate funds so that GBGuns can conduct his reviews. Every so often, we vote on guns for him to review. I was one of the members who voted for this gun. I’ve this gun, as well as the AF S15 and, since GBGuns hadn’t ever reviewed an Alpha Foxtrot, I wanted to see his thoughts on the gun. I never considered that he’d receive a bad gun. So, I felt bad. Now, rationally, there were like 40+ others that also voted as I did, so this isn’t something I needed to take blame for, but I consider myself to be pretty knowledgeable about the AF brand, so I was taken by surprise since I’ve rarely heard of this many QC issues with a particular verion of S15.

Also, I was somewhat shocked at how Alpha Foxtrot handled the situation. They only agreed to take the gun in for repair when they suspected that GBGuns was a YouTube entity. I could have issues with mine – would they refuse warranty work in such a case? I’m not a huge YouTuber or influencer. While I think I trust my particular gun, if I have issues with it, I’m doubting that Alpha Foxtrot would fix things – not after seeing what GBGuns experienced. And they still need to fix that gun’s issues.

As well, GBGuns said that manufacturers that do this are untrustworthy and that gun makers such as Bul Armory wouldn’t do such a thing. Yeah, well, they did with me – remember that grip safety issue that I have with my Bul Armory Ultralight? It was sent to them twice and the problem always recurred after 60 days or so. It happened a third time and I opted to not send it back – it’s obvious that they either refuse to fix it or are unable to properly fix it.

I’m sure there are other folks with similar CS stories regarding other brands, too. I say this because I think that all gun makers have times where they fail to get it right regarding warranty committments. I don’t expect every manufacturer to be perfect but I do expect them to support my request within the limit of the warranty. A good gun with bad warranty support = bad gun, in my opinion. If the gun maker comes off as sour or non-accomodating but eventually fully repairs your gun, that’s a bad gun. Having one very bad experience is going to sour the whole overall experience.

This is also the second time I’ve seen AF make decisions based on influencing. It seems as if they’d rather focus on appeasing influencers/entertainers than anyone else. Awhile back, I was speaking with one of their marketing folks in the AF subreddit – he said he wanted to help me and was considering sending me something but wanted to see my YouTube channel first. I wasn’t sure why he was asking, but I provided him the URL to my channel and afterward, he ghosted me. I’m sure he was going to offer to send me a T&E gun but saw that I’ve less than 1000 subscribers and decided that I wasn’t worth it.

AF has always had very weak CS. It made it difficult to advocate for them in the past.

So, I’m going to stop advocating for AF because I’m starting to see that they’re kinda shady.

Categories
1911 2011 9mm Alpha Foxtrot Attila double-stack

The Alpha Foxtrot Attila’s Frame Inserts Are Pinned

I posted a 5-6 minute video that shows that Alpha Foxtrot has reinforced the frame inserts on the Attila. I noticed that they pinned it not long after I bought it, but hadn’t looked at the pinning until now. Here’s the video.

This is good news and is also somewhat important to know, as it shows that Alpha Foxtrot is aware of issues and are trying to fix them.

Categories
1911 2011 9mm Alpha Foxtrot Attila range visit

Quick Update on the Alpha Foxtrot Attila Experience

So far, the experience has been surprisingly uneventful.

I’m at 702 rounds – a couple of range visits and I should be crossing over 1000 rounds!

I practiced doubles tonight, at 5 and 7 yards. The groupings were good. Was starting from low ready (indoor range, no timer). The gun is controllable. There wasn’t as much issue with Glock knuckle this go-around, but I only shot 105 rounds through the gun during this range visit, as I also shot the Kuna and AK-V.

I also shot it at longer distances this range visit, trying to test accuracy. While I can hit decently at range, the groupings are wider than, say, when I do the same with my XP Pro (which is a bigger gun).

The optic hasn’t moved since attaching it.

I’m actually carrying it now, too. It carries well. I’m using the Tenicor Certum and Velo4 when carrying it. I’ll eventually use the QVO More Discreet with the Attila.

Categories
1911 2011 9mm AF1911-S15 Alpha Foxtrot Attila double-stack range visit video

Alpha Foxtrot S15 vs Alpha Foxtrot Attila At 10 Yards

I’ve a quick video of a comparison shoot between the AF-S15 and the AF Attila.

Note that I’m aware that this isn’t a fair comparison, as one gun isn’t optics-read and the other has an optic (that will greatly affect shooting results, as you can see here).

This was at 10 yards. That’s not a long distance but I’m shooting at small targets. The S15’s hits are on the left and the Attila’s hits are on the right. There’s 15 shots per target.

I’m able to shoot the Attila faster and be more accurate, mainly due to the optic, but probably really due to a culmination of new updates that the Attila has that my particular S15 doesn’t. The results might differ if I had an optic-ready S15.

Categories
1911 2011 9mm AF1911-S15 Alpha Foxtrot Fusion Firearms

The Alpha Foxtrot Attila Is Here!

And I’ve shot it, as well as shooting the XP Comp! Both shoot ridiculously flat! They’re loud but shoot flat.

Some notes (actually a lot of notes), in no particular order:

  • I’ve detail stripped the gun already (I removed all but the mag release and the trigger assembly). There’s MIM but that was expected, as I think posted, on this forum a while back, that MIM being present in the -S15. There’s good and bad news regarding MIM with the Attila. The bad news first: there a new part that’s MIM. It’s the grip safety. The good news is that the part appears to no longer proprietary and looks to be a 1911-patterned part. I’ll include pics of the MIM parts so that folks that buy the gun can know what to replace with billet parts.
    • The following parts are MIM: ejector, grip safety, disconnector, sear, and the firing pin retaining plate.
    • The MIM parts are all replaceable with 1911-pattern parts.
    • The purpose of this info is to share the data points, not to hate on the gun. I’m hoping this thread doesn’t develop into a “I hate MIM” or “that gun sucks” thing.
  • The main spring is no longer appears to be proprietary, but I’ve not yet validated that.
  • The manual states the Attila isn’t rated for +P. I don’t typically shoot +P, but that info is nice to know.
  • I shot Blazer 124-gr thru the gun before remembering that Blazer does not recommend shooting the ammo through ported or comp’d guns. I didn’t see much crud in the comp, but I only shot maybe 90 rounds through it. [UPDATE: Yeah, there’s a decent amount of crud through the gun, but I’m unsure if it’s the Blazer or the Herter’s that left the crud – maybe both did?]
  • The front iron has tritium. It is also a Glock-pattern sight.
  • The gun doesn’t come with an optic cut cover, so if you aren’t an optics persion, you’ll be shooting the gun with a bare optic plate. That may bother some folks.
  • The gun comes with with two MOS plates – One for RMR, which is already mounted on the gun, and one for RMSC, which comes in a ziplock bag.
  • The comp is not threaded (good for those in states with laws that forbid threaded barrels).
  • The OEM thumb safeties (they’re ambi) are 1911-patterned, which was not the case with the -S15. The back end of the -S15 has a wide beavertail area, which means the thumb safeties are, by necessity, proprietary – the tangs on the safeties are longer than a standard 1911’s. Working on a strong hunch, I was able to fit a 1911-pattern single sided safety to the Atilla. The new safety is a Wilson Combat part.
  • The OEM ambi thumb safeties had a lot of play in them and I think the safeties weren’t installed properly from the factory. One side (right) was binding when trying to actuate the lever while the other side worked. I had to do a partial detail strip just to properly re-install the safeties.
  • The Attila is using the same recoil spring assembly as the -S15. The -S15 can also use a Kimber 3″ Ultra RSA without issue (I’ve validated that).
  • Trigger measures at 2 lb 15 oz (avg of 5 pulls).
  • Fitment is good – there are no wide gaps or generally funky fitment.
  • It fits the same holsters as the -S15.
  • I’ve a 407C mounted to the gun – it mounts fine but I don’t trust the screws…they seem inadequate, but I’ve almost 300 rounds through the gun and the sight has not moved.
  • The 407C will not cowitness with this gun’s irons.
  • The rear irons are not mounted to the slide – they are integrated with (not dovetailed into) the optic plates, so you can’t change the rear iron sight.
  • The grip texturing has improved – they’re more aggressive than what’s on the -S15 but not overly aggressive.
  • The trigger guard is now square, which means I can use this gun with my other 2011 holsters.
  • The -S15 is polished DLC, but there is no option for polished DLC with the Attila.