Tag: Alpha Foxtrot

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1911 2011 9mm Alpha Foxtrot Attila double-stack

Thoughts To share 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 is 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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.
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1911 2011 9mm Fusion Firearms pistol caliber carbine Springfield Armory

I Have Received The New Guns!

The gun store called me yesterday afternoon and told me that the guns were ready to be picked up. They must’ve been super busy with tracking inventory because it took them a day to call me. I was pretty wasted from a week of hard work, so I opted to not pick up the guns yesterday.

I went with my wife and son to pick them up today.

The shop was packed, but I was in and out in 30-40 minutes.

The associate showed me the XP Comp first. The guy was surprised when he saw Glock mags in a 2011 case. He asked me twice, “this thing actually takes Glock mags?” LOL!

The gun was beautiful, as expected. It looks….different. More serious? Yeah, that’s it! It looks all business when compared to the hard chrome version.

The second thing I noticed was that the grip texturing was serious. That’s exactly what it needed. I’m now wondering if I can get that exact same grip for my XP Pro…it won’t help the slide, but that’s OK. As well, the grip is more slim and has less angles than the XP Pro…I like it better just for that alone. The most important thing is, the texturing goes from the top of the side panels to the bottom! That’s a huge deal and is a definite improvement.

The third thing I noticed was that the recoil spring weight…light AF. I’m now wondering if it’s going to have issues as I stack up the round count. I’ve seen more than a few folks say that they needed a stronger spring when breaking in the gun – we’ll see.

I’ve ordered a Holosun 407C for that gun. I found one for $160. I wanted a big window but also wanted something cheap but tested.

He also showed me the Kuna.

My very first impression of the Kuna was, “tiny!” That gun is small AF! And light, too. The trigger is OK, but I’ve the feeling that I’ll have a better impression of the trigger once I’ve shot rounds though it.

The safety is stiff as hell – I hope it’ll loosen a bit with time. The folding brace mechanism is stiff, too. It took me a bit to determine how to fold/unfold it. The flip-up sights are great – I love that option.

I’ve a TruGlo Dual Color cheap-ass optic that I bought from Walmart like 11 years ago that I’ve never used. I’ve heard other folks say that, while that optic looks and feels cheap, it works well enough for range use, so I installed it on the Kuna. If fits well and will co-witness the irons perfectly. The optic glass is big, and it sits high enough to where I don’t need a riser. Eventually, I’ll find something better for it, or, just scavenge from my other rifles. I’ve a Romeo MSR that’s on my Ruger AR-556 – that would be a great fit for the Kuna, but I really don’t want to be messing with risers, and I think that optic will need a riser when mounted to the Kuna. I can test it tomorrow since I’ve not zero’d that optic to the AR-556 yet.

I’m not sure how folks are using the non-flip-up sights, though…they’re super low and I can’t get a good sight picture unless I remove my prescription glasses.

I also received my 5 extra Kuna mags today, which is great! With 30-round mags, though, the two that came with the Kuna are good enough for immediate range use.

I need to study up on where to lube the Kuna in preparation for a first outing at the range. I’m totally unfamiliar with MP5-types of guns. I’m unsure if I should move the charging handle to the right-hand side so that I can charge the gun as if it were an AK…I should probably leave it as-is for now, though.

Many folks have been SBR-ing their Kunas. I’m not sure I want to do that. Yeah, it’ll be great to have a short barreled PCC with an actual stock, but I HATE asking for permission for simple shit like that, and I do plan to eventually to a different state (would have to ask for permission to transfer the SBR out of state, too).

I’ve never bought a supressor, but I’m super-curious now, with the Kuna, so that may be in my (next year?) future.

The next gun is due to arrive on Tuesday. If they call me that day, I’ll go pick it up that evening after work. That one will be the Alpha Foxtrot Attila, and will be my second comp’d 2011. The goal for that gun is to carry it, but I also am super fussy about flashbang. That comp may cause a lot of flashes, which isn’t optimal for me. I can always opt to continue carrying the Prodigy (there’s no real need to replace it as my carry gun at the moment), or I can get the S15 cut for an optic so that I can carry that. Another option would be to sell the S15 to fund the next purchase. (XP 3C????)

I’ll start planning out the next few reviews and will probably begin to shoot/review the XP Comp first.

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1911 2011 9mm Alpha Foxtrot

I Think I Snagged Me An Alpha Foxtrot Attila!

I have been checking several times a day using search engines for an Alpha Foxtrot Attila but haven’t been seeing any. I’d been told that the gun wouldn’t be released to the public until end of April. It is currently April 3rd.

I checked gun.deals today and saw that Guns.com had one! Initially, I didn’t see it and closed the browser tab, but did a mental check – “did I just see what I think I did” and double-checked by going back to the page. Yep! I wasn’t hallucinating.

I quickly bought it. Now, I’ve bought guns in the past, only to find that the store didn’t actually have the gun in stock…we’ll see if I’ve been lured into a waiting game. (Not that I wasn’t already waiting, right??)

I also checked after I bought it, to see if the product page would show as OOS (out of stock). It’s not showing as OOS, so maybe they’ve several. Or, maybe they’re making a list. Dunno.

For those of you that don’t use gun.deals, you can set up watch lists to watch for certain UPCs. That’s what I did.

Even if I’ve to wait til the end of April, at least I’ve bought one.

As well, I guess this means I should buy a bunch of G48 mags now, especially since they upped the round capacity for those mags.

This is my third of four guns. I just need to get the Ruger Mark IV now, and I’ll probably buy that from my range’s store.

UPDATE (4/3/2026): And….it shipped. It’s not even 5 PM yet. It arrives sometime Tuesday.

UPDATE (4/7/2026): The gun was delivered around 10 AM this morning. I was hoping that would be early enough for the FFL to process it and contact me today, but nope. I hear they’ve been extremely busy, with folks trying to buy before the bans hit in July. That means business is good for them. They should call tomorrow – with the other two guns, I had to wait a day and a half before they contacted me, so I expect it will play out the same with this particular gun.

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Bul Armory SAS II Ultralight

I Decided to Carry My SAS II Ultralight Again

I had the choice to continue to carry my Alpha Foxtrot S15 after my SAS II Ultralight was returned to me from Bul Armory after they repaired it.

Although the S15 is thinner (which helps in concealment), I actually missed carrying my Ultralight, so I decided to switch back to carrying the Ultralight. I just need to take it to the range tomorrow and re-zero the RDS.

There’s something about the Ultralight that keeps attracting me to it. It’s only a few ounces lighter than the S15 but it feels much lighter than it is. Maybe it’s the trigger (it’s GOOD). I love the looks of the gun…the lightening cuts and barrel fluting, as well as the black color with the silver accents.

Right now, the RDS is mounted onto the Ultralight. I mounted the Streamlight (TLR-7 X) to the Ultralight, too. It fits in the QVOT holster without issue. I did have to tighten the holster’s retaining screw quite a bit, as the S15’s rail is wide. I also reinstalled grip tape to the gun.

I’ll look for some SD ammo tomorrow at Cabelas or Trojan Tactical. I may settle for Federal or Hornady. I need to buy several boxes of the good stuff, shoot one box to test the ammo, and then use the other box for carry.

I saw that Bul Armory is now offering the original grip module for purchase. That module has far better grip texturing. It’s $149 on their website. I may order it, but I may add it to my Christmas list so that my wife or kids can buy it for me – if I opt to add it to my Christmas list, I’ll have to wait until after Christmas before I can install it.

I need range ammo as well…I’m almost out and I’ve been buying 500 round blocks of Winchester White Box from Cabelas. When shipping is factored into online prices, the prices are roughly equivalent to what I can buy locally from Cabelas (and I don’t do reman ammo). There are no local LGSs that sell bulk 9mm, so it’s either Cabelas or buying online. I can’t stand the $20-30 shipping of ammo, though. I know ammo is heavy, but damn…

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1911 2011 22TCM9R 9mm AF1911-S15 Alpha Foxtrot range visit RIA Rock Island Armory Rock Ultra

Range Day with the RIA 1911 and AF1911-S15

Yesterday, I visited the range for the first time in maybe a month.

Since I’m now carrying the AF1911-S15, I wanted to shoot a good bit from it. As well, I wanted to shoot the my RIA 22TCM 1911, as it has minimal recoil and wanted to check to see how fast I could shoot it.

I also tried to use the SIG Connect OHD phone app to get some practice shooting in, but the app appears to require wifi or cellular band connectivity when being used – it would not let me use the app without logging in, and I couldn’t log in while on the range because they’ve no wifi/cell connectivity when in the shooting booth. Because of this, I decided to cancel my subscription. Last range visit, I tried to use the app but couldn’t because I couldn’t properly aim the phone’s camera using the desk tripod I had, so I bought a new tripod that had lots of adjustability. Now there’s this problem with wireless connectivity with the app. The app appears to be too high maintenance for me.

I shot 120 rounds of WWB 115 gr FMJ from the S15. There were two fails to feed, but I know this was almost certainly due to the ammo being not-so-good, as I could feel the slide sometimes moving slower than normal after a round detonated. As well, I neglected to oil the gun (which is a huge no-no, since I’ve been carrying the gun a bit now and the lube has probably dried or moved). As well, there were a few times where the slide wasn’t locking back on the last round, but again, this is probably due to the cheap WWB ammo.

With the S15, I was attempting to shoot quickly from low ready and was fairly successful at hitting where I was aiming at 7 yards – I was actually stacking many of the rounds on top of one another. I think the light on the gun (this is a first time of me shooting a gun with a WML) makes the gun shoot flatter (not that it wasn’t shooting somewhat flat before then).

I also shot 50 rounds of 22TCM9R from the 22TCM 1911. There was at least one instance of the primer blowing out, but I didn’t notice, as the brass ejected without issue. Even so, the slide didn’t lock back and the hammer didn’t cock, but there was a round in the chamber — odd.

I shot both guns somewhat fast. I shot between 5 and 10 yards and attempted to group my shots (was shooting groups of 5). I was also attempting to quickly use the iron sights, as well as conduct quick follow-on shots.

I may have to adjust the rear sight on the 22TCM 1911, as I’ve never zero’d it at 10 yards and at 10 yards, I’m always pulling shots left.

It also may be time for me to start thinking about getting the slide of the S15 cut for an optic (will be using the Holosun optic footprint).

I’m now at 1187 rounds through the S15 and 1097 rounds through the RIA Commander with the 22TCM barrel.

I think I’m going to start shooting the RIA Commander using the 9mm barrel from now on, just to get some rounds through that barrel. I do love 22TCM9R, though.

This was a fun range visit.

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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.