I added an EPS Carry. The gun came with some kind of Shield SMS knockoff red dot but it doesn't look very durable.

The EPS fit okay but I had to shorten the screws to about .395" to get them to tighten down. That's one thing I notice about the mounting cut. The screw holes don't seem to be clear through into the extractor tunnel on the right.

I'll need a much shorter front sight now to get it to work with the EPS' little built-in rear.

 

I’m curious about these. Intriguing for the price and feature set. Hope I can find one local to check out.

 

I'm curious to see where the price settles on these after they become more available. If these start selling in the mid to high 7s I think they'll be a good value.

 

It's hard to say on the price. I can tell you that dealer pricing is right around mid 7's. So sure, the dealers that only care about making $10-15 a gun I can see them there. For me I think the 799-850 range is where it should settle. But as you know, you never know!

 

I think this is a great deal compared to the prodigy. You can find checkmate mags for 50 bucks. I don't really see that as a deal breaker. Only thing I see that would need an upgrade is the trigger.

 

I do like the look of the gun. I think the more traditional length dust cover looks better. I also think I prefer the chopped slide / full stroke concept as it theoretically should be more reliable than the shorter stroke true Commander. I also like the slight weight reduction of the alloy frame.

In addition to the oddball smaller ejector I also found that the magazine catch shelf is a little short. Factory Staccato mags and a couple home tuned Checkmate mags are too narrow to be caught by the shelf. Fortunately Atlas and Dura Mags seem to work with no issues. As far as buying mags; someone had the Atlas mags recently for $62 or $65. Was it Brownell’s? I'd say for the extra $15 over Check-Mate the Atlas are probably the way to go.

A big unknown right now is the grip module. Is it cross compatible with MJD, Gen 1 STI, etc? I am curious but not curious enough to spend several hundred dollars to find out.

I was hoping to have tried the Holosun EPS on here but haven't had time. Maybe I'll run by the indoor range after work and try to shoot a mag just to get things dialed in.

 

I'm bumping up on 340 rounds now. The gun continues to run without drama. Extractor function is okay with no mag in and the slide has locked back empty and/or not locked open prematurely.

At 25 yards offhand I'm shooting probably 3.5" groups. Nothing to write home about but also not surprising being a "rack grade" pistol. It should shoot minute of IDPA target which is probably all anyone will ever ask of it.

The gun shoots probably 3.5" low at 7 with the EPS rear and factory front. That means I'm going to need a .110" front which is pretty much a nub.

The factory front sight is .200" which is probably supposed to be .190" but there's a big gap between the sight and slide.

 

Just a tad over 100 rounds fired this morning. 50 rounds of Speer JHP and then some truncated cone reloads. Still chugging away.

 

 

What holster is that ?

 

I ordered one in and it just arrived yesterday. The red dot is trash. I have an EPS on order, as well as a light. I Haven't shot it yet, I'll wait for the dot.

Fit and finish are what I'd expect from this brand. We have sold a few Girsans before, and they are all similar. This one came with 3 blemishes right off the bat. They took the rear sight off to put the POS red dot on, and they scratched it to no end. Not a big deal, as It won't be used at all. I ordered a plate and optic earlier this week. The other blemishes are all 4 grip screws on the gun. They must have used an old ass bit, because they're all chewed up. That bothered me. But I have a stash of those. If I was selling it to a customer, I would have had to replace them all myself. Or call Girsan. Again, not a deal breaker, but it's still a pain for a brand new gun. Since I'm keeping it, I'll deal with it myself.

I have a Wilson SFX9, I have a Stacatto. I tried the Prodigy and just didn't care for it one bit. Out of all of them, this one fits my hand the best so far.

Also the factory sights are not my style. I have to look into a tritium front sight. And I agree with Torakev, and I will putting on a front dot in 190 size. I'll see how that one shoots.
We'll see how she shoots after the EPS and light arrive.


Also, I have read that they take Prodigy mags. Has anyone tried them? I have a few 20 rounders that I will test later in the week.

 

I ordered one in and it just arrived yesterday. The red dot is trash. I have an EPS on order, as well as a light. I Haven't shot it yet, I'll wait for the dot.

Fit and finish are what I'd expect from this brand. We have sold a few Girsans before, and they are all similar. This one came with 3 blemishes right off the bat. They took the rear sight off to put the POS red dot on, and they scratched it to no end. Not a big deal, as It won't be used at all. I ordered a plate and optic earlier this week. The other blemishes are all 4 grip screws on the gun. They must have used an old ass bit, because they're all chewed up. That bothered me. But I have a stash of those. If I was selling it to a customer, I would have had to replace them all myself. Or call Girsan. Again, not a deal breaker, but it's still a pain for a brand new gun. Since I'm keeping it, I'll deal with it myself.

I have a Wilson SFX9, I have a Stacatto. I tried the Prodigy and just didn't care for it one bit. Out of all of them, this one fits my hand the best so far.

Also the factory sights are not my style. I have to look into a tritium front sight. And I agree with Torakev, and I will putting on a front dot in 190 size. I'll see how that one shoots.
We'll see how she shoots after the EPS and light arrive.


Also, I have read that they take Prodigy mags. Has anyone tried them? I have a few 20 rounders that I will test later in the week.

Prodigy mags work fine. At least they do in my gun.

You may have found this out already but the two bottom grip screws are not actually screws. They are just molded into the grip to look like screws. I'd think it would be pretty easy to just delete them / cover over them during a re-texture.

 

I fired another 162 rounds this morning. Let's call it 550 total just to err on the side of caution.

The gun continues to run okay but I did have my first stoppage. This was a failure to go into battery with one of my reloads. It chambered fine the second time. A problem with the ammo or just a fluke?

I need to rescind my earlier statement about it working fine with Prodigy mags. The two 20rd I took along locked open fire but the two 17rd did not.

One other thing to note. I swapped out the factory flat wire spring for an 18# spring out of a Shadow Systems DR920. The spring swap caused no noted issues and the gun seems a bit softer shooting now.

 

I fired another 162 rounds this morning. Let's call it 550 total just to err on the side of caution.

The gun continues to run okay but I did have my first stoppage. This was a failure to go into battery with one of my reloads. It chambered fine the second time. A problem with the ammo or just a fluke?

I need to rescind my earlier statement about it working fine with Prodigy mags. The two 20rd I took along locked open fire but the two 17rd did not.

One other thing to note. I swapped out the factory flat wire spring for an 18# spring out of a Shadow Systems DR920. The spring swap caused no noted issues and the gun seems a bit softer shooting now.

Thank you for the info. I have a bunch of different springs lying around, however I don't have an 18. Is the stock 18, or 12 like the Prodigy? I'm just curious what made you go with that exact make spring? Is it your go to, or just had it there.


Edit. I guess I should have asked.. Maybe your's is not 9mm as mine is. I didn't see you mention it, I just assumed it was 9mm Commander.

Now I see that Nighthawk does indeed recommend their 18# spring in commander size. I should have asked Google first!

 

Typical groups at 15 yards.

 

Here's 18 rounds. For reference the head on this target is 3.5" wide.

 

Here is what I found for some parts #'s etc. I might have to order their spring kit and check it out. I have a few laying around, however they are 12 and 15#.
Although after doing some more homework, that might not be the correct gun. Too many of these to keep track of..

https://www.gunsprings.com/EAA/cID1/mID19/dID100#844

Extra Power - Fits Compact Models Only - Pak contains 1 each extra power power recoil springs in 18, 20, and 22 pounds, Three extra power firing pin springs are also included. (Stock No. 13129)

 

I'm guessing prices dropping based on what's happened with Prodigy pistols. Those seem to have come down a solid $200. Granted the Witness hasn't generated the media hype and/or hasn't been marketed as heavy as the Prodigy.

$789 or whatever is probably a good price point as long as no serious QC issues pop up.

 

My sight, light and plate will all be here by Thursday. So I'll get her dialed in and shot over the weekend. I'm hoping I have a good session!
My last range session was trying to sight in a couple 5.7 handguns, while using Sub sonic ammo. It wasn't a good day to say the least.

 

I put about 400 rounds through my Girsan today. The only issue was failures to lock open all the time with the Prodigy mags. Atlas continue to work great in this pistol. I haven't really taken a look at why but I assume it is the size/shape of the foot on the slide release that interfaces with the follower. Probably switching to an EGW or similar would be the cure. Or maybe replacing the DuraMag followers with Altas would do the trick?

Total rounds through the gun now is right around 950. The only stoppage I've had to date (not counting the mag issues) was the one failure to go into battery I had a few days ago. The gun has been fed JHP, LSWC, round nose and a few fangible.

I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised with the pistol. It has worked better than I expected and I'm getting to like it a little more each time I shoot it. Once I've got 1500-2000 rounds through it I will give some thought to replacing some parts and changing a few minor things. Mostly just to make it more my own.

As far as wear I'm not seeing anything alarming. The exterior painted surfaces are holding up well. The paint is rubbing off the guide rod and the frame rails but that's to be expected. The leading edge of the slide stop notch has a kind of bright shiny area. The actual notch and where it interfaces with the slide stop looks fine. The slide stop axle has just the one wear spot along its center. I guess the gun is running pretty much 100% on the link alone.

Anyway, just wanted to pass on this info. Have a good evening.

Oh. One more thing. I used the 18# Glock/Shadow Systems spring today for the entire session. The gun doesn't seem to mind this spring at all.

 

You'll have to let me know what you replace, and what actually fits. Like I said, I've got other 1911's, but I specifically picked this one up to tinker with it. That's what I enjoy. Sad to say. I'll be setting mine up this weekend, and hopefully get some rounds through it and see what I think.

My SFX9 is beautiful. And that's why it's a safe queen. I need something that I don't give a crap about beating up!

 

Cruised past 1,000 rounds this morning.

 

 

Finally had some time to get her setup. I won’t shoot her until later today.

 

I shot about 250 rounds today. The Girsan is a champ. I had a few issues with the prodigy mags. They seem to be a bit loose. The one factory mag I have was flawless. I will look into a new spring weight as it’s much needed. Me and my buddy that shot it both agree that it needs some trigger work. However it did get better at the end. Maybe nothing is needed. The mag release is quite short. But I can deal with it. Again, this witness feels great in my hand. I was quite surprised!!!

 

I shot about 250 rounds today. I had a few issues with the prodigy mags. They seem to be a bit loose. The one factory mag I have was flawless.

What issues with the Prodigy mags? As previously mentioned mine don't always lock the slide open but feed fine.

 

They feed fine. But they rattle in the gun. They don’t fit well. I had multiple failure to feed with the 20 round prodigy mags. And we tried at least 4. But the factory mag was flawless I’ll have to pick up a few more.

 

Looks good!

 

Pic from Instraface of the MJD grip installed on the Girsan.

He says a standard STI trigger dropped in. He had to remove a little material on both sides to get the grip safety to move freely and the Girsan mag release needing fitting so he just swapped it for something else.

 

So much for a cheap 2011 after you just added another $300 in parts! 😂

 

Still cheap I guess in the realm of 2011s.

The Girsan might not make much sense compared to the Prodigy once a bunch of parts swapping takes place. Pound for pound the Prodigy will still end up being more expensive but it should theoretically hold its value better.

I sure hope Springfield comes out with an aluminum Prodigy. That should be a really nice gun. Maybe not ideal for a big diet of 9mm +P but it will probably last a long long time with USPSA minor power factor reloads.