[Binkius]

I thought the Dawson magwell and base plates corrected the over insertion issue a long time ago. The only thing I've found is that I will get occasional feed issues with dirty mags after 7000 or 8000 rounds. I've had no problems with spread feed lips.

I have a particularly nasty duty cycle - I'm training indoors on concrete and dropping partially loaded mags on the run. When the mag hits baseplate down, it's like a billiard ball smacking another billiard ball. The top two or three rounds (my make up shots) blow out past the feed lips. The follower may or may not join the cartridges. This eventually spreads out the feed lips. If the mag hits feed lips down, it compresses the feed lips. It only takes a couple of hundredths of an inch to get out of spec. I'm shooting about 1,000 rounds per week. Probability is not on my side. My 2011 mags are really beat up. Glock OEM mags can take this kind of use. 2011 mags not so much. Atlas publishes their magazine specs, so I've been able to hammer/bend everything back to spec (I need to get the special feed lip spreader tool).

Staccato is on their third generation of mags. Atlas is on their first generation of mags, but second generation of mag catches. These changes have the frequency of software updates. They are trying to solve a problem that exists. We get to beta test.

 

[browndynamite34]

One of these is not like the others...

View attachment 1688527

I've only got 100 rounds through the Platypus, but pulled out some of my other 1911's to compare.

My Platypus is basically an $1800 double-stack 1911 with a $500 Cerakote paint job. It's inferior in fit/finish to the Wilsons (ACP and Experior) and Nighthawk (Talon 2) and Dan Wesson (PM9).

The Platypus is 1/3 the price of the more expensive Wilson and Nighthawk, so it's probably not fair to compare against them too much.

The Dan Wesson PM9 MSRP's for the same as the Platypus. At the same price point, the DW PM9 is stainless steel vs. carbon steel and aluminum on the Platypus. The Platypus has worse blending on the beaver tail/grip safety, thumb safeties and slide stop. The Platypus has better carry-blending than the DW on the slide.

Stealth Arms got barrel lock up tight, the slide-to-frame fit is tight and all the controls are positive and smooth.

My Platypus has the normal-prickle grip texture. This would probably be too aggressive against bare skin AIWB. The tool-cut metal serrations on the other 1911's give a better hold (except for the Wilson ACP which is horrible). The Platypus prickle grip is good enough for EDC. I would only get the less aggressive Platypus grip texture if you're carrying AIWB - it offers very poor hold.

The Platypus has the worst trigger. All these guns are in the 3-4 pound range, but only the Platypus has creep before the break. I like to shoot fast, so it really doesn't matter to me (I'm going to mash right through the creep), but if you like to stage the trigger, this is going to be an issue. Here, more money means more time spent fitting at the factory. Trigger feel gets better linearly amongst these five guns as price increases.

The Cerakote is Cerakote which means it's tracing paper delicate. The ejection port is already chipping, the magwell is scraped up and it's only been 100 rounds and I haven't even started stuffing it into a holster yet.

Shooting wise... I haven't shot these back-to-back. Comparing by memory, these guns are all about the same for the shooting I like to do (fast drills under 25 yards). More recoil with the aluminum frame and no shock-buff, the commanders point faster than the government. They are all solid guns and more similar than dis-similar. Like any well built 1911, shooting the Platypus is like the familiarity of shaking the hand of friend you haven't seen in a while.

Objectively, striker fired guns have improved so much. I can shoot my compensated Glock-45 better than any of my 1911's. It's not until the high-end 2011's that the hammer guns perform significantly better than the striker guns.

But the 1911 platform is an emotional thing for me. For example, I'll rack and dry fire the Nighthawk because it's just such an exceptionally well built gun with an exquisitely fitted trigger. Experiencing that level of machining is like enjoying a fine meal or feeling the warmth of the sun on a cold day.

The Platypus is in the colors I like, making it the most personalized of my 1911's. It's light because of the aluminum frame and after I confirm reliability with another 1,000 rounds, I'll carry it for my winter EDC.

My initial impression is that the Platypus build quality is in-line with it's base price. It's better built and finished than significantly cheaper guns. It cannot compare with more expensive guns. You are not getting Wilson/Nighthawk levels of fit/finish. The Platypus price increases as you add more colors and options. I think this is what you're paying for - extreme color customization (and Glock mags). It's a good shooter. It's a 1911.

I agree completely with your assessment on the Platypus as I picked on up in February of this year and deep dove into a Venom that I just picked up last week.

The Platypus is in-line with its price point. Mine actually has a tiny bit of slide play, but it still runs everything I’ve thrown at it (save the initial break-in period). I feel like my cerakote job could have been slightly better, but I knew I was going to run/holster this thing, so the wear was going to come quickly.

I think that it’s still totally worth the price if you want to customize a pistol looks-wise. Or if you already have a bunch of Glock mags, and want to tiptoe down the double stack 1911 path, then it’s a no brainer. I have zero regrets buying one.

 

[RickyBobbys2011]

I own a ds9 hybrid, xc, priest on order, rc9 and a couple other customs being built

How would you rate them? How do they stack up against the XC?

 

[Stormy]

My biggest gripe with 2011's and why I won't carry one is the magazines. Incredibly delicate and easily over-inserted. Feed lips or tube gets bent by a couple hundredths of an inch and they stop working. The Platypus uses the mag base as a hard stop and also the OEM Glock mag ledge at the top as another hard stop to prevent over insertion.

It's a problem with the 2011 platform - the new Kimber bottlenecks the interior of the grip to try and keep the magazines from over inserting. There really needs to be some kind of standardization on 2011 mags. The feed lips are all different heights and angles and some (MBX) over insert even locked into the mag catch depending on your gun.

The two hard stops on the Platypus and the angle of the OEM Glock mags give a lot of clearance and over insertion doesn't seem to be a problem.

Well I must be the luckiest sumbuck on the the planet.

I have 6 Stacattos, 2 Atlas’, and one Infinity and have yet to have over insertion problems in 3 years.

I use 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Gen mags by Stacatto, and Atlas mags interchangeably with the Stacattos and Atlas’. The Infinity is a 40 cal, so only Infinity and specific Atlas mags.

As far as feed lips and base plates; I don’t drop them on the ground, and sure as hell would never drop them on concrete, so that point is not a fair comparison.

I obviously don’t compete, and understand why some of you guys have no choice.

But over insertion? I don’t get it. We are not in the movies, so no need to SLAM mags into the gun.

 

[Binkius]

"We've tested all the mags they all over insert in pretty much all the guns."
- Owner of Atlas Gunworks
Video below opens at quote.

I think it's a combination of two factors: speed and force.

With enough speed, you can push the mag past the mag catch before it can engage and stop the mag. With enough force, you can push past the mag catch completely.

It's competition, everyone is moving as fast as they can. Mag is going in fast. In the real world, at some point, some LEO, in a life-and-death situation is going to go fast and use too much strength because his life depends on it and he's going to jam the ejector.

 

[Binkius]

As far as feed lips and base plates; I don’t drop them on the ground, and sure as hell would never drop them on concrete, so that point is not a fair comparison.

I use my EDC in a world with ground and concrete. If my mag can't be 100% reliable after a drop on ground or concrete, I won't and don't carry that gun.

 

[Nutsey Fagen]

The platypus is kinda neat. I am not sure I would recommend it as a first 1911 as the grip module is a one piece unit so its a take it or leave affair and considering the different grips out there, I would rather have that option than to not have it.

With that being said, as a follow-on purchase, I would pick one up as a second 2011, based on it using glock mags.

 

[huggytree]

I like mine. It’s priced correctly for the quality of gun you get. Nice trigger. Tight slide. The customization is super fun to do. They are extremely smart to be the first to offer anything like this. Shocked no one has copied yet

 

[Nutsey Fagen]

I am fan, I thought it shot really nice, and I wonder if Glock increase reliability to any extent

 

[Singlestack]

Guys at T-rex arms did an extensive test, ie. couple thousand rounds, on their platypus recently. Mixed results in terms of reliability. Lot's of stove pipes. Either bad mags or extractor needed a tune, guess on my part. I still like the idea of this gat, but certainly not any more or less reliable than a staccato. Staccato mags have been drop tested, and seem to continue to function reliably. Over insertion, well that's a thing in 2011s.

 

[Wake27]

Guys at T-rex arms did an extensive test, ie. couple thousand rounds, on their platypus recently. Mixed results in terms of reliability. Lot's of stove pipes. Either bad mags or extractor needed a tune, guess on my part. I still like the idea of this gat, but certainly not any more or less reliable than a staccato. Staccato mags have been drop tested, and seem to continue to function reliably. Over insertion, well that's a thing in 2011s.

I'd avoided that video because it was Trex, but guess I have to watch now. That's the first one I've heard of with failures so I'm curious.

ETA - nevermind, I can't do almost an hour and a half of that.

 

[Nutsey Fagen]

I think the guys at T-Rex arms are good for some stuff, but they tend to compare everything to a Glock 19 and proceed dumping rounds with no lube out of the box like a Glock 19. They choked out a staccatto a couple weeks back and the guys over on reddit were stroking out.

Overall, I think 2011's tend to be really enjoyable to shoot but they have their quirks and as long as you account for this, there is no issue that can be addressed. Its a great platform. Hell, I have a prodigy that I have put around 1500 rounds in the last few months and have had zero failures. I know its not ton of rounds but I am impressed.

 

[Nutsey Fagen]

I'd avoided that video because it was Trex, but guess I have to watch now. That's the first one I've heard of with failures so I'm curious.

Today on T-Rex Arms:
Air racking
Wildly running to a shooting location and mag dumping into the woods
Comparing a 1800 dollar comp based gun to a 400 dollar service pistol
Not Performing any level of maintenance.

 

[Bradd_D]

Sometimes people forget that the pedigree of the 2011 is the 1911.

 

[maahhtt]

How would you rate them? How do they stack up against the XC?

Sorry just saw this, all very different in their own right. XC is my favorite gun to shoot. DS9 is also a solid gun very comparable to the athena's i've had. Priest is what i am most excited about in the "off the shelf" available stuff.

I posted about my buddy's company viking firearms and the 4.6 ported gun that i had them build is my very quickly becoming a favorite of mine.

 

[Bradd_D]

"We've tested all the mags they all over insert in pretty much all the guns."
- Owner of Atlas Gunworks
Video below opens at quote.

I think it's a combination of two factors: speed and force.

With enough speed, you can push the mag past the mag catch before it can engage and stop the mag. With enough force, you can push past the mag catch completely.

It's competition, everyone is moving as fast as they can. Mag is going in fast. In the real world, at some point, some LEO, in a life-and-death situation is going to go fast and use too much strength because his life depends on it and he's going to jam the ejector.

How are people moving fast able to align the sights, pull the trigger, and hit the mag release?

 

[Binkius]

How are people moving fast able to align the sights, pull the trigger, and hit the mag release?

You cannot do a static reload. You are wasting time. You have to reload while moving. If you aren't moving you need to be shooting. If you can shoot while moving, don't stop moving.

You don't shoot a red dot. You shoot a moving streak of red line. The higher your skill, the further out you can shoot a line of light instead of a dot. Shooting a dot means you are eating up time. Shoot the streak of light whenever you can.

You shoot twice with one sight picture. It takes too long to re-acquire a second sight picture. Human reaction speed means that second sight picture is going to push your split to at least 0.20 seconds. Too slow.

It's just practice. Lots and lots of practice. My range gives me a discount when I buy 5 cases of ammo at a time. I dry fire 5x more than I live fire. I pay a USPSA grand master to one-on-one coach me live-fire on indoor stages twice a week.

My dry-fire gun. Trigger is adjusted to heavier than my actual guns to force trigger control.

My 1/4-scale airsoft range in the basement. When I go work out, I spend recovery between sets walking back and forth and shooting targets. Shoot everything on the move.

It's just a lot of practice.

The match is the test. You did your homework dry-firing and live-firing before hand. You don't have time to develop skills on the stage. The guys whose only shooting all week is the weekly match really don't improve. The improvement comes from the hours and thousands of rounds spent training/practicing. At the match, you only get a couple of runs - not enough to build skill. Skill is developed through training and practice before the match.

 

[midnightindustries]

"I'll rack and dry fire the Nighthawk because it's just such an exceptionally well built gun with an exquisitely fitted trigger. Experiencing that level of machining is like enjoying a fine meal or feeling the warmth of the sun on a cold day." THIS. Six days a week and twice on Sunday. Very eloquent sir

 

[Wake27]

You cannot do a static reload. You are wasting time. You have to reload while moving. If you aren't moving you need to be shooting. If you can shoot while moving, don't stop moving.

You don't shoot a red dot. You shoot a moving streak of red line. The higher your skill, the further out you can shoot a line of light instead of a dot. Shooting a dot means you are eating up time. Shoot the streak of light whenever you can.

You shoot twice with one sight picture. It takes too long to re-acquire a second sight picture. Human reaction speed means that second sight picture is going to push your split to at least 0.20 seconds. Too slow.

It's just practice. Lots and lots of practice. My range gives me a discount when I buy 5 cases of ammo at a time. I dry fire 5x more than I live fire. I pay a USPSA grand master to one-on-one coach me live-fire on indoor stages twice a week.

My dry-fire gun. Trigger is adjusted to heavier than my actual guns to force trigger control.

My 1/4-scale airsoft range in the basement. When I go work out, I spend recovery between sets walking back and forth and shooting targets. Shoot everything on the move.

It's just a lot of practice.

The match is the test. You did your homework dry-firing and live-firing before hand. You don't have time to develop skills on the stage. The guys whose only shooting all week is the weekly match really don't improve. The improvement comes from the hours and thousands of rounds spent training/practicing. At the match, you only get a couple of runs - not enough to build skill. Skill is developed through training and practice before the match.

Great post, that's an awesome airsoft practice bay. Are you shooting only USPSA or do you shoot other competitions as well?

 

[Binkius]

Great post, that's an awesome airsoft practice bay. Are you shooting only USPSA or do you shoot other competitions as well?

I'm running unsanctioned matches generally following USPSA guidelines. The organizer is a local gunshop/range. The owner mixes in IDPA, Bullseye and PCC. That gets more people interested and he sells more guns. The owner discovered if he loosened up on divisioning we all go and buy a comp'd race gun and a PCC from him.