I used to carry a full size 1911 .45 and now I want a commander size 9mm 1911. I debating on coughing up the cash for the new Wilson Protector Professional 9mm or try out a new Colt Commander LW 9mm. 10rds is max for my state so the Wilson 9mm mags would be perfect for either my problem is figuring out if I should drop that kind of cash or just get the Colt and just have a smith do anything I may or want done to it.
Just picked up a STI in a Colt GunsiteCCO sizing in 9. Called a Duty One.
4 inch commander slide with officer grip.
First 250 rounds were perfect. My smith now has the pistol to lighten the trigger a touch. Ordered metalform mags that hold 9 from Dawson.
Tested Tripp 10 round mags and they ran fine.
Just debating which sites to go with…Will probably send the gun to Tooltech.
I shoot an STI Marauder for IPSC but I have limited exposure to their single stack guns, if they are like the 2011s they should be very nice.
My sti Legacy is a single stack, with 18000 rounds thru it. Use it for hi volumn training classes and Steel Challenge.
Just a great gun. The duty one will CCW better for me in the s Florida weather and won’t beat up my hands as much as the Colts in 45.
At 250 rounds it is too early for a review on the duty one. But, it does seem promising.
Check out Dan Wesson. Wilson would be great as well.
I do not think I would carry it for cc but the range officer champion is next on my list. Very nice gun, esp. For the money. In 9mm it would be a sweet little package. Would not mind having a 45 and a 9.
I just bought a Nighthawk Shadow Hawk commander in 9mm about a month ago. In all honesty, I like it quite a bit. I would recommend that if you want to carry a 9mm in a 1911, then definitely put lots of rounds through it. My pistol was pretty picky on ammo and magazines and took me a while to figure out what to use. My 45 guns definitely haven’t been as finicky. YMMV
Damn sorry to hear that. My full size Wilson .45 has been flawless, I actually have had more problems with my stock Glock than the Wilson and I have a friend who has had nothing but success with his Commander size Wilson 9 I really like his. What ended up being the right and wrong combination for your Hawk.
I am just trying to figure out if I actually need to spend Wilson money to get one that runs correctly or can Colt get the job done, to be honest I am leaning more towards the Wilson at this time.
Just bought a Colt Commander in 9mm about 1 month ago. I have plans of sending it off to my favorite gunsmith for a full custom build. I too, like you, came to the conclusion that a 4.25 in 9mm sometimes makes much more sense to carry. It meets/exceeds my requirements in a carry pistol. Done.
As of now, 500 rounds, zero failures. Not that that is impressive by any means, but it is impressive for an OOTB 4.25 9mm 1911 that was 750 bucks. Especially in a configuration that has been labeled as a disaster by just about everyone on the internet. Not so.
Something to be aware of, it comes with Colt’s goofy pencil barrel that is unramped. Mine will get replaced in the full re-build with either a Barsto or Nowlin, but get this:
That little barrel feeds anything I have put through it. I expected this unramped barrel to be an absolute disaster when feeding anything other than ball. The internet likes to spew out all sorts comments that this is an unreliable configuration–which I bought into. Negative. If you like the weight savings that pencil barrel offers, you will probably enjoy the Colt 9mm LWT’s pencil barrel. I am having a hard time getting used to how thin it is (equivalent to a .45ACP thickness), but it just flat out works. My gunsmith has gotten a bunch of these new Colt 9mm’s to work on too. He is reporting the same thing. They feed everything.
I also find that since the slide is much lighter in 4.25, it runs better when dry or with carbon build up, which can sometimes cause failures with the 1911’s heavier slide combined with the weaker 9mm (less force in recoil).
I would personally buy both, as they are both viable, and offer different characteristics unique to their own. The Professional has a bull barrel, in a 4 inch configuration (around same weight as a 5 inch Gov’t). Wilson sets up their short guns to work very well. I find that their design tends to be a little bit more robust, and would make an excellent ‘beater’ or ‘shooter’ grade gun. Some people would scoff at that statement, but I find it hard to justify babying a pistol that was built to run in either competition or act as a SD pistol.
I lean more towards making my Colt Commander an occasional carry piece and high volume shooter once it is back from getting chopped. It retains the classic 1911 lines, while getting the attention to detail I enjoy so much. I’m not so much a machinist junky, although I can appreciate the unique machine work that is being pushed out by many of our custom 'smiths.
You didn’t think this hobby was cheap, did you? 
My 9mm 1911 experience has been very positive.
My DW PM-9 Had initial extractor issues which were resolved. About 4,000 rounds afterwards, with no issues.
My SA-RO9 runs like a raped ape (hard to believe right?). I will have to replace the rear sight, as I have yet to clean it, and the rear sight rusted (about 2,000 rounds).
Wilson Profession 9mm on order.
I ended up moving to Tripp Cobra magazines and run hollow points that are along the lines of Ranger T or Speer Gold Dots. No problem whatsoever with ball ammo however…its been a pain in the ass and I have had some correspondence with Nighthawk. I guess I should mention if I run 9 rounds in the Tripp mags or the factory 9 rounders I have no issues. It’s that damn 10th round that I am determined to stuff in the magazine that bites me in the ass… I had a full size 9mm Springfield RO that had no issues eating whatever.
I guess it comes to this. A 9mm commander is the perfect storm of all the stuff in the 1911 world that can go wrong with reliability… It’s 9mm… It’s shorter barrel than 5 inches. I personally feel that if I am to trust my life with it then I want it to have been touched by the best hands in the industry if possible. With that being said I don’t know if I will have another 9mm 1911 that’s shorter than government size… Although I may try Wilson one day if I have all the other stuff I need.
I’m sorry to hear your experience with NHCustom has been so bad. Honestly, there really shouldn’t be any reliability differences with a commander vs government in a 9mm. I would even argue the opposite, that a commander aids the 9mm.
9mm has a shorter OAL, and weighs less, meaning the lighter slide and .100 less slide movement isn’t really going to effect the gun’s reliability to feed, cycle, and extract that a .45ACP would. Now I could be wrong on this, but the math doesn’t add up, and you shouldn’t blame your slide length for the reason for your NHCustoms troubles.
Let me dig up some info on the 10th round issue, I remember that question was answered perfectly by someone very well known in the industry.
I appreciate you looking for the info. Please do keep me posted. In all fairness, my experience hasn’t been terrible. I have always expected to have to troubleshoot 1911’s here and there and I accept the fact that they may like some magazines more than others etc etc. I have been frustrated here or there, however, since I have brought the issue to light with Nighthawk they have offered suggestions regarding fixes. They also offered that if it didn’t work in the manner I thought it should that I could send it back to have it looked over. It may get to that point however I haven’t exhausted all my efforts yet. I do apologize to the OP, as this wasn’t meant to hijack his thread, but more to highlight my experience with “lower end” as well as “higher end” pistols.
No worries but in my opinion something like a Hawk or Wilson should run no matter what especially with the magazines that came with the pistol. I would send it in and ask them to make it right. I have not had to trouble shoot a single thing on my Wilson willing it is a 5" .45 but I would expect the same from all of their offerings.
I have owned two very reliable colt 9mm one commander length and one full size. At a vicker’s 1911 class while he was carrying a wilson 9mm 1911, to the whole class as great for range work as a 1911 in 9mm can be it would never be his choice for a carry gun.
I also live behind enemy lines in ten round mag territory and would still prefer my 8+1 45 or glock 19. Having said this I would also not be surprised if some day another colt 9mm finds its way to me again.
I completely agree. My GRP Recon is 45 and I honestly think it would shoot pebbles out of a pez dispenser if I loaded it up…it just runs and runs. Kind of a bummer I haven’t had the same experience with the 9mm.
I too have been down this path and had a pretty lengthy conversation with my good friend DB about it not too long ago. He said that although 9mm 1911’s can be made to run, they just aren’t that great and cannot be trusted. He did say that the .38 guns run like champs though. His biggest advice to me was to take a real hard look at the Browning High Power if I was really serious, which I am, and this is the direction I am heading. Now if I were to head down the 9mm Commander route again, it would be the Colt offering and it would immediately be sent to Steve at MARS Guns for a makeover. My BHP will be heading there when it arrives.
Another option in the all steel SAO category is the CZ 75 SAO. CZ has made some alloy framed compacts with safety. These can be converted to SAO if one so desires. I do like my Colt .38 Super Auto. It has been very reliable with a notable exception during my Frog Lube period… The stuff just turned into a sticky paste that retarded slide movement. Otherwise no issues even with my early reloads. I would carry it if I didn’t already have a smaller, lighter carry pistol.
What happens when you put in the 10th round?
I love BHPs my first was a BHP thats actually not a half bad idea send a BHP to MARS to get tuned for carry. Who else is a good option for BHP heirloom precision, NOVAK, Garthwaite,. . .? Anyone else?
Don Williams @ The Action Works
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