I have this posted elsewhere but think this info is useful here too.
I recently bought a Girsan 2311 which is a 9mm double stack imported by European American Armory. The gun is a 4.25" commander size with a Gen 1 STI pattern grip. It runs on STI magazines.
The gun is a bushing style with a W/N ramped barrel. It is pre-cut for the Holosun K and ships with a fixed rear sight cover plate. The gun also ships with a very inexpensive red dot that seems more like a marketing gimmick than an actual aiming device.
The frame is a Government Model in terms of rails and cycle distance and is not actually a Commander. It is a Government with .75" cut off the front end.
The trigger is decent at five pounds with no provision to adjust over travel. The slide to frame fit is pretty good. Barrel and bushing fit is nothing extra. I’m confident in saying a new bushing would improve accuracy. Accuracy now is nothing to write home about.
Most surprisingly is that the gun actually works and works well. I have right at 1,000 rounds fired with only one malfunction which was a failure to go into battery with one of my reloads. Mags used have been mostly Atlas which probably certainly helps. Prodigy mags work but are hit or miss with slide lock engagement. The one Check-Mate mag that came with the gun also works okay.
What’s the point? I see this gun being of interest to a burgeoning competition shooter who may want a hicap to mess with but for whatever reason doesn’t want to spend the money on a pricier option. It should also appeal to someone wanting a beater to use in place of the more expensive Staccato or whatever. A gun to use for one handed manipulations or as a dedicated trainer. Something that can get bumped/banged/roughly handled without much concern for value. It should also find a place with the hobbyist who wants a gun to mess with but doesn’t need the pedigree of the other guns. A gun to practice gunsmith skills on.
Tok, I saw these guns and wondered. I believe manufacturing in general often makes even budget guns pretty decent these days. Its very interesting to hear you can buy a budget 2011/2311 gun and reap all the benefits of a 2011 design for budget money. Keep banging on that gun and keep us posted.
And yes, Atlas mags are great and have the most powerful springs on the market IMHO, and I’ve seen where Stacatto now makes mags with stronger springs which may be a preferable design for 2011’s. So interesting to hear they run good in your gun.
I don’t know about reaping all the benefits. The trigger, while usable, isn’t as good as it could be. The barrel fit is a bit loose so the gun isn’t as accurate as it could be either.
If the frame, slide and barrel are of decent quality and will last awhile the rest of the stuff I’m fine with.
EAA needs a catchy motto for these guns. Maybe “40% of the quality for 30% of the price.”
Speaking of budget guns, I was just in a LGS and took a hard look at this 9mm 1911. I was surprised how good the gun felt in my hands, the safety clicked nice, the beavertail was fitted decent the gun felt OK. I had to stop myself.
I looked over a Tisas lightweight Commander a few months back. The gun was surprisingly nice. I think it was called the stingray. It seemed like a nice gun for $500.
If I bought a Tisas, I would want to handle it. I handled two other models and both had terrible safeties on them. They were so soft it felt like they were just floating with almost zero click. They felt like $500 guns, but this one felt superb and like I said, beavertail great…still for $500 you could swop out some parts from Wilson and be good to go. The slide and frame were decent so building it up for a guy handy with 1911’s would be a great project gun! The knock off Wilsonish grips were pretty nice too.
In for a penny in for a pound. I’m going to send the slide off to C&H and have it cut for the cross plate system. I thought about sending it to DSC to have him cut it for the Dawson/Staccato plates but the C&H is a little cheaper. Both seem to be available for a decent variety of optics so either wouldn’t be a bad choice.
I was able to handle one of these in a NOT so LGS, Flaggstaff AZ. How much do these guns weigh, it seemed pretty stout to me? They had two budget guns I was looking at and Im not 100% it was yours but it was hefty and made me think, this much be a pussy cat to shoot. But slide was smooth and at a quick glance seemed OK built for the money. Guy said they have sold a bunch and no issues. He was a huge fan.
The Rock Island is a Para Ordnance clone or similar. Not an STI 2011 clone as is the case with the Girsan.
Internet rumor is that Tisas will have a 2011 clone out in January. If this is true and the gun is anything like the Raider, Sting Ray, etc it should be a good product.
