Before we get started, I’ll give you guys some background.
I am a LEO who is fortunate enough to work for an agency that allows each person to decide what he/she is going to carry on duty. The Glock and Sig Sauer are standard issue but quite a few guys carry 1911’s and the various other popular polymer pistols. Ever since shooting my first 1911 six years ago, I instantly became a fan of the ergonomics and crisp trigger manipulation.
Since then I’ve had the chance to shoot quite a few mid – high end 1911’s and have been wanting to purchase a railed 1911 for duty use. Knowing that the low – mid grade 1911’s can be plagued by feedway stoppages and various other reliability issues I decided to spend the money and buy something that was hand fitted by experience craftsmen.
I ordered a Wilson Combat Tactical LE with a few custom upgrades and wanted something to play with until the WC arrived. When I found out about the new 2015 model Springfield Armory Loaded Operator (PX9105LLP) I decided to track one down. I was fortunate enough to locate an in-stock gun for a very good price and had it shipped to my local FFL.
I picked up the gun and noticed it was very tightly put together. The slide to frame fit was extremely tight with zero wiggle. I disassembled the pistol to examine the internals, wipe off any excess oil, and to ensure everything was fitted together properly. The barrel bushing was very difficult to rotate by hand. The magazine well was nicely blended and the pistol had no burrs or machining marks on the interior of the slide. The feed ramp and barrel throat were evenly polished. The plunger tube was properly staked and had zero wobble.
I lubricated the pistol and reassembled it. While manipulating and racking the slide it felt rough, although it did not hang up at any point through the travel. The trigger was crisp, had no creep, and had a very short reset. I don’t have access to a trigger pull gauge, but would estimate the pull to be 3.5 – 4 pounds. Overall I was quite impressed with the build quality of the pistol.
The gun came with night sights, two 8 round MecGar magazines, holster and magazine pouch, cleaning brush and a very nice box. I ordered 10 additional Wilson Combat ETM magazines for range and duty use. I also ordered a set of VZ Recon Dirty Olive grips as the stock grips did not provide the kind of traction I am used to.
First Range Trip
The first trip was destined to be a break in. I brought 300 rounds of ammo and they were fired in the below listed order. Due to the tight assembly I believed the pistol would need a few hundred rounds before it was “broken in”. I fully expected to have multiple malfunctions during this range session.
-100 Federal 230 gr FMJ
-100 Winchester White Box 230 gr FMJ
-50 Blazer Brass 230 gr FMJ
-50 PMC 230 gr FMJ
I only paused long enough between strings of fire to reload empty magazines and to snap a few quick photos.
The first 32 (Federal) rounds consisted of Hilton Yam’s extractor test. This was done at 5 yards. 16 rounds were fired with a two handed grip. One round in the chamber, no magazine in the gun. All 16 cases ejected beautifully and consistently to the 3 – 4 oclock direction. The next 16 were fired strong hand only, one round in the chamber, no magazine in the gun. Once again, all 16 cases ejected to the 3-4 oclock direction. No stoppages or malfunctions of any kind. This is the target after the first 32 rounds.
The next 40 (Federal) rounds were double taps with the pistol drawn from my duty holster. Draw and fire 2 rounds in rapid succession at 5 yds. No stoppages or malfunctions of any kind.
The next 28 (Federal) rounds were triple taps with the pistol drawn from my duty holster. Draw and fire 3 rounds in rapid succession at 5 yds. No stoppages or malfunctions of any kind. This is the target after all 100 rounds of Federal.
I then fired all 100 rounds of Winchester ammo while practicing double taps at 10 yds. Draw and fire 2 rounds in rapid succession. No stoppages or malfunctions of any kind.
I loaded all 50 rounds of Blazer Brass into magazines and fired all 50 rounds rapid fire at 7 yds. These were essentially mag dumps into the target. No stoppages or malfunctions of any kind.
I loaded all 50 rounds of PMC into magazines and fired one round at a time making a ragged hole at 7 yards. No stoppages or malfunctions of any kind.
After firing all 300 rounds the gun was filthy. The Surefire light was completely caked in powder residue and I could see unburnt powder around both sides of the slide and a fair amount of residue at the rear of the slide near the hammer. Much to my surprise, the gun did not exhibit any kind of stoppages or malfunctions. The slide travel did not slow down or become sluggish either. That “rough” travel that I experienced when initially examining the gun was now gone. The slide now felt like it was gliding along glass.
I came home and gave the gun a good cleaning. Everything seemed to be working well and the slide travel felt even better after the cleaning. Smooth as butter.
I am very pleased with the performance of the gun so far and will continue testing it. I’ll post updates in this thread and will try to answer any and all questions. If it continues performing flawlessly up to the 1500 round mark I may make it my duty carry until the WC shows up.
I wanted to post this little review in case any of you guys were contemplating on purchasing this pistol. Based on what I’m seeing so far, I have full confidence that this gun will continue performing well. If I encounter any issues I’ll definitely update the thread.
Next up - The Duty Ammo Test
