Born on March 1st, 2023 this review will cover my SA Prodigy DS https://www.springfield-armory.com/1911-ds-series-handguns/1911-ds-prodigy-handguns/. I waited for the later run and the street prices to come down a bit. Now closing in on 8000 rounds it is time to offer up my eval.
I have ran this gun in USPSA, IDPA, StreetWise, various non sanction Pistol matches, range practice, and as a training gun in my classes. It is fun to shoot. Starting out as an out of the box stock pistol, I ran a patch down the barrel and applied some Break Free https://safariland.com/pages/break-free to my favorite spots. I had no holster yet so the first shots were table starts. All controls worked as manufactured. The ejected brass of the factory 115 Grainers landed within the normal distance and I experienced no malfunctions. The sights were right on but within the first 500 rounds the fishing filament broke and flew out of the front sight base. Not trying to be cynical here (the new me) but Fiber Optics don't make the grade with me.
The trigger broke at about 5.5 LBS and had some creep as well. The supplied magazines are well built and I have had no problems with the 17, 20 and 26 round magazines. At around 800 rounds, at a local defensive pistol match, the gun went full auto on a course of fire which was a little disturbing. As it happened, the timing was right for me to do a little work on the trigger so I promptly benched the gun until I got the time to address it. Yes, I know I could have sent it in to SA under warranty but there was no need to tie the gun up in warranty travels. 800 rounds is a good point to do an action job as one can tell a lot about the innards of all the metal working together after live fire. When I broker her down, I found no surprise that later gen MIM parts were OEM. So, I stoned the sear, polished the disconnector and touching contact parts, swapped out Ed Brown Sear and Mainsprings and ended up with a crisp 4LB pull. Yes, I know for a game gun many go to sub two pounds but my trophy collecting days are behind me and I want consistency in all my 1911 triggers, race or street. What about the full auto you ask? When I was making my final adjustment on the set screw for the adjustable overtravel, I noticed the screw had backed out of the trigger and was almost falling out. This allowed the trigger bow to interfere with the sear/disconnector assembly. Cleaning and degreasing and thread locker and a final adjustment did the trick. This is my 4th gun running MIM parts and I have had no failures of any kind so far.
For the games my Kydex go to has been Blade Tech but they did not offer an OWB Stingray Mount for Thick 1 3/4 inch belts, so I got a DeSantis Cazzuto https://www.desantisholster.com/cazzuto/.
Not being new to dots on guns as I shot revolver with an Aimpoint for years at the Bianchi Cup and a Match Dot Ultra for my Model 41 S&W in Bullseye, I admit my short comings with today's Dots. So I thought I would try a Hex DragonFly. Pure junk by my standards. I will say however that SA made it right with a prompt full refund. So, even though I give up co witness sights for the prodigy, I went to my standby scope company and fitted this Prodigy with a Leupold Delta Pro Point https://www.leupold.com/deltapoint-pro-6-moa. I like the durability and the shake awake feature. Present battery is from March as well and is working good. In my defense drills and Streetwise matches, the shooter should come off the street with his carry equipment ready as there are no sight pictures or "suiting up" for a carry gun fight, nor is checking your gun for loaded rounds before the start signal. We just do not get this luxury on the street.
This gun feeds everything. My gamer load is a PF of around 128 and I get that consistently with 147 ACME coated TC bullets https://www.acmebullet.com/Bullets/9mm/9mm-147, 3.2 grains of Alliant (Hercules) Sport Pistol, inside of processed range brass stuffed with a CCI 500 primer. O.A.L. is around 1.104". To take these pictures, I thought it good to break the gun down and clean it. During my cleaning process, I check for excessive wear and tear or other problems that might raise their ugly head. The wear on the rails and recoil face, barrel link and slide stop were all in good shape and this is at 8000 rounds. After a thorough cleaning with Hoppes No 9 https://www.hoppes.com/cleaners-and...l-hoppes-9/no.-9-gun-bore-cleaner/P00347.html, I blast all the loose crud and solvents away with Lucas Extreme Gun Cleaner https://www.lucasoil.com/product/extreme-duty-gun-cleaner-aerosol/. Lubricate with Breakfree and I'm good to go.
For my taste, I wish the factory had not put in a LCI cut into the barrel. It sprays crud on my dot and I may end up welding it shut down the road. Also, as many of you may remember, I am not a fan of the left side radiused and recessed slide stop and hole. The mag release could be a few thousandths longer but I do not care for the large buttons or wide bottom mag wells hanging on my guns. I guess that is the minimalist in me showing. The guide rod assembly does not bother me on this coned bull barrel system. Unlike aftermarket guide rods that claim to make life easier and can cause problems with moving parts and levers and such, I will just stay with the OEM.
My first Prodigy was the 4 Inch version, It worked well also but the balance on this 5 inch is so impressive in shooting and handling. Balance is very important in my guns and knives. This gun can rest on it's muzzle upright as a testament to it's engineering. I like that. Good swift presentations, mag changes and other handling is smoother with a proper balance of a firearm. For the future, I would like to see SA make this with a flattened serrated slide, perhaps a comped version and direct mount optics ready. The Prodigy has been compared to the Stacatto https://staccato2011.com/products/staccato-xc many times, but there is a huge price point swing between the two. For the committed 1911 shooter, the Prodigy is good out of the box or open to putting hundreds of more dollars in it to your liking. My advice is if you want a custom double stack, then pay for one. If you want a good platform and save some money the Prodigy works good and is accurate. And don't forget, it is young in life and holds a bright future for today's shooter.
See You on The Range
Trapper
I have ran this gun in USPSA, IDPA, StreetWise, various non sanction Pistol matches, range practice, and as a training gun in my classes. It is fun to shoot. Starting out as an out of the box stock pistol, I ran a patch down the barrel and applied some Break Free https://safariland.com/pages/break-free to my favorite spots. I had no holster yet so the first shots were table starts. All controls worked as manufactured. The ejected brass of the factory 115 Grainers landed within the normal distance and I experienced no malfunctions. The sights were right on but within the first 500 rounds the fishing filament broke and flew out of the front sight base. Not trying to be cynical here (the new me) but Fiber Optics don't make the grade with me.
The trigger broke at about 5.5 LBS and had some creep as well. The supplied magazines are well built and I have had no problems with the 17, 20 and 26 round magazines. At around 800 rounds, at a local defensive pistol match, the gun went full auto on a course of fire which was a little disturbing. As it happened, the timing was right for me to do a little work on the trigger so I promptly benched the gun until I got the time to address it. Yes, I know I could have sent it in to SA under warranty but there was no need to tie the gun up in warranty travels. 800 rounds is a good point to do an action job as one can tell a lot about the innards of all the metal working together after live fire. When I broker her down, I found no surprise that later gen MIM parts were OEM. So, I stoned the sear, polished the disconnector and touching contact parts, swapped out Ed Brown Sear and Mainsprings and ended up with a crisp 4LB pull. Yes, I know for a game gun many go to sub two pounds but my trophy collecting days are behind me and I want consistency in all my 1911 triggers, race or street. What about the full auto you ask? When I was making my final adjustment on the set screw for the adjustable overtravel, I noticed the screw had backed out of the trigger and was almost falling out. This allowed the trigger bow to interfere with the sear/disconnector assembly. Cleaning and degreasing and thread locker and a final adjustment did the trick. This is my 4th gun running MIM parts and I have had no failures of any kind so far.
For the games my Kydex go to has been Blade Tech but they did not offer an OWB Stingray Mount for Thick 1 3/4 inch belts, so I got a DeSantis Cazzuto https://www.desantisholster.com/cazzuto/.
Not being new to dots on guns as I shot revolver with an Aimpoint for years at the Bianchi Cup and a Match Dot Ultra for my Model 41 S&W in Bullseye, I admit my short comings with today's Dots. So I thought I would try a Hex DragonFly. Pure junk by my standards. I will say however that SA made it right with a prompt full refund. So, even though I give up co witness sights for the prodigy, I went to my standby scope company and fitted this Prodigy with a Leupold Delta Pro Point https://www.leupold.com/deltapoint-pro-6-moa. I like the durability and the shake awake feature. Present battery is from March as well and is working good. In my defense drills and Streetwise matches, the shooter should come off the street with his carry equipment ready as there are no sight pictures or "suiting up" for a carry gun fight, nor is checking your gun for loaded rounds before the start signal. We just do not get this luxury on the street.
This gun feeds everything. My gamer load is a PF of around 128 and I get that consistently with 147 ACME coated TC bullets https://www.acmebullet.com/Bullets/9mm/9mm-147, 3.2 grains of Alliant (Hercules) Sport Pistol, inside of processed range brass stuffed with a CCI 500 primer. O.A.L. is around 1.104". To take these pictures, I thought it good to break the gun down and clean it. During my cleaning process, I check for excessive wear and tear or other problems that might raise their ugly head. The wear on the rails and recoil face, barrel link and slide stop were all in good shape and this is at 8000 rounds. After a thorough cleaning with Hoppes No 9 https://www.hoppes.com/cleaners-and...l-hoppes-9/no.-9-gun-bore-cleaner/P00347.html, I blast all the loose crud and solvents away with Lucas Extreme Gun Cleaner https://www.lucasoil.com/product/extreme-duty-gun-cleaner-aerosol/. Lubricate with Breakfree and I'm good to go.
For my taste, I wish the factory had not put in a LCI cut into the barrel. It sprays crud on my dot and I may end up welding it shut down the road. Also, as many of you may remember, I am not a fan of the left side radiused and recessed slide stop and hole. The mag release could be a few thousandths longer but I do not care for the large buttons or wide bottom mag wells hanging on my guns. I guess that is the minimalist in me showing. The guide rod assembly does not bother me on this coned bull barrel system. Unlike aftermarket guide rods that claim to make life easier and can cause problems with moving parts and levers and such, I will just stay with the OEM.
My first Prodigy was the 4 Inch version, It worked well also but the balance on this 5 inch is so impressive in shooting and handling. Balance is very important in my guns and knives. This gun can rest on it's muzzle upright as a testament to it's engineering. I like that. Good swift presentations, mag changes and other handling is smoother with a proper balance of a firearm. For the future, I would like to see SA make this with a flattened serrated slide, perhaps a comped version and direct mount optics ready. The Prodigy has been compared to the Stacatto https://staccato2011.com/products/staccato-xc many times, but there is a huge price point swing between the two. For the committed 1911 shooter, the Prodigy is good out of the box or open to putting hundreds of more dollars in it to your liking. My advice is if you want a custom double stack, then pay for one. If you want a good platform and save some money the Prodigy works good and is accurate. And don't forget, it is young in life and holds a bright future for today's shooter.
See You on The Range
Trapper
