Outlaw Action Pistol Match - 04/18/2026

Outlaw action pistol match (USPSA rules with IDPA scoring) at the Amarillo Rifle and Pistol Club. I was shooing my Race City Defense RC9c from concealment (AIWB) in the Carry Optics division. Despite acquiring several new non-ported/comped 4.25" 2011 style pistols recently, I wanted to shoot the RC9c again at another outdoor match. It is by far the best performing pistol that I currently own.

Stage 1: I ran this first stage of the day pretty conservatively as the sun was just clearing the top of the berm on the right side, so it was difficult to see all of those targets clearly as well as the dot with the optic not occluded. I had only one C-zone hit and managed to win the stage.

Stage 2: I ran this second stage fairly conservatively as well and was able to get all A-zone hits and go 1-for-1 on the Texas star. I placed 1st on this stage.

Stage 3: I picked up the pace on this stage, but I got a little sloppy when I tried shooting one target while moving into position. I even threw a make-up shot at it and still only had one A-zone hit. That target was my only C-zone hit, and I placed 1st on this stage as well.

Stage 4: A mirror image of stage 3, and I ran it almost identical to stage 3 only in reverse and had all A-zone hits with no make-up shots. I again placed 1st on this stage.

I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I won every stage and placed 1st Overall out of 25 with only 2 points down for the entire match. I attribute a lot of this to the RC9c and its excellent return to zero.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pqq8frMX8Ro

Alpha Foxtrot AF1911-Romulus 4.25" Handgun

I picked up a new non-ported/comped Alpha Foxtrot AF1911-Romulus 4.25" to add to my collection. I have been adding more non-ported/comped 2011 style guns to my collection because I prefer to train with them rather than my ported/comped guns which get dirty faster and tend to make me get a little lazy with my grip since the ports/comps are doing a lot of recoil mitigation. Prior to these recent additions, my only non-ported/comped steel frame 4.25" 2011 style guns were my Prodigy 1911DS and my Staccato Heritage P. Everything else I have is either ported, comped, or has an aluminum frame.  I recently added a Kimber 2K11 Pro and a Watchtower Apache Commander to my collection, and now this new Romulus. I wanted another budget 2011 style gun besides the Prodigy, and I really like the Romulus 3.5" Comp that I picked up several months ago. The fit, finish, and performance of the Alpha Foxtrot pistols are actually pretty good for their price, and I like that they are American made even though some of the parts are sourced from a Korean manufacturer (as are the Watchtower pistols).

As with the Romulus 3.5" Comp, I outfitted the pistol with the same Osight/Olight budget accessories and utilized all the factory parts to tune and customize it. The biggest difference with this 4.25" over the 3.5" Comp is that I did a step-cut grip chop to accept 16-round Staccato C2 magazines.

The Romulus grip module is about 2mm shorter than a typical full-size 2011 style grip module, so the grip chop is very minimal by comparison. I also did my typical RFV Tactical texture work in a 360-degree wrap around configuration, as I would do with a Prodigy 1911DS grip module. I used the left-over polymer from what I cut off the grip for the grip chop to fill in the indentions above the mag release button on both sides and textured those spots for a more traditional look.

To get the trigger weight below 3 pounds, I had to smooth out the sear face and hammer hooks with a fine stone to prevent hammer follow as those surfaces were pretty rough looking from the factory. This is an extra step that I don't normally have to do when tuning a 1911/2011 trigger but is sometimes necessary with the inconsistencies of MIM components. As I do with most of my personal 2011 style guns, I also thinned down the thumb safeties and slide stop lever and refinished them in my custom DLC Mimic color mix of Cerakote to match the gun. The flat DLC finish on this 4.25" is a nice contrast to the polished DLC on my 3.5" Comp. The front serrations on this gun have sharper edges and are much more functional than the serrations on the 3.5" Comp as the polishing process dehorns all of its sharp edges.

I am really happy with how this gun turned out, and I am again really impressed with the fit, finish, and performance of the Alpha Foxtrot pistols for their price. It's still hard for me to believe that these guns come with a DLC finish at such a low price point. They may actually be the best value in the "Budget 2011" category.

Watchtower Apache Commander Handgun

The release of the new Watchtower Defense Apache Commander caught my attention recently because I really like 4.25" 2011 style guns with full length dust covers. Watchtower has had some negative drama in the past due to quality control issues as well as financial issues that resulted in bankruptcy. Now that the financial issues appear to be over, the QC appears to have improved with their most recent production of pistols. 

Unfortunately, I think the new Commander is overpriced at $4000, so wrote it off until I recently came across a dealer on Gunbroker that I believe mistakenly listed this Commander with the specs and pricing for the newer aluminum frame Tactical Commander, which is priced at only $2700, but not yet available at the time of this post. So, I ended up with a $1300 discount on a brand new pistol. 😁

Photos from the Gunbroker auction

The pistol has a lot of features that I like... a wide steel frame, full length dust cover, aesthetically pleasing and usable front cocking serrations, an MJD Solutions grip module, a Dawson tool-less guide rod, and EGW internal components. While I would prefer an optic mounting plate for a Holosun 509T as an option, I like that their RMR footprint optic plate has a thin rear backup iron sight like an Atlas optic plate that allows a Trijicon SRO or RMR HD to sit farther back on the slide so that it doesn't hang over the ejection port and potentially cause ejection issues. Unfortunately, like the Atlas optic plate, it does not position the optic very low on the slide.

The pistol has good fit and finish with nice chamfers on the front of the slide and frame and is done in Black Nitride, so I didn't feel the need to do my typical dehorn and Cerakote refinish work. While not yet installed when most of these photos were taken, I also upgraded the MIM thumb safeties and slide stop lever with hardened steel components from EGW.

The machined checkering on the MJD grip module provides plenty of good traction, but I prefer the look and feel of my RFV Tactical texture work on a polymer grip module. As I did with my Kimber 2K11 Pro's grip module, I only stippled over the factory checkered areas while retaining the Watchtower logos, added a smooth border at the bottom of the mainspring housing to match the magwell border, and did a step-cut grip chop to accept 16-round Staccato C2 magazines.

The EGW internal components made it easy to tune the trigger down from a little over 4 pounds to my preferred weight of just under 3 pounds. The recoil spring was heavier than I would prefer, but I understand that the gun is marketed as a duty pistol that is expected to handle high power duty ammo. I installed a medium weight Dawson recoil spring so that it runs my lower powered reloaded ammo that I use frequently for training and matches without any issues, but still works with my defensive ammo. It has a little more muzzle rise than my non-ported Prodigy 1911DS and my Kimber 2K11 Pro, but it has a quick and consistent return to zero.

To be honest, the gun doesn't really have that much of a "wow factor" to justify its $4000 price tag, so I am a little disappointed with it in that regard, but I am definitely happy that I only paid $2700 for it. I think the gun would be a much better value if it actually retailed for $2700 and came with quality non-MIM external controls and a DLC finish, but a Staccato P 4.4" is still probably a better option for a high-quality production 2011 as a duty pistol.

Kimber 2K11 Pro Handgun

I've worked on multiple Kimber 2K11 pistols for customers at RFV Tactical, and I was not really that impressed with them. This is mainly due to their longer slide and short dust cover frame. I also don't like that they use MIM internal components in a $2400 gun. When Kimber came out with the 2K11 Pro, which is a 4.25" version with a full-length dust cover frame, I got a little more interested in them. I randomly stumbled across an online retailer selling the "Stainless" version brand new for only $1750, which is about $250 cheaper than most other retailers, so I decided to pick one up. Then I got really excited when I realized that Kimber actually sells a 2K11 optic plate for the Holosun 509T that has an integrated rear backup iron sight. I have never seen a 2K11 with anything other than an RMR footprint optic and none of those had rear backup iron sights despite positioning the optic really far forward. Unfortunately, the factory front sight is too short to properly align with the rear iron sight on the 509T optic plate.

I specifically wanted the Stainless version, which is their base model, because I wanted the MJD Solutions grip module rather than their aluminum grip module and the Stainless version is the only one with the gold PVD barrel. I thought the gold barrel would look really good with the slide and frame done in a custom mix of black Cerakote. I also wasn't interested in any of the other fancy looking color options that they offer with the 2K11 Pro series.

The front of the slide and frame have a really nice chamfer, but there were still a few spots in other areas that needed some dehorning. Most notably was the left side thumb safety lever. This is a consistently complained about issue with all of the 2K11 pistols. Kimber had supposedly redesigned it with a better chamfer due to all the complaints, but I have yet to see the redesigned part on a production gun out in the real world. While reprofiling and dehorning the levers, I also thinned them down to work with my high grip as I do with most of my personal 2011 style guns.

Rather than go with my custom DLC Mimic color mix of Cerakote, I wanted to try a new custom mix of Graphite Black and Stainless with a 12:1 ratio of catalyst for a slightly higher gloss that would hopefully mimic Black Nitride. It doesn't really show up well in the photos, but there is a slight metallic flake within the black. I'm really happy with how it turned out and the contrast of the gold PVD barrel looks great.

With the MJD grip module, I only stippled over the factory checkered areas and left the 2K11 styling lines in place, added a smooth border at the bottom of the mainspring housing to match the magwell border, and did a step-cut grip chop to accept 16-round Staccato C2 magazines.  I really like the step-cut grip chop because it provides a little more concealability while still maintaining a full-size feel in the hand. Unlike STI/Staccato grip modules, the MJD grip still has a little bit of a magwell flare left after the grip chop as does the Prodigy 1911DS grip module.

The pistol had a decent trigger right out of the box at 3.5 pounds, but I tuned it down to my preferred weight of just under 3 pounds using the factory components. The trigger shoe itself is a little longer than my other 2011 style guns, but it's not a problem for me as I have large hands. No other tuning or refinements were needed. The gun looks great and runs great. The recoil impulse is just as soft as my non-ported Prodigy 1911DS with my reloaded training/match ammo, but is a little bit snappier than the Prodigy with off-the-shelf factory ammo. I'm really happy with this gun, especially for what I paid for it.

USPSA Action Pistol Match - 04/04/2026

USPSA action pistol match at the Southwest Shooting Center in Clovis, NM with the Southwest Performance Shooters club. I was shooting my Race City Defense RC9c from concealment (AIWB) in the Open division. This was my first time shooting the RC9c at an outdoor match.

I haven't competed at an outdoor match for 5 months, and I had been sick with a pretty bad cold that I am still recovering from, so my performance at this match was certainly not my best as I have not been doing my normal 3 to 4 days per week practice for several weeks.

Stage 1: I ran this first stage pretty conservatively. I had all A-zone hits, but it was a slow time. I ended up in 9th place.

Stage 2: I was able to speed things up a little and did pretty well. I had three C-zone hits and ended up in 3rd place.

Stage 3: An unloaded start that led to a balancing beam, and then around a corner to another isolated shooting position. I again picked up the pace a little more and came in 1st place for this stage with all A-zone hits.

Stage 4: A two-position stage with two paper targets, two steel poppers, and a Texas Star. I got through the Texas Star perfectly, but one of the poppers didn't fall when I hit it so I had to re-engage it. I also had a C-zone hit on one of the paper targets and ended up in 8th place.

Stage 5: A low round count classifier stage (25-03) that I got two C-zone hits on, which put me in 7th place.

Despite a lower score on several stages, the win on Stage 3 netted me 3rd place Overall out of 22 total. It felt good to get back to shooting a match.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsevVwmHThc