USPSA Action Pistol Match - 10/05/2024

USPSA Action Pistol Match at the Southwest Shooting Center in Clovis, NM with the Southwest Performance Shooters club. I was shooting my custom V-Slot ported Springfield Prodigy 1911DS from concealment (AIWB) in the Open division. The gun ran great and my performance was good too (I was nailing my reloads! 😁). We only had 9 of us that showed up to compete (all good shooters), and I ended up in 2nd place Overall. 👍

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mAEc3wL-To

Outlaw Action Pistol Match - 09/28/2024

Outlaw Action Pistol match (USPSA scoring) at the Amarillo Rifle and Pistol Club. I was shooting my new custom V-Slot ported Springfield Prodigy 1911DS from concealment (AIWB). We had the most people ever at this match (28 total) so it took quite a while to get through all 4 stages with only one squad allowed in the large single bay. The gun ran great, but my performance started declining by the last two stages. I was trying to go too fast through all of the steel targets at the end of the third stage and I kept missing. I also hit a long distance "no-shoot" target on the last stage which earned me a miss plus a penalty for the hit on the no-shoot and landed me in 2nd place overall.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niW-nIJnHUo

Outlaw Action Pistol Match - 09/21/2024

Outlaw "Hit Factor" Action Pistol Match (USPSA scoring) at the Southwest Shooting Center in Clovis, NM with the Southwest Performance Shooters club. I was shooting my new custom V-Slot ported Springfield Prodigy 1911DS from concealment (AIWB). Unfortunately we only got to shoot 3 of the 6 planned stages because a severe thunderstorm rolled in quickly and forced the match to be canceled. The gun ran without any issues and my performance and stage plans were pretty decent. I really wish we could've finished the match before it started raining. 😓

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSQoqllp8OQ

USPSA Action Pistol Match - 09/07/2024

USPSA Action Pistol Match at the Southwest Shooting Center in Clovis, NM with the Southwest Performance Shooters club. I was shooting my V-Slot ported 2019 STI Staccato P from concealment (AIWB) in the Open division. The gun ran flawlessly this time with my reloaded brass case ammo and no trigger reset issues either as I had adjusted in a little bit more pre-travel on the trigger bow. I guess the gun just doesn't like steel case ammo, because I haven't done any extractor tuning since the last match. Unfortunately, I inadvertently engaged the thumb safety during a reload on stage 4 (a classifier stage), which cost me a little bit of time to recognize and resolve. 😕 I still managed to come in 4th place Overall out of 25 total. 👍

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrOfs0CmZ6U

Another Springfield Prodigy 1911DS

While randomly looking on Gunbroker for various double stack 1911s (my new obsession), I came across a penny auction for a used Springfield Prodigy 4.25" 1911DS that had been ported similarly to my V-Slot ported 2019 STI Staccato P which is a $300 modification (not sure what company did the porting). The bids were still pretty low, so I submitted my maximum bid and ended up winning the auction for much less than my max bid and well under what I thought the gun should be worth.

Photos from the Gunbroker auction

There were some obvious blemishes and scratches on the slide and frame, which is probably why the bids didn't get very high, but that didn't matter to me as I planned to Cerakote the slide in Graphite Black (H-146) and the frame in Stainless (H-152) for my preferred two-tone look after dehorning all of the sharp edges and some other refinements like chamfering the front edges of the frame to better match the slide and blending the pinned beavertail grip safety and the frame together with softer lines. I already had a set of Evolution Gun Works ignition components, Ed Brown controls, and an Atlas Gunworks tool-less guide rod that I removed from my last Springfield Prodigy that I installed on this one to replace all of the factory MIM parts and the two piece guide rod. I also replaced the trigger with a Fusion Firearms K-hole trigger that I had left over from my Bul Armory SAS II Tac Commander as I'm not really a fan of the old classic three-hole trigger for a modern 2011-style gun. As with my last Prodigy, I did another step cut grip chop and texture on the factory grip module so that I can carry it with compact 16-round (120mm) Staccato C2 magazines, as well as a smooth magwell border on the back of the grip and mainspring housing to give it a nice finishing touch.

Work in progress photos.

New trigger pull is slightly under 3 pounds.

With the experience and knowledge that I gained from troubleshooting all of the issues with my last Prodigy, I was able to get this new one running perfect without too much effort, but it also didn't need nearly as much work as my last one did as Springfield has improved their QC on these guns since the initial launch in 2022. There are some characteristics and aesthetics about the Prodigy that really appeal to me, like the wider/thicker frame and the grip module's ergonomics. When the Prodigy is customized and made to run reliably, they are really great guns. I'm really happy with the way this one turned out. 😎

I normally don't list the cost of parts and work done to my personal guns in detail, but I know people will be curious as to how much it would cost to build a Springfield Prodigy 1911DS similarly to this one (minus the cost of the gun), so here is a rough estimate for all the parts and custom work done to my gun as a reference point. While all of this may add up to the cost of a brand new Staccato P, it is obviously way more customized to look and feel exactly how I wanted it, as well as having the benefit of barrel porting. With all of these upgraded parts and custom work, it also runs just as smooth, fast, and reliably as all four of my Staccato P 2011s! 😁

V-Slot Barrel Porting - $300

Parts list:

EGW Ignition Components - $150

Ed Brown Controls  - $125

Atlas Tool-less Guide Rod - $100

Fusion K-Hole Trigger - $40

RFV Tactical Work:

Dehorn All Sharp Edges (slide and frame) - $50

Pin and Blend the Beavertail to the Frame - $50

Cerakote the Frame and Slide (two colors) - $170

Cerakote Small Parts (controls and hammer) - $50

Step Cut Grip Chop for Compact Magazines - $75

Smooth Magwell Border (mainspring housing) - $25

Concealed Carry Texture (360-degree wrap) - $125

Small Parts Fitment and Trigger Tuning - $100

Outlaw Action Pistol Match - 08/24/2024

Outlaw Action Pistol match (IDPA-ish rules and scoring) at the Amarillo Rifle and Pistol Club. I was using my new V-slot ported 2019 STI Staccato P from concealment (AIWB) in the Carry Optics division. I had a few trigger reset issues on the first stage, and then some extraction issues on some other stages, which may or may not be due to the steel case ammo I was using (purchased by mistake). I'll have to diagnose and resolve those issues and try this gun out again at another match. The match itself went pretty well with all of the stages being setup before hand, but we had a lot of new people show up so it still took quite a while to get through all 5 stages even after several people left before the 5th stage. Even with my equipment malfunctions, which cost me approximately 18 seconds, I ended up in 4th place Overall out of 24 total.

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

USPSA Action Pistol Match - 08/03/2024

USPSA Action Pistol Match at the Southwest Shooting Center in Clovis, NM with the Southwest Performance Shooters club. I was shooting my new non-ported Staccato P 2011 again in the Limited Optics division, which now has my RFV Tactical texture and some trigger tuning to get the pull weight down to just under 3 pounds utilizing the factory parts. The improved grip texture and lighter trigger pull allowed me to shoot the gun much faster and more accurately. I did fairly decent and ended up in 4th Overall out of 17 total. 👍

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLOgVM1_s4Y

Outlaw Action Pistol Match - 07/27/2024

Outlaw Action Pistol match (IDPA scoring, USPSA-ish rules) at the Amarillo Rifle and Pistol Club. I was using a new Staccato P 2011 that I recently picked up as a shop gun for RFV Tactical. I bought the gun used in excellent condition for a price that was way too good to pass up, and it already had a Leupold Delta Point Pro optic installed. I wanted to use it for at least one match while it was still completely stock before doing anything to it, so this informal match was the perfect opportunity. My performance sucked and the match itself sucked for multiple reasons, so it was all a big disappointment for me. The gun ran fine, but it wasn't nearly as easy to shoot fast as all of my other personal customized carry guns. I ended up in 1st place Overall out of 19 total, but that's most likely because several good shooters left early due to the extended wait times in between each stage (only using one bay and each stage was setup completely different), so I would've most likely ended up in 2nd or 3rd place if they had stayed. 😕😖

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LS759_JR1c4

USPSA Action Pistol Match - 07/13/2024

USPSA Action Pistol Match at 41 Lead Farm in Lubbock, TX with the West Texas Practical Shooters club. I was shooting my ported STI Tac-Lite 4.0 2011 in the Open division. I recently installed the original full-size grip module that I did a step cut grip chop on to eliminate the large magwell that I had on it, so that it would print less when carrying it. No issues with the gun and my performance was decent without any major mistakes. I ended up in 12th place Overall out of 42 total. Update: they had to throw one stage out due to problems with a scoring tablet, so I ended up in 11th.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rf_2PWEPTYM

New step cut grip chop

Old VIP grip with magwell

USPSA Action Pistol Match - 07/06/2024

USPSA Action Pistol Match at the Southwest Shooting Center in Clovis, NM with the Southwest Performance Shooters club. I was shooting my custom V8 ported Staccato P 2011 in the Open division because that's just my go-to gun these days. 😜 The gun ran great as usual and my performance was decent except for a dumpster fire on the second stage, which was a classifier.  I tried to go way too fast and had a miss on the last target because I was off balance and sent my last shot over the target's shoulder. Despite my dumpster fire, I still managed to come in 6th place Overall out of 29 total. 😏

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksti2I3Kn1w

Outlaw Steel Action Pistol Match - 06/22/2024

Outlaw Steel Action Pistol match at 41 Lead Farm in Lubbock, TX with the West Texas Practical Shooters club. I was shooting my new 2019 STI Staccato P 2011 in the Limited Optics division. This was the first match with the 2019 P and it ran perfect. I made myself more accountable for all of my shots at this match and tried to go 1 for 1 on every target, so it certainly didn't look or feel very fast, but I didn't have a whole lot of make-up shots. I ended up in 11th place Overall out of 43 total.

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

STI Staccato P (2019) - The Holy Grail 2011 #2

Within a few weeks of acquiring my 2019 STI Staccato P, I randomly came across another one that was selling for even less than what I purchased mine for... so... I bought it! 😁 I ended up selling several guns to fund this purchase, including my Springfield Prodigy. My decision to purchase a second 2019 Staccato P was mainly because my first one is in such pristine condition that I have been really apprehensive about carrying it or shooting it at matches. 

Photos from the Gunbroker auction

This second gun was not in as good of condition as the first one, but that was reflected in the lower price. It was also an iron sight only gun like the first one, so I again sent it to DSC Gunworks to have it milled for the factory DPO cut, and I also had them port the barrel and slide with Atlas Gunworks EOS style V-slot ports. I wanted the porting to be minimal so as not to take away from the beautiful aesthetics of the gun, but I also wanted something completely different than what I've had done to my other 2011s and I've heard the V-slot ports work really well. I also had them tighten up the frame to slide fitment and then refinish the slide, barrel, and frame in DLC coating. It came back looking and feeling like a brand new gun! I installed the Holosun 509T optic, a Surefire X300U light, and a Dawson Precision tool-less guide rod with a lighter weight recoil spring to tune it to the barrel porting. Since the compact Staccato C2 grip modules are no longer available to purchase separately, I purchased an MJD Solutions full-size grip module and did a step cut grip chop to accept compact 16-round Staccato C2 magazines along with my RFV Tactical Concealed Carry texture. I actually prefer the aesthetics and ergonomics of the chopped MJD grip over the factory C2 grip so much that I may buy another one for my first 2019 P. 😎

Outlaw Action Pistol Match - 05/18/2024

Outlaw Action Pistol match (IDPA scoring, USPSA-ish rules) at the Amarillo Rifle and Pistol Club. I was using my custom V8 ported Staccato P 2011 in the "Optics" division again (apparently, I really like this gun!). We had a fairly small turn out at this match, even for these unorthodox local matches. I had several mistakes today... I didn't brighten my red dot up for the first stage and could barely see it while engaging the first  array of targets... I forgot to reload on the second stage and had a surprise "flat-footed" reload... and I went way too fast on the last stage and got sloppy with my hits for the sake of looking cool. 😜 I ended up in 2nd place Overall out of only 10 total.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvfHHm5oLfk

STI Staccato P (2019) - The Holy Grail 2011

I have finally acquired a 2019 STI Staccato P 2011, which is considered to be the "Holy Grail" of STI/Staccato 2011s! This gun was the turning point for STI to officially change their name to Staccato, and it solidified the company's change from competition guns to duty and self defense guns. It was an evolution of their previous Tactical 4.0 with a 4.15" bull barrel and a full length picatinny rail dust cover, and it also introduced their new slide serrations that are still current today as well as the new Dawson Precision Optic (DPO) mounting system. It was only produced for one year (2019) in this configuration and was then changed to a longer 4.4" barrel and no longer had a full length dust cover. Due to the limited production of the 2019 STI Staccato P, it quickly became very sought-after and is now considered a rare collector's item. This drove prices of the used guns available for sale from $1000 to $1500 more than what they cost when they were brand new.

Photos from the Gunbroker auction

I was lucky to snag mine for only $750 more than brand new pricing, and it is in pristine condition! There is not a scratch or blemish on it. Even the barrel hood has zero wear. It was the iron sight only version, but I immediately sent the slide to DSC Gunworks to have it milled for the factory DPO mounting system and installed a Holosun 509T optic on it (my favorite optic for concealed carry). I also did my typical 2011 trigger tuning to get the trigger pull weight down to 3 pounds by simply tweaking the sear spring.

Other than having it milled for the DPO system, the only other change to the gun was installing a compact C2 grip module done in my RFV Tactical Concealed Carry texture. I took the C2 grip off of my Springfield Prodigy, and I've stored away the original full-size grip and magwell to maintain a higher value if I ever decide to sell it (unlikely!).