I have acquired quite a few 2011 style guns over the last 5 years, and it's the only platform that interests me these days. I have come to really like the Springfield Prodigy 1911DS despite having more expensive and better fit guns in my collection. I currently have 4 Staccato, 4 STI, 4 Bul Armory, and 4 Prodigy. Out of all of these guns, I tend to carry, train, and shoot matches with a Prodigy more than any other 2011 style gun. For me, the Prodigy just checks more boxes than my other 2011s when it comes to aesthetics, ergonomics, and value. The performance of all my 2011s differs a little bit based on the specific modifications (i.e. barrel porting) or upgrades, so performance does not really play a big factor in all of this, as that can typically be tuned into any of the guns via modifications and/or upgrading components. My "check boxes" basically come down to slide serrations, overall proportions, grip module ergonomics, optics mounting systems, and overall quality and value. I recently felt the need to justify to myself why I like my Prodigy 1911DS guns more than everything else, so I decided to document it here. It was also a great opportunity to post photos of all of my 2011 style guns.😁While the Prodigy 1911DS is not the winner in all of the categories, for me it certainly wins more categories than my other 2011s and it is a close runner-up in some of the other categories.
Disclaimer: all of this is just my own personal preferences, perceptions, and opinions, based on the guns that I personally own at the time of publishing this blog post.
Slide Serrations: STI > SA > Bul > Staccato
Slide serrations, particularly the front serrations compared to the rear serrations, are an important aesthetic feature to me. There should be enough serrations on the front of the slide to easily manipulate the slide, as an optic mounted to the rear of the slide practically renders the rear serrations useless. For me, I think there should be the same number of serrations on the front as there is on the rear, but most 2011 style guns have less serrations up front than on the rear. I prefer that there is at least 4 serrations up front and 5 serrations on the rear. My two 2019 STI Staccato P have the most aesthetically pleasing serrations of all of my guns, and the proportions front to rear look great. My Prodigy 1911DS's have perfectly adequate serrations... a simple but aesthetically pleasing design, an acceptable front to rear ratio, and they are very functional. My V6 ported Bul TAC 4.25 has very nice looking and very functional front serrations, but there are more serrations up front than the rear, which looks a little odd to me. My Staccatos all have only 3 serrations up front regardless of the slide length, so they don't look as good to me even though they have the same style of serrations as my two STI 2019 Ps.
Slide Lengths: SA > Bul > STI > Staccato
I personally prefer 4.25" Commander length slides. I like the proportions of this slide length, especially with a compact grip or a chopped full-size grip, and I like the recoil impulse of this length over a longer slide. The Prodigy 1911DS comes in fairly traditional lengths of 5", 4.25", and a 3.5" compact. The Bul Armory guns come in 5" and 4.25", but their compact guns have a shorter 3.25" slide, which is less desirable to me than a 3.5" slide. Some of the older STI guns were available in 6", 5" and 4.25" (marketed as 4.15"), as well as some 3.9" and 3.5" lengths. The newer Staccatos have a lot of different non-traditional sizes: 5.4", 5", 4.5", 4.4", 4", 3.9", 3.6" and 3.5", with no current 4.25" offerings at all.
Frame Lengths: Bul > SA > STI > Staccato
Bul Armory has the best options for frame lengths. They have full-length dust covers (which is my preference), and their slash cut partial length dust covers look really good too. My Prodigy 1911DS all have the same "butler cut" on the end which is not quite full-length, but long enough that it looks good. Most of my older STI guns have full-length dust covers, but their straight cut partial length dust covers are very plain looking. My Staccato guns all came with plain straight cut partial length dust covers combined with slides longer or shorter than 4.25" which makes them the least desirable to me.
Frame Widths: SA/Bul > STI/Staccato
My Prodigy and Bul Armory frames are all as wide as the slides, which is what I prefer because it adds a little more weight towards the front of the gun and is potentially more durable long term. My STI and Staccato frames are all thinner than the slides, which is less desirable to me and most modern high-end 2011 style guns have wider frames.
Grip Module Ergonomics: SA > Staccato > Bul > STI
The Prodigy 1911DS grip module has the best ergonomics of any factory polymer grip module in my opinion. They just feel better in my large hands as the back of the grip in the mainspring housing area is wider and more rounded, and they look better once I've done my specific texture work to them which is done in a 360 degree wrap around configuration. The smooth finger groove of the Prodigy grip module along with the medium length beavertail helps me to get a good grip out of the holster (AIWB) more consistently than guns that don't have those features. All of those features make the Prodigy grip module feel substantially better for me personally. Springfield really got it right when they designed the Prodigy grip module. The Staccato grip modules feel great with my texture work and also have a smooth finger groove, but they seem a little smaller in circumference compared to the Prodigy grip modules. The Bul Armory and older STI grip modules also look good and feel great with my texture work, but the lack of a smooth finger groove is less appealing to me.
Optics Mounting Systems: Staccato > SA > Bul > STI
The Staccato "DPO" mounting system is probably the best factory system for mounting a wide variety of optics on a 2011 style gun and it is a very robust design. The Prodigy 1911DS "AOS" mounting system also has a lot of options for different optics, but the factory mounting plates fit a little loose on the slide and the mounting screws are very small, which can cause issues with the screws coming loose or shearing off. However, there are a lot of companies that make aftermarket mounting plates for the Prodigy that fit better and use stronger screws (see my mounting tips for the 1911DS). Bul Armory's new "BAO" mounting system is very robust with the optic mounting screws threading directly into the slide, but they only have RMR, DPP, and RMS mounting plates. This leaves out the Holosun 509T as an option, which is my favorite optic for concealed carry, and is installed on most of my guns. Most STI guns weren't even optics-ready and their older "HOST" mounting system was a decent system when it was introduced, but was limited in options as there weren't as many different types of optics available back then.
Overall Quality and Value: SA > Bul > Staccato > STI
The Prodigy 1911DS is the least expensive out of all my guns, however it doesn't have the best performance, reliability, and fitment out of the box, and needs to be tuned to run fast and reliable. At RFV Tactical, I have an enhancement package specifically for tuning the Prodigy 1911DS to be as reliable and perform as well as the more expensive guns. There are also several other companies that offer tuning packages specifically for the Prodigy (Atlas, Nighthawk, Ed Brown, EGW, etc), so I am not alone in the belief that the Prodigy has a lot of potential. Even with the cost of having the Prodigy tuned for performance and reliability, and having to buy the optic mounting plate of your choice separately, it is still the best value of all of my other 2011 style guns, and in my opinion is the best "budget" 2011 on the market. While the Cerakote finish of the Prodigy 1911DS is inferior to DLC, PVD, or Nitride, it is certainly easier and cheaper to refinish if it gets scratched up or damaged. Cerakote also allows you to customize the gun with a lot of different colors. The Bul Armory guns offer the next best value since they come with 4 magazines (proprietary), a magwell, and include all of the optics mounting plates. They have a PVD finish and a better overall fit and finish. They also have the best out of the box performance with no trigger tuning necessary. The Staccato guns are not as good of a value with only 3 mags and no optic mounting plate included. They can also be improved with a little bit of trigger tuning, however their DLC finish and slide to frame fitment are top notch. The older STI guns have the best fit, finish, and quality, but they have the worst value because they were expensive when they were new, and they are even more expensive as used guns now that they are discontinued and highly sought after since they have more of a cult following after STI rebranded to Staccato.
Performance
Even though performance isn't really a big factor in my preference for the Prodigy vs other 2011s, I will say that I prefer the softer recoil impulse of the Prodigy. This noticeably softer recoil impulse is largely due to how heavy the Prodigy is. My double tap split times aren't as fast as a lot of other good competition shooters, so while faster cycling guns with ports, comps, or lighter weight slides may give the perception of being faster, that doesn't really translate to faster split times for me personally. At the end of the day with all other things being equal, I would rather have a softer recoil impulse than a faster and more violent recoil impulse.
Other High-End and Budget Brands
It is certainly possible to find other brands of high quality 2011 style guns like Atlas, Nighthawk, and Race City Defense, that might check off more of my boxes, but most other high-end brands start out at $4000 or more, so "value" wouldn't really come into play as my personal limit is about $3500. None of the other budget 2011 clones like Alpha Foxtrot, MAC/Tisas, EAA/Girsan, and Live Free Armory, check off as many boxes for me (the texture on their grip modules are all horrible!), as I have handled and worked on several of them and I wasn't all that impressed with any of them.
Update 2026: In an effort to expand my horizons, I acquired all of the other budget 2011 clones mentioned above. They all turned out to be pretty decent once I customized and tuned them, but none of them perform as well as any of my Springfield Prodigy pistols in my opinion.
