Anybody have one of the Springfield Prodigy series? Polymer frame double stack 2011 type 9mm pistols. I am thinking of picking one of these up. Any first hand experience? Are they up to SA's usual standards? Any problems I should be aware of? TIA.
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Springfield Prodigy line
- Thread starter lihpster
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If you buy one hopes its a very recent production run model and hope they have all the problems cleared up as they have had more than a few problems !
You could buy a m&p full size 4.25 or 5" with a thumb safety thats optic ready , add an apex tactical fst trigger kit and get a short reset trigger with ether a straight or curved trigger and a pull weight as low as 3lb 4 to 6oz , then add the apex gun smith fit barrel you can at home and have a handgun capable of 1" groups at 25 yards for low enough price to maybe buy a dot optic too rather than buy the prodigy . Really . I built one for my wife some years ago off an early M&P CORE but also have a 4" compact set up with the same upgrades , thumb safety and optic ready . Darn near as accurate too but its probably me as I wear trifocals now and at 69 I'm just not as good a shooter as I once was .
You could buy a m&p full size 4.25 or 5" with a thumb safety thats optic ready , add an apex tactical fst trigger kit and get a short reset trigger with ether a straight or curved trigger and a pull weight as low as 3lb 4 to 6oz , then add the apex gun smith fit barrel you can at home and have a handgun capable of 1" groups at 25 yards for low enough price to maybe buy a dot optic too rather than buy the prodigy . Really . I built one for my wife some years ago off an early M&P CORE but also have a 4" compact set up with the same upgrades , thumb safety and optic ready . Darn near as accurate too but its probably me as I wear trifocals now and at 69 I'm just not as good a shooter as I once was .
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shown50
Member
I’ve got an early 5” model. Has about 6,000 rounds through it and has been back to the mothership once. Mine started having random hammer follow about 1500 rounds in, they kept it 6-7 weeks and it came back good as new.
I’ve got a Staccato P steel frame with the DLC threaded barrel and the regular stainless bull barrel. The Prodigy holds its own against a gun 3x the cost. I tell people it’s 90% as good as a Staccato P, the fit and finish isn’t as nice and it took a couple thousand rounds to smooth out.
I’ve recommend multiple buddies to buy a Prodigy before laying out for a more expensive 2011.
The mags are good to go and the gun will run but needs a little more break in time. With all 2011s keeping them lubed is key. In my opinion swapping the MIM parts out asap is all internet hype, most people don’t shoot enough to wear those parts out quickly.
They offer a comped model now and I’ve been interested to try one of those out next.
I’ve got a Staccato P steel frame with the DLC threaded barrel and the regular stainless bull barrel. The Prodigy holds its own against a gun 3x the cost. I tell people it’s 90% as good as a Staccato P, the fit and finish isn’t as nice and it took a couple thousand rounds to smooth out.
I’ve recommend multiple buddies to buy a Prodigy before laying out for a more expensive 2011.
The mags are good to go and the gun will run but needs a little more break in time. With all 2011s keeping them lubed is key. In my opinion swapping the MIM parts out asap is all internet hype, most people don’t shoot enough to wear those parts out quickly.
They offer a comped model now and I’ve been interested to try one of those out next.
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LVSteve
Member
Search for user Honest Outlaw on youtube. He tested a couple of Prodigy pistols, with mixed results. Seems the early ones had reliability issues.
OP
I got one of the 4.25" barreled models with the Hex red dot on it. I guess we'll see if they fixed the issues.
OP
Some first impressions:
1. Slide to frame fit is excellent. Smooth and no wiggle whatsoever.
2. The grip is wide, of course, but the shape of the grip helps it to feel thinner. It's bigger in every dimension to my G17 grip, but it feels the same size. Plus the rounded shape feels better, to me. The texture is top notch. Not too aggresive and seems to lock the gun in the hand.
3. The Hex red dot is probably going to go away. Still have to put a battery in it. The one it came with seems to be dead. Had to order some 2023 cells as I couldn't find one around. It's bigger than a Burris FFIII, without having a bigger window. Also it requires it to be removed from the gun to change the batteries. If I had to do it again, I'd probably buy the gun without the sight.
4. Speaking of sights, the irons seem pretty good. The rear is a blacked out u-notch and the front is fiber optic. They are tall sights which gives you the ability to use them thru the dot. One of the gripes I've seen more than once in the reviews I've watched is the fiber optic rod in the front sight falls out. Don't know how easy that is to repair, but the sight is in a dovetail. If it happens, I'll probably put a Trijicon night sight on it.
5. The slide stop is hard to hit, being recessed into the frame. Sure is easy to put it back in during assembly. No idiot scratches here.
6. The gun came pretty dirty. I think it might have been a display gun, which would explain the dead battery in the red dot. Everything cleaned up just fine though.
&. Finally, while watching the youtube video reviews, I noticed that the critical reviews came out 2 years ago when it was first introduced. Almost all the recent ones have been overwhelmingly positive. Even some of the original negative reviewers have said it is much better after 1000 rounds or so.
For those who say you gotta go Staccato at least, this was less than half the price. Is it as good a gun? No. But it cost less than 1/2 the price. Doesn't necessarily make it a bad gun, just not as good as a very expensive one. Like the Ruger mark series vs. a Model 41. Nobody says the Rugers are bad, just maybe not as good. But they cost less than half the price.
Now, to MIM. I have had several guns with MIM parts. Not one has ever broken. Even so, since this is a range toy, not a piece of life saving equipment, I'll risk the chance it may break one of these parts. Replacement parts, being for the most part standard 1911 parts, are easy to replace with quality forged parts. I might change the slide stop, but that would be to get a bigger paddle on it that's easier to manipulate.
I have ordered a holster and some mags for it. All in all, I think I'm really gonna like this pistol. Reviewers of later examples, like mine, report excellent accuracy and say it is an easy gun to shoot well. More than one reviewer called it a "cheat code". I bought 1000 rounds of range ammo for it, so I should be able to get it broken in quickly once I find a place to shoot.
Final thooughts? If you're looking at a 2011 series pistol, do yourself a favor and borrow or rent one of these as well as the Staccatos or similar. You might decide to save some money.
1. Slide to frame fit is excellent. Smooth and no wiggle whatsoever.
2. The grip is wide, of course, but the shape of the grip helps it to feel thinner. It's bigger in every dimension to my G17 grip, but it feels the same size. Plus the rounded shape feels better, to me. The texture is top notch. Not too aggresive and seems to lock the gun in the hand.
3. The Hex red dot is probably going to go away. Still have to put a battery in it. The one it came with seems to be dead. Had to order some 2023 cells as I couldn't find one around. It's bigger than a Burris FFIII, without having a bigger window. Also it requires it to be removed from the gun to change the batteries. If I had to do it again, I'd probably buy the gun without the sight.
4. Speaking of sights, the irons seem pretty good. The rear is a blacked out u-notch and the front is fiber optic. They are tall sights which gives you the ability to use them thru the dot. One of the gripes I've seen more than once in the reviews I've watched is the fiber optic rod in the front sight falls out. Don't know how easy that is to repair, but the sight is in a dovetail. If it happens, I'll probably put a Trijicon night sight on it.
5. The slide stop is hard to hit, being recessed into the frame. Sure is easy to put it back in during assembly. No idiot scratches here.
6. The gun came pretty dirty. I think it might have been a display gun, which would explain the dead battery in the red dot. Everything cleaned up just fine though.
&. Finally, while watching the youtube video reviews, I noticed that the critical reviews came out 2 years ago when it was first introduced. Almost all the recent ones have been overwhelmingly positive. Even some of the original negative reviewers have said it is much better after 1000 rounds or so.
For those who say you gotta go Staccato at least, this was less than half the price. Is it as good a gun? No. But it cost less than 1/2 the price. Doesn't necessarily make it a bad gun, just not as good as a very expensive one. Like the Ruger mark series vs. a Model 41. Nobody says the Rugers are bad, just maybe not as good. But they cost less than half the price.
Now, to MIM. I have had several guns with MIM parts. Not one has ever broken. Even so, since this is a range toy, not a piece of life saving equipment, I'll risk the chance it may break one of these parts. Replacement parts, being for the most part standard 1911 parts, are easy to replace with quality forged parts. I might change the slide stop, but that would be to get a bigger paddle on it that's easier to manipulate.
I have ordered a holster and some mags for it. All in all, I think I'm really gonna like this pistol. Reviewers of later examples, like mine, report excellent accuracy and say it is an easy gun to shoot well. More than one reviewer called it a "cheat code". I bought 1000 rounds of range ammo for it, so I should be able to get it broken in quickly once I find a place to shoot.
Final thooughts? If you're looking at a 2011 series pistol, do yourself a favor and borrow or rent one of these as well as the Staccatos or similar. You might decide to save some money.
"One of the gripes I've seen more than once in the reviews I've watched is the fiber optic rod in the front sight falls out."
The Girsan High Power clone I bought had the same problem listed when I was researtching my purchase.
I put a very light brushing of clear nail polish on the rod where it enters and exits the metal part of the front sight, no problems so far. Of course one example doesn't mean much, but there you go.
Thanks for the review of you new pistola.
The Girsan High Power clone I bought had the same problem listed when I was researtching my purchase.
I put a very light brushing of clear nail polish on the rod where it enters and exits the metal part of the front sight, no problems so far. Of course one example doesn't mean much, but there you go.
Thanks for the review of you new pistola.
OP
Oh, probably should do a rundown on what's in the box. Typical SA, cardboard box with a soft range bag inside. Bag is pretty standard, nothing special. It has the tools for takedown of the gun and removal of the red dot. 2 magazines, 1 17rd flush fit and one 20 round extended base model. Mags are 2011 standard pattern, branded SA but made by Duramag. They are about 1/2 the price of Staccato mags. They appear to be well made mags. Since mine came with a red dot, it had a base plate installed with the optic mounted on it, but they also include a cover plate the cleans up the top nicely, if you don't want to use a red dot. Other than that it's the standard paperwork and cable lock.
I bought one a year ago. I tried the 4 the shop had and picked the one with the best trigger and smoothest slide/frame fit. A caveat-I learned to shoot with a 1911 and S&W revolver 56 years ago, the 1911 (Les Baer my preference) has been my preferred pistol ever since and I wanted to try the double stack.
Ok, back to the Prodigy; it has been 100% reliable and very accurate with every type of ammo I’ve tried in it. I’ve made minor changes to mine-one piece recoil spring guide rod, EGW slide release as my thumb can’t reach the stock part and a Kensight front night sight with yellow ring around the tritium dot. All the mags function perfectly as well. I couldn’t be happier with it.
Ok, back to the Prodigy; it has been 100% reliable and very accurate with every type of ammo I’ve tried in it. I’ve made minor changes to mine-one piece recoil spring guide rod, EGW slide release as my thumb can’t reach the stock part and a Kensight front night sight with yellow ring around the tritium dot. All the mags function perfectly as well. I couldn’t be happier with it.
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Richard Simmons
Member
Handled one today at a local shop. First 2011 style pistol I’ve handled and I was surprised by how comfortable it was. Trigger was very nice! At the very least it’s further sparked my interest in this particular platform.
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