I’ve acquired a couple of new toys in the past few days. The first is a BSA Holographic sight, which I received for an outstanding deal. This is for my CX4 Storm, purchased last spring. The second is a Springfield Mil-Spec 1911 .45. I’ve long been a fan of of the 1911, and the price is just right on the Springfield weapons right now.

1911 .45 upper left; CX4 Storm with BSA Optics Center

I took both to the range today. The BSA optics were easily tuned. I fired two rounds low and right, two rounds mid-left, and then I proceeded to punch the paper out of center-of-mass for the next fifty or so rounds. After that, much to my dismay, the reticle disappeared. I’m not sure if this is a malfunction of the sight or if it was a battery that was practically DOA. I’m going to replace the battery tomorrow and see if that does it, if not, I’m going to have to deal with the RMA department at BSA.

The .45 is wonderful. I learned to shoot pistols under the patient tutelage of my father with a Colt 1911-model .45, and this one is similar in form and function. The trigger pull is like a glass rod breaking, and the action is smooth and consistent. I had a failure to feed on my twenty-fourth round in the gun. It was the last round in the Springfield-provided magazine, but other than that, I put just over one hundred rounds through it with no failures.

I find that I’m used to a smaller pistol. My current “baby” is a Sig P239 (in .40). This is a compact pistol that fits my admittedly “girl” hands very well. Going up to the 1911 took a little getting used to. I was pulling my shots consistently to the left by about two to three inches at 25 yards. When consulting the more experienced shooters among my friends, it looks as though I have one of two problems. The first may be my trigger pull–I might have too much finger in the trigger. The second is my off-hand grip. I may be putting too much pressure on the gun with my off-hand to be truly consistent.

My only complaint so far is that the ejection port needs a little bit of “tuning.” I was hit in the forehead by ejecting brass about 50% of the time when firing in a standard stance. This isn’t a big deal unless the hot brass goes down the front collar of your T-shirt. If I’m going to use this pistol in IDPA matches, then I might need to do some work here. Otherwise, I am VERY pleased with the purchase so far.

One other thing of note is that I purchased two Wilson Combat magazines to go with the pistol, and these are hands-down the best magazines in any caliber that I’ve ever seen or owned. Out of the package they were easy to load, fired consistently, and had a tight spring. The butt-pad on the bottom of the magazine was a great addition, making it easy on the palm of my hand as I would slide the magazine home. They are better than the factory offerings I’ve seen from Sig, Beretta, and Glock by far.