GunBugBit

I discuss it in the first post of this thread.

Is your disconnector slowing down return to battery, do you think? Mine still gives resistance, but doesn’t cause hang-up. I’m thinking I might notice it when I shoot it. I was even considering 8#. I have all the poundages to try from 7# up to 12#. I also have 14# and 16# but definitely wouldn’t go that heavy. Yes every gun is different and we have to find out what works for each particular one. But it’s good to know others’ experiences with the same model.

Everything I’m doing is for reliable function and ergonomics/feel to my liking. No refinishing.

$70 - Atlas Tool-less Guide Rod $60 - Atlas X-Line Trigger $140 - Ambi Thumb Safety $45 - Mainspring Housing $50 - Magwell $8 - 17# Hammer Spring $15 - Extended Firing Pin $388 - TOTAL

Last pics of the gun before the outer appearance starts to change.

The Atlas tool-less guide rod and the Dawson extended firing pin safety arrived in the mail yesterday, so I installed those last night. I kept the original guide rod plug because the Atlas one doesn't fit. So much nicer to not have to mess with that two-piece god rod and a hex wrench. Also for ease of re-assembly, I cut the little notch into the slide stop that allows pressing it straight in when reassembling. Here's a pic of one, nicely done. My cut looks like this: As I started typing this, some EGW items were delivered to my front porch. The items are the ambi thumb safety, the magwell-ready stainless mainspring housing, and two magwells (I didn't mean to order two, but now I have an extra in case I get a 4.25" Prodigy). I'm glad I ordered 1911 pin sets from EGW years ago -- three sets of blued and three sets of stainless. They are coming in handy for this project. For now I'll just need the mainspring housing pins once I get the 17# mainspring and put it in the new housing.

I’ve shot 9mm in PFs ranging from 122 to 134 and never had trouble knocking down steel.

Yes I’d prefer the one EGW is making for the Prodigy.

Throat or change bullet type. I’ll work it out.

Now I see that someone asked the question already, and the answer is: yes, it will work with the Prodigy.

Since I acquired a new 5" Prodigy and have been discussing it on another thread, I thought I'd open a new thread to discuss what I've done to the gun so far, what I'm going to do, and eventually to wrap it up with whatever else I do, with some pictures and range reports. I'm doing nothing to the gun that will prevent going back to factory parts, but I doubt I'll ever do that. As soon as I got it home, I detail stripped it, except for removing the extractor and ejector. Checked the gun over for all hang-up points that I could think of. Trimmed off plastic flashing in grip module hole openings and smoothed the trigger track and shoe opening just enough to let the trigger move smoothly, which it didn't initially. Filed the grip module screws down so their ends are flush with the T-nut openings facing into the magwell, doing away with the "feature" of leaving marks on magazines. Checked for contact between magazine tops and the ejector. With the Duramag base pads, there is no contact even if pressing up hard on the magazines. I was pleased that the weighted plastic dummy mags I use for reload practice stay clear of the ejector, and they insert and drop free easily. The holster and mag pouches I use for the Atlas Nemesis are also nicely compatible. The disconnector engagement corner where the breach face meets the disconnector track had been radiused at the factory in a rough way, and the disconnector was capable of holding the slide back, so I rounded that corner more evenly and polished it to a high shine with a fine white stone. Now there is some resistance but the slide doesn't hang up. The gun can be loaded from slide lock by depressing the lever with no hang-ups. I'll see if that holds true with a lighter (9#) recoil spring. Polished the breach face with 2000 grit sandpaper wrapped around the flat blade of a 10-8 1911 armorer's tool. It was not super rough to start with, but there were some brass marks (which I know will reappear after shooting it), which along with brass deposits on the ejector tip, plus powder residue on the breach end of the barrel, showed that the gun had been test fired. The trigger had major creep. The Cerakote definitely created some high spots (now gone) in areas where parts rub together. The sear nose was rough and almost made me shriek with horror when viewing under magnification (thought I'd throw that in since tomorrow is Halloween). I polished the sear nose to a uniform shine with a fine white stone using the original-style Warner two-disc jig. I made a conservative secondary surface with the Power Series I Universal Stoning Fixture. I dressed the hammer hooks also with the white stone, and polished the sides, as well as the Cerakote-heavy sides of the sear. I don't expect this trigger job to last a super long time as the parts are MIM. However, I'll get service out of it as long as it does last. Other Springfield 1911s of mine have MIM ignition parts with the same procedure done to them, and have held up with no issues. Any breakages and I'll go to EGW ignition parts. After reassembling today, the trigger creep is gone. The wall is dead-solid. I'm not overly concerned with trigger weight since I've done well in matches with triggers anywhere from 27 oz up to 4 lbs. But I'll probably settle on something in the 2 - 3 lb range. The barrel had a couple of small burrs around some sharp corners on the bottom feet, so I knocked those down, and lightly broke some of the sharp edges. As far as parts on order, here's the list: Will install before first test fire: - 17# hammer spring - Dawson extended length firing pin (will use Wolff firing pin springs, not the extra-power Prodigy firing pin spring) - Atlas tool-less guide rod for a 5" 2011-style gun (recommended for the Prodigy by Adam at Atlas) Will install after first test fire: - EGW ambi thumb safety, stainless (love these, have them on 5 1911s) - EGW magwell-ready Prodigy-specific mainspring housing, stainless - EGW magwell for the Prodigy - Atlas Vario X-line trigger, flat medium length, silver color - More 20-round mags from Duramag The gun could be test-fired now, but I'll wait until I install the 17# hammer spring, extended firing pin and spring, and a 9# recoil spring with a new home around an Atlas tool-less guide rod. The last phase will be adding a Trijicon SRO, making this a Limited Optics gun. I'll order the optic when I order the SRO mounting plate from Optics Planet. I'm not hung up on aesthetics, but this will be a two-tone look. I prefer stainless, one reason being I won't feel the need to cold-blue any parts I contour to my liking, such as the thumb safety.

One small issue I encountered is that my 9mm reloads are too tight in the Prodigy's chamber and/or the barrel just beyond the chamber. Factory 9mm is fine. I took some measurements. Reloads: Bullet diameter just above case mouth: 0.352" to 0.354" Top of brass case mouth (crimp area): 0.374" to 0.376" Factory 9mm: Bullet diameter just above case mouth: 0.352" Top of brass case mouth (crimp area): 0.373" When I get a chance, I'll try tightening my crimp a couple of thou and see if that does the trick. My reloads have no issues in two 1911s and a Glock (KKM barrel).

EGW has another ledge-style slide stop for 9mm. https://www.egwguns.com/hd-block-slide-stop-200-pin-9mm-38-10mm-40-s-w-stainless-steel The pin is 0.200", which is 2/1000" thicker than the one they have for the Prodigy (they say that one's pin is 0.198"). I think this part might work, if one wants to take on reducing the pin diameter. I asked whether this part would work on a Prodigy on the EGW web site. Will let you know when they get back to me.

The Prodigy does have a lot of MIM parts - ejector, sear, hammer, disconnector, strut, mag catch. I’m on the fence about replacing any of these until they break and as long as they work. I’ll at least shoot the gun first. The grip safety doesn’t appear to be MIM and I like the part. Very much like the ones on my PM-9s. They tuned the grip safety spring light (a good thing), so I don’t think I’ll adjust that. I only have issues with grip safeties when the spring is set too heavy and/or there are issues with the engagement arm geometry - both easily dealt with. EGW is currently out of stock on the ledge style slide stops for the Prodigy. I put in a “Notify Me” for that part.

Same here. I watched a video of a guy shooting his 5” Prodigy with a 9# recoil spring and it shot quite flat. I use 17# hammer springs in two 1911s and have Dawson extended length firing pins in both, so I ordered one for the Prodigy. Have never had light strikes, the hammer is very easy to cock, and it helps with trigger weight. Also, I’m going to use the firing pin springs that come with Wolff recoil springs. The Prodigy factory firing pin spring seems extra power, which might be why they have such a heavy hammer spring.

One thing I’ve learned for my own shooting is that the lightest trigger isn’t necessary for my fastest splits. In fact, I prefer to feel the trigger pushing back on my finger during reset. I have various trigger weights in my 1911s, from 1 lb 11 oz in an Atlas, to 2 lb 4 oz in two PM-9s, to 3 lbs 4 oz and 3 lbs 8 oz in .45 1911s. I find it easier to shoot fast with the triggers above 3 lbs.

That’s the best document I’ve found for 1911 trigger work. I use the Warner two-disk jig for the primary sear surface, have always gotten great results with it. This link is for the newer/fancier version. I use the earlier version. https://www.harrisoncustom.com/hd-806-true-radius-pro-sear-stoning-jig I use the Power Custom Series I Stoning Fixture as shown in the PDF for the secondary cut. I’m pretty conservative with that cut.

I suggest trying Tripp springs and followers in the Metalform tubes in the event you have any issues you suspect are mag-related. Nice thing about Metalform is there are several sources and the price is good.

Good to know, thanks!

Detail stripped it last night, except for the extractor and ejector. The grip module screws are indeed too long and do leave marks on the magazine. They start off at 0.2765”. If you shorten them to 0.256”, they are then flush with the T-nut openings that point into the magwell. Why Springfield wants these screws 2/100” too long, I can only guess. Maybe to mitigate magazines ramming the ejector on aggressive reloads? The main parts look really good - frame, slide, barrel. The disconnector track is polished to a velvety shine. The feed ramp is highly polished, and the barrel overall is shiny though not quite as glass-finish polished as an Atlas barrel. The grip texture surprised me pleasantly. It feels almost like sandpaper. One of the best things is that the gun and mags fit the holster and mag pouches I use for the Nemesis.

All this Prodigy talk made me have to get one. The store with one nearest to me only has the 5”. So that’s what I got.

Here’s another video of a guy (seems to be a gunsmith) mostly de-MIMing a Prodigy. Pretty close to what I would do with one except I’d keep the factory polymer grip module.

Atlas has a bunch of excellent videos. Dawson too. Those guys know 1911s and 2011s.

No problem!

I’ve been lucky with not having loose chambers. Yes that’s worse.