Prodigy ~ which parts to replace first then second?

[Petrofra]

Already ordered a Brazos ignition kit and Atlas trigger, toolless guide rod and mags. I'm coming from Dan Wesson 1911s, Atlas Titan, Hyperion and a Dan Bedell-built 2011 so I have higher expectations I guess? But I am a lousy amateur gunsmith, figure the Prodigy is a better platform to finally figure out how everything works than an expensive gun I would likely mess up. 

 

Wondering which slide stop, high angle RH safety, disconnector, firing pin, extractor and ejector are most recommended and easiest to install? 

 

What else am I missing? 

 

Would love to put a stainless/extra aggressive Cheely grip on but can't find one in stock. Wondering if I blend a safety for the plastic grips if there will be enough left to blend with Cheelys or should I just wait? 

 

I know the philosophy of not upgrading until necessary but I rather build it out properly once and for all. Nice to have a spare parts and learn how to do things right. Thanks

Edited May 4, 2023 by Petrofra

[shred]

I drop Dawson extended firing pins in all my 1911s and have had to replace one in half a million rounds total, so I only ever have one or two spares around.

 

For a Prodigy I put in a Dawson toolless guide rod, change the recoil spring, replace the safeties (I'm a lefty and like extended ones with knuckle clearance on the right), add a dot plate and dot and a Dawson Ice magwell converted to fit Prodigy grips.   Trigger and magwell are the two biggies in my book.

 

If the trigger on the stock parts can't be made decent enough, those get changed out when the safeties go in.

[zzt]

I'm in a rare disagreement with Shred.  I hate Dawson toolless guide rods.  Had two fail in matches.  Hate the reverse plug that Dawson supplies.  Had one separate in a match.  Hate Dawson extended firing pins.  Toooo long.  Like the Cheely extended much better.  Just the right length.

 

Brazos ignition kit does not include a disco.  Order his.  No fitting required. 

 

Cheely ejector, hands down.  EGW HD extractor.  Lots of work fitting, but you'll never need another.  That's more than I can say for the recent Aftecs.  Slide stop depends on weather you need .199" or 2.0".  I use EGW .200.  I like Harrison Custom's shape, but it requires a lot of fitting.

 

If you put on a poly grip, but are wanting a metal grip, do not blend to the poly.

[shred]

I'm at about half a million (maybe 3/4M, I don't keep good track) rounds on Dawson parts and they've been great for me through a couple GM cards and 30 years of matches.  Dave built several of my guns back then, and they still run great, but lots of the other parts and guns have been me-fit over the years so YMMV.

[Ajsomp]

I was looking at the EGW kit with a red dirt trigger to start. I heard mixed reviews about the infinity kit, which could be an option, but I might steer clear for now. After that it’s a dot and more magazines. 

[Petrofra]

Thanks this is helpful. Except for the debate over firing pins lol

[mreed911]

On 5/5/2023 at 8:54 PM, Ajsomp said:

I was looking at the EGW kit with a red dirt trigger to start. I heard mixed reviews about the infinity kit, which could be an option, but I might steer clear for now. After that it’s a dot and more magazines. 

 

I haven't found a need for the EGW kit, but maybe I will after I install the Red Dirt triggers on mine.  Have the 4.25" now and the 5" coming next week.  Red Dirt triggers already in.

 

4.25" is the backup LO gun.  5" will stay iron sights and become the Steel Challenge Limited gun (with red fiber).

[shred]

I'm running stock hammer/sear/disco on mine for now too.  The trigger has a bit of creep to it but with minor work is better than my CO guns with tuned triggers (I mostly slap anyway). 

 

I did a bit of side-by-side testing with the 4.25 vs 5 and while I like the quicker handling of the 4.25, it's just a bit flippier (possible that can be tuned-out to some extent) so I'm probably going to use a 5" for LO.   For irons, the longer length is the way to go.

 

 

[mmchambers06]

I have a 5" coming in tomorrow for a LO setup. I also prefer 5" pistols. Will probably have some slide lightening work done too.

 

I feel the same way about the shorter guns, including my Staccato P. Probably just muscle memory of years with an Edge.

[cheers623]

Anyone know if the ejector is pinned into the frame or glued? Springfield used to glue the ejectors into many of their 1911s. Just wondering if this one is different? Thanks for any help. 

[mreed911]

30 minutes ago, cheers623 said:

Anyone know if the ejector is pinned into the frame or glued? Springfield used to glue the ejectors into many of their 1911s. Just wondering if this one is different? Thanks for any help. 

 

Pinned.

[cheers623]

22 minutes ago, mreed911 said:

 

Pinned.

Thanks! That’s peace of mind! I usually end up replacing the factory ejectors in most of my 1911/2011s and when SA started gluing them in…real turnoff! 

[mreed911]

Got my second Prodigy in today - a 5" model that's the "updated" version with the channels cut in the underside of the slide and more material cut out between the barrel lugs and front of the dust cover(see here for more info on differences: https://dscgunworks.com/products/dsx-conversion).

 

I've had the 4.5" since December. S/N NMH07XXX. Have been running it with irons for break in and one run in Limited class for Steel Challenge. My 4.5" has been 100% out of the box, but I have a rigorous break-in process. After around 1000 rounds now, the trigger is about 2.75 lbs (digital pull gauge) - I've made no changes to it whatsoever as far as internals go.

 

Needed a backup gun for Limited Optics, so I ordered a 5" on sale from Brownells (the 4.25" will become my LO backup, the 5" is what I'll keep with irons for SCSA). Picked it up today. S/N NMH42XXX. Has the updated slide (with channels in it, making the extractor visible).

 

Initial impressions

• Out of the box trigger pull just over 4 lbs. I expect that'll lighten up a bit as I get rounds through it, dry fire it, etc.. I'm going to get 200-300 through it pretty quickly, ranging from plinking rounds to HST/self defense rounds.
• Out of the box trigger has less pre-travel than my 4.25". Overtravel stop appears to be set nearly perfectly (nothing I feel like adjusting).
• Mag release feels a bit longer (haven't measured, but I'd bet it's a few hundredths longer).
• No slop in the fitment. Slide is tight on the rails with no play. Barrel and guide rod seem the same.
• It's much grittier out of the box than I remember my 4.25" being, but it's a light grit. It's oiled, but not nearly as wet as I remember the 4.25" being. Granted, I'm well down the road with the 4.25" now, so I might be mis-remembering, but everything feels gritty, even after I added a bit of grease and Slide Glide. Slide on rails, mag release, etc. - all just feel like that dirty kind of grit, not burrs. I expect this to work itself out over 1000 rounds of dry-fire and 200-300 rounds of initial ammo. We'll see where it smooths up and where it needs a bit of polishing. I've done zero polishing work to my 4.25".
• It's much, much dirtier than my 4.25" was - I suspect they're doing a bit more test-firing before these leave the range. Not "horrible" dirty, but more than 2-3 rounds dirty.
• Fit and finish are flawless. No loose controls, nothing stuck.
• It feels strange not having a magwell - it's amazing how quick you can adapt to having that feel on the bottom of the grip. Ready for EGW to get things back in stock.

I will be adding an EGW shock buff tonight. I'll spend the rest of the week dry-firing and cycling, clean and lube it, then head to the range for initial break-in testing. Then I'll clean and measure trigger pull again.

 

I have Red Dirt triggers coming in this week (for the adjustable pretravel and for the correct sizing for my hands).

Edited May 15, 2023 by mreed911

[Racinready300ex]

@mreed911 I'd imagine a lot of the grittyness is probably related to cerakote and will smooth out with some shooting. Slide to frame fit will likely loosen up for the same reason. That's what mine has done anyway. 

[mreed911]

1 minute ago, Racinready300ex said:

@mreed911 I'd imagine a lot of the grittyness is probably related to cerakote and will smooth out with some shooting. Slide to frame fit will likely loosen up for the same reason. That's what mine has done anyway. 

 

Agreed.  Just noting it feels different than my first one.  Not bad, just different.  I get it dry fired, I get it cleaned and I get rounds through it and we'll see then.

[mreed911]

One more note: Given the slide difference I wondered if these were sprung differently.  Mine shipped with an 11# recoil spring (not the 9# earlier reported in other threads), so they've changed the spring weight, too.

[Ajsomp]

On 5/15/2023 at 5:27 PM, mreed911 said:

One more note: Given the slide difference I wondered if these were sprung differently.  Mine shipped with an 11# recoil spring (not the 9# earlier reported in other threads), so they've changed the spring weight, too.

How could you tell which spring weight it shipped with? If they changed it that would be interesting but haven’t seen anything on that 

[mreed911]

8 hours ago, Ajsomp said:

How could you tell which spring weight it shipped with? If they changed it that would be interesting but haven’t seen anything on that 

 

I called them and asked.  They looked up the bill of materials for the build and confirmed the weight.

[mmchambers06]

Got my 5" Prodigy. Initial impressions are positive for the $1130 that I paid.

 

Slide/frame/barrel fitment is pretty good. The iron sights are very nice and a pleasant surprise. Not crazy about cerakote but it's applied well and slides smoother than I expected based on others' comments. 

 

Biggest gripe is that the thumb safety was poorly fit and required a lot of force to engage. It was bad enough that it would occasionally just lock the whole thing up during dry fire. A few passes on some fine sandpaper and now it's perfect, though. The trigger breaks clean, but sear spring is set fairly heavy.

 

This thing is a bit of a porker, although it's got the newer lighter slide. Without an optic mounted, it's heavier (37.7oz) than my Staccato XC with a SRO (36.5oz). I may send the top end away for a diet. Had an EGW hammer in the drawer, so went ahead and ordered a sear/disco/spring to finish out the trigger. I've had a two piece guide rod self destruct in a match, so that's gotta go as well. 

 

Could easily spend $500-$1k getting it to full speed, but I'm not sure if that's the right move or not. Should be fun to mess with. 

 

 

Edited May 30, 2023 by mmchambers06
remove bad info

[mreed911]

4 minutes ago, mmchambers06 said:

Other gripe is the included optics plate doesn't fit anything other than their own site.

 

Incorrect.  Also fits Burris FastFire II and IV, Vortex Viper and Crimson Trace CT RAD Pro.

 

Won't fit a Venom or a FF III because both of them are curved in the front and won't fit the cut (but will fit the plate).

 

See: https://store.springfield-armory.com/agency-optic-system-aos-mounting-plate-prodigy/ for all plates/optics combos.  Included is the A13B.  OpticsPlanet has the other plates sub-$50.

 

As for the trigger, dry fire and live fire will smooth and lighten it A LOT.  Sub 4lb OEM isn't out of the realm of possibility.

 

A little VC3 on my 2 piece guide rod and I've had no problems, including 500 round sessions.

 

I've found the weight/balance on these to be rather good and given the temprament related to spring and slide weight I'd be hesitant to mess with that and potentially screw up reliability.

Edited May 30, 2023 by mreed911

[mmchambers06]

1 minute ago, mreed911 said:

 

Incorrect.  Also fits Burris FastFire II and IV, Vortex Viper and Crimson Trace CT RAD Pro.

 

Won't fit a Venom or a FF III because both of them are curved in the front and won't fit the cut (but will fit the plate).

 

See: https://store.springfield-armory.com/agency-optic-system-aos-mounting-plate-prodigy/ for all plates/optics combos.  Included is the A13B.  OpticsPlanet has the other plates sub-$50.

Good to know. I was going off of their dropdown and my own limited understanding of all these footprints. 

 

I have a 12B on the way from OpticsPlanet. Wonder why the big price disparity? $50 is a nice price for an optic plate. 

 

[mreed911]

2 minutes ago, mmchambers06 said:

Good to know. I was going off of their dropdown and my own limited understanding of all these footprints. 

 

I have a 12B on the way from OpticsPlanet. Wonder why the big price disparity? $50 is a nice price for an optic plate. 

 

 

$47.99 @ OP: https://www.opticsplanet.com/springfield-armory-trijicon-rmr-agency-optic-system-mounting-plate.html

 

Springfield raised the prices after launch.  Looks like OP hasn't caught up yet.  I bought every plate from them just in case... 

 

The Springfield link I posted has every tested sight listed for every plate with screw and co-witness info.  Scroll down.

Edited May 30, 2023 by mreed911

[SufferInSilence]

Depends what you are doing with it.  I went full balls to the wall with mine for a limited optics gun and it’s fantastic.  

If I bought another one I’d probably just polish the disco and tweak the factory sear spring a bit and leave it.  

[mmchambers06]

On 5/30/2023 at 11:11 AM, SufferInSilence said:

Depends what you are doing with it.  I went full balls to the wall with mine for a limited optics gun and it’s fantastic.  

If I bought another one I’d probably just polish the disco and tweak the factory sear spring a bit and leave it.  

What'd you do to it? 

 

Sent my grip away for stippling. Tempted to mail off slide but I will try to resist! Got the rest of the EGW ignition parts in. 

[mreed911]

A little disappointed that SA won't sell just the grip module as a part.  Would love to buy one and send it for stippling, but don't want to do it with my only one.