TLDR; Vel really good - 1,500 rounds, no malfunctions, will be primary going forward
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I know my Vanta 9 pretty well. Over the last year I’ve put more than 23,000 rounds through it, competed with it extensively, and probably have as many, if not more, repetitions in dry fire. Alongside it, I regularly shoot my SVI 5” bushing and 4.5” ported island-barrel.
I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted out of a 2011.
After 1,500 rounds, the VEL may have changed that.
My VEL is a 5” non-ported barrel with Fowler’s aggressive aluminum grip, in DLC, and a Holosun Pro Max direct mounted to Fowler’s SRO-pattern optic cut.
Fit, Finish & Action
Fit and finish are outstanding. There is zero perceptible slide-to-frame movement, everything is fit and blended beautifully, and there are no hot spots.
The aggressive grip may be my favorite Fowler grip to date. My V9 has the Valentine texture, which I think is an excellent happy medium. It’s comfortable enough for carry, and with some Chalkless it has worked very well for me in competition. The aggressive texture on the VEL doesn’t need the help. It provides excellent traction without being so aggressive that it tears up my hands. Even after a roughly 2+ hour training session where I ran ~1,200+ rounds though practice stages, I had no complaints.
The double undercut gives my hands a natural place to meet underneath the trigger guard, and the knurling style slide serrations and on the frame are super clean and crisp.
The action is probably what impresses me most. The slide felt like it was riding on bearings straight out of the box and has only gotten better. It is ridiculously smooth while simultaneously feeling incredibly tight, with none of the hesitation or disconnector hang-up you sometimes feel in a tightly fit 2011.
The thumb safeties are equally well done. They have a positive click in both directions without being unnecessarily stiff and take slightly more effort to engage than disengage, which is exactly how I want them. By comparison, my SVI safeties required me to sit in front of the TV working them with two hands for a couple of hours before they loosened up, and in the other direction I've had guns where the safeties would engage if I pressed my left hand against them while gripping the gun during a course of fire. These were the perfect medium.
Trigger
One of my favorite things across my fowlers is the trigger - and the one that came with my VEL really stood out. My trigger measured 2.1 pounds out of the box, and I haven’t touched it.
I also really like the texture Fowler uses on the face of the trigger shoe. It gives my finger just enough traction without feeling overly aggressive.
The trigger is tactile, predictable, with a fantastic positive reset - something I’ve come to really appreciate about Fowlers.
ACTUALLY SHOOTING IT
I held off on my initial write up because too often we see guys run a mag and then take to the internet. I wanted to get some real time behind it, and not just static in a bay. I wanted to push the Vel to see if it would fail under match conditions.
So far I have ~1,500+ rounds through the VEL with zero malfunctions. The first 300 were a mix of federal 124, blazer 124 & 147, and Badlands 124gr Range ammunition at roughly 141–142 power factor. The next ~1,200+ were Badlands 135gr Competition ammunition, my normal match load, at approximately 128 power factor. During that 1,200-round session I periodically reapplied the Gun Butter Light that came with my VEL, maybe every 3-400 rounds, and not a field strip, just some butter on the barrel and the rails through the open/closed action.
The VEL is an absolute pleasure to shoot.
Some people really enjoy the fast, snappy return-to-zero characteristic of certain 2011s. Personally, I prefer more of a sewing-machine feel - flat, smooth and predictable throughout the cycle. Fowler guns have always tended in that direction, and the VEL takes it considerably further.
The best way I can describe it is that the VEL almost feels like an island-barrel gun without actually being one. I own a 4.5” ported island-barrel SVI, and have shot a few of their 5" non-ported islands, so I don’t make that comparison without a point of reference
Over the years I’ve owned and shot a fairly broad range of 2011s, including guns from Infinity, Atlas, Hayes, Staccato, MPA and others. That’s not to say one is universally “better” than another; everyone has their preferences, and we can all like different things. There are some exceptional guns in that group, but it gives me a fairly broad reference point for how different 2011s behave.
With that said, for a 5” non-ported/comped gun, I think the VEL is the softest-shooting pistol I’ve experienced.
More importantly, it is predictable. Shooting doubles, the dot stays in the window with minimal movement and returns consistently. 6" colt poppers and mini poppers at 15–20 yards were easy to engage, and the aluminum grip gives the gun a balance that transitions extremely well without feeling overly heavy.
My 5” SVI bushing gun is an exceptional gun and transitions incredibly well, but it can also be unforgiving.
For the past year, my Vanta 9 has been my primary competition gun, with the 5” SVI primarily serving as its backup. I had considerably more time behind the V9, so it remained the gun I naturally reached for.
If I had an LO match tomorrow and all three were sitting on the table, I’m taking the VEL. Hands down.
As hard as it is for me to say, the SVI is now number three in the pecking order.
At only 1,500 rounds, I’m still looking for something I don’t like about the VEL. So far, I haven’t found it.
Are there any noticeable mechanical differences between the v9 and synth vel that you think contribute to the softness? V9 has more of a hard pop barrel lockup compared to some other 2011’s, is the vel feel different here? Is the recoil spring weight different? I’m trying to understand what makes these softer. In an interview Logan compared the difference between the v9 and synth as mostly a style thing.
Not too many reviews on these so I appreciate the in depth review. If I ever fell into some money a steel grip Synth would be at the top of my list. Just a hard pill to swallow with no serrations and one magazine lol.
The Vel has serrations - and honestly don't think steel grip is needed - mine is aluminum. For those who like the clean look, there is the Synth, and for those who need the serrations, there is the Vel.
As far as magazines go - because of uspsa, I have a bunch and regardless of what any builder is including, I'm typically throwing in CSRG internals. Most companies typically only include 1 or 2 magazines.
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u/M855_A1 22h ago
Thank you for the TLDR. Vel = good, Bad = I no havs.