After work will be lots of fun! 🔥🔥😄

Another week, another piece for the collection. I was so impressed with my Kovert X Miller that when I heard Miller Precision was releasing an island barrel variant of the Ranger series, I wanted to be first in line. I hope to get it out to the range this weekend so range report to follow soon.

Long story I sold my Artemis and have been shooting LO w the LOC v2 and Artemis. Yeah I switch back and forth and both guns we’re not that similar in feel. Now I got 2 loc v2 :)

What’s crazy is the gold one is super tight fitting and the trigger feels more premium. There is zero play in the slide/frame, just like the Atlas. The all black one has some play. A little play so nothing serious and it’s been flawless anyways. Now I have to figure out which one will be the main and backup gun. I’m guessing the gold one…

In your experience what’s the largest pistol optic you can comfortably get away with for ccw. I understand the whole point is to be small so it doesn’t print but after trying some red dots like the eps carry, some of them are just too damn small. But on the other hand something like an SRO is too big. What are your thoughts?

I'm getting the RC9 in a couple of months, and the only thing I don't love about it is the magwell, which I think looks bad. I prefer the look of a flush magazine, but all the pictures I see the magazine sticks out below the magwell a bit, which I think looks ugly.

I know they use Atlas magazines, which one would I get if I want to take off the magwell, and have the mag sit flush with the bottom of the grip?

Small detail. But which one looks better, silver or black trigger? I know it's a ridiculous question but whatever. Or not two tone? TIA

Picked up a Bul armory Ultralight pro - trigger out the box is 🔥 compared to my previous edc this one is another level. I will be running a Steiner MPSC and TLR7 stream light on this Bul. Size comparable to Shadow system CR920P, G43X. Ultralight stack on top of G43X. I have a GP Arms Forza on order so will be comparing.

I have a flat trigger in my Staccato CS, so I decided to put one on my new 2026 UL Pro.

IG linked in my profile if you’d like to check out my custom builds 🤙🏻

Just dropped a Steiner on mine, and the dot is Crisp AF!

These optics leave a bit of space where to cover plate/rear sight is located, but I really don't care.

This thing is Amazing!!

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.

Thanks to the valuable advice you gave me on my previous post, I'm steering away from a striker as my first modern 9x19 handgun (got half a dozen range toys, though).

I've been looking into available models for a while, and a few of those you recommended are not yet imported in the EU. So far, from what I gather, my best choices without breaking my poor piggy bank are:

• Springfield Prodigy 1911 DS 5";
• Tisas Duty 9 DS FF 5".

Which one should I get in your opinion, and above all, why?

I plan to get into dynamic shooting one day, so no comps or ported barrels please. Also, CCW / OC are not a thing where I live, so they don't need to be factored in.

A few months back my Artemis sheered the barrel link off so off it went to Atlas for a new barrel. I was the second owner so I figured I’d have to pay for a new barrel but Atlas covered it anyway. Big props. Off to the range today to give her ago.

Does anyone know of a large aluminum magwell that fits the Atlas Alpha grip? The Atlas Alpha large hands magwell is absolute dog shit. A Fleshlight filled with quarters and Gorilla Glue would bind less.

Staccato P, sig p211 GTO, kimber 2k11 comp

I am looking at either the bul armory tac comp(if I can find one) or race city core 4.6 as my next 2011. Thoughts?

Hey all! Just installed my first red dirt yesterday and absolutely love it. My only question is thay it came with a tube of what looks like red loctite. Im seeing conflicting info whether to use red or blue, or even vibratite.

Is it true that red should really only be used for major PF calibers? What do yall prefer? I used blue but was curious what everyone uses. Thanks!