Boom Vang
Member
- Joined
- Feb 25, 2003
- Messages
- 219
I saw an YouTube review of this pistol last week and it looked like a good value. Ordered one and it arrived quickly, first impressions plus shooting last nite. I notice most of the internet content on this model is in 9mm... I prefer my 1911s in the original chamberings. Plenty of other 9mm pistols around.
Nice looking pistol - the orange paint on the front sight is mine. Real solid wood walnut double-diamond grips, not "engineered wood" or some other thing. Finish was perfect over the entire pistol, appears to be maganese phosphate on this model. Sights were staked-on and serrated front with drift rear with serrated face for a much improved sight picture over normal GI. Reminded me of the Harrison GI sights or the King/Tappen type. Black-on-black.
Ejection port slightly lowered but not flared. Forged frame and slide, and apparently the only MIM part in the entire gun is the recoil spring plug.
Came with 2 magazines, unmarked and finished identically to the pistol, and they appear to be copies or actual Checkmate 7-rd wadcutter mags with the CMF skirted follower, right down to the patent number, and the two basepad holes drilled into the welded baseplate.
Noticed in dry firing evaluation that slide-racking was stiff, and the pistol appeared to be over-sprung, as most factory 1911s are these days, especially if Tisas is taking advice from US industry "experts". Felt like a 20-lb recoil spring, which was also shorter than a standard Commander spring, wound tighter and had narrower and thicker coils.
Thumb safety was later Colt style, and while well-fitted (filed-in) and functioning perfectly, it had less snap than I prefer. The stock plunger tube spring was a wee bit shorter than standard, so I replaced that and the safety had the preferred snap without being obnoxious.
Also noticed that the rear sight was not perfectly centered on the slide. Since there were no witness marks on the sight and/or slide, I assumed this was an assembly anomaly and drifted the rear to center. Pleased to report that the rear sight was sufficiently tight in its dovetail without being obnoxiously crush-fitted (looking at you Ruger).
All other general fit is excellent, and no sharp edges anywhere (looking at you Springfield and Colt). The barrel link fit allowed more vertical play at the chamber than I prefer. However, in initial limited firing, accuracy did not suffer!
Only one other problem in pre-testing, about 1/3 of the time magazine insertion was difficult when encountering the mag catch. Not uncommon with the 1911, but this was excessive to the point of the magazine coming to dead stop and requiring excessive force to seat. Afterwards, examined the Tisas factory mags and a distinctive vertical wear line was present on both mags from the feed lips to the mag catch slot. Removed the mag catch and the area below the catch shelf had a prominent ridge line. A few file strokes and some 400 grit paper re-profiled that area, and mag insertion is now flawless.
Only had a 7-yard test range available, but fired 75 rounds including Winchester 230 FMJ, Federal 185 JHP, Remington 230 BJHP, Federal 230 HS, and 2 handloads with Hornady 185 XTP and a cast 200 SWC. Fed, fired, extracted and ejected all without a bobble. Used a variety of magazines including the two factory-supplied 7-rd magazines, USGI contract 7-rd mags (Checkmate mfg with original style GI feed lips and follower) and Chip McCormick 8-rd and 10-rd Power Mags with their original style pointy folded followers. All worked correctly 100%.
Accuracy was excellent, average of all 6-7rd groups was 1-inch. Best group was the handloaded 185 XTP @ 880 fps with 5.5 gr of Titegroup, with a one-ragged hole group of 5/8". My correction on the rear sight was wise, as pistol POI was dead-nuts on for windage and elevation. No vertical stringing, all well-rounded and centered groups. I did paint the front sight face orange to aid in sighting, especially for an indoor range. Can't wait to test the Tank Commander @ 25 and 50 yards later this week.
Federal 185 JHP Classic, 7 Yards, 5 shots, 3/4" group.
Hornady 185 XTP, 5.5 grains Titegroup, 7 shots, 5/8" group
In shooting the pistol seemed to kick harder than it should be doing for a steel-frame Commander, and the 20-lb non-spec spring would explain that. Functioning was perfect, but afterward I replaced the factory spring with a standard Wolff Commander 18-lb spring, which was noticeably longer, and slide racking was also smoother and easier. Will test that next range session.
So far, I think this pistol is an amazing value, with a couple of minor issues that are not atypical with products from US producers including Colt, Kimber, Ruger, Springfield, etc. At this point, I don't regard this only as a cheapie import for range plinking. It seems VERY solid, with quality superior to most US production 1911s.
*UPDATE in Post #19*
Nice looking pistol - the orange paint on the front sight is mine. Real solid wood walnut double-diamond grips, not "engineered wood" or some other thing. Finish was perfect over the entire pistol, appears to be maganese phosphate on this model. Sights were staked-on and serrated front with drift rear with serrated face for a much improved sight picture over normal GI. Reminded me of the Harrison GI sights or the King/Tappen type. Black-on-black.
Ejection port slightly lowered but not flared. Forged frame and slide, and apparently the only MIM part in the entire gun is the recoil spring plug.
Came with 2 magazines, unmarked and finished identically to the pistol, and they appear to be copies or actual Checkmate 7-rd wadcutter mags with the CMF skirted follower, right down to the patent number, and the two basepad holes drilled into the welded baseplate.
Noticed in dry firing evaluation that slide-racking was stiff, and the pistol appeared to be over-sprung, as most factory 1911s are these days, especially if Tisas is taking advice from US industry "experts". Felt like a 20-lb recoil spring, which was also shorter than a standard Commander spring, wound tighter and had narrower and thicker coils.
Thumb safety was later Colt style, and while well-fitted (filed-in) and functioning perfectly, it had less snap than I prefer. The stock plunger tube spring was a wee bit shorter than standard, so I replaced that and the safety had the preferred snap without being obnoxious.
Also noticed that the rear sight was not perfectly centered on the slide. Since there were no witness marks on the sight and/or slide, I assumed this was an assembly anomaly and drifted the rear to center. Pleased to report that the rear sight was sufficiently tight in its dovetail without being obnoxiously crush-fitted (looking at you Ruger).
All other general fit is excellent, and no sharp edges anywhere (looking at you Springfield and Colt). The barrel link fit allowed more vertical play at the chamber than I prefer. However, in initial limited firing, accuracy did not suffer!
Only one other problem in pre-testing, about 1/3 of the time magazine insertion was difficult when encountering the mag catch. Not uncommon with the 1911, but this was excessive to the point of the magazine coming to dead stop and requiring excessive force to seat. Afterwards, examined the Tisas factory mags and a distinctive vertical wear line was present on both mags from the feed lips to the mag catch slot. Removed the mag catch and the area below the catch shelf had a prominent ridge line. A few file strokes and some 400 grit paper re-profiled that area, and mag insertion is now flawless.
Only had a 7-yard test range available, but fired 75 rounds including Winchester 230 FMJ, Federal 185 JHP, Remington 230 BJHP, Federal 230 HS, and 2 handloads with Hornady 185 XTP and a cast 200 SWC. Fed, fired, extracted and ejected all without a bobble. Used a variety of magazines including the two factory-supplied 7-rd magazines, USGI contract 7-rd mags (Checkmate mfg with original style GI feed lips and follower) and Chip McCormick 8-rd and 10-rd Power Mags with their original style pointy folded followers. All worked correctly 100%.
Accuracy was excellent, average of all 6-7rd groups was 1-inch. Best group was the handloaded 185 XTP @ 880 fps with 5.5 gr of Titegroup, with a one-ragged hole group of 5/8". My correction on the rear sight was wise, as pistol POI was dead-nuts on for windage and elevation. No vertical stringing, all well-rounded and centered groups. I did paint the front sight face orange to aid in sighting, especially for an indoor range. Can't wait to test the Tank Commander @ 25 and 50 yards later this week.
Federal 185 JHP Classic, 7 Yards, 5 shots, 3/4" group.
Hornady 185 XTP, 5.5 grains Titegroup, 7 shots, 5/8" group
In shooting the pistol seemed to kick harder than it should be doing for a steel-frame Commander, and the 20-lb non-spec spring would explain that. Functioning was perfect, but afterward I replaced the factory spring with a standard Wolff Commander 18-lb spring, which was noticeably longer, and slide racking was also smoother and easier. Will test that next range session.
So far, I think this pistol is an amazing value, with a couple of minor issues that are not atypical with products from US producers including Colt, Kimber, Ruger, Springfield, etc. At this point, I don't regard this only as a cheapie import for range plinking. It seems VERY solid, with quality superior to most US production 1911s.
*UPDATE in Post #19*
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