Okay folks, here we go! This is my non shooting review of the new Fusion CCO that I just picked up from my FFL this week. Next weekend this CCO, my Dan Wesson CCO, and my Wilson BWC CQB will be heading off to a third party for not only a shooting review, but also a tear down side by side comparison to each other. Therefore, this is only a quick visual and “feel” review of the pistol. The results of the three pistol shootout will be made available once they’re typed up and ready to go.
I’m going to preface this review by saying that I will strive to make this an objective review of both the pistol and the build. I’m not here to kiss anyones butt, or to kick it either. The facts are the facts, and where my opinion is given, it should be fairly obvious. If you happen to have an opinion different than my stated opinion, that’s your right, but please don’t turn this into either a cheerleading session or a drama fest of hate.
Background – This is my second Fusion. My first is a bobtail commander that is shown in the first pics with the new CCO. The first build went very smoothly from start to finish. The wait was longer than initially told, but I am the type that will patiently wait for something to be right and prefer that over hurried and NOT right. The first Fusion has performed without a hiccup since it came out of the case and despite a lot of range time and handling by everyone there, it appears as new. The Ion Bond finish has lived up to it’s hype in my opinion. Communication with Bob through the first build was pleasant. I tried to just leave him alone and let him build though. The whole transaction from start to finish was smooth like glass. My first Fusion was built in early 2009.
I ordered the new CCO on August 5, 2009. My first experience with Fusion was so positive that I didn’t hesitate to go to them again for another pistol. I called Bob and talked to him about what I wanted, then followed that up with an email for him to quote from. He sent me the quote, and the order was made. In what became my usual custom, I tried to stay away from the Fusion forum during the build period and just forget that I had even ordered the CCO. It keeps me from obsessing over it.
A couple of months into the build, I did stop by the forum and sure enough, I saw some things that I wondered if I could have incorporated into my build. I called Bob and talked to him about the changes. He said the equivalent of “Sure, we can do that” as he always does, and I hung up the phone. I did not follow these changes to the order up with an email. They were not incorporated into the final pistol, but that is NOT Bob’s fault, it’s mine. I can’t expect someone as busy as Bob is to remember the changes that I talked to him about on the phone. I should have followed up with an email to ensure that he got a hard copy of them, and that I got confirmation from him, but I didn’t. MY fault, pure and simple. On March 3, 2010 Bob emailed me to let me know that the pistol was refitted and going to Ion Bond for finishing and we were getting closer. The details on this are murky, but there was some problem with a part or something. It wasn’t a big deal to me, so I don’t remember the specifics.
Okay, fast forward to the day Bob posted some pics of the finished pistol in an email to me, June 3, 2010. The pistol is beautiful, or course, but I noticed a couple of things that didn’t look right. The items are below. As I had become used to, Bob said that he would be happy to make the changes if I wanted him to, but at that point, I didn’t want to slow things down and told him not to worry about the items that I knew about at the time.
Here are the two things that didn’t look right at the time in the pics:
No magwell – my fault. This was a verbal change that I didn’t follow up on as I should have.
No angled guide rod front – part of the original work order. Bob admitted that he just missed this.
Due to me being out of the country and my Mother having some heart trouble at the time, I asked bob to hold on to the pistol until I was home and life was not so hectic. He, of course, agreed.
Fast forward again to the pistol shipping. I picked up the pistol a few days ago from my FFL and brought it home. That was when I noticed a few things with the pistol that weren’t what I ordered. I had requested, and received from Bob, a copy of my build sheet. There were no changes to it from start to finish as the verbal changes were discussed, but went no further than that. We’ve been through that, my fault.
In short, here are the things that were on the original build sheet but were incorrect on the pistol when received:
Hammer – Not the one ordered and shown on the build sheet
Angled guide rod front – on the build sheet, not done on the pistol (I already knew this)
Wrong sights – ordered orange rear with green front. Shown that way on the build sheet. Sights are all green.
Ordered full thickness grips (noted on the build sheet) received slims.
Flush cut and crown barrel – on the build sheet, not done.
I sent Bob an email with these discrepancies and he emailed back that he would send out a UPS tag if I wished to send the pistol back for correction of these things. I told him about the three pistol shootout that I was committed too over Labor Day weekend and he wrote back that whenever I was ready, just let him know and he’d send out the UPS tag. Overall, none of these things are “killers” for me. In fact, after having the pistol in my hands for a few days now, I think I like the hammer that is on it better than the one I ordered. Also, the thin grip configuration is growing on me. My daily carry DW CCO has slims on it as well. The only items that I would like to have revisited are the angled guide rod front (I have a custom reworked CBOB that has this detail and this CCO was supposed to be a somewhat matching little brother to it), the sights changed to the proper colors as ordered, and the barrel flush cut and crowned. Bob is willing to do this. It’s just a matter of how long I will be without the pistol to get these items changed. I’ll have to ask Bob on that as we’ve had no discussion on the matter as of this point in time.
That’s where we are today. Now, FINALLY, on with the pistol itself!
As you can see in the pics, the pistol is beautiful! The only thing I’ve changed on it was the grips which are now solid carbon fiber instead of the red cocobolo’s that came with it. When I first took it out of the box and tried the ambi safety lever, I thought “Uh oh! That’s not good!” as the safety was very hard to engage and was rubbing heavily on something. I thought it was internal, but after further review the next day, I found that the back of the grip panel was not cut out for the lever near deep enough and the arm was being pinched between the grip and the frame. Easily fixed with the new grips. It now engages and releases with a crisp “snick” just as it should.
The slide functions quite smoothly and the fit of slide to frame is nice and tight. No rattle or movement at all. Anywhere. The grip safety is tight, with no looseness at all either front and back or side to side. It works just as it should with a shooting grip. The slide release is VERY tight and cannot be released with one hand as in while shooting. At least this 6’3”, lean 265 pounder couldn’t do it.
Sling shotting the slide takes care of this. I’d rather have it heavy than not be able to trust it to do it’s job. I have seen a couple of posts over time with tooling marks inside some pistols. In looking through the CCO I see none of this. All surfaces appear to be well finished and fit. As you can see in the pics, there are some copper catch marks on the feed ramp which will be interesting during the shooting portion of the Labor Day shooting. I’ll leave the rest of the internal writeup to expert who is doing the shootout and tear down.
The trigger is great. No overtravel and it breaks cleanly. Again, the expert will have a trigger scale, but it seems to be a little under 4 lbs to my nerveless, calloused trigger finger.
The barrel locks up tight and there is no play anywhere that I can see or feel. The bushing seems to be well fit to the barrel.
The frame is alloy, so there is a little difference in the black between it and the slide when the pistol is dry. I admit that I’m no metallurgist, so I don’t know if this is normal between the two metals or not. The Ion Bond finish has proven itself to me on the first Fusion as it looks brand new to this day. I’ve had the barrels of both of my Fusions done with the treatment, and really like the look of it.
I’m anxiously awaiting the results of the shooting and tear down phases that will come after Labor Day.
Overall, if it shoots like my first one, and is put together inside like I think it is, I’m going to really like the pistol. Were there problems with the build being exactly what I ordered? Yes. Should it have been checked against the build sheet before I was notified it was done? Yes. I don’t think Bob or anyone else at Fusion would argue that. Given the “problems” with it, is Bob responding in a way that I would expect and appreciate? Yes. In MY situation, since that’s the only one I know all information from both sides on, Bob is doing what I would expect to ensure that the pistol is made to be what’s on the build sheet. He hasn’t offered me a list of excuses as to why it’s not his fault. In fact, he’s stood up and said the equivalent of “Yeah, that’s on us”. He’s offered to pay for shipping to get it back to the Fusion shop and has been responsive to my contacts. While I wish it was matched up in the first place, the facts of life are that no one is perfect and there are sometimes problems. I have said it many times before – if the worst thing I have in my life is waiting on a semi custom pistol to be built, then I lead a very blessed life. An inconvenience? Yes. A true problem in my life? No.
Will there be a third Fusion in my future? I’ll wait for the shootout and tear down results as well as putting it through some paces myself before I answer that one, but if it lives up to the level of the first one I have, then yes. Only this time, I will ensure that I take a little more control in the contact and paper trail of the way things should be along the way, and I will ask that Bob have someone double check the build sheet to the pistol prior to it being “done”.
Now, on to the pics. The many pics……
Sarge (SRT1)
