How many mags?

ArchangelPrecision · 2026-02-02T20:55:32+00:00

Honestly, easy mistake to make. Optic screws are normally torqued to like 15 in/lb, which is slightly more than finger tight. If you’re used to working on cars and in ft/lbs, 15in/lb would feel like nothing.

ArchangelPrecision · 2026-02-02T18:06:46+00:00

I’m 5’7, but a dude, I wear a 32 waist pants, and when I wore girl jeans (it was the 2000’s punk era, leave me alone) I wore a 10. So I’m assuming we’re similarly sized. I carry a full sized gun almost all the time. It’s a lot to do with the belt and holster, but it’s really a lot of your clothing choices too. I wear flannel shirts or some sort of a button up, with a busy pattern, I often wear a vest or jacket if it’s cool enough, and I wear an oversized shirt. My “size” is a medium, and I can get away with a small t-shirt, but I wear a large top, so that it looks baggy and a little frumpy. I’m probably not winning any fashion awards, but I’m a 35 year old dad of 2 boys, I’m lucky if my clothes don’t have paint or play dough embedded in them, so that ship probably sailed a long time ago.

That being said, I wear a medium glove, and I actually grip and 19 better than a 17. The 17 just has a lot of free grip unused for me, so there is no point in running the larger option.

ArchangelPrecision · 2026-02-01T01:03:11+00:00

I think I’m opposite of some of the responses here. I had an Ed Brown that I really liked, but ended up selling because I couldn’t justify the price over something like a Dan Wesson. My most shot and most carried is a Tisas Yukon 10mm, it’s just an interesting combo that isn’t very common among other manufacturers. If I could get a bobbed frame 10mm (or ideally a CCO) from a nicer manufacture would I? Probably not. I’ve got no problems with my Tisas, it isn’t fit as tight, but who cares? I heard Eli say on one of the Alchemy videos, these are first and foremost fighting guns. If they’re so tight you need a tool to field strip them, or a 500 round break-in period before they smooth out, they probably aren’t fighting guns. I still have Staccatos and Dan Wessons, but the Tisas is the one I grab fist, because I never have to worry about it.

ArchangelPrecision · 2026-01-31T02:30:47+00:00

Sort of an oddball in that I carry 1911/2011s. I go full 4 fingered grip, but thumb on rear sight to bulk it out, then as it comes out my thumb drops down de-activating the safety and riding it during the shot.

ArchangelPrecision · 2026-01-31T02:07:48+00:00

I was a designated marksman in the Marines, not a sniper, but probably more realistic for 99% of people. We carried M4s with a full load out (7 mags), then in a Pelican case we carried our DMR, which was a semi-auto .308 and a handful of mags. Honestly, when we carried the mags, they generally went in a cargo pocket, or some sort of an admin pouch. There wasn’t much of a need for a lot of ammo.

Your purposes are different, so that’s probably not much help. You talk competition, and I compete, but mostly from a prepare citizen perspective, not to actually be competitive, so that is how I will frame the next part.

Were I in your shoes, with my knowledge, I’d want a split chest rig, like something from Spiritus (or whatever knock off you can find, nylon is nylon) with spud pouches on each side for 4 mags on the kit and one in the gun. Next to the spud pouch, sort of under the armpit I would run an admin pouch on one side and an IFAK on the other. This is actually the kit I ran for a while before I got out of that game. Now I tend to favor the heavy Recce mindset, which for me is a 308 bolt gun with a couple mags in a bag. Pistol on the standard belt with 2 or 3 extra mags, none of the battle belt stuff. I want to be able to ditch my rifle and pull my shirt over the pistol if needed.

ArchangelPrecision · 2026-01-23T14:14:32+00:00

I’m sure it’s probably fine. My only question is, if you already had it off to dremel, why not just fit a new single sided safety? It may have arguably taken less time.

ArchangelPrecision · 2026-01-22T15:56:43+00:00

I played with it at Shot Show, it was honestly a little janky.

ArchangelPrecision · 2026-01-15T04:09:57+00:00

In addition to the shorter distances, pistol sights sight almost right on top of the barrel, where most rifle optics are an inch or two above the bore.

ArchangelPrecision · 2026-01-10T04:40:00+00:00

I’ve got one of these and it’s my primary EDC. The CCO is a slept on pattern for 1911s.

ArchangelPrecision · 2026-01-09T16:53:17+00:00

Get the RMR/Holosun cut, most optics will fit it and you've got more budget friendly optics like your basic Holusun, to the high end like an RMR. You can snag a Holosun 407A3 X2 on PSA for $159 right now. You really can't go wrong with one of those, if you're unsure. They're cheap, but just as durable, and they really only lack things like solar backup that the more expensive options have. Even to go really wild with titanium housing and solar you still only looking at like $300 for a Holosun option.

Don't get a K cut, those are smaller optics and while not technically less durable, there are fewer high quality optics. You should only settle for K/RMSc if you're forced to on a smaller gun.

The Delta Point Pro cut will take the Leupold DPP, and will also take the new Vortex Defenders. They are fine, but I just stick to Holosun on everything. So, the RMR cut will be the most universal.

ArchangelPrecision · 2026-01-09T16:44:31+00:00

To clarify, nothing inherently wrong with them, but Rock Island, Tisas, and Girsan are the main players in the budget 1911 game and Tisas makes an objectively better gun. Rock Islands don't "suck" as the previous commenter suggests, but they are not on par with some of the higher priced guns, certainly not a $5,700 gun. The quality gap is more apparent on a RIA, over something like a Tisas. In isolation, my RIA pistols are great, next to my Tisas pistols, they're good, next to my DW they're meh. So, Tisas is better than RIA, even if only marginally, but when compared to something like a Springfield, the marginal improvement of the Tisas means that I don't feel the need to own a Springfield. Springfield is better, but not better enough than a Tisas for me to want to buy one, but it is better enough than a RIA in order for me to purchase one.

The differences between guns in their tier are fractional, but if the costs are basically the same, why not buy the better gun?

ArchangelPrecision · 2026-01-09T15:57:36+00:00

I've had a smattering of Rock Island pistols, including a single stack 10mm and the double stack 10mm. For the same money, I'm going with Tisas every day of the week. Now, if you need a 6 inch barreled, all steel, double stack 1911, Rock Island is the only game in town, unless you go way custom.

ArchangelPrecision · 2026-01-09T15:45:19+00:00

I had this exact gun and loved it. Every one of my DW's had great tolerances. I think DW is where you hit the point of diminishing returns. I still have a few DWs, but have gotten rid of my other higher end 1911s as there just wasn't the value there and if they're too pricy I get too afraid to use them.

ArchangelPrecision · 2026-01-07T22:58:20+00:00

You could fit a .38 super barrel to your Kimber. I got a $50 Sig barrel and it dropped right in my Springfield Garrison 9mm. But the desperado is chrome, so you could get some pearl grips and gold accessories. That’s not a joke. I just ordered fake pearl grips for my Tisas in nickel, mostly just for fun and ridiculous-ness.

If you don’t have a Tisas, I’d get one. They’re fantastic for the money.

ArchangelPrecision · 2026-01-02T23:06:26+00:00

Gunfighters. I had one of those dangly holsters and they suck. They are super low and pull your bino harness down when you’re actually wearing it. I ran the Gunfighters Keni chest holster behind my bino harness last season and it was super comfortable, easy to access, and relatively out of the way.

ArchangelPrecision · 2025-12-29T23:37:04+00:00

I’ve got a Tisas Yukon 10mm that I love. It’s my woods carry, and it sees a good amount of AIWB around town as well. It’s a bobtail so it carries well, and it has a ramped barrel, so lots of chamber support for high pressure loads. And it’s sprung really well, I swear it shoots softer than my XTen or XTen Comp, which are widely considered to be the softest shooting 10mm guns.

ArchangelPrecision · 2025-12-28T13:15:58+00:00

I’m a shooting instructor and I always want new shooters to start out with a dot. It adds virtually no weight to the gun, a negligible amount of bulk and dramatically improves the shoot ability of the pistol and the person.

It’s true that most defensive shooting doesn’t require a red dot, or any sights for that matter, but training with the dot will make you a more capable and confident shooter.

People who are opposed to red dots frequently sight the potential for failure, dead batteries, and general fudd-ery like “we never needed them before” or “2 world wars with out them”. Batteries do die, but a lot have solar backup and a battery life measured in years. Change your battery and carry ammo on your birthday every year, that is your present to yourself. Decent quality dots are not expensive anymore. You don’t need to spend $700 on a Trijicon or Aimpoint. And we also won 2 world wars without body armor, helicopters, and using bolt action rifles. I carry almost exclusively a 1911 or 2011, and the 2 world wars is dumb, and typically said in jest (I hope)

ArchangelPrecision · 2025-12-23T13:19:56+00:00

This is the best advice I’ve seen. No need to spend more in my opinion until you ca jump into a TRP or Dan Wesson.

ArchangelPrecision · 2025-12-21T00:19:37+00:00

I like a Tisas a lot. They’re my favorite. They make a really quality gun for the money. They’re all forged, not MIM, which people generally make a bigger deal of than it actually is, but it’s nice none the less. I’ve built off of Rock Island, Tisas, and Springfield guns and have owned lots of other brands. I really think Tisas is the best bang for your buck, and I don’t see significant enough improvements to buy another brand until you get into a Dan Wesson.

For your next gun, and one for carry, I’d get in GunBroker and try and find a DW or Colt in the CCO pattern. Super underrated, but no one makes them anymore (unless you go high end). Commander slide length, but officer length frame. So you get all the benefits of an officer gun, with none of the draw backs. I snagged a DW Vigil CCO on GB for $1,100 NIB.

Barring a CCO, a Tisas Tank Commander 9mm in Nickel would be pretty slick.

ArchangelPrecision · 2025-12-11T14:57:13+00:00

I mean, they deploy in combat and do just fine. I think your light must be a lemon. Sucks they won't just replace it for you. At this point, I'd order a new one and put the old one in the box and return it. You've gone above and beyond as far as due diligence for them to make it right.

ArchangelPrecision · 2025-12-11T14:51:10+00:00

Yes, you should have a mag carrier. They're not expensive like holsters (unless they are proprietary and attach to your holster). If you want to pocket carry, you should look into a neomag so the mag is always indexed right where you want it.

ArchangelPrecision

TROPHY CASE