*Reader Note* While this is an actual review, it is full of pictures, opinion, commentary, and some satire (long).
*Author Note* I hope you enjoy it, and if you do, let me know if you would like to see more
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I thought it was a deal almost too good to be true…

Palmetto State Armory, selling the American Tactical Import (ATI) M1911 .45 “Commander” pistol complete with beavertail, rounded hammer, and extended safety…The reduced sticker price was $320 and along with an ATI $30 dollar rebate, became $290 before shipping/transfer fees.

Soooooo…I bought it.

Now I will tell you, I am not a “1911” loyalist-but I just can’t help but love them.  They are as American as apple pie, and if the M16/M4 (and its many variants) is America’s rifle, the 1911 .45 (and its many variants), is also her pistol.   However, my go to gun is not a 1911, and more than likely, will never be.  Sorry fans, I have had (and others) multiple bad experiences in the functioning department -across the line (and please, that is not to say that there aren’t reliable 1911’s out there, I just have not shot/owned/or taken the extra time, ammo, and ‘smithing to make one).  

I still love them though; their feel, the nostalgia, the bad-ass, broad chested, V-8-muscle car-caliber packaged in that sleek slab-sided frame.  I still remember like it was yesterday, as a child seeing and holding my first 1911 Gov’t model, carried by a huge, grizzled old detective friend of the family.  With my parent’s permission, he showed me that cannon.  I remember holding it, the weight and sheer size, looking at one of the big cartridges, and it seemed as big as my thumb!   Sort of like that your first real kiss, you never forget it! (Gee, what was her name?!!?)  

The fabled 1911, IMHO (and others) also seems to have the magical ability to shrink a shooter’s personal best groups by 25-50% when compared to them shooting their latest plastic fantastic, or host of lawyer friendly DAOs,...I’ve seen it.  They are special in that way, and naturally-the ergonomics, their balance, natural safety-the single action trigger.  The gun fits me, and most people, like no other.
I will not deny it.  Hence, the duality lives quite well, and comfortably, within me.  

When it arrived to the FFL, I will admit, there was not much fanfare associated with it:  



The small brown box.
One 8-round magazine.
One gun lock.
Oh, and one gun.



Hmm…Look at it…the plastic grips; that utilitarian rough coating; that dreaded magazine with the floor plate that extends past the frame…UGLY! Killing the look of the gun…
ACK, those sights-airsoft guys get better ones… It looks like something a cop might find not too far from a dead body encapsulated in chalk...



But wait a minute (grabbing and double checking twice the weapon is empty)…work that slide several times…springy noise-but pretty smooth…check the slide to frame fit-nice and tight.



Check out that beaver tail, and conservative, useable extended safety…now (point in a safe direction) and squeeze the trigger.  Just a wee bit of slack; clean even pressure…”clink!”
Well, not a bad trigger there partner!



The looks? Well, it is the look that says hey, I may be cheap, but I’m also easy (wink)!
Why don’t we go for a little walk to my place to pass the time?  
At the range?
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Yup, she ain't a real pretty gun.  And that’s OK, well, neither is my Glock.
 
I am the type of person who appreciates both inner and outer beauty.  I appreciate “utilitarian beauty” through the functionality and simplicity of mechanical devices.  I find bulldozers and battle tanks beautiful in their way, as well as gull winged gliders, birds of prey, thunderstorms, etc.

Form, function, smoothness, sharpness, colored within the lines or outside of them-the curve of a knife blade, snarky wings on race cars, weld marks around an aluminum 4x4 bumper, scars on a woman.  
I am still waiting to meet her-the woman of my dreams-with an eye patch.

Yar, I recognize that beauty and functionality rarely meet; often do not even walk the same streets…but occasionally they DO meet, and have a love child...but maybe not so much in this case.
If you were to ask me where it does meet, I would say a “pretty” gun that I would absolutely bet my life on?  I would say the Beretta 92 in 9mm.  And that is because I have bet my life on it, and (it) has served me flawlessly.  Today I carry a Glock…and that forsaken thing fell off of the ugly tree, hit every branch on the way down, the tree fell on it, and was kicked into a trash compactor.  
Glocks have a face that only Gaston Glock could love...  


And yet…here I bought it…after all was said and done with shipping and dealer fee, I am into her for a total price of $330, which I hoped, would scratch the Commander itch I’ve had for a loooong time-and not at the $900+ cost for the Prancing Pony.  And from certain angles…hmmm...maybe?

So I grabbed my ears, sunglasses, the newly acquired “hand-cannon” and headed to my local range along with 100 rounds of American Eagle 230 grain FMJ.  I did not clean, or oil the gun.  I like to see how a gun (non-precision) does “out of the box” as shipped, with a magazine fully loaded and with one in the chamber.



I stuffed a fully loaded (8 rounds in the magazine) into the dry gun, charged from slide stop-and was pleasantly surprised it fed the round without drama and topped off the magazine +1, maxing capacity at a total of 9 rounds.  Using an old target left behind, I sighted at the “little man” at 7 yards and produced this 9 shot group.  Notice, it is significantly off to the right (more on this later).



To my pleasant surprise, it fired all 9 rounds flawlessly, belching fire and sparks through the mild recoil impulse.
The trigger, when dry fired felt good, around 5 pounds, and pretty “crisp” (interpret this as you see fit; I am a Glock guy).  Until I tried to fire it for accuracy…and then it felt a bit more gritty and “argumentative.”  
Have you ever noticed this before?  When you are trying to squeak out as much accuracy as you can?  A trigger that feels good dry firing now feels like 100 miles of bad Georgia asphalt at the range?  
Well me too.  

Obviously, this can all be described as psychological (will this trigger ever break?!!?), physical (is my finger going numb?) and situational (am I thinking about this too much?  Yes!).
To me, when drilling down on a firearm, the “warts” can often only begin to be shown at the range, and not the gun shop (bottom line is, the trigger is still pretty damn good).

I looked at the new barrel wear…and while I swore I was not going to oil the gun but break it in “the hard way” I felt a burst of mechanical empathy, and broke her down and oiled it.



Now, with a fresh oily sheen on the rubbing parts, I pulled a chair up and set about to laying down some accuracy (and function) testing.  It was rested in a comfortable two hand hold on a bench table and on the cardboard box (not a machine rest).  Generally when doing this, I am usually rewarded with 3 inch +/-groups at 25 yards with my Glock and quality ammo, consistently.  My reward?



That is roughly a 4-5 inch group.  
And while it is often the poor cook that blames the pots, I felt like something, somewhere, was not doing its job.  And then I felt better sights and better ammo *might* easily half that size.  
Don’t believe me?



Those sights, while clean, are not the best for accuracy.  I mean my complaining is really a “druthers on a dirt cheap gun” and culled when you really look at that price tag.  Also, I had no idea even how old the ammo was, and sorely doubt it was made with precision in mind (other than to function).

I asked the Gun Counter Guy (GCG) if they could change the point of aim (POA) to match the point of impact (POI).  I will not go into what happened next, over the course of 45 minutes, because that would only serve to frustrate myself all over again.  

BUT two GCG’s later (I was as tolerant as possible) my first rear site tweak yielded this 25 yard 9 round rested group:



Dang GCG, put your back into it next time, huh?

To a second tweak to it seemed to do nothing, but the third rear sight tweak was the charmer:



Followed by:



My shots are still pushing right, but I figured a simple change of ammo could alone change that, so suffice it to say I was “OK” with the groups from this gun; again I think it was a lot to do with ammo and a bit with the sights.  Yes, it is a “combat” gun, and yes, at almost all street and HD distances this is more than acceptable accuracy (remember the 7 yard group).  However, I wanted those groups halved.  More on that later.
I shot 9 rounds right handed, and 9 more left handed-deliberately “limp-wristing” the gun, trying to incite a jam with each hand.  When fire right handed, I left the gun torque to the left even (roll sideways and up in my palm).  It did not jam during any one handed shooting, again, to my pleasant surprise (90 rounds no cleaning).

Ended the session with a series of double taps WHICH WERE VERY FAST.  Wow!

Yes, I was surprised how quickly and accurately I could rip them (albeit this was not “hot” harder recoiling ammo) but still-a single action trigger goes a looooong way towards boosting speed and accuracy.  It sounded like a sub-gun on 2 round burst-very nice!  

Also no jams.  

Interesting facts throughout the session…even though liberally oiled, the gun actually began having problems loading from a full, 8 round magazine, from the slide stop when locked back after the magazine went empty.  
Here’s what that looks like:





However, even from this position, just simply pulling back the slide to full stop and letting it “slingshot” home always solved the problem (yes, even from the jam) which makes me feel a little better.  Also, there was one failure to go into battery (at about round 50).  Strangely, despite oil and wearing, as the gun got dirtier the first round from a fully loaded 8 round mag from slide lock became an “all the time” problem and consistently after the 50 + round mark.

As if to spite me, the next day the gun, cold and dirty, and with no additional oil added from the other day range session-the gun WOULD strip from slide stop on a fully loaded mag, leading me to believe that the heat from shooting may have actually had an impact when grime was mixed (the gun is pretty tight fitting out of the box).
 
(Author’s note: Even today-now a week later without clean/oiling, the gun fed perfectly off of slide stop and the 8 round magazine).

Now, I’ve shot a lot of different 1911’s, and have had a lot of 1911’s jam with these magazines, so I can’t help but feel these 8 round magazines are somewhat of the root cause of it.  I think they just don’t look right on this type of pistol (I prefer the mag to be flush esthetically-but who doesn’t appreciate and extra round?).





The lack of taper (IMHO) on the leading edge of the lips may seem to play a factor (and from what I have read on 1911 mags and reliability).
With only 7 rounds in it, reliability is increased tremendously from the slide stop and combat reloads.
Further, I *think* it is part of the problem that plagues all 1911s with barrels less than 5 inches...
RUNWAY.



These are two pictures (friend’s Colt on left) from the slide locked back.  The full size 5 inch 1911 has more “runway” to get the slide velocity up and moving against the spring tension, and uses that added momentum to drive the cartridge home with more authority.  The 4.25 inch Commander is a compromise (forgive the photo angle; they are both the same slide size).  I tend to feel any barrel shorter than 4 inches, in any 1911, begins to compromise the ability to consistently deliver ammo even further, and it becomes more “sensitive” to magazine and recoil springs (maybe even bullet weight, since-lighter bullets are easier to push up quicker as slide velocities increase/runway decreases?)  

*Please note, this 8-rounder styled magazines depicted in this article is a style that has also caused me trouble in 5 inch barreled 1911s as well, stripping from a fully loaded mag at slide stop.

The bottom line?

This is an excellent gun for the money, it gets you into the 1911 game, and there is nowhere to go but “up” with break-in and minor mods over time.

But if you plan on betting your life on it?  

As is?

Well…I may get lambasted for this, but if you have a budget and need a defensive handgun, might I suggest…another gun.  

There are plenty of guns in the same price range (but not style/caliber perhaps) that will run out of the box with better sights, higher capacity, feed hollow points, and w/o having to run boxes of ammo for breaking it in either.

If your heart is set?  And you have to?

Please at least buy the 5 inch full size model.

Research and find the best mags you can and buy them, or load the 8 rounder with 7 and plus one it (for 8 rather than 9 in the gun max total) and your reloads should have 7 in them, NOT 8 (with these magazines).
Break it in HARD (maybe even dry to loosen it up?) for 200-500 rounds.

Polish the feed ramp (either professionally or properly yourself) and maybe the mag lips while you are at it if you insist on using the factory 8 round mags.

Run FMJ in it exclusively (or a really well rounded HP-and then 100-200 rounds of THAT to make sure it feeds it).

Clean it well (and the magazine), and oil/grease it lightly, and regularly as it evaporates and gathers dust.

REGRETS?
None.
Future?  
Purchase a more reliable 7 round magazine, polish throat/ramp by hand, add decent  grips.
This will add maybe another $50 to it, and make it a “good” beater/shooter into a slightly “gooder” one.
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Now, guilty confession time...

I am excited about this gun…way more than my Glock-or any Glock right now.  

The nostalgia, heft, and caliber give it its own beauty…

Picture the black & white late movie…the private eye poking his big nose down a dark & grimy alley where it doesn’t belong with just his wits and trusty .45…

Or Starsky from “Starsky & Hutch”



James Caan using the Miami Vice (later) high search in “Thief” with a 1911…



or hell Nick Nolte charging down the alley after Gantz in “48 Hours...”



The only thing next to “as cool” would probably be the twin .38 Colt Cobras Lee Marvin had as Detective Lieutenant Frank Ballinger in “M-squad…”
But I have digressed… oh, wait a minute…Bill Maxwell, FBI, from the “Greatest American Hero?”

(Google video “The Hit Car” [30:41] [36:00])

And wait, of course-how could I forget- Magnum PI?!!?



The .45 1911 is one of THE great American Icons, visited to this day through movie, TV, etc.   To deny it, argue it, or whatever…you will find no success in these historic and heartfelt memories from me.  
It is the more modern, venerable pistol to the Colt .45 LC Peacemaker revolver for modern day cowboys and cops (at least here in Texas).
This is my fun gun right now.

But I mess with things…try to make them better?  Could I make it more trustworthy with some handy work myself?  
Hmmm…it is definitely throwback (but not throwaway).

It will absolutely will never be “tacti-cool...”  I tried…



But NOT "tacti-cool," in this day and age, maintains a timeless beauty, all of its own.

Full Report Links:

PART II

PART III

PART IV

PART V

Great write-up!  You almost have me convinced me to get one to compliment my old beat-up Colt LW Commander.
Looks like the the ATI might make a great bumming-around-pistol.

Try Wilson 47D magazines.  I've been running them in my Commander since I bought it in 1997.
Nothing else runs right in that pistol.  YMMV.

Well, still without cleaning I put another 50 rounds today through it of Federal Premium .45 230 grain FMJ, and as I predicted, the groups shrunk quite a bit.

First 9 rounds at 25 yards (box rested):



Second set of 9 rounds (box rested):



If one was gracious to discount the 3 rounds on the outskirts, there are 15 rounds pretty much within a 3 inch group, with 9 of those 1 ragged hole at about 2 inches.

Also, no jams, and NO ISSUES stripping from slide stop from a full magazine.
Let us just say I am even happier

To tough to handle for you, huh?  It's ok buddy

You're really not helping here and teasing me with this  while I'm sidelined from surgery is plain unfair.

Great review, honest with lots of pics and shooting.  Thanks!














 

No need to be embarrassed.  Look at the wasteland of crap TV and MOVIES made today!  Not a damn one can hold water to a Magnum PI...

I'm going to run it till it breaks, but no +P just because it is unnecessary.  Some of the "P" overseas guns with ambi safeties have given me trouble, but this gun is bare bones and should work...forever I think.  

FWIW, it feels very well built, and it is an all steel gun-and I've had a brand new Sig break just from dry firing .

So, you readers enjoyed this "style" of review?

Magnum's 1911 was in 9mm

Those mags are Mec-Gar mags...I have some 8 rounders, and they are iffy. Get some CheckMate hybrid mags (7 or 8 rounders, Top Gun Supply has them), that should cure the feed ills...assuming there's nothing else fundamentally wrong with the gun...

Thank you, I've read a lot of data regarding that; primarily, it had to do with getting the gun to work with blanks, and 9mm were more reliable back then (with blanks).
The 9mm Gov't model is in the NRA museum, 'tis true!

However, the gun he carried was "supposed to be a .45 auto" from what I have read; he also carried a Star 1911 "clone" as well.
And truth be told, until you said it, I never knew

Looks like a .45 to me here?



Another cool pic, Steve McQueen:

Interesting.  Bummer that you're having some issues.  I picked up the full 5" ATI 1911 Military during the rebate period as well.

I like it.  I was also surprised how good it is for a cheap gun.  The frame to slide fit is good, and I have no complaints about the finish - it looks like any other parked 1911 in that department.  The trigger is also better than expected.  A little gritty in the take up, but breaks pretty clean.

I've only had 2 failures with mine.  1 myself, which I thought was mag break-in.  It also came with an 8 rounder (ACT-MAG), and when loaded with 8 the second round didn't chamber after the first shot.  I ran a few mags loaded to 7 OK, loaded back to 8 and I haven't had a problem since.  I only have about 250-300 rounds through it.  Backbencher had 1 failure with that same mag.  I picked up a Remington 7 and 8 rounder, and no problems with those.  A great buy at $290.  I wish they would do the rebate again to pick up more!  Kinda like BRD - I get hammer bite bad, but want a 1911 shooter.  So I think another with a beavertail is in my future.

Just to be clear, as of yesterday, with a dry and dirty gun with now only 150 rounds in it, I have experienced NO MALFUNCTIONS, even with the 8 round magazine +1 (9 rounds of .45 in the gun).

No burps, bumps, or clicks.  The gun, with hardball, is 100% as of today.

My concern is I have trust issues with 1911's in general-but as you can see-love them.

Enjoyed your review, keep up the good work!

I wonder if the ATI is made by Armscor in the Phillipines.  The logo placement is similar  to RIA and RIA uses the same magazines.   Sounds like you got a very nice pistol for the money, makes me miss my Combat Commander.

Tha Starsk carried a S&W 39.

Starsky had both, just like Soul carried a 6 inch and 4 inch Python, etc.

Nice review and sounds like a good value. It is a shame American companies like kimber and Remington can't seem to figure 1911's out. Perhaps they should visit the armscor factory and learn a thing or two about building 1911's

The 1911 was designed to be a mass produced combat firearm for the roughest, dumbest, joe from Hicksville USA to successfully maintain and use.

They need not be fancy or highly finished to run properly.

The current trend of fetishizing the 1911 into a prickly, over-intellectual art form has turned me off of the folks placing such particular ministrations over 1911 material and dimensions on a pedestal.  ("hurrr nice Colt, but for only $3000 more you could had gotten into at least a basic production Wilson......")

Give me a good USGI design or slightly enhanced / modernized like a NRM Colt 1991 and I'll be more than pleased.

Cheap and loose works really well for 1911's.  No surprise there.  Not sure why we do everything we can to do the opposite.


Good write up OP.  Enjoy the gun.

OP, one point: running it wet will break it in correctly and have it more smooth once done.

Running it dry will round stuff off, but everywhere, instead of only the high parts.



Nick

Nice writeup! I was wondering about these guns, saw the Palmetto deal...

Thanks for the advice.  Makes sense.

Yeh..I bought the ATI FX45 Titan-LW(a mouthful of name for a little 3" .45)

Anyhow..it's been pretty decent! Shoots to point of aim..feeds ball ammo great...only real issues were that it would bean the shit out of the shooter with empty brass when new. The simple expedient of using officer sized Kimber 7 shot mags fixed the head beaning(BTF) issues.

Won't feed hollowpoints!...I tried several varieties...the ATI Titan don't like 'em. No big deal  for me as hollowpoint ammo is supposedly hard on alloy frame feed-ramps anyway.

I've been really pleased with the overall reliability of my little officer-sized ATI absolutely no jams with ball ammo. The mag change to the Kimber branded mags(Checkmates?) took care of the brass to face issues. Accuracy is very good. Overall fit and finish is quite decent for it's price-point.

I bought a Blackhawk 'Askins' style 1911 holster for it and tote the little cheap .45 all over the place now. For the price a really good pistol...would be a good pistol at twice the price which is about what a small Kimber or Colt would cost. The reason I bought the ATI officer's sized pistol was just to see if I even liked the midget .45 1911 sort of pistols. I do I do...and may buy a better brand of same thing in the future(when I feel like paying a thousand bucks for one)...

Would I recommend a ATI Titan-LW to other shooters?...Ehh...Maybe not. My little ATI is running perfect...somebody else may get a turd...

This surprises me.

I have a Citadel compact (3.5"), and ut runs everything I throw in a mag.

Mags are a mix of the stockers, Wilson 47's, and Checkmate hybrids.

Carry rounds are 230gr Gold Dots.



Nick

Part II will be released tomorrow, approximately 0800 CST.

Is there a 5" version?

Yes, I believe there is a 5 inch and commander sized guns on Palmetto.

Yes there is.  Same price.

With 1911's you have to try different hollow points.   And once you find one that "seems" to work, you have to try at least another 200 rounds to ensure it's not just a few lucky mags.

Part II is up.

PART II

Part III is up:

Part III