Fresh off the mill! Atlas Gunworks Custom 2011,

[Mytmousemalibu]

I know this probably isn't something that sparks interest in most of the CB forum, its about polar opposite from the typical cast boolit fodder. Im sure a few of you like this stuff and anyone that loves there guns the all-steel flavor, it checks those boxes! A little background:

I am a competitive shooter, I am an avid USPSA attendee amongst some additional sports like IDPA, Steel Challenge, etc. I also work matches and do much of the stage design & setup for weekly Fri night matchs.

I shoot most of the USPSA Divisions but primarily, Open. I love the loud & racy tricked out guns and the competition, its the top fuel of pistol sports. I just love it, plus it is an optic class so that works better with my less than good vision. I started this sport with a S&W M&P 9L Performance Center gun that I built. For a polymer frame open gun, it worked well. I got 4 years out of it and after about 50,000rds of extremely hotly loaded 9mm (like 125gr/.357 Mag kind of hot) it cracked the slide through a lightning hole. I ended up Tig welding the slide and ran another 10,000rds or so and it began to lose accuracy. I finally shot the KKM barrel out. I can't complain, that gun took years of hard use and it still runs. Time to step up!

It was time to step up to a 2011. For those of you wondering a 2011 is essentially a double stack 1911 pattern gun, with a removable grip. It takes 1911 parts.

Enter Atlas Gunworks. I was going to buy one of their "production" open guns, their Chaos pistol. After some self reflection I decided to go with a full custom build, everything done how I want it. Adam & his team knocked it out of the park! The gun is chambered for .38 Super Comp (rimless 38 super), all steel, Phoenix Trinity Evo grip (stainless steel w/ the CZ, Tanfo "kink"), Vario trigger KKM barrel, EGW ignition, Atlas comp, Dawson toolless guiderod, Atlas optic mount, Holosun 510C optic, etc. The gun is just magic! Super well fit, tight, slick, shoots ultra flat. I'm pushing a 124gr JHP about 1480fps. Thats a very hot load, designed for competition. In an ordinary gun it would recoil ferociously. In this gun, there is a tremendous concussive blast but recoil is like 380 fired in a full size 1911. Compared to any other std 9mm duty size gun with standard ammo, feels like a 44mag compared to this gun! Beauty is in the eye of the beholder but gotta love finely crafted steel!

247588

[45workhorse]

Nice!!!!

[adcoch1]

That is very cool. Sometimes I wish I had time to compete, it would give me an excuse to own some cool toys like that!

[Mytmousemalibu]

Its a blast! Literally!

Its just good, clean, firearms fun! I'm always bouncing around hobbies but this one has me hooked. I started into it looking to be more proficient with my carry gun and it snowballed from there. By no means is it training, its a sport but its good practice too. You learn to shoot fast while being accurate and with plenty of movement. Its challenging but rewarding. We had WPD watch several times and they are shocked at what they witnessed. One officer remarked that he hoped we were on their side, one of us guys could wipe out the Swat team in just seconds!

As you see, its a good excuse to buy new toys! Its fun just shooting your carry gun in Production Division or getting out a revolver and shoot the wheelies!

[smithnframe]

Very nice!

[contender1]

I'm a long time USPSA member, competitor, and RO. I also own a range where we shoot our local Level I matches. I FULLY understand where you are coming from,, and appreciate it all.
I started back in the dark ages when there were only 3 divisions. Open, Limited & Revolver.
My first go at it was using a "normal" 1911 in 45 with 10 & 11 round mags in the Limited division. When LTD10 came along,, I was already doing ok with my set-up.
I stayed with LTD10 for many, many years. Then,, I happened into a S&W 646 in 40 S&W. Well, I got it,, and about the time I was ready to compete,, they changed the rules allowing 8 shot revolvers. Well, I'm still plugging along in Revolver,, having a LOT of fun.
So,, while I fully understand having a race gun & the fun with one,, I have chosen to do things in retro so to speak. Still,, when I play with a race gun,, it sure is tempting!!!

Your gun looks like it will be a good one on the range for sure. And,, I'm glad to see you went with 38 Super Comp instead of a hot 9mm. As an RO,, I've seen a lot of issues with the hot 9's.

[35remington]

I’m sure that is a blast, but isn’t your pistol you carry for personal protection every day quite a comedown from that? How do you personally make the shift in gears required to go from super sophisticated to a, say, Glock 19?

Just me asking in the sense that what I practice with and use is not so racy.

I am assuming the overloading is required to make some still existing power factor of some sort in some instances.

[osteodoc08]

That is an absolute beast of a competition gun. I’d love to see video of you in action. I wish I had more time to enter into sanctioned events but between work and family life, I’m happy to get to the range every other week for a few hours.

Thank you for sharing that.

[T_McD]

I’m sure that is a blast, but isn’t your pistol you carry for personal protection every day quite a comedown from that? How do you personally make the shift in gears required to go from super sophisticated to a, say, Glock 19?

Just me asking in the sense that what I practice with and use is not so racy.

I am assuming the overloading is required to make some still existing power factor of some sort in some instances.

Interested in the answer.

[Mytmousemalibu]

Thank you fellas! It is definitely something that I hold near & dear, I can't wait to get geared up and hear the command, "make ready"! Still as exciting as it was from day one!

Im also a revolver fan, in particular, S&W's. I have a 686 and a Model 64 that I occasionally shoot for competition. They are just fun to shoot! I'd like to get a new Limited gun and Single stack gun going in the near future. One of my buddies just got a new 1911 built by Virgil Tripp of Tripp Research for his Single Stack gun. Chambered for .40 and loaded go minor power factor with 180gr bullets, is is pillowy soft shooting. Beautiful and well built gun!

USPSA is divided into two power factors, Minor & Major. This is calculated by bullet weight x velocity & divided by 1000. The minimum PF for Minor is 125PF and Major is 165PF. Major power factor will get you more points per hit than minor since you are at a recoil disadvantage. Obviously Minor is softer shooting, so less points. The exception is hits in the Alpha zone of our targets are the same point value no matter what PF. Scoring zones in the Charlie & Delta, Minor drops more points. There is an important balance there! The next big thing is round count and Divisional power factor limits. There is a lot of additional details per Division to take in consideration.
People shooting Minor want to be as close to the minimum as possible to get the softest shooting as they can plus a little extra for insurance. Overall the same strategy for Major except for Open. There we need to be above the minimum of 165 but also the load needs to be tailored to the gun. We're striving for a load that provides enough gas to work the compensator to keep the gun flat recoiling. Sometimes that means a fair step up in PF, its all relative. It like any other competitive sport, getting every advantage you can to win but staying competitively legal.

How it plays into real life & self defense is more basic. For most competitors, our competition guns & gear are completely different from carry & self defense. Some guys use the same stuff but largely not. There is still value in every day life but you should still practice with your defense gear. Things that translate, shooting strong or weak hand is something we do. Unloaded starts, table starts, etc. A lot of muscle memory stuff. Shooting on the move is something we do that many people don't practice. Reloading and clearing malfunctions on the clock is huge. Just being fast and accurate at the same time. You can drastically improve your muscle memory and reaction times. Probably the most important thing that effects your abilities is shooting under the duress of running on the clock. While its not combat or a life threatening event, when the buzzer goes off, it radically effects your mental ability. We jokingly refer to the timer as the "nuralizer" for its ability to erase your stage plan, your focus, your everything. Its an incredible thing and being able to perform under that kind of stress is huge. Its a huge advantage should bad luck find you in the real world. You can certainly still pick up bad habits and such so its important to stay practiced for defense.

Ill try to get you some video of the gun in action! I spend a lot of time out shooting matches, im blessed in that regard!

[Ramjet-SS]

Excellent answer to the question. That gun is a race gun that I really enjoy hearing about well done...

[Mytmousemalibu]

Here's a more recent picture of the gun! I decided to change from the Atlas magwell to this one from Phoenix Trinity, the maker of the steel grip frame. One downside of using a steel grip on a 2011 is that if you don't get your magazines rotated fairly close to alignment with the grip, you can wedge/stick the mag in the grip. The taper of the mag will allow it to wedge & stick costing you valuable stage time to yank it out and reinsert the mag. Not really a problem on non-metallic grips. So now a few companies are making new magwells with a convex funnel taper to align the mag without it wedging. The PT magwell is available in black anodizing or bare. Being I have a thing for blue anodizied aluminum, I had a friend do the new one to match the rest of my blue parts! I think it turned out nice!247739

[onelight]

I certainly don't have the skills to get the most out of a gun like that BUT would sure like to.....borrow it for a few months.:bigsmyl2:

[Plate plinker]

I'm a long time USPSA member, competitor, and RO. I also own a range where we shoot our local Level I matches. I FULLY understand where you are coming from,, and appreciate it all.
I started back in the dark ages when there were only 3 divisions. Open, Limited & Revolver.
My first go at it was using a "normal" 1911 in 45 with 10 & 11 round mags in the Limited division. When LTD10 came along,, I was already doing ok with my set-up.
I stayed with LTD10 for many, many years. Then,, I happened into a S&W 646 in 40 S&W. Well, I got it,, and about the time I was ready to compete,, they changed the rules allowing 8 shot revolvers. Well, I'm still plugging along in Revolver,, having a LOT of fun.
So,, while I fully understand having a race gun & the fun with one,, I have chosen to do things in retro so to speak. Still,, when I play with a race gun,, it sure is tempting!!!

Your gun looks like it will be a good one on the range for sure. And,, I'm glad to see you went with 38 Super Comp instead of a hot 9mm. As an RO,, I've seen a lot of issues with the hot 9's.

I wish the HOT 9 was never allowed. Seems the brass is often unusable after it is run through those guns or maybe its a mental this for me but I want nothing to do with brass that has been pushed that hard.

Nice piece OP!

[Mytmousemalibu]

I can understand that for sure. I have had 9mm Major gun in the past and ran some very stout loads through it. Most of us that run 9mm major guns use something fairly robust like a 2011, CZ, etc. Its a risky proposition with a polymer frame gun like my old M&P. I don't disagree that its not the most wise thing to load 9mm so hot but I see both side of the coin now. Feeding this new gun with .38 Super Comp brass is very expensive. A little piece of me dies inside with every piece of brass I lose. From a pure performance stand point, its a better choice but economically costly. Many people have appealed to USPSA & IPSC to lower the power factor for Major but they haven't budged. So competitors will continue to utilize 9mm in that fashion. In reality, the 38SC loads are just as hot in many cases. One of my 9mm Major loads, according to Quickload, was about 50,000psi chamber pressure, the brass had flat primers but otherwise it looked good. Ive do a lot of scrutinizing of my fired brass to make sure im not in peril. The 9mm case is pretty rugged and will take a lot more that Saami limits but they have those numbers calculated so that the ammo is safe in most all guns, not just purpose built race guns. Good reason to never fire ammo you find and know nothing about. My rotating stock of 9mm brass has been reloaded a lot, more than I can count, most of it wasn't new to me either. A large majority of it has been ran as 9mm Major and rarely do I find any problems with it. Once in a while I will find a split case, easy to tell by ear. Once in a while a piece will turn up that is bulged or shows high pressure signatures. I case gauge every round I load, and thats where I find problematic brass most of the time. I have split a couple of pieces before but I was unaware it happened until I pick up said brass and discovered it. It shot fine, its just been loaded its last time. Case gauging your ammo is the key. Either swelled, junk brass headstamps, etc, It stops there. I only shoot my own ammo, i have a lot of fail safes on my press, thousands of rounds produced and its been all good from the beginning. That said, i still understand where you are coming from, i wish they would change the PF's and make it safer for everyone, even non competitors that find our brass. Not everyone is as careful as I might be. In short, if your range pickup brass doesn't look right or pass the sniff test, discard it. Its nothing I don't also do myself.

Thanks for appreciation too!

[Mytmousemalibu]

I certainly don't have the skills to get the most out of a gun like that BUT would sure like to.....borrow it for a few months.:bigsmyl2:

Borrow is such a strong word hehe! I will gladly let you put a few rounds through it if ever were at the same range at the same time!

[onelight]

Borrow is such a strong word hehe! I will gladly let you put a few rounds through it if ever were at the same range at the same time!
It would almost be worth the 350 mile round trip just to shoot a couple of mags !
The scary part is it might cause one of those obsessive desires that MUST be satisfied :veryconfu

[Mytmousemalibu]

It would almost be worth the 350 mile round trip just to shoot a couple of mags !
The scary part is it might cause one of those obsessive desires that MUST be satisfied :veryconfu

I hear ya! Thats how it all starts!

I decided to check out our local USPSA match about 5yrs ago after I got my concealed carry, before we got constitutional carry passed here. A buddy of mine that runs a mom & pop that deals with reloading & supplies talked me into going. I wanted to get some hand gun proficiency so I thought I'd watch a match. About 5min into the match I was done watching! Guys in the club pieced me together, holster, mag pouch, and a couple mags from fellow M&P shooters. Couldn't ask for a better, more salt of the earth folks! I shot my carry gun, M&P 9C, that night for my 1st USPSA match. I finished dead last but it was a blast and That set the hook and lit a fire under my butt! The rest is history!

We shoot a match regularly here, every Friday night at our club's home range, Range 54 (indoor, new state of the art facility) and I regularly shoot the club matches in OKC, Ponca City, Tulsa, OK, Ft Smith, AR and sometimes Topeka, KS. I shoot most of the level 2-3 matches around here. Im an RO, I build and setup matches, design stages, etc. I rarely miss a match! Im into it!

When I started this saga, all I had was my carry gun, my little Lee single stage and enough components to assemble a couple thousand rounds. Now its multiple competition guns, Dillon 650, depriming "machine", enough components to support a small army, 5gal buckets of brass, range gear, shot timers, etc, etc.

I dove into the deep end! Not to discourage anyone on the fence, you can participate with minimal resources and very economically or you can go full semi automatic!

[onelight]

Where do you shoot in OKC ?

[Mytmousemalibu]

I fairly regularly shoot the USPSA match at OKC Gun Club which is actually in Arcadia.

[onelight]

I fairly regularly shoot the USPSA match at OKC Gun Club which is actually in Arcadia.
Ok ,
Thanks