New (to me) Fusion Custom Pistol
Before Wednesday, I'd pretty much confined myself to the off-the-shelf 1911's. I've been privileged to fire some very nice Wilson, Ed Brown, and even a Christensen 1911. Very nice, but I just never saw a reason to have other than some Colt GCNM's, Springer 1911's in various configurations, and a nice Kimber Custom Royal.
I sold off three pistols that just didn't fit into what I wanted; two Springer Compact RO's, and an E Series S&W. The Compact RO's just never felt right in my hand, and I have a LWT Commander that I really do like more than the S&W. Off they went.
On the way back from the sale, I stopped at a small LGS, that I'd honestly never seen before. Not a very obtrusive place; small but he had a lot of nice pistols and revolvers. The used cabinet has some very nice pistols, and my eye was drawn to an STI double-stack .45 Auto, and a Fusion Firearms custom 1911. I liked the feel of the Fusion, so the dealer and I made a deal.
The Fusion was built in Northampton, NY, and has a low three-digit serial number. It seems to have been built as an ISPC pistol, chambered in 9x23 Winchester. Extremely tight tolerances, and it had been sent to a noted local gunsmith for his "Acc-U-Rail", a system which welds two rods to the frame, and then the slide and frame are milled to very tight tolerances.
The pistol was sitting with a second 9x19 Parabellum custom barrel installed, a real bonus that provides for cheap shooting. At the price he was asking, I thought it may have been a couple hundred dollars too high, but with the pistol came (8) 9x19 magazines, and (6) 9x23 magazines, and 800 rounds of 9x23 ammo. The 9x23 isn't exactly a barn burner in sales right now. I made an offer and he accepted it.
The only downside so far, have been the Hogue finger groove grips, and the God-awful FLGR. Fortunately, I was able to replace the FLGR with a standard GI length, and the Hogues have been replaced with a spare set of VG's I had lying around. The chain link MSH and front strap are very comfortable, and not too aggressive.
I took it to the range this morning for my own version of a break-in. The trigger breaks at @ 2+#, and it's really sensitive to my grip. I was probably "limp wristing" the pistol, thinking it wasn't extracting properly, but when I firmed up my grip, it ran 150 rounds with no failures of any type. Not having owned but a couple of locally built Colt customs, I believe that the tight tolerances will work against you, if you aren't completely firm with your grip. I used McCormick Wilson, Colt, and Metal Form mags, and it just doesn't care.
At 15 yards, I managed to eat out the center of the target with the pistol. It's about as accurate a 1911 as I've ever fired. The only ones that have shot as tight were an Ed McDonald (Detroit) pin gun, and a John Giles bulls eye pistol, both in .45 Auto. When I got it home, I cleaned it, and replaced both the recoil and firing pin springs with new Wolffs. I probably won't try out the 9x23 until I can shoot at our club, and I can recover the brass more easily.
The American republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money. - Alexis de Tocqueville
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