ATI 1911 FX Military DDEF G10 Review

The FX 1911 Military DDEF G10 produced by American Tactical Imports (ATI) exclusively for Davidson’s has a bunch of nice features, including a Davidson’s Dark Earth Cerakote-finished frame and textured Pachmayr G10 grip panels. It comes with a 5.0-inch barrel, a standard-style barrel bushing, and a standard recoil spring guide rod assembly. Unloaded, it weighs 37.0 ounces.

The slide has grasping grooves at the rear only. A GI-style rear sight is dovetailed to the slide, and its square notch is 0.107 inch wide. The smooth military-style front sight is 0.099 inch thick. Sight radius is 6.13 inches. The ejection port is slightly lowered but not flared.

The pistol’s frontstrap is smooth, and the arched mainspring housing has nine vertical grooves and a military-style lanyard loop on the bottom. The slide stop lever, the thumb safety, and the magazine release are grooved. The grip safety is the military style, meaning it is not a high-sweep beavertail type with speed bump. The thumb safety also is the military style, as is the spurred hammer. The hammerspur is checkered and measures 0.45 inch wide, according to my digital caliper.

The G10 grip panels have what Pachmayr calls the Coarse Grappler pattern, and it provides a secure gripping surface. The solid trigger has vertical grooves on the face and is finished in matte black. The slide, barrel bushing, recoil spring plug, front sight, rear sight, hammer, thumb safety, slide stop, grip safety, mainspring housing, and magazine release also wear a matte black finish. The magazine is made by ATC-MAG, has a flat follower, and holds eight rounds of .45 ACP ammo. The magazine’s removable polymer baseplate doubles as a bumper pad.

The pistol came in a lockable plastic case with one magazine, a cable-style gun lock, and a small tube of Lucas Extreme Duty Gun Oil.

At a range of 25 yards, the pistol put five, five-round groups with five different factory loads into strings averaging from 2.29 inches to 2.94 inches. You can see my shooting results in the accompanying chart.

Averaging 5.0 pounds, the trigger pull was a bit heavier than I prefer, but it didn’t have a negative effect on the accuracy. A basic Model 1911 that averages less than 3.00 inches at 25 yards with most any factory load put through it is a gem. That average trigger pull is based on five measurements, and interestingly, there was no more than 2 ounces of variation between measurements. Consistency like that is usually found only on the most expensive, high-end custom or semi-custom Model 1911s.

Even though it was not broken in when I started this report (many experts believe a Model 1911 needs at least 100 rounds run through it before it is adequately broken in), the pistol functioned perfectly throughout my shooting session. With the Cerakote finish, the Pachmayr G10 grips, and the eight-round magazine with bumper pad, it’s not an exact replica of any official military 1911 that I’m aware of, but it’s a darn nice basic Model 1911 with a great retail price.

ATI 1911 FX Military DDEF G10

• Type: Recoil-operated autoloader
• Caliber: .45 ACP
• Magazine Capacity: 8 rounds
• Barrel: 5.0 in.
• Overall Length: 8.46 in.
• Width: 1.30 in.
• Height: 5.67 in. (top of rear sight to bottom of lanyard loop)
• Weight, Empty: 37 oz.
• Grips: Pachmayr G10
• Finish: Black slide, Davidson’s Dark Earth Cerakote frame
• Sights: Fixed military-style rear and front
• Trigger: 5.0-lb. pull (as tested)
• Safety: Manual thumb safety, grip safety
• MSRP $575
• Manufacturer: ATI
• Distributor: Davidson’s Inc. galleryofguns.com