Springfield Prodigy

G

gmarr

New member
So what's the story with the Prodigy? Got lots of attention and complaints. Recoil springs and magazines were at issue. Now I don't read anything new on the gun.

So, is it fixed? Does it run like it's supposed to?
 
Mine's be great and I've had no issues with any of the mags I use, which is to say the factory ones. I haven't used any of the 17 round ones though only the 20's and 26's in 3 gun stuff, steel challenge matches and informal practice. Mine is the 5 incher and has had no malfunctions with somewhere around 1K rounds thru it using cheapo brass 115gr ball.
 
Mine has been a bit of a disappointment. It went back to the factory once for feeding issues, a safety that wouldn’t reliably disengage from one side, the slide catching on the disconnector, and the optic plate with the irons coming loose. To Springfield’s credit they took it in and paid shipping both ways. It took about 6 weeks. They reamed the chamber, polished the barrel ramp and chamber, refit the safety, and sent it back. What I found when they sent it back was the feeding issues were better, but one of the magazines would not feed hollowpoints reliably. The other magazine was fine. I asked Springfield for a replacement magazine and got crickets in response (in fairness they did do a fair amount and maybe I had reached my allotment).

I put an optic on the pistol and have since found that within 200 rd the screws holding the optic plate to the slide will come loose, regardless of me cleaning the screws and threads, using either blue Loctite or Vibra-Tite, and torquing to the spec of 25 in. lb. I think it’s worth noting that in a dozen or so optic-ready pistols, I have never had an optic plate come loose before this, and many of those were at half the torque spec. I have found multiple threads on Reddit of people having the same issue. Some went the red Loctite route. Other had better luck with one threadlocker or another, some had to grind down the screw on the extractor side (I checked and my screw clears the extractor). Someone even suggested using a piece of aluminum foil as a shim.

Right now the pistol is in my safe. I debate between going all in and using red Loctite for the optic plate, and just selling the thing. I have a Staccato as well, and that pistol has been flawless. However, both of these are samples of one. I will say that I really like shooting the Prodigy. If you go on the 2011 subreddit there are a number of people that have had excellent luck with the Prodigy, and a number of people use them as base guns and add parts/do work to them. Some like me haven’t been as lucky. I think they’re a bit of a roll of the dice. There are now options from Live From Armory in Florida, Tisas is importing some options for this year, and Bul Armory is sort of an in between in terms of cost between the Prodigy and Staccato. Personally I might recommend those, or even a Stealth Arms Platypus (which would allow you to use much more affordable Glock magazines). There is also the Girsan, but that seems to have mixed reviews (and an oddly heavy trigger for a 1911/2011, though that could be tuned).
 
To be honest, I have not handled one, and don't really feel the need to. I don't usually put a lot of weight on one or two negative reviews or comments about a gun, but the negativity on the Prodigy was overwhelming from a lot of sources and for me it deleted any initial interest I had in the firearm. To much else out there to choose from.
 
So on the 5in gun atleast, don't know on the 4in, Springfield redesigned the slide with lightning cuts on the underside.

I have a 5in with the newer slide, after around 500-600 rds it started choking hard core, would fail to extract almost every single case.
Turns out optic screw was too long and bent the extractor. I replaced it with a EGW, but haven't tested fired since.

The first go around of Prodigies, were undersprung, hence why Springfield added cuts to the slide, but also the barrels had tight chambers and almost no leade.

Mine with a handload I spent a whopping 20 minutes developing will put 20rds in a slightly larger than golfball group at 30 yds.
 
Had an interest in getting one until I ran into a shooter at my club who had one. The slide stop lever fell out,more than once, then later the rear sight fell out. The Dan Wesson DWX is looking better all the time....
 
The DWX runs circles around the Prodigy, even the guys that run Staccatos that I shoot with remark how nice of a gun the DWX is.
 
Old thread I guess, but I'll update anyway. My Prodigy is a 4.25" with a serial in the 68xxx range. I took it straight to the range without cleaning with expected results, failure to return to full battery after 60+ rounds. It just started slowing down. No big deal, a slight bump and off it goes again.
I cleaned it, oiled it, and manually cycled it many times, repeat until the black goo stopped coming out of all the slide gaps.
After manually cycling until the Ceracoat (garbage) wore away in places it needed to wear away from the gun has been 100% reliable across 600+ rounds, clean and dirty, doesn't seem to matter.
Its turned out to be a really nice fun range toy.

I have several DW's.. a DWX is on my list too :)
 
Let’s cut to the chase here. Buying 2011’s on the cheap is not a good idea. The Prodigy is a flawed gun. Some have worked well, others haven’t. Parts quality is poor and by 2011 standards, the trigger is lousy.

The Staccato P, while more expensive, offers better value for the dollar.

The DW DWX is not a 2011, but it’s a much higher quality and nicer shooting pistol than is the Prodigy as well.
 
That said, the Apollo line seems to not be receiving negative comments...but the sample size might be small.

Humblemarksman ranked it well.

$800
 
I have a P and a C2 currently.

I’ll be honest and say that I am lukewarm on my Staccato P. It’s absolutely in every way I can observe better than the Prodigy I owned. At the same time if someone asked me if it’s “worth” the money my honest answer would be that for me personally, no.

I understand people wanting to try a 2011 and not having the money to buy a Staccato out of the gate. I think the increase in interest in 2011s in recent years is a good thing. While my own experience with a cheaper 2011 was not good, maybe there will be an option that can scratch that itch for folks. I’m also realistic in that the round counts people fire in a given year can vary wildly. In that case long term durability may be less of a concern to some folks.
 
I understand people wanting to try a 2011 and not having the money to buy a Staccato out of the gate. I think the increase in interest in 2011s in recent years is a good thing. While my own experience with a cheaper 2011 was not good, maybe there will be an option that can scratch that itch for folks. I’m also realistic in that the round counts people fire in a given year can vary wildly. In that case long term durability may be less of a concern to some folks.
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All the cheap ones I’ve handled or shot seemed pretty bad and I don’t see the point in any of them. By cheap, I mean less than a Staccato.

The 2011 is an expensive platform. My advice is to pony up or just buy something else altogether. These cheap models do the 2011 zero justice.
 
bac1023 said:
All the cheap ones I’ve handled or shot seemed pretty bad and I don’t see the point in any of them. By cheap, I mean less than a Staccato.

The 2011 is an expensive platform. My advice is to pony up or just buy something else altogether. These cheap models do the 2011 zero justice.
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My experience is a Staccato will be better made and more reliable than at least some of the cheaper options. That said, the Prodigy I had actually shot very well and I really enjoyed shooting it. I still like the polymer grip module on the Prodigy better than the P. The shooting experience of my P is better in that the trigger is a bit lighter and cleaner and the pistol has just been much more reliable.

Some people seem to have realized in the past few years that shooting heavier, larger pistols with lighter triggers generally makes shooting easier. A 2011 is generally an easy way to achieve those things (though some of the cheaper 2011s don’t have great triggers), but it’s not the only way. You know that as well as or more than most given your collection.
 
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Yes. My point is a CZ TS2 or something similar will be a much better shooter than a 2011 in the same price range. 2011’s are just expensive, like it or not.
 
The Prodigy should have been a double stack TRS in quality.
But add something for whatever extra complication you imagine, it would be a $2000+ gun. Would it sell?
 
Atm for "budget" 2011's the Apollo 11's from LFA seem to be a better buy as well as the Stealth Arms Platypus and it takes glock mags so easy to stock up there at least. And a basic one can be had for Prodigy prices.
 
The Platypus does seem like a good option in the price range, though I have no personal experience with them. They aren’t 2011’s. Different construction and they don’t take the 2011 magazines. Kind of hard to call them a 2011
 
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