ATI FX45 Series 1911 pistols
American Tactical Imports is importing a series of 1911 pistols made by Shooters Arms Manufacturing in the Philippines.
The ATI FX Military weighs 2.31 lbs. and is 8.5” long. The 1911 has a 5” barrel, all steel parts, a matte black military front and rear site, a military slide stop and safety lock, solid mahogany grips, 8+1 magazine capacity and a MSRP of $449.95. This single-action, semi-automatic pistol is compatible with many different brands of 1911 magazine.
The ATI FX GI weighs 2 lbs., is 7.9” long and has a 4.25” barrel. This gun has all steel parts, a matte black military front and rear site, a military slide stop and safety lock, 8+1 magazine capacity, solid mahogany grips, and a MSRP of $449.95. The FX GI, like the FX Military, is a single-action, semi-automatic pistol and is compatible with many different brands of 1911 magazine.
The ATI FX Thunderbolt weighs 2.4 lbs. and is 8.7” long with a 5” barrel. It sports chrome steel parts, a picatinny rail, 8+1 magazine capacity, mahogany, textured grips, and white dot LPA Bomar sights. The MSRP is $699.95.
Both the ATI FX Titan Blue and the ATI FX Titan Stainless weigh 1.76 lbs. and are 6.9” long. The Titans have 3.13” barrels, low profile rear sights, dovetail Front sites, two-stage recoil spring systems, military slide stops and safety locks, 7+ 1 magazine capacity, and mahogany grips. The FX Titan Stainless has all chrome steel parts. The Titan Blue has a MSRP of $519.95 and the Titan Stainless is listed at $599.95.
do you guys sale jus barrels?
Love my stainless Titan! Didn’t shoot well with factory mag so replaced with Wilson combat and no problems since then. Original mag didn’t like Blazer ammo but did better with others. easy to take apart and I was surprised by the accuracy. I did a lot of research and talked to dealers and gunsmiths and was commonly told that the guns were fine but to replace the mags with quality replacements. They were right and I’m doing great with it.
Wellllll, It’s been 7 months since I posted my first experience with my ATI Titan FX SS 45 ACP. Gotta tell ya, I have put in a lot of trigger time with this gun and it has not failed to function yet. I keep waiting for the bomb to drop after reading all of the negative posts from those who had problems. I can relate to having these similar problems with other guns and one in particular is the Diamond back 380, the second trip back to the manufacture was handled in just two days, they sent me a new gun no questions asked. This to me spoke volumes with regard to service, especially since this was their first gun off the production line. Anyway, my point is, any manufacture can have or produce a lemon, it is just the manor in which you receive service for your problem. Nobody wants to buy a dud, it takes all of the good expectations you were anticipating when buying it and leaves you with a lousy feeling. Alright, load, lock and get into condition one, it will get better on the next one. I am thinking seriously of buying the new Sig Ultra 45 ACP when it is available, guys ya gotta see this one, look it up!!!!
Talked to Chris at ATI and asked him to send me the recoil spring set, so I won’t have to pay the 56 dollars for shipping the Titan to New York, got the springs and installed ,will go to the range tomorrow. Hopefully the slide will seat a round and fire correctly…wonder how many problems I will have with this gun, before ATI sends me a new one or my money back?
I also need to add that many modern 1911′s come with a full-length guide rod and have no recoil spring cap to mess with.
Bob
Mr. Dupree, both the Glock and 1911 have the same number of parts except the 1911 has the slide lock pin/lever to remove, other than that, they have the same number of components to remove for field stripping. Older 1911′s have a recoil spring cap and barrel bushing but most modern 1911′s have a bull barrel with no barrel bushing. I’ve not kept up with this blog in awhile but I wouldn’t judge all 1911′s against the ATI brand. I carry a Springer Champion lightweight and have no problems staking my life on its operation. It’s apparent you probably got a lemon, which is unfortunate. My Springer cost me approx. $550 pre-tax, you don’t have to spend $1k+ to get a good 1911. Sorry to hear your troubles with your firearm. Good luck with the Glock/XDS, my only hope is that they’re in .45acp.
Bob
@bobnailer, bobreed, and boderwatch
I appreciated the advice. And I finally got my 1911 running right. But after seeing how so many ppl have problems with them here and there.
I just dont trust any 1911 in a fire fight. so its now just a conversation piece for me. One big reason is the reverse plug. I found out that its made out of plastic. I was at the range shooting and it went down range.
This was after i fixed my 1911, by changing out the recoil spring so it would stop jamming. Theres just to many pieces on the gun for me that can go bad after a period of time. So Im sticking with and carrying my xds and glocks
I am really sorry to hear of these problems. I guess my ATI Titan must be
the opposite of a lemon, because it works perfectly. So far, I have run
about 400 rds through it so far, with no problems.
I took my titan that I just got back from ATI after they changed out the ejector, now the slide is not seating all the way forward so that I can fire the gun….I have to push the back of the slide forward before the gun will fire. I contacted ATI today asking for another gun, to replace this lemon and I am waiting for their response. I was shooting next to a guy at the range who was shooting a Hi point 45 and said he has 6 one for every room in his house and he loves it. Maybe I can trade this ati for 2 Hi points ….
Update…..got my ATI 45 titan back Saturday. Note from the ATI gunsmith said they had to chage out the extractor and fired 27 rounds without a problem. Haven’t had a chance to take it to the range yet, but hopefully the problem is solved. To bad they aren’t like some of the other gun makers who will send you a mag for all your troubles.
huh you see a lot of 1911 clones but not to many 1911a1 ones might have to get one of these
I sent off my ATI Thunder on July 1st for extraction problems and all I have been getting from ATI is promises when I will get it back…first it was Friday, than it was the guys will get to it Monday afternoon or early Tuesday morning and here it is the 24th of July and I am still waiting to get my gun back….if you guys go to Tactical Firearms to buy a gun make sure you remember the BIG sign on the front counter…..NO REFUNDS, Exchanges, All Sales Final….have a great day!!!!!
Bought my ATI Titan SS .45 last week at my favorite gun store in Az. (Traded in my Taurus SS PT92, which was a nice gun, but too big). I own several handguns, but I must say this Titan is the most fun to shoot. It’s like a friggen hand-cannon. I took it to the local range and ran about 150 rounds through it, with no ftf or fte. I used ‘lawman’, ‘blazer’, and some factory ‘reloads’ from ‘Cheaper than dirt’, with NO problems at all! It is very accurate right out of the box. It also looks VERY cool ! I had to force myself to stop shooting when I was down to 14 rounds left, just enough in case I need it for Personal Defense.
To clean it, it’s easy to pull the slide off, but……….
One problem: How do I get that damn spring out ??????
Somebody help me ! !
Bob G.
Borderwatch,
Sorry to hear that this has been such a heartache for you, for what it’s worth, there is always a chance that you could purchase a “namebrand” pistol and be the unlucky guy who gets the one pistol (that month) that has problems. Zero defects is my policy, if you’re in the business of manufacturing something as critical as firearms, it should be manufactured perfectly the first time because pistols were invented for personal defense. But you having to work out ATI’s “bugs” is truly unfortunate. I’m going to bet when you get it back it will be perfect. I have heard nothing but good things about ATI and I’m going to bet you just got a one in a thousand that was a bad apple.
Keep us up to date.
Bob
Hey guys,
Thanks for all the good trouble shooting ideas of what my ATI Titans extraction problem might be, I finally got it sent off today for only 54 dollars for 2 day air and insurance, which I think ATI should have picked up…..hopefully this gun will work when I get it back and I will never buy another ATI product unless I can get it for a dollar. Next time I will spend a couple hundres more dollars and buy a Ruger or Taurus…heck for the amount I spent on “breaking it in” 2 extra Wilson mags and shipping to ATI…I could have almost bought a COLT…thats what I get for trying to save a few dollars…
Borderwatch, I was also thinking about your mag(s), are you getting a double feed? Or is/are your mag(s) not seating correctly?
Bobnailer
In response to Borderwatch’s complaint about his Titan not extracting spent shell casings, I realize you said you’re going to ship it back to the manufacturer… but your explanation of the problem wasn’t real clear.
Did you mean that once the round fired, the slide would recoil but the shell would not be extracted by the extractor?
Or did you mean that once fired, the 1911′s slide would not recoil and thus the empty shell casing was not extracted?
I’m going to assume the extractor was not doing its job, in which case, replacing the extractor is the solution to your problem… if you haven’t shipped it, just have the manufacturer ship you a new extractor and give that a try.
Now if the slide is not recoiling then you have other bigger issues like a possible broken recoil spring and/or a slide to frame hangup issue. 1911′s are pretty simple so recoil/extract/eject should be functioning.
Can you look at your extractor and see if its broken or bent or malformed (due to poor manufacture) ?
I hear good things about the ATI Titan and I’m sorry this happened.
Bobnailer
@Borderwatch
It sounds like an extractor problem. Those kinds of problems are not “break it in” types of problems. Definitely send it back to ATI. They should either fix the problem or send you a new gun. I just ran into the same problem with a friend’s Diamondback DB380. They sent him a new gun.
@steven clark
When I first got my FX-45, it was really easy to pull the slide back. I thought this was normal. I found out that the recoil spring was lighter than normal. I put a 16 lb Wolf recoil spring in it and the recoil improved. It’s a little harder to pull the slide back to load it but not so much to make a difference.
I bought the ATI Titan on June 7th 2011 for 485.00 and have nothing but trouble with it. The gun dealer told me I would have to run 200 rounds of ammunition to break it in. I took this gun to the range after cleaning the shipping grease out of it and sprayed it with Remington oil. I was only able to shoot 1 round at a time because the casing wouldn’t eject…so I had to drop the mag, pull out the spent brass, put the magazine back in and pull back the slide and shoot another round and start the process over again to shoot a box of bullets. I have used white box, Hornady critical defense, 45 auto made in Isreal and shot over 200 rounds and the gun still fires 1 round and does not eject the round. Unfortunately the dealer I bought the gun from has a no refund, no return, all sales final policy or I would take the gun back and spend 200 more dollars and get a known brand. I was going to use this gun for ccw, but if I wanted something that only shoots one round at a time, I would have bought a muzzle loader…. I am shipping the gun back to ATI and hopefully they will pay the shipping…
i bought an fx stainless 3.18. Simaler to an officers. I have owned 1911′s all my life and i’m 53. I have shot as of today atleast 500 rounds through mine. Did have a couple of feed problems but polishing the ramp took care of that. This i have had to do with others as well, so nothing new there. The stainless does have a problem if you have natural skin oil as it is slick but a houge overmaolded rubber grip fixed that. This i have had todo to other’s too. I did replace the trigger(my deal) i put a short with overtravel adj from midway. Sorry i just like a short trigger with NO overtravel. it is a good sound firearm, it’s tight,recoil could ba alittle less but maybe some fine tuneing will help. Yes i love to tinker but for the price i can make it like I want it not what they think i want it.
This is today’s experience with the the 1911 Titan SS 45 ACP. I bought this gun two weeks ago and just finally had the opportunity to go to the range this morning. I have never fired a 45 nor have I owned one. I have several 9MM and 380″s. I bought a box of white Winchester 100 pack 230 GR and loaded up. I placed the target 15 yards out and started firing. My first expectations were all about a healthy recoil and so I white knuckled it really good and squeezed off the first one. I missed the target and hit the card board below. I was very surprised at the recoil, there was some but; my Sig 9MM gave me more then this. I finally found the target itself and believe me if we hadn’t been rained out I know I would have seen solid improvement. Guys, I fell in love with this gun, looks, feel, quality of a well machined and fitted gun. Not to mention the price! $575.00 out the door. As I have read, no hiccups for me in feeding or any other malady, it shoots and shoots well. I looked at both the blued and the SS. Both are great, I just let the pimp in me take over and took the SS. Yes I was only able to put fifty rounds through it, but it was doing good. ATI did a good job on this one. The Phillipines? No problem, they have craftsmen there, and the quality control was tight, you can see it, feel it, and you just know it on the first shot. Try and buy one, they are hard to find, they are bought up just as fast as they hit the shelf. Back ordered everywhere. So if you are on the fence, put your order in, you wont be disappointed.
w86250
Using which ever hand you are the most comfortable with, move the slide to the rear far enough to aligne the machined opening in the slide with the tab on the the slide release. Push the push the slide release out and remove. Then disassemble about like any other 1911 type weapon. There are a few differences however, those are easy to determine what you must do.
So I went and got the Titan in blue today. Surprisingly it was completely matte black not a true blue. It does not have a standard recoil spring bushing to depress and turn. I hate asking for help but this is my first 1911 of any type and the instruction it came with are for standard 1911′s. So don’t tear me up too bad but please help I can’t find anything online to help tear down. Thanks
First time posting to this blog I have had my eye on the American classic Amigo for a while but apparently they are not available anywhere yet. I guess they are still being held for inspection before letting them come into the country. Now after reading today I might be going after the Titan instead. Does anyone know any major differences between the two except the horrible name of (Amigo) or the fact that it is not available yet to purchase. Also the best out the door price in AZ for the Titan I can find is just under $500 is that about right?
An earlier post mentioned my recent purchase of an ATI blue Titan. As of this evening the weapon has digested more than 1000 rnds of all types .45 ACP. For a 3″ bbl weapon it groups very well. Groups were around 4″ at 25 yds using a rest. The little weapon shoots very well with my favorite defense round Federal Hydra Shok 230gr. +P. Up until today (Saturday) I have experienced only one malfunction. A failure to feed with a generic magazine. Anlaysis of that failure, it was the mag. The magazine spring broke. The fix for that was trash can the mag. So again, I must say this little 1911 is reliable and well worth the price I paid of $426 out the door.
I recently purchased the G.I. mod. Initial firing was very satisfactory. the gun was sighted right on and functioned perfectly . I shot 230 gr rn, fp, 185 gr Hornady hp. Also shot many 200gr cast swc. The accuracy was very good with all bullets. None of the groups shot were over 2 inches, some were less. This gun likes anything I feed it.
Note: groups were shot off the bench. 70+ years of shooting experience
Not bad for an out of the box gun eh!
STexTom,
I brought up the Beretta 84f as an example of using what’s available to defend myself. Even as underpowered at the .380acp is, with a well placed shot, it’s every bit as deadly as a .45acp or even a .22, POI is crucial, not caliber so much. I understand if someone is on crack or meth or jacked up on whatever… a small caliber round won’t save your life but if the POI is the heart of cranium… it won’t matter what he is on… he’s yesterday’s news.
Bobnailer
STexTom,
Your statement about the “…best weapon for self defense is the one you have available.” is an important one.
Too many times I’ve read where some guys state they will use only Colt and nothing but Colt and there’s nothing better than Colt, ever. I chuckle at that because I wonder, what if someday, when they have to defend themselves but their Colt in the shop for some reason and a 9mm Beretta is all that’s available to them to defend themselves, I imagine that rather than “stain” their hand with likes of Bartolomeo Beretta they’d rather grab a rock or “take a round for the Gipper” instead. Some people are that hard-a**ed about it. I’m glad to see you are blessed with common sense.
I had a Beretta 84f for years, never, ever, a FTF or FTE, it was .380acp. I shot it at some bowling pins one day, the pins I hit would weeble and wobble but they’d never fall down… that’s when I changed to .45acp because my fellow shooters that day were shooting 1911′s and were splitting open the bowling pins that I could only get to teeter/totter.
Bobnailer
After following this blog for sometime, I decided I need another 1911 type weapon. Monday, I purchased a blue Titan. I see no need to go back over the attributes of the weapon. It is indeed manufactured, fit and finished well. As of today, Friday, 450 rnds. have been fired, with no failure of any type. It functions with all of the magazines I used in it, Colt, Kimber, Pachmayr, WWII vintage GI, and generic that I don’t know what they are. Considering advances in manufacturing and machine processes, and reduced manufacturing and overhead cost of overseas locations. ATI appears to be not a cheap weapon, but rather a less expensive alternative for a 1911 type weapon. As far as parts failure mentioned in some of the above posts, mass produced parts have an expected rate of failure. The extractor broke on the 4th rnd. fired in my Kimber Tactical Pro II, when it was new. That dosen’t mean the Kimber is an inferior product, it simply was supplied with one of that small percentage of parts. I do believe the best weapon for self defense is the one you have available. There are no reservations on my part about using this one.
BobNailer,
I didn’t mean to give you a right hook, just a little poke. As I said, I put night sights on my 1911 because YOU recommended it. I read your posts, respect them, and (with one minor exception
) generally agree with them. Keep on posting.
By the way, I just got my Wilson Combat Hammer and Thumb Safety. I also got the Power Custom Series 2 hammer and sear jig as well as two of their stones. I’ll let you know how everything goes. More stuff to play with!!!
Semper Fidelis
BobReed9391,
As I massage my jaw from the right hook you just gave me…
I deserved every bit of it. I’m glad to see you have good humor about what I wrote. You can chalk up my initial response to some bad family issues I’m dealing with and I developed a severe case of crabbiness. I didn’t have a problem with you installing night sights, that’s what I recommended to anyone/everyone. I like to tinker with my firearms too, my Bushmaster AR15 in 5.56mm is tricked-out to the max my wallet could handle, so I know where you’re coming from. Right, I did use pliers to remove the bushing from the screw when it came off the frame when I was replacing my grips. I wrapped the bushing with a small piece of cloth and then gripped it with pliers and I didn’t strip off any threads, I was careful and lucky. Ultimately, I replaced my flathead grip screws with Wilson Combat black Allen-head screws which eliminates any scratching that occurs when unscrewing flathead screws.
I meant no disparagement towards your firearm and I’m not a believer in purchasing only high-end 1911′s. If a 1911 built by Singer Sewing Machines back in WWII was good enough for my dad, it’s good enough for me, with all its rattles, loose parts, etc., it still functioned as John Browning’s design intended.
FWIW, earlier this year I purchased a Springfield Commander GI Champion, fed it some steel cased .45acp and somehow the steel case caused a pretty good nick in the left side of my barrel’s feed ramp. So much for Springfield’s legendary quality… some days you get the bear, and some days the bear gets you. So I now know what I’m going to have my wife buy me for Christmas later this year… a nice match grade barrel for my Springer.
Good luck on the mods to your 1911.
I’m going to try to curb my tongue and keep to the straight and narrow on this forum lest I risk being banned.
BobNailer
I work at a gun shop… we brought in a crate full of ATI guns and sold a bunch. I picked up one myself. Can’t sell a gun I don’t know anything about, eh? Well, let me tell you… We’ve sold a ton of them and not one of them has come back with any problems. Mine has about 400 rounds through it. I’ve had only 1 failure to feed in the first 50 rounds. But that is because I think mine was a little under sprung. I popped in a heavier spring and it ran fine ever since. I also changed out those strange grips. They used a paint over some odd wood that I can’t identify… I really like this gun. It’s their little Commander GI model. Accuracy, is on par with all my Springfields and Kimbers, and only my SIG 1911′s are more accurate.
BobNailer,
Why did I buy night sights? For one thing, YOU recommended them! Read your earlier post. While Meprolight doesn’t make night sights to fit my gun, Trijicon DOES sell the correct night sights for the FX 45 Military (Brownells #892-101-002 Fits Colt 1911, Narrow). The cost was $102 including shipping (lower than retail because I’m a gunsmithing student).
You said, “If you had the proper tools, the sights should’ve come out with little effort,” and normally, you’d be right but in this case, you couldn’t be more wrong. I DO have the right tools. In fact, I’m working on my pistolsmith certification from AGI. Before I cut the sights out, I called AGI, ATI, and two other gunsmiths about removing the sights. Guess what? They ALL said to use a rotary tool to cut them out if you can’t use a drift punch to get them out (left to right for removal). They said that sometimes, rust or Loktite can cement sights into the dovetail. Trust me, BobNailer, I did NOT bull my way through this. The one thing that I HAVE learned is that I KNOW VERY LITTLE, especially when I think I know it all.
As for welding shims into the dovetail, the only other alternative is to weld a plug into the dovetail and remachine a new dovetail into the slide. The cost of doing that is prohibitive, especially for a “cheap 1911″ as you point out. Also, I don’t have the right equipment to do that kind of machine work.
You said you had the same problem with the bushings and you just unscrewed them. How exactly did you “unscrew the bushing from the grip?” The whole problem is that the bushing spins in the grip and that’s why the screw DOESN’T come out of the bushing. My guess is that you put some pliers on the bushing before you unscrewed the grip. Am I wrong? I waited for the screws and bushings before putting pliers on the bushing just in case I stripped the threads on the bushing. By the way, I found another way to get the bushing off the screw without using pliers. Put a small and I mean SMALL amount of Loktite Red on the bushing. You don’t want the Loktite to ooze out the top of the bushing thread which can glue your grip to the frame. Screw the grip and bushing back into the frame. Let it set up. Once the Loktite Red has dried, you can remove the grip screw without the bushing coming out. Wish I’d known that sooner…LOL.
As far as Duracoating goes, I did it because I’ve seen other weapons with Duracoat and I love the finish and protection it gives. That’s right, Duracoat PROTECTS your firearm. Anything wrong with that? I may have only invested $400 but that’s hard earned money that I can’t afford to waste so I want to protect my 1911. Also, I think the Duracoat is “sexy”…LOL.
BobNailer, you said, “Something tells me you bought this pistol because it was cheap and you thought you could upgrade it to the point that it would be comparable to a more expensive 1911 but done on the cheap.” YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT!!! Up to the point where the hammer broke, I had an investment of $168 in parts which included Trijicon night sights, Duracoat, and an EGW Firing Pin Stop. I polished the ramps. I deburred and polished every metal surface I could. I did a SAFE trigger job myself lowering my pull to 3.5 lbs. I’ve LOVED every minute of it. It’s one of the reasons I got a 1911. 1911s are easy to work on and you get priceless satisfaction out of doing the work yourself.
As far as Milspec goes, I never expected Milspec. For those of you who don’t know, Milspec requires extreme quality control. For us laymen, Milspec normally means “much tighter tolerances and better quality parts” than normally found in the civilian world. While I didn’t expect Milspec, I did expect it to be within design tolerances because it’s a Series 70 CLONE. Clones should be within tolerances, so yes, I expect that of a 1911 clone. By the way, you can get design drawings of the 1911 that show measurements and tolerances for every part for those of you who are even more geeky than I am…LOL.
I bought this 1911 because I wanted a bigger caliber gun as my primary source of home protection so “fairly reliable” is not an option for me. With that said, I believe that this 1911 can be made into an EXTREMELY RELIABLE gun with the proper work and parts.
I know exactly what I bought. I bought an “inexpensive” 1911, not a “cheap” 1911 or at least that’s what I was hoping for. I bought it because I thought it had the right foundation to make it an excellent shooter (accurate and reliable) and I still believe that. Until my hammer broke, I was extremely happy with my 1911. By the way, I do consider the breaking of a hammer to be “catastrophic.” As I posted earlier, I expect a few crappy parts and I had planned to replace the hammer anyway but still, you don’t expect a hammer to crack. But on the other hand, I get to put new parts in my 1911, which makes me happy. I also am installing a new thumb safety and before you ask, BobNailer, I DO have the knowledge and tools to do the job properly. I promise not to “bull” it in there.
My post is about customer service. The straw that broke the camel’s back was when I was told they were too busy and understaffed to take care of their customers. There’s NO EXCUSE for that. I don’t care if I spend a dollar or ten thousand dollars. I always expect and demand excellent customer service and YOU should too.
I posted because if people read my post, understand my experiences, and buy an ATI product knowing about their horrible customer service, they know exactly what they are getting into. That’s their decision and I respect that decision. I ended my previous post by saying buyer beware, which literally means buyer be aware of everything before you make a buying decision.
Knowing everything I know now, I would still buy the ATI FX 45 but not everyone has the knowledge, skills, or tools that I have. They may make a different decision and that’s their right. I still believe I can make this gun into a great shooter. I don’t owe ATI an apology because I’ve been truthful about every word I’ve posted. I haven’t lied or exagerated anything. ATI owes ME an apology for their crappy customer service!
When I pull the trigger and I hear the bang and see the hole in the target where I aimed, I feel great! When I pull the trigger and don’t hear the bang, I’m disappointed! When I call customer service, I expect to speak to someone in customer service. When I get voice mail, I expect to be able to leave a message and when I leave a message, I expect a call back in a timely manner. I don’t think I’m asking for too much, do you? I think that everyone feels the same way as I do. By the way, they still haven’t called me back about the broken hammer and I left the message last week!
Semper Fidelis (don’t want to steal Wheeler’s sign off)
Hi all, I have owned just about all of the 1911′s out there over the years. Kimber is like throwing money away because you never know what you will get. I only had one really good one and it was an ultra carry with a 3 inch barrell. Springfield is good in 5 inch as long as you file the front site, the Champion is only good with ball ammo, they do not like hollow points. Colt in 70 series is excelant with a bit of tweaking in 4.25 or 5.0 inch. I like the FX 4.25 GI because it is built on the 70 series frame and it will eat anything that you feed it. Plus it is under 500.00 bucks. Nothing fancy, just a life saver.
I got my ATI FX Titan Finally. I love it!
I have compared it to a Compact Rock Island 1911 and a Colt defender, and it stands up to them very well.
The finish is better than the Rock Island but not as nice looking as the Colt of course. I rate the overall appearance in the order of Colt then Titan and lastly the Rock Island.
The Colt and Titan both have skeletonized triggers and Rock Island I used did not. The Titan trigger and hammer are made of galvanized steel. All three weapons have skeletonized hammers in slightly different shapes and sizes.
The sights on the Colt are a little higher quality than the quality than my Titan but both do the trick. The Rock Island we used only had the military style sights and we all know how those are.
The grips feel nice and I like that they are checkered like the originals were.
The Rock Island has smooth grips that have some slippage when firing. The colt has the rubber wraparound hogue grips which felt awesome. So much so that I already ordered some for my titan.
The mags on the Rock Island and Titan are identical from Act-Mag but have the plastic base on the bottom that sticks below the butt of the handle. I like the colts flush fitting mag much better.
And of course the most important part of any firearm is the fitament, reliability and accuracy. All 3 of these weapon do not disappoint in any of these fields. Everything fits together nice and tight and runs smoothly.
I shot 50 rounds each with some cheap Tul Ammo 230 grain FMJ’s at 25 feet. All 3 triggers felt great and the accuracy was indistinguishable between them as well. I had no malfunctions on any of the 3 weapons with any of the magazines. I switched them between each gun to see how they worked.
So my overall thought is that if you can afford the Colt then get it because of the nicer looks, warranty and customer service. If you are on a budget then I would go with the Titan over the Rock Island mainly because of the sights. Rock Island does offer a compact with changeable sights as well so its basically up to which one is mor visually appealing to you. They are priced at about $450 each and the Rock Islands with the GI sights and no skeletonized trigger runs around $400. Or you can get a polished SS Titan for about $550 that has a very nice finish on it as well.
BobReed9391,
I don’t understand, why buy a cheap 1911 ($400) with the intent of installing Trijicon tritium sights for it at an approx. cost of $165, almost half the cost of the pistol itself? I checked out Trijicon’s website, they don’t make sights for the FX 45 Military. If you had the proper tools, the sights should’ve come out with little effort but it sounds like you didn’t have the proper gunsmithing tools and you bulled yourself through it. And welding shims into your buddie’s dovetail slot on his FX 45 Military’s rear sight? God be with you.
I’ve had bushings come out like yours did, I unscrewed the bushing from the grip, I screwed the bushing back into the pistol grip/frame, screwed in new allen head screws into the bushing… took about 2 minutes.
Then you Duracoated your new FX 45 Military matte black… what was wrong with the new/original matte black matte finish that came with your new FX 45 Military?
Something tells me you bought this pistol because it was cheap and you thought you could upgrade it to the point that it would be comparable to a more expensive 1911 but done on the cheap.
With the cost of the Duracoating, Trijicon sights, and the original $400 investment in the FX 45 Military, you probably sunk $600 into this pistol, why not just go buy one of a better quality, possibly new or probably used, of a well known brand name?
Or is this just a case of you being an inveterate tinkerer and you wanted to see just how far you could go with this firearm platform?
I don’t think ATI’s customer service sucks, I think they make inexpensive 1911s that appeal to a certain customer base and they never thought someone would go out and pay so little for a 1911 expecting it to meet U.S. DoD MilSpec so they can go turn an ATI into a Wilson Combat firearm.
Dude, its a cheap 1911, it was meant to be what it is, cheap and fairly reliable.
Their customer service is there only if there is some catastrophic failure in manufacture. Otherwise, if it shoots, you should be happy it went bang. I think you owe ATI an apology. No, I don’t work for ATI.
BobNailer
To put it bluntly, ATI’s customer service SUCKS! When I first purchased my FX 45 Military, I had a minor problem. When I removed the grips, the grip bushing came out of the frame so that the grip screw and bushing were in the grip when I removed it. No problem. I didn’t want to put a pair of pliers on the threads of the bushing that was stuck in the grip without having a replacement in hand so I called ATI and they said they’d send me some screws and bushings. I waited for six weeks. I then called ATI again only to find out that someone had dropped the ball and the screws and bushings were never sent. I was assured it would get done right away and a few days later, I received the screws and bushings. Problem solved.
I then embarked on installing some Trijicon night sights. The military sights on the FX 45 were extremely hard to remove so I called ATI’s customer service. I called several times but got customer service’s voice mail every time so I left a message each time. I finally circumvented their customer service phone menu and was able to speak to a live person who assured me that the sights were attached in any special way. I had to cut out the rear sight with my Dremel tool and a cutting disk. I had to drill out the front sight tenon to get it out. I installed my sights without no problem and they are awesome! By the way, ATI finally listened to their voice mail and I got a call back a week later.
My friend has an FX 45 GI. He saw my sights and asked me to install some on his 1911. Should be a snap, right? WRONG! I installed the front sight with no problem but when I tried to install the rear sight, the dovetail was way way way too big. It was nowhere near military specification. You’d think the measurements would be the same as my FX 45 but they were not even close. The Trijicon rear sight flopped around in that dovetail like a fish out of water. We’re going to weld in some shims and try to fit that rear sight in that dovetail.
The saga does not end there. I then decided to Duracoat my FX 45 Military with a matte black finish. It came out way better than I expected. I love Duracoat. I waited five days for the Duracoat to cure properly before going to the range. During my shooting, my hammer cracked at the back below the thumb pad. If you pull your hammer all the way back, the thumb pad may touch the beavertail. The hammer cracked in that area right below the thumb pad across the back. I was not happy but hey, if you pay $400 for a 1911, you should expect some crappy parts. I called ATI and you guessed it, voice mail… with a twist! Their voice mailboxes were full so I couldn’t even leave a message! I called three times and then went to plan B; I circumvented the voice mail system again and spoke a receptionist of some kind. I told her that when I call customer service, it goes to voice mail but their voice mail is full so I can’t leave a message. She said, “Well, there are only two of them down there. They’re busy.”
Once I get my new hammer from Brownells, I’m sure I’ll be happy with my FX 45 again. It’s a great shooter. My minor problems became major problems because ATI’s customer service is HORRIBLE! BUYER BEWARE!
Just an update on my ‘new toys’. I guess I now know the meaning of the term ‘nirvana’. I bought the Metro Arms American Classic II and the ATI FX Titan SS AND the Titan Blue. Oh Lordy! what an experience. Drove all the way up to Waco, got my ‘baby’ brother, drove to his country place at Lake Whitney and commenced to irratate the neighbors for miles around for a good 4 hours. Nary a problem in 500 rounds with feeding or firing except one round in the American Classic II that had a solid strike on the primer but failed to fire . Said, “What the hey??”, loaded it into the Titan SS and touched it off. Fired fine that time, so go figure.
My brother, who is no slouch with a pistol, being a retired Army SgtMaj SF ‘shooter’, reminded me of the time it took to get the Kimber sorted out enough for me to carry it with the S.O. These new .45s are dead on, function flawlessly, and need only custom touches like grips and perhaps mags to really make them superior.
Semper Fi,
I am going to buy an ATI FX titan next week and it will be my first 1911. I was wondering what kind of mags can I get that will not stick out on the bottom like the one that comes with the gun. I don’t like how the factory mag sticks below the frame. Also is it possible to have the the single side safety replaced with an ambi safety. I am a left handed shooter and it would make it much easier for me for to switch if it was an ambi safety. From all of the posts on here it seems like a very nice gun and it is right on my budget an except for the safety and magazine I love how it looks. Any help is appreciated.
Thanks!
I just found this blog and am glad I did.
I’m an older guy, retired from the Marine Corps in 1989 then spent 15 years in law enforcement before retiring again. I now own several firearms of foreign manufacture, just to keep knowledgeable about what’s out there. I also own a number of American .45s, and carried a Kimber with two Sheriff’s offices. It is a Custom Classic, which I gave to my younger brother as a birthday gift. He’s an old retired Army SF SgtMaj.
We both love that gun and the way it shoots.
Now, the ATI, the MetroArms American Classic and Rock Island Armory have been introduced to me. My brother has the RIA and it’s a real shooter. BUT, when my eyes landed on the MetroArms and the ATI FX Titan Blue, the Titan Stainless and the Thunderbolt, I knew I just had to shoot them. Hopefully the metallurgy is up to snuff. These are fine looking weapons and it would be a shame if the metal were as weak as the original Spanish Llamas were.
I’ll let you know what happens as I will be buying the SS and the Blue or Thunderbolt next week. Sweet looking guns.
Wheeler, welcome to the blog.
doubltap… thanks for taking my comments in stride, I feared I had gone over the top with my comments. I’m sorry to hear what happened to your friend in NO, what a shame. I’m glad your confrontation turned out to you benefit. I live near Orlando, Florida, which is now ranked 4th most dangerous city in the USA. Within the first two weeks of 2011, we had two incidents where law abiding citizens were compelled to use their concealed firearms to defend themselves, successfully I might add. But there have been far more killed outright by drive-by shootings and robberies gone bad. Even our Orlando’s police chief, stupidly left her badge, ammo belt, sidearm, laying on her police car’s trunk, in front of her house, she went inside her house for just a second, came back out and all of it was gone. This is what we citizens are up against. I carry lock-cocked .45 every day and even though my wife thinks I’m paranoid, she also says she feels safer knowing I’m walking around armed at all times. I hope to never have to drop the hammer on anyone, but if I do, I’m going to be the one walking away, not them.
Bob
@BobReed9391
In my original post I mentioned to the moderator that, were he to provide a means, I would love to send in some pictures. Steve sent me an email saying that if I sent some in, he would post them. Sent 3 in last night, but they do not appear to have been posted yet. Perhaps he has not had time to pull a shift as “moderator” yet today. Hopefully they will be up soon!
doubltap,
Thanks for the photos. They are here:
http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/2011_02_04_204858-tfb.jpg
http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/2011_02_04_205000-tfb.jpg
http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/2011_02_04_205030-tfb.jpg
@BobReed9391
BobNailer is dead on about the meprolight sights being much more reasonably priced than the Trijicons. I also think that the sights are, IMHO, more attractive and easier to use.
@Doubltap… I see your reasoning. I’ve always been a proponent of “Peace through superior firepower!” Most of the LE Officers I know carry a backup pistol for the same reason. Btw, your rig sounds pretty nice. Do you have any pictures of it?
@BobNailer… Thanks for the input Bob. Now I just have to decide front sight or both sights…LOL.
@BobReed9391
Thanks guy! You are exactly right about the prohibition by a majority of LE agencies. However, the rig I have does not sit directly over the spinal column like a standard single SOB holster, but rather more or less over the kidney areas on either side. The two holsters are essentially divided and placed on either side in essentially the 5 and 7 o’clock positions.
@BobNailer
Bob, the plan is to shoot them ONE AT A TIME…………no drama……no “Hollywood” hi jinx…..no “fancy dual draw, dual aim, dual fire of 1911′s in real life situations” ..just a second gun that obviates the need for either a reload if the first one runs dry, or a panic if the first one fails. Secondly, they draw very nicely from underneath and behind an open front vest suitable for all but extremes of weather. Super cold or extremely warm?…..Then I carry the Bersa 45 UCs or AMT BU 45s in one of a number of pocket configurations. The Kel Tec P40s absolutely disappear under a loose fitting summer shirt worn over a pair of Bermuda shorts.
Many years ago, I had a very good friend in my native New Orleans who was killed by Algiers west bank trash when his Star PD experienced a broken firing pin during defensive use, and I have never forgotten the lesson. Rather than “extra mags” I prefer to have two weapons, equal in power and size. In my lone defensive parking lot confrontation with two armed thugs in July of ’09, five shots from one of the Kel Tec P40s solved the problem. While the second gun was neither discharged nor even presented, it was VERY comforting to know that it was there.
@Doubltap… I’ve read that Law Enforcement agencies prohibit the carrying of anything (flashlight, weapons, handcuffs, etc.) in that area of the back because of the high risk of spinal cord injury. If you’re in a tussle with a bad guy and land on your back, you could be seriously injured. Apparently, it’s happened enough times to warrant prohibition. Just be careful, don’t want any of us good guys to get hurt.
BobReed9391, well it’s whatever you’re comfortable with but ya, focusing on the front post is what you’re supposed to do but several times I’ve had to “check things out” ’round the homestead and that glowing rear sight does help me at least. If you’re happy with just a front post with Tritium, go for it!
Bob
Doubltap… re: dual SOB rig… I think it’d be more interesting to see video of how you present both .45′s from underneath clothing in a life or death situation, unload them a la “Last Man Standing” and reload both with both hands filled with 1911′s. I also wonder how you’d deal with FTF or FTE or stovepiping with both hands filled? Re-holster the good 1911 and clear the jammed 1911? Drop the jammed 1911 and continue the fight with the good 1911? So someone can come along, clear your jammed 1911 and drill you with it?
Looks good in movies and video games but hey, what do I know? Not sure where you live either but I can tell ya in the good ol’ summertime, dual concealed carry must be “challenging” to say the least, not to mention carrying extra mags for both 1911′s. I don’t know what to think about this, real life tactical training never includes dual carry with fancy dual draw, dual aim, dual fire of 1911′s in real life situations… not to mention with both 1911′s blazing away, also… so much for your “background” and the poor innocents who’ll get slaughtered while you reenact one of your video game gunfight scenarios… I’d suggest you also get an attorney lined-up for your future firearm engagements because everyone around you will be in mortal peril once you flick off both safeties. Just my two cents worth and not looking for a fight, I just believe in common sense CCW and not living some video game / movie “dream”.
Bob
BobNailer… Thanks for the great advice. One question, though: when I shoot, I normally focus on the front sight only. As it is now, I put white out only on my front sight. Do you think I really need to replace the rear sight also? Btw, I’m definitely going with Tritium as you suggested.
BobReed9391… I’m a big believer in tritium sights, replace both front/rear iron sights with tritium sights, I have Meprolight night sights on my Commander .45, sights which are every bit as good as Trijicon’s but less expensive. You can stick with the white-dot sights but unless you’re a great at instinctive aiming in the dark, I’d go with Tritium.
Bob
I polished most of the interior parts and lapped the barrel, slide, and frame on my ATI FX45 Military with some JB’s. I also did a trigger job on it bringing it down to 3.5 lbs. My friends with much more expensive guns really love the way it shoots. I think I’m going to replace the stock firing pin stop with an EGW Firing Pin Stop. I’ve read they reduce felt recoil. Other than that, I might replace the front sight with a Tritium front sight but I’m still debating on that; white out seems to be working well…LOL. Any opinions or suggestions?
I recently purchased the FX .45 Military at a local gun shop for $416. The gun appeared to be very well put together. I have shot Kimber,Colt,Browning, and Para 1911′s in the past and have been very pleased with the 1911′s design. (Other than the Para which was a useless hunk of metal that functioned only as a single shot.) I have since put 250 rounds of reloaded 230 grain ammo through it without a single malfunction. The accuracy is very impressive and the sights (fixed) are dead on. I am not going to be that guy that compares it to a Kimber, but i have to say it shot just as well as my friend’s Colt 1911 Govt. Very pleased with the gun. Added some ivory grips and i now have myself a keeper.