Featured Budget 2011 Shootout: Springfield, Bersa, Girsan, Tisas Nick Saiti January 5, 2026 Join the Conversation At RECOIL, we review every product fairly and without bias. Making a purchase through one of our links may earn us a small commission, and helps support independent gun reviews. Read our affiliate policy. Find out more about how we test products. Photos by Iain Harrison In 2003, we bought a 40-inch plasma flat screen TV for $2,500. The only reason we got it so cheap was because we had to buy the speakers separately. We were so proud of our new purchase that we replaced the family pictures over the fireplace with this new technology, as it was amazingly thin at just 5 inches and weighed as much as my sister. Today, you can get a flat screen for the price of lunch. It’s one of the only things in life that have actually come down in price significantly. Economies of scale and advances in technology have taken away the prestige of owning a flat screen. 2011-style pistols have a similar story. In the early days, wide-body 1911s (aka 2011s) were custom-built, performance machines that cost about the same as a college degree (well, maybe if you went to community college). Ownership was relegated to serious shooters in the competition world. In 2016, the patent held by Strayer Tripp international (STI) had expired, and a few companies took advantage. The prestige of ownership was diluted. Today, almost every major gun manufacturer offers a wide-body 1911, and mass production has gotten a hold of the once rare platform. Owning a 2011-style gun is no longer just for fanatics. Companies have figured out where corners can be cut to make the wide-body 1911 accessible to the masses. The bad part about cutting corners is sometimes quality also gets cut. Our charge is to take some of the most cost-effective wide-body 1911s and see how advances in manufacturing and economy of scale has affected the end result. THE LINEUP We gathered four guns that fall in the lower end of the 2011 price spectrum: the Tisas DS 1911, the Girsan Witness 2311 Match, the Bersa M2XI, and the Springfield Armory Prodigy. All of our test guns come in under $1,550. To have a measuring stick, we included a full custom masterpiece from McLearn Custom Guns, because, back in the day, this was the only way to lay hands on one. Former world champion Matt McLearn has been building guns for over 35 years and understands the requirements of a full custom machine. Each part of the McLearn gun has been gone over by hand to precise tolerances. To the unlettered, the difference is aesthetic but for those in the know, the proof is under the hood — we can’t add the McLearn to the comparison, as it’s a control to see what under the hood is supposed to be. Plus, it would be totally unfair. A short dust cover and bushing barrel make the front end of the Tisas lighter than the others. There are a few consistencies with these guns that are worth noting. The barrels are all ramped, all feature polymer a grip, all use the STI/Staccato-style magazine, and, of course, all are chambered in 9mm. All of the slides are cut for red dots, but aside from the Prodigy, they’re only cut for the smaller-sized RMSc footprint — not a plus for full-sized guns, as this limits the selection of MRDS available. The Tisas and Girsan are both made in Türkiye, and the Bersa and the Prodigy are made in the good ole USA. Take note that none of these guns carry the moniker of 2011. The patent has expired but the actual name “2011” has been trademarked by Staccato (formerly STI). Now, back to our regularly scheduled program. The Tisas 1911 Night Stalker B9R double-stack 9mm is the first gun on the list. At $959, this is our most cost-effective (aka the cheapest) test gun but ironically features the longest name. This is not even the entry-level offering from Tisas, as there is a duty version that offers a couple less features and an even lower price point. This gun sports a bushing barrel and a traditional spring plunger instead of a full-length guide rod. This night stalker version comes with a threaded barrel and a gray finish, setting it apart from the rest at least aesthetically. Next up is the Girsan 2311 match with an MSRP of $1,079. This gun steps up a notch from the entry-level Tisas by adding a full-length dust cover, adjustable rear sight, and somewhat of a bull barrel. It’s more of a cone than a full-profile bull barrel, but the Girsan looks more like a competition version of a 2011 with all the features that help make it shoot flatter. A full-length dust cover and an adjustable rear sight make the Girsan better than basic. The surprise of the bunch is the Bersa M2XI, coming in at an MSRP of $1,479. The name Bersa has usually been associated with cheap .380 carry guns, but the M2XI seems to have been designed by someone who knows what a 2011 is supposed to be. The grip contour, slide lightening cuts that double as front serrations, long wide dust cover, extended controls, and flat-faced trigger that breaks under 3 pounds all come together to create a surprisingly complete package. You would not have to do much to this gun to run it in a match. The extended slide stop on the Bersa is a chef’s kiss that no other gun in the test featured. The Springfield Prodigy could be considered the father of the entry-level 2011. It comes from a company that’s been making 1911s before 2011s were a twinkle in their daddy’s eyes. They know how to make 1911s, and they’ve put that knowledge to good use in the Prodigy. It has fewer frills than the other guns but is a solid base to work from. The Prodigy features a full profile bull barrel, a solid pedigree, and the only gun with a plate system to mount your choice of red dot — this mounting system is one of the best in the business, offering a bulletproof lockup. The Prodigy has the highest MSRP at $1,530 but has the fewest features. For example, it doesn’t have a magwell or adjustable sights, but it focuses more on the quality parts it does have. It seems the Prodigy left off parts that could have made it a higher-priced gun, but not in a bad way. The Prodigy is pretty basic aesthetically. No magwell but it does feature the AOS plate system. The McLearn custom gun is the pinnacle of what a 2011 should be. Every part is shown personal attention and lovingly massaged into place. It’s rare that you get a product both aesthetically pleasing and solidly built, but this is a gun that runs as good as it looks and will perform at that level for a long time. Fitting a 1911 together requires a lot of measuring, measuring again, and checking one more time. McLearn must have the patience of Job. NUTS & BOLTS How well the barrel locks into position in a 1911-style gun has a direct correlation to accuracy. The better the barrel is fit the better the accuracy is, which is why a hand-fit gun from a competent gunsmith is more better. There are other factors that affect accuracy, but we’ll focus on barrel lockup, as this is one of the hardest to get right, and if you can ace this aspect, the rest typically falls into place. A 1911 has locking lugs on top of the barrel that fit into recess in the slide. How well the slide and barrel fit together is responsible for the consistency of the barrel’s position in the slide, i.e. the barrel is in the exact same place every time the gun is fired. The interface between barrel and slide is a small measurement (usually in the thousandths of an inch) but can make a big difference on accuracy. The barrel should have at least 0.045-inch engagement according to McLearn. This is the minimum amount of lockup to have longevity and keep the barrel in a consistent place for thousands of rounds. Shielded thumb safeties and a metal grip frame are just a couple options available on the McLearn custom gun. The Tisas measured at 0.044 inch, the Girsan 0.054 inch, the Bersa 0.040 inch, and the Prodigy came in at 0.047 of an inch. These are all pretty close to acceptable, but remember this is only one measurement and other factors are in play. The next thing we looked at was the barrel link at the foot of the barrel. The 1911 design works on a linked barrel system. The barrel is supposed to use the lugs at the foot to lock into place. A link is then used to pull the barrel out of battery when cycled. The problem here is that you can cheat a little by using a longer link to push the barrel tighter into battery. This feels great when you initially hand-cycle the pistol, but it’s prone to wear and will quickly shoot loose. The best way to check if the barrel is locking at the lugs and not the link is by checking wear patterns on the slide stop. One wear mark means link locking, and two wear marks equal proper lockup via the foot of the barrel. All of the test guns exhibited wear from the link, with some worse than others. The McLearn gun is a good example of what it should look like. From the outside, it seems the design of the gun gets more streamlined as the price goes up. There’s no need for a front sight or rails unless you need them. It takes a human touch to get a barrel fit properly. The problem is that it takes time, and time is money. It’s not necessarily the parts but the time it takes for those parts to be fit together that make a full custom gun so expensive. We set targets at 15 yards to get a bead on the accuracy capabilities of each gun and came up with an interesting result. Group size was almost directly correlated to the cost of the gun. In theory, this is how it should be, but it was interesting to see this play out in real time. We used 115-grain Blazer brass, 124-grain S&B, and 124-grain Sierra hollow points as test ammo. The Sierra ammo consistently produced the tightest groups. The Tisas shot a 1.28-inch group, the Girsan 1.34 inches, the Bersa just at 1 inch, the Prodigy netted just under an inch (0.96), and, for reference, the McLearn gun netted a 0.67-inch group with the 115-grain load. If you’re using the gun for range antics, anything that will make loud noises will do. If you are trying to make a one-hole group at 50 yards, hand-fitting is important. The guns are basically the same platform, but each gun has its nuance. The Tisas is the most cost-effective version, the Girsan is a step above that by adding some features, the Bersa is a complete package at an affordable price, and the Prodigy is a solid base for something more. It is important to note that contrary to popular lore (and honestly much to our surprise) we didn’t have a single malfunction with any of these 1911s. CONCLUSIONS These entry-level guns all lack in some way or another — but that’s the point. You have to give something up to be considered entry level. This is the place for products that are easily attainable for the masses. These are gateway guns that lead you down the 2011 rabbit hole, and it’s up to you to figure out if that’s the hole you want to go down. For top honors, it’s a toss-up between the Bersa and the Prodigy. We lean more toward the Prodigy simply because of the pedigree, and it has been around a few years longer. The Bersa lost a few points, as it’s only cut for a RMSc dot footprint, but we are curious to see how it holds up over time. In the end, this is not a zero-sum game. There doesn’t have to be a winner and loser but simply how much gun you think is acceptable. The expertise that it takes to create a masterpiece like the McLearn costs more than all of the other guns combined, but it’s what all 2011s want to be when they grow up. The fact is you cannot have a custom gun for under $1K — and we would argue that you couldn’t get there for less than $5K. You can have a gun that is good enough to get you started, and you can add or replace parts as you see fit to adapt the base gun to your particular needs or wants. It’s up to you to determine how much gun you need. Besides, there’s nothing good on TV these days anyway. Why you can trust RECOIL Since our founding in 2012, RECOIL remains the premier firearms lifestyle publication for the modern shooting enthusiast. We deliver cutting-edge coverage of guns, gear, accessories and technology. We go beyond basic reviews, providing no B.S. buyer’s guides, hands-on testing and expert analysis on everything from firearms and survival equipment to watches and vehicles. 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