Why it matters: Double-stack 2011 pistols are usually priced well above the striker guns most shooters own, and their magazines add to the bill. Fusion Firearms is selling a steel-frame 2011 that runs on Glock 17 magazines, and a reviewer has now put its ported and compensated version on the clock against guns that cost up to several times as much.
YouTube creator Micah Mayfield reviewed the Fusion Firearms XP Pro in a video titled "The Firearm Equivalent of Wearing a Fedora Unironically - Fusion XP Pro." The pistol is a steel-frame, double-stack 9mm built on the 2011 pattern, and it feeds from Glock 17-compatible magazines rather than proprietary 2011 magazines. Mayfield tested a ported and compensated example. He called the video "a highlight" from a single range day rather than a full review.
Mayfield framed the gun around cost. He says high-end 2011s such as Atlas Gunworks pistols run around $8,000, and that budget 2011s still require magazines that cost close to $100 each. He first priced the XP Pro at about $1,100, then corrected himself on camera: the ported and compensated model goes for around $1,600, and the $1,100 figure applies to cheaper configurations. Fusion's own site lists the XP Pro V2 from $1,149 in black, and its Custom Shop ported XP Comp models at $1,699 in black and $1,749 in chrome.
Why a ported and compensated pistol: the ports versus comps follow-up
The review grew out of an earlier Mayfield video comparing ported barrels with compensators. He says the most common comment on that video asked why nobody did both, and that he had answered that a pistol both ported and compensated would bleed off too much energy to cycle its slide. In his telling, Fusion disagreed and sent a gun that does both. He closed the new video by saying, "I was wrong. I stand corrected."
For the recoil comparison, Mayfield filmed the XP Pro and the compensated Glock from his earlier video, a Landers Weapon Systems build with a Radian Afterburner compensator, at 120 frames per second using the same HSL range ammunition. He says the red dot on the XP Pro stays "barely above" the original point of aim during recoil and calls its return to zero "insane."
He reports the gun ran on inexpensive HSL ammunition with one out-of-battery event and one light strike in the first 500 to 600 rounds. By the end of the day he puts the total at just under 1,000 rounds. He also noted heavier gas and oil buildup on the gun's optic, a Vortex Defender XL, than on the other pistols he shot that day.
Fusion XP Pro trigger, finish and grip
Mayfield calls the trigger the best part of the gun: "crisp and ridiculously ridiculously light." He says it is possibly the best trigger he has used on a 2011 in its price range and rates it above the Springfield Prodigy and the Kimber 2011. He lists two drawbacks. The reset is weak, with little spring pushing the trigger forward, and the hammer spring is the weakest of the pistols he compared. He says the spring has not caused a problem so far but could become one as the gun gets dirty and springs wear.
On fit and finish he says the slide is audibly scratchy compared with the "glass" feel of high-end 2011s. He rates the grip texture as "mid grip." He praised the magwell as very large and forgiving on reloads. He had taped down the beavertail grip safety, which he described as a personal preference.
Shot timer splits: Fusion XP Pro vs Kimber 2011 vs United Gun Works Alpha
“The point of the shot-timer comparison, as Mayfield put it, was that a flat-shooting 2011 no longer has to carry a custom-shop price tag.”
J.D. Whitfield, The ReticleMayfield then ran two-shot splits on a shot timer, with his wife Grace calling times, across three pistols he describes as his value picks at three price levels. The Kimber 2011, which has no ports or compensator, posted a best split of .15 seconds. The United Gun Works Alpha, a custom gun with small barrel ports that he prices at about $5,500 depending on configuration, posted .12. The Fusion XP Pro posted .13. He described the Fusion as the flattest-shooting pistol of the group and said the point of the comparison was to show that a flat-shooting gun does not require top-tier prices.
Island comp reports and Mayfield's suppressor recommendation
Mayfield flagged one issue he had not experienced himself. He says multiple owners have reported the XP Pro's "island comp" coming off because its lockup is weak, some within the round count he fired. His did not, and he said he did not know whether Fusion has issued a fix. Fusion's product pages describe the XP Comp's compensator as secured by a proprietary threadless pin system. A search of public retailer and company pages turned up no statement from Fusion on the reports.
Because of that uncertainty, Mayfield says he would personally buy the non-ported, non-compensated model with a threaded barrel and pair it with a Stealth Additive Works Shiv suppressor, which he says cycles subsonic ammunition without a booster. He disclosed on camera that he works for Stealth Additive Works and helped develop the Shiv and the company's Tisha suppressor. The video also carried sponsor segments, including Goat Guns and OpticsPlanet.
Mayfield also compared the XP Pro to the Stealth Arms Platypus, which he says also takes Glock magazines but carries a long lead time and a higher price. His conclusion was that the XP Pro is "not the best 2011 available on the market" but a "solid" and "compelling package." For a first handgun he says he would still steer buyers toward a Glock or a Smith & Wesson M&P 2.0. He says he plans a follow-up putting about 10,000 rounds through the gun in a day and sending it to a gunsmith for inspection.
For context
- A 2011 is a double-stack descendant of the 1911 pistol design, and most 2011s use their own proprietary magazines.
- Ports are cuts in the barrel and slide, and a compensator is a muzzle device; both vent gas to reduce muzzle rise.
- Fusion Firearms sells the XP Pro V2 from $1,149 and lists ported Custom Shop XP Comp models at $1,699 to $1,749.
- Mayfield discloses that he works for Stealth Additive Works, the suppressor maker whose Shiv he recommends in the video.
Sourced from
The Firearm Equivalent of Wearing a Fedora Unironically - Fusion XP Pro
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