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Tisas is currently the low-price leader four double stack 1911s with the B9R 1911 Carry DS coming to market around $800 on launch. Is this high value or corner cutting? Our viewers asked us to find out.
What Is It? The Tisas B9R 1911 Carry DS is an optics-ready, 9mm double stack 1911. What grabs attention is that it's priced closer to a cheaper-to-produce polymer-framed striker-fired pistol. Traditionally the extra parts and fitment required to build a gun like this have always driven the price into the "luxury range" for a handgun, with features and shooting characteristics typically only sought after by serious competitive shooters and collectors.
Who's it For? Crisp 1911 trigger, 17-round capacity, optics ready with co-witness, accessory rail, and easy field striping thanks to a short guide rod means this pistol could serve multiple roles. The price point also makes it a good starting point for those wanting to try a double stack 1911, or those looking for one to tinker on. Size might make it tough for some to carry, but the overall footprint is no larger than what I have carried for years.
Optics-Ready has beomce almost mandatory in the eyes of some consumers. The Tisas B9R 1911 Carry DS permits a direct-mount of the micro footprint. Seen here is the Viridian RFX 11 which sat low enough to permit cowitness of the iron sights.
Take a look at the feature set and build quality of the Tisas 1911 Carry DS in the tabletop video below:
If you're curious how the Tisas B9R 1911 Carry DS construction stacks up against other offerings in the categroy see our comparative study including four different models HERE.
Specifications:
LENGTH: 7.9"
HEIGHT: 5.76"
WIDTH: 1.5"
WEIGHT: 29.9 OZ (UNLOADED)
ACTION: SINGLE ACTION
SAFETY: AMBI THUMB & GRIP SAFETY
MSRP: $799
Pricing: (subject to change, click links for current price)
Range testing was done before the comparative study and followed the GBGuns standard Range Protocol including:
With that in mind we hit the range. As always, to keep things fair, the standard GBGuns range protocl was followed including:
Cold Shots: Truly the first rounds through the gun.
Full Magazine +1: Suprisingly some modern guns still struggle with this. It's a test of how much play is in the magazine as well as how the slide cycles with pressure. This is also when I do my best to learn the trigger.
Multi-Mag: If a firearm uses a common magazine pattern we try out possibly compatible magazines. If they work they're included in What's For Dinner with the caveat that should a malfunction occur we return to the factory-included magazines.
What's For Dinner™: A test to see what ammunition the gun will eat. Does the gun feed the round from slide lock, will it cycle and feed another round of the same type, does the slide lock to the rear on empty, and is there any notable point of impact change with different loads. This test had potential to be interesting for the TTI Combat.
For this gun we used the following ammunition:
Priced and linked where found at the time this article was written
65gr Norma Range Training Frangible $12.99 / 50 at True Shot
70gr Federan American Eagle Frangible $31.99 / 50 direct from Federal
100gr Hornady Critical Defense Lite $23.89 / 20 at Global Ordnance
115gr Speer Gold Dot $36.99 / 20 at Optics Planet
115gr Winchester Silver Tip $19.49 / 20 at Optics Planet
124gr PMC SFX JHP $30.00 / 50 at Optics Planet
124gr ZQI FMJ $249 / 500 direct from ZQI
130gr Federal Syntech PCC $28.99 / 50 direct from Federal
138gr Federal Syntech Defense SJHP $19.59 / 20 at Optics Planet
158gr PPU Subsonic $23.74 / 50 at Sportsman's Guide
Sights & Trigger Control: on a 6" spinner target at a distance of 12 yards. We got this from Titan Great Outdoors and use it to gauge how learnable the trigger is and usable the sights are for forced, timed, precise shots.
Practical Accuracy: Five shots from a distance of seven yards at a one inch target. This isn't so much about printing a tight group as it is a culmination of our shooting experience and time for us to collect thoughts prior to making a conclusion.
After Shots: Final impressions and reflections from the range session.
The entire process can be seen in the Shooting Impressions video below.
Ammunition seen in our Shooting Impressions video was made possible by our Patrons and supporters of our ammunition savings account through Ammo Squared.
On the range the Tisas B9R 1911 Carry DS was a pleasant shooter minus two slight concerns. The grip texture is not very aggressive, and while we found no faults in that during a perfect range session, the gun might be a little slippery with sweaty hands or other less-than-ideal conditions. This could easily be rememdied a number of ways should the user want more taction.
The second issue was that the rear sight was off-center fromt eh factory. We had no means of correcting this at the range and so pushed through with an imaginary right hold. When I got the B9R 1911 Carry DS back home I tried my Real Avid Sight Tool which has made easy work of several other guns, but was unable to budge the stubborn sight. Fortunately I had a spare micro dot and so mounted that to the gun for continued shooting, but it appears I may need to take the slide to a gun smith to get that sight budged.
Overall I'm quite impressed by the Tisas B9R 1911 Carry DS. It ran relaibly and was pleasant to shoot. Like the Girsan Witness 2311 we reviewed perviously I wouldn't call this gun perfect, but you have to spend a lot more money to get something much better. A competent shooter can perform just as well with this affordable option, and a developing shooter can grow with this gun as they learn preferences and tweak the gun to them.
To put it another way, for the price of some of the fanceier equivalents you can buy a Tisas 1911 Carry DS, case of ammo, and attend some quality training. By the end of that case you're apt to be much better with the Tisas than the guy who paid fives times as much and hasn't had a case of ammo through it and training.