Rifleman Review: Springfield Armory Prodigy

One of the most exciting new guns from Springfield this year is the 1911 DS Prodigy and this is the 4.25 inch barreled AOS handgun. Now the Prodigy is what some people would refer to as a 2011. It's basically a 1911 style pistol in terms of its inner workings and its basic format, but it's a double stack gun that takes double stack, in this case 9mm magazines. The Prodigies are only in 9mm at this point. Now, the construction is a polymer grip module that is attached to a separate forged frame. Now again, as is typical of Springfield's, this gun features a forged frame and slide. The stainless barrel is fitted to the slide directly so that there's no bushing as there would be in a traditional 1911, and you have a target crown on the end of the barrel. All Prodigies are optic capable by way of the agency optic system that Springfield has licensed from Agency Arms to allow for the mounting of multiple models of red dot sights by way of the adapter plates that it can provide. The gun comes with an adapter plate for the Springfield pattern optics, in this case the Hex Dragonfly. So with the double stack magazine, now in this case this is the 17 round magazine. Gun also comes with a 20 round magazine and there is an optional 26 round magazine that's available. The Prodigy grip safety features a pronounced beaver tail which is recessed to allow for the hammer to come back and fit into it. The hammer is a skeletonized hammer and then the sights which are viewable through the Hex Dragonfly, in this case, are a U-notch rear with serrations with a green fiber optic pipe for the front, and they are of a height that you can co-witness them through the Hex Dragonfly. You have safety levers on both sides of the gun. You still have the conventional 1911 style magazine release, but if you'll notice in this case it protrudes quite a bit from the grip frame module, so that's an enhancement in the sense that it's a little easier to hit. On the front of the trigger guard you have a texture that's molded into the polymer grip module that matches the texture that's featured on the grip itself and that wraps around on the front strap here. Now on the back strap you have a mainspring housing that features fairly fine checkering. So the thing about the Prodigy is that, you know, being a double stack but a nine millimeter, it is hand filling but the radius of the various corners on the grip frame are such that it's a comfortable gun. So with this 4.25 inch barrel version of the Prodigy you end up with a gun that that has a base weight of about 32 and a half ounces. That's almost a half pound lighter than a full size all steel 1911, so that's not inconsiderable. So Prodigy is something that, especially in the longer barrel version, 5 inch barrel version, you know, you could compete with. You could shoot this gun on targets, but this is a gun you could carry too. For more on firearms and shooting gear go to AmericanRifleman.org