I tried one of these a few months back at the shooting range and was seriously impressed. Considering I had recently stumbled across my (then) new favorite pistol, the Springfield Armory Prodigy in the 4.25″ barrel, it was no small feat. I knocked out a “first impressions” post that still holds true. So, yeah, I bought one. Right up front — is it worth it? Every penny.

The S15 is an officer’s size 1911 that uses the Glock 48X magazine…so it takes the Shield Arms 15-round 9mm magazines for the same. The magazine that came with the gun was flawless. The three I bought later required a few trips to the range before you could squeeze the fifteenth round in. That said, there were no failures to feed.

The pistol has a DLC (diamond-like coating) finish that is tough and stands up to abrasion extremely well. At about the 1500 round count, now, the pitol is showing some wear on the finish at the locking rings on the slide…but that’s it. The bull barrel is crowned and also finished in the same DLC (diamond-like carbon) coating the slide has. The finish is still very much intact. It’s glassy and very black, and looks good against the aluminum frame. It does love to hang onto fingerprints, however. I’ve been carrying it in a Galco Stow-N-Go IWB holster I had bought for the Springfield Prodigy, and at 28.5 oz. it’s a little heavier than the Colt Defender.

The pistol shoots incredibly well for me. My buddy that hits the range regularly with me is a Glock fanboi, so he has to work a bit on his aim due to the grip angle. I find it presents better than anything I’ve shot to date when drawn from the holster. The flat top of the slide is serrated to cut down on glare, but I find it also helps me shoot like a I used to years ago — no sights, point shooting where I simply use perspective to “run a road” from the flat top to the target. It’s fast and accurate (for me.) When taking time to use the sights — which are good, in the Novak style — this is one of the few pistols I used the trendy thumbs forward grip everyone seems to teach these days. One handed, two-handed, off-handed…the thing hits where I point with tight groups out to 15 yards with on issues. Beyond that, I’ve got to work a bit for sub-3″ groups. Old eyes.

The recoil is mild and the slide action is fast. Follow up shots are easy and smooth.

The grip is molded in aluminum with the grip panels part of the frame; there’s no changing grips, but it does allow the pistol to be incredibly thin at a hair over an inch wide. I’m finding it drops into the hand and presents like it’s part of me. Your mileage may vary. It’s got the usual higher end do-dads — beavertail, memory pad on the grip safety, skeletonized hammer and trigger. The trigger is excellent. It started off mid-line 1911 good but has smoothed out to a nice 4 lbs. with a hair of takeup before the wall and a crisp release. The reset is short and audible.

Now the negatives: It’s not cut for an optic. I don’t like them so this doesn’t bother me. It might you. Supposedly Alpha Foxtrot will be offering models cut for optics. It’s go no ambidextrous safety. As a lefty, this is annoying, although I find drawing and cocking the pistol is very easy while presenting. That said, even Tisas and Girsan are offering pretty everything but the bone-stock GI 1911s with ambi safeties. It’s a third or so of the market…economies of scale guys.

After 1500 rounds or so, there’s been one failure to go into battery. It never reoccured so I’m putting that down to operator error. No failures to eject, extract, feed, or otherwise function with absolute perfection. It is the single best handgun I’ve owned.