Somebody
better put on a pot of coffee. If you're an engineer at one of the giant firearm
companies, you're going to need all the help you can trying to keep up with the new
Titlelist .45-caliber from Entréprise Arms. You're going to be trying to figure out all
kinds of new stuff. Like how they made the slide and frame fit so precise yet incredibly
smooth. Or how the pistol delivers such accuracy. And how is anybody supposed to compete
with the pistol's competitive price despite all the doodads only seen in custom guns?
Those were the same questions I was trying to figure out after
Entréprise Arms sent me a factory sample of the .45-caliber P500 Titleist. Entréprise
Arms, based in Irwindale, California, is the biggest distributor of FN-FAL components in
the United States. Early last year, Entréprise Arms expanded its market by producing
complete 1911-type pistols. In less than a year, it has captured the interest of top
action pistol shooters. Today, several Grand Masters in the Practical Shooting sports
compete with Entréprise Arms pistols. It was perhaps due to this reason that Entréprise
Arms sent me their most popular pistol model. They demanded an objective evaluation from a
Grand Master IPSC shooter.
The P500 Titleist has an all-steel wide- body frame. It arrived in a
lockable hard plastic case with a 10-round magazine. The bells and whistles in this pistol
are simply astounding. It has an adjustable rear sight which has been low-mounted on the
slide. I swear this sight looks like the popular, and expensive Bo-Mar. Without the
markings, I could only say it's a very impressive clone.
The pistol also has cocking serrations on the fore and aft of the
slide, and the front sight has been dovetailed in place so it doesn't fly away while the
gun is in battery.
Now believe me when I say this: You can't classify any pistol as a
custom gun when it doesn't show off its beavertail grip safety. If you've got it, you may
flaunt it. Sure, the P500 Titleist swaggers its tail like a real custom gun. It has an Ed
Brown- style beavertail arid was also fitted with an extended thumb safety.
Features normally associated with custom competition pistols are
blended into the gun. Its ejection port has been lowered and flared, virtually eliminating
any possibility of experiencing "stovepipe" jams. There's a handsome squared
trigger guard. Then, of course, it has a Videcki-style aluminum match trigger, which is
adjustable for over-travel.
The pistol's trigger pull, set at 5.25-lbs., seems
heavy for myself. But remember that anything heavier than 2-lbs. for a GM shooter, does
not necessarily mean "heavy" to the average shooter. In their sheer panic to
avoid liability lawsuits, most gun factories these days produce pistols with horrible
trigger pulls, mostly over 8 pounds. The Entréprise pistol's trigger pull was crisp
and
virtually without any creep, the common shooter's lingo for the metal-to-metal drag that
one feels when squeezing the trigger.
The P500 Titleist, also available in .40 comes with a match-grade
stainless steel barrel and bushing, along with a full- length guide rod that further helps
tame recoil. In short, this gun incorporates about everything a GM shooter needs to win.
Hmmm, if I only could keep this pistol. Factory pistols that
look as good as this one would be all hype and hoopla without the actual accuracy test.
Within 48 hours after receiving the P500 Titleist, I was on the shooting range. I brought
four types of ammunition from three manufacturers Hooray's 200-grain XTP and
230-grain FMJFP, Federal's 230-grain JHP Hi-Shok and Fiocchi's 230-grain FMJ.
I positioned IPSC targets at 5, 15, 30 and 40 yards. Then I loaded the
magazine and began firing off 10 rounds. The spent cases ejected to the side in a
45-degree angle, a positive feature necessary to ensure that the shooter's target
acquisition wouldn't get obscured by the flying brass.
The felt recoil was relatively mild despite the use of full-power
factory loads. But the fastest shot-to-shot splits I have accomplished was only 0.18 of a
second. This is perhaps due to the pistol's "heavy" trigger pull. I am not
really accustomed to heavy triggers as most of my race guns come with trigger pulls of less
than two pounds.
My double-taps, however consistently stayed in the A-zone of the paper
targets positioned at around 5 yards. This would indicate that with a lighter trigger
pull, I could still improve my speed without missing my targets. Shooting "double
taps" series of two shots; was nearly like shooting an Open gun with red-dot sights
because the pistol's front sight lined up with the rear sight quickly after each shot. I
favored the Hornady 200-grain XTP for this pistol due to the softer recoil. Using this
load, the pistol produced consistent shot groups of less than two inches at 40 yards. The
rest of the ammo didn't perform as well.
For an entry-level pistol in the action shooting sports, I expect the
Titleist to perform to any shooter's expectations. There are only a few modifications I
would recommend: the reduction of the trigger pull to 3 pounds. and the installation of a
magazine well. The wide front strap can also he checkered, but it's not really necessary
as there are anti-skid tapes that can be purchased for a few dollars.
Let's face it, if you're a shooter, you'll have a good night's rest
knowing you've purchased a great gun. But if you're an engineer from another gun company,
you'll be burning the midnight oil in a futile attempt to top this new pistol from
Entréprise Arms which retails for only $979.00.
Sure, I expect some engineers to compete with the new P500 Titleist pistol. But
I'm not
going to lose any sleep over it.
Editor's Note: Jojo Vidanes, an IPSC Grand Master, has won
several USPSA Area Championship titles and consistently placed among the top 10 shooters
in recent USPSA Nationals. Vidanes is also the match director of the Running Gun IPSC Club
in Norco, California. For more information on the P500 Titleist, please call Entréprise
Arms, Inc. (15861 Business Center Dr., Irwindale, CA 91706) at (626) 962-8712.
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