Handguns July 1998
Tactical P500 Article

    My usual procedure in reviewing a 1911-style pistol is to start at the top of the slide and work my way downward, noting all the salient features, and that is what I shall do here.
    The front sight is dovetailed into the slide for easy removal (e.g., if tritiums are wanted). The rear face is sloped for a fast draw and deeply serrated. The rear sight is the popular non-snagging Novak pattern, and it is a genuine Novak, not some knock-off. The sights are plain black  no inlays of any kind. The top of the slide is rounded GI-style, no ribs, serrations or whatever. The ejection port is extra-large as an aid to positive functioning. The edges of the ejection port and other potentially sharp edges on this pistol have been gently and art fully "melted" to avoid damage to hands, clothing and holsters.
    The slide has front and rear cocking serrations. The style of these serrations is similar, if not identical, to the serrations on the Kimber or Wilson pistols.
    There is a two-piece full-length guide rod. As I have some times remarked in previous reviews, I have never been particularly enamored of full-length guide rods in 1911 pistols, but if for some reason one must be used, I much prefer the two-piece variety, because stripping and reassembling a pistol with a two-piece guide rod is much easier than one with a one-piece guide rod.
    The Para-Ordnance pistols use integrally ramped barrels and relieved frames. The Entréprise .45 autos like the High Capacity Springfields reviewed in last month's issue are traditional 1911 in this regard. Also like the Springfield, the Entréprise pistol does not incorporate an automatic firing pin-locking plunger device a feature on Para-Ordnance and contemporary Colt pistols.
    This pistol has an ambidextrous manual safety with extended levers another "custom" feature that is factory-stock on this pistol. The slide stop is of standard configuration, which I like; it is knurled (checkered) rather than serrated a classy, old-fashioned touch. This is also true of the steel mainspring housing.
The trigger is very contemporary aluminum, lightened by three trans verse holes and incorporating a set screw to adjust over  travel.
    It mates with a skeletonized, elongated-burr hammer another feature that seems to be de rigueur on a late-20th-century 1911. The trigger action on this pistol was as good as it gets it compared very well with the trigger pulls on many custom-tuned 1911s that I have owned or tried.
    The grip safety is the obligatory up swept beavertail with a lug at the bottom. The black checkered stocks and the magazine baseplate are made from a durable polymer. Mec-Gar is the vendor for the magazine; always a good sign!

    The pistol was a handsome gun, finished in a black oxide with a medium- luster polish. There were some tiny casting pores on the frame and a few unsightly machining marks on the lower portion of the slide, but my over all impression was of a very well made, high-quality gun.
    Was there anything I didn't like about this pistol? Very definitely! This pistol comes with a squared trigger-guard. Since I don't like the old "finger forward" grip with the support hand, it does me no good. (And I am joined in shunning the "finger forward" grip by the vast majority of the action shooting greats of today.) However, the squared triggerguard would be innocuous except for the fact that it renders the gun unusable in any high-grade, carefully molded holster for the Government Model. Quality holsters for this pistol will have to be special-ordered, and many holster makers may not have the forms for some time to come. Howard, the man in charge at Entréprise, told me that their primary purpose in going to the squared triggerguard was to differentiate themselves more distinctly from Para Ordnance
   In all, the Entréprise had impressed me as a very nice piece of ordnance, even if it wasn't a Para. (Pardon the pun; I couldn't help myself) However, I like to reserve judgment on any gun until I've managed to put at least a few hundred rounds through it on the firing range.
    The firing range I frequent most of the time these days is the Insight Shooting Range (17020 Alburtis Ave., Artesia, CA; 15621 860-4365), and there it was that I tried out the Tactical P500. As always, I made sure that I had a very representative selection of ammo. This comprised five varieties of 230-grain hardball CCI-Blazer, Federal, Mag Tech, PMC and Speer; two standard- pressure hollowpoints  Federal 230-grain Hydra-Shok and Speer 230-grain Gold Dot; and a half-dozen +Ps Triton 165-grain Funnel Point, Triton 165-grain Quik-Shok and the full Cor-Bon lineup of hollowpoints in 165, 185, 200 and 230 grains.
    From the outset, I noted how pleasant this big, heavy gun was to shoot. The Widebody grip frame was a good fit in my hand, but someone with appreciably smaller hands might find it somewhat unwieldy. One thing that immediately impressed me was that whoever had regulated this pistol at the factory saw the sights and pressed the trigger in much the same manner as I did. This pistol shot close to point of aim with nearly every load.
    Most handguns will shoot some loads considerably better than others. and the Tactical P500 bore this out. This was not intended to be a match pistol or super-tuned target pistol the barrel bushing was only finger tight  yet it delivered sensational accuracy with its preferred loads. Best accuracy was achieved with Cor-Bon 200-grain JHP. My group went just a hair over the one-inch mark at 25 yards, and the group was perfectly centered right in the X-ring. The runner-up spot also went to Cor-Bon, this time the 185-grain bullet, which grouped into a very satisfying 1.7 inches. This was closely fol lowed by a third place tie between Federal Hydra-Shoks and CCI-Blazer ball at 1.8 inches. Close behind came Federal hardball, with 1.9 inches. Other loads delivering good accuracy were Magtech ball and the Triton 165-grain Quik-Shok (tied at 2.2 inches) and Cor-Bon 200-grain JHP (2.4 inches). Thus, the Entréprise pistol turned in good to excellent accuracy with the majority of the loads I tried in it.
    The pistol also performed very well in the assorted combat-style drills I attempted with it. Ten quick singles at 10 yards from Weaver Ready yielded me a score of 100-7X on the B27 center. During my shooting, I had encountered one feeding failure, this with Speer ball the lone malfunction of the day. I tried 10 rounds of Speer ball weak- handed at seven yards to see if I could induce a malfunction, but all I got was a score of 100-10X and no further malfunctions. Three-shot "Mozambique" drills left all shots perfectly centered and tightly clustered. Twenty rounds fired in the one-handed Fairbairn Applegate shoulder point ended up with all shots clustered in one laterally elongated hole at six yards; as far as I could ascertain, only a single bullet hole was not at least touching the X-ring.
    I am always a little cautious about giving a wholehearted endorsement to a new gun from a new firm. However, if the sample I received is typical, these Entréprise pistols have much to commend them. With a suggested retail price of $979, the Tactical P500 is far from cheap, but it is obvious that there is a lot of quality built into this gun, and it has just about every feature the discerning "1911 man" would want just as it comes from the box. It should prove to be a strong competitor against similar guns from such respected firms as Para Ordnance or Springfield Armory.
    The Tactical P500 and similar pistols from competitive firms are too large and heavy for routine concealed carry, at least in my opinion. However, for open carry, as by a uniformed officer, or for static defense, it's pretty hard to think of a more formidable fighting handgun. Entréprise is making high-capacity pistols of this type in several grades and catalogs Commander- and Officer's-sized pistols as well, along with frame kits. The company also lists an extensive array of gun parts and accessories, and it has a pro shop that provides customizing services. This is one enterprising outfit!

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