Double-stack 1911 pistols in 9mm have been gaining momentum within the handgun market and this new mannequin from Navy Armament Company hopes to capitalize on that. One issue that beforehand saved 2011-style pistols from being extensively common is worth. A couple of years in the past, there weren’t many choices for a potential shooter that didn’t value greater than $2,000, and manufacturing fashions have been restricted. As extra have change into accessible, different gun makers — specifically Turkish corporations like TISAS and MAC — have made their very own entries into the market. These pistols are far more attainable than premium manufacturers like Staccato, and probably supply related however more-affordable weapons. The laborious fact is that you simply typically get what you pay for with weapons. That being stated, there are reasonably priced weapons that do show to be an awesome worth and may bridge the hole between bargain-basement pistols and premium ones. I’ve seen a combined bag of Turk pistols so far as high quality goes, however I hoped that after operating (destiny keen) a thousand rounds by means of the MAC 9 DS 9mm, it could show to be a very good worth.Â
MAC 9 DS 9mm Specs
- Caliber: 9mm
- Capability: 17+1
- Journal Materials: Metal
- Dimensions: 6 inches (H) x 8 inches (L) x 1.325 inches (W)
- Weight: 2 kilos, 5 ounces (weighed with empty journal, no optic)
- Body: Cast 4140 Carbon Metal, Cerakote Black end
- Slide: Cast 4140 Carbon Metal, black QPQ Tenifer end
- Barrel: 4.25-inch, 4140 cast Carbon Metal, bull profile
- Sights: Inexperienced fiber optic entrance, black u-notch rear (drift adjustable)
- Optic prepared: Sure, contains RMR optic plate
- Set off: Single-action, flat shoe, 3 kilos 4 ounces (measured)
- Security: Ambidextrous thumb security and grip security
- Value: $1,035
Key Options
- Cast carbon metal body, slide, and barrel
- 2011-style polymer grip module with aluminum magwell
- Ambidextrous thumb security
- Good sights
- Optic-ready
- Suitable with 2011 magazines
Overview Highlights
- Easy however good finishes
- Good slide match and safeties aren’t sloppy
- Good set off
- Rougher really feel than a Staccato 2011
- Recoil spring is just too heavy
- Nice accuracy
- Value: $1000
Gangbusters for Price range Double Stack 1911 9mm pistols
In 2022, Springfield shook up the double-stack 1911 market with their Prodigy — a pistol that integrated many design options of premium 2011 pistols just like the Staccato P, however costing practically $1,000 much less. The Prodigy introduced a number of curiosity to the world of 2011 pistols however extra importantly, gave us an entry-level mannequin that was inside monetary attain of extra shooters. Naturally, extra have adopted, and this 12 months we see a number of fashions from Turkish gun makers which might be much more reasonably priced. One which instantly caught my eye — even earlier than I seen their Benelli M4 clone — was the MAC 9 DS 1911 Double Stack 9mm.
The MAC 9 DS 9mm is priced at $1,000 bucks and, moreover trying like a poor-man’s Staccato P, the pistol seemed to be easy and never overdone. My greatest gripe about some price range import weapons is that they’re making an attempt to be one thing they’re not — normally on the expense of high quality. I’d slightly see easy, well-executed options. The Taylor’s & Firm Tactical 1911 in 10mm I reviewed final 12 months is a good instance of that.
I first take a look at fired the MAC 9 DS at SHOT present, and it appeared to have a very good set off and functioned effectively. It confirmed sufficient promise for me to provide it a extra thorough analysis. I’m all the time rooting for the underdog gun, hoping to search out pistols that out-perform their price ticket. I don’t anticipate them to equal premium pistols however, within the case of a 2011-style pistol with a good set off and options — the concept of a top quality price range possibility is interesting.
The MAC 9 DS: Options Of A 2011-Type Pistol
Should you’re new to the 1911 double-stack 9mm type of pistol, there are a number of defining traits which might be useful to find out about when analyzing pistols on this class. As a result of they trademarked the time period, the one true 2011 pistols are Staccatos. Staccato 2011, previously STI, has specialised in double-stack 1911 pistols for a few years and, extra lately, consolidated their lineup. There’s a spectrum of costs and high quality ranges for double-stack 1911 9mms, however for a full-sized pistol just like the MAC 9 DS, the Staccato P is the high-water mark.

2011-Type Body and Grip Module
By and enormous, these pistols function like an everyday 1911 and use many 1911 components. Probably the most notable distinction is their body. Pistols just like the MAC 9 DS have a metal (some others use aluminum) body {that a} polymer grip module attaches to. The standard 1911 and early double-stack 9mm variations just like the Para Ordnance pistols have a body that features the grip of the gun, and grip scales are connected to it. That’s not the case with 2011-style pistols. The complete grip is a polymer module that features the set off guard and attaches to a shorter body just under the slide.
The body on some 2011s and similarly-styled pistols use a single-slot accent rail, however the MAC 9 DS has a 4-slot Picatinny-style rail in entrance of the set off guard.

Bushingless Bull Barrels
These aren’t fully distinctive to double-stack 9mm 1911s just like the MAC 9 DS, however most of those pistols make use of a heavy bull barrel and no conventional barrel bushing that you simply’d see on a 1911. The recoil spring rides on a full-length information rod and is retained by a spring plug that matches into the mud cowl of the slide from the rear — not the entrance like a conventional 1911.
Double-Stack, Bottlenecked Magazines
The magazines of full-size double-stack 1911 9mm pistols are largely related, and plenty of of them are interchangeable, or the pistols are designed to work with Staccato mags within the first place. Customary magazines maintain 17 rounds, have a skinny baseplate, and bottleneck all the way down to a single-stack profile on the high. The MAC 9 DS comes with three TISAS magazines that labored effective within the MAC 9 DS. The MAC 9 DS labored simply as effectively with Staccato magazines, and my Staccato ran effective with the TISAS mags. The TISAS journal baseplates aren’t as good, however I can’t complain about their performance.

How Does the MAC 9 DS 1911 Double Stack 9mm Measure Up?
The query requested about any price range 2011-style pistol is how does it stack as much as a Staccato? Although comprehensible, I feel that it’s solely truthful to ask when contemplating its worth too. It could be unreasonable to anticipate a $1,000 pistol to equal a $2,500 pistol. Nonetheless, contemplating the Staccato P as a typical reference level is useful to grasp what the MAC 9 DS is and what it isn’t.
Match and End
The MAC 9 DS makes use of completely different finishes for its frames, slides, and barrels, however it appears to be easy and well-executed. In comparison with the Springfield prodigy, I feel it was a smart option to go along with the QPQ-type end on the slide — slightly than full Cerakote. The QPQ end isn’t on the degree of, however is much like a DLC end in operate and look. I wasn’t an enormous fan of the Cerakote on the prodigy, as it’s extra susceptible to chipping and is thicker than a DLC, Tenifer, or Melonite QPQ end. There’s no two-tone powder-coat BS, which I like.Â
There’s some side-to-side play within the slide to border relationship, however total it’s fairly tight, even after 1,000 rounds. The security levers aren’t as butter-smooth because the Staccato P, however they aren’t too stiff, and after testing they nonetheless don’t have any sloppiness or wobble. Operation continues to be crisp and straightforward. All of the controls have held up very well and I haven’t seen any extreme or unusual put on.
Sights and Optics
Much like pistols just like the Staccato P, the MAC 9 DS comes with a inexperienced fiber-optic entrance sight that’s dovetailed into the slide. On the rear, it’s obtained a black serrated U-shaped rear notch facet that’s held in place by a set screw and is adjustable for windage. The rear sight is mounted on a metal optic-cut cowl plate that may be simply eliminated and changed with the included RMR-pattern optic plate. The optic plate additionally has a rear sight that may be co-witnessed with some RMR sights, I set mine up with the enclosed-emitter Trijicon RCR crimson dot.
Barrel and Recoil System
The MAC 9 DS 1911 Double Stack 9mm has a bull-profile barrel that, like related pistols, tapers as much as full diameter for a decent match with the entrance of the slide. It’s obtained the usual 1911 pivoting barrel hyperlink by means of which the slide cease lever/takedown pin goes.Â
The MAC 9 has a easy, primitive type of full-length information rod and recoil spring that’s captured by the spring plug. Many double-stack 1911s used to make use of this type of information rod, the place to take away it, the rear of the information rod is pushed ahead, compressing the spring till a small gap within the information rod turns into seen out the entrance of the slide. The person then sticks a small 90-degree-bent paper clip or skinny wire within the gap and releases the information rod, and the piece of wire stops the spring plug — protecting the spring compressed. The Springfield Prodigy has a information rod like this, and although it’s not as good or simple because the Dawson Precision information rod that the Staccato makes use of, it’s efficient.

I did instantly notice that my MAC 9 DS has a a lot stiffer recoil spring than my Staccato P. I started vary testing with a bunch of my 124-grain FMJ handloads which might be pretty gentle, however have cycled each pistol I’ve put them by means of. The MAC 9 DS wouldn’t cycle them, and my Staccato P would. I swapped recoil springs between the MAC 9 DS and my Staccato P, after which the Staccato wouldn’t run the ammo. Regular manufacturing unit ammo cycled the MAC 9 DS with out difficulty. The one manufacturing unit ammo I had any malfunctions with was the Magazine Tech steel-case ammo. They weren’t common, however a number of instances, the instances slipped the extractor, sticking within the chamber.
Ergonomics, Dealing with, and Controls
The MAC 9 DS appears to be like much like a Staccato P, however the weapons really feel fairly completely different. You’re not getting one thing for nothing, and the MAC 9 DS has tangibly much less refined ergonomics and controls. Although properly executed, the slide cocking serrations are shallower, and the place the Staccato appears to soften into my hand, the MAC 9 DS feels slightly sharp and unwelcoming compared. I feel it’s fairly good for its worth vary, however there’s a definitive distinction. I might shoot quickly and precisely, however it was a sharper, harsher really feel than the Staccato offers.
Controls like the security, slide cease, journal catch button, and particulars just like the sharpness of the set off guard and refinement of the magwell are all only a bit rougher than higher-end pistols. That stated, the general degree of operate and efficiency is nice — particularly in comparison with most pistols within the striker-fired class.
My pattern MAC 9 DS has a extremely good set off, with about the identical quantity of takeup as my Staccato P, and breaks persistently at 3 kilos, 4 ounces. The reset is considerably weaker, with not a lot spring rigidity driving it and a softer, much less noticeable click on than the Staccato has. Nonetheless, I had no drawback taking pictures rapidly and breaking clear pictures — particularly in fast strings of fireplace at 25 yards or when taking pictures teams for accuracy. All-in-all, I feel this gun affords the shooter nice efficiency for the worth.
Accuracy
I examined the MAC 9 DS Double Stack 1911 9mm for accuracy following our normal protocol — I recorded 21 5-shot teams from 15 yards from a standing place, utilizing a bagged tripod for assist. I additionally recorded 6 5-shot teams at 25 yards with a number of the most correct ammo.
The general common of 5-shot teams fired at 15 yards was 1.484 inches, with the next averages from every kind of ammo:
- Staccato 2011 125-grain Match: 1.242 inches
- Federal 124-grain Punch JHP: 1.298 inches
- Hornady 135-grain Essential Responsibility: 1.473 inches
- Nosler 115-grain ASP JHP: 1.564 inches
- Black Hills 125-grain Honeybadger: 1.956 inches
Six whole teams from 25 yards with the Staccato Match ammo averaged a powerful 2.117 inches.
This pistol was fairly correct, not lagging far behind costlier match pistols I’ve examined just like the Dan Wesson DWX, Walther PDP Metal Body Match, and the Staccato P.

What does the MAC 9 DS 1911 Double Stack 9mm Do Properly?
I feel that the MAC 9 DS is a well-executed pistol inside its worth vary. It’s not overdone. It’s correct, with a very good set off, good magazines, good optic-compatibility, and different options and efficiency that make it an awesome worth for the worth.
The place May The MAC 9 DS 1911 Double Stack 9mm Be Higher?
I feel that some refinement of the controls is an apparent space for enchancment, however keep in mind, this isn’t a $2,500 pistol. I feel an attainable expectation can be for a bit softer really feel, particularly across the set off guard.

Takeaways From Placing 1,000 Rounds By means of the MAC 9 DS
I feel that inside cheap expectations for a $1,000 2011-style pistol, it is a gem. I’d be completely proud of what I obtained for that worth, and I’m objectively impressed with this gun. It’s actually correct, and I feel would make an excellent entry-level gun for somebody who’s focused on double-stack 1911 9mm pistols, however isn’t able to shell out for a Staccato or one thing costlier. There’s no free lunch, however it is a platform that will serve an entry-level shooter effectively, with the choice for available upgrades and aftermarket components. A talented shooter with entry-level gear, who practices loads, will all the time out-shoot a mediocre shooter that buys the very best gear. One in all these pistols and some thousand rounds of ammo would put any devoted action-pistol pupil effectively on their approach.