D&L Sports LFI Special

As a high school kid, one of the earliest influences on my shooting came from the writings of Massad Ayoob. A gifted writer and shooter, Massad can articulate the subtle performance differences between guns, and in the late 80s and 90s, he seemed to cover everything that interested me. Massad became a bit famous for shooting lots of different guns at a time when his peers were mostly shooting just one gun, usually a 1911. Massad could shoot anything though and realized that for police work or civilian self-defense, a 1911 might not be ideal. He was an early champion of guns carried on safe, as well as double action guns, recognizing that those features helped good guys in very stressful situations.

Though I have mostly carried Glocks or classic series Sigs, when my job issued me a 1911, I was pretty stoked about it. Not so much for the trigger or the 45 ACP round, but for the ergonomics and the thumb safety. I’ve dealt with weapons retention issues a couple of times in my life, and am a big fan of weapons carried on safe. As a police officer, I carried a Glock, but at least I had a level 2 retention holster to carry it in. As a federal agent, I carry my gun concealed most of the time. At the time I was issued a 1911, in addition to SWAT duties, I worked on a very violent Indian reservation. The thumb safety on my 1911 gave me some extra peace of mind.

In the mid 90’s, Massad took what he knew about human “issues” under stress and had a custom 1911 built to try and encompass everything that mattered to him. He originally wrote the gun up in the 1996 Complete Book of Handguns, and I remember thinking that it was a fascinating idea. Massad wanted to keep the accuracy potential of a tuned 1911, but also have it be as reliable as possible. The two main features of the gun that relate to handling under stress are the undercut front sight and the trigger.

The undercut front sight was spec’d to provide a proper sight picture under varying light conditions, but in addition, acted as a “DNA collector” in case the bad guy got his hands on the muzzle of the gun. Massad is a big believer in weapons retention and disarming training and having a sharp, undercut front sight could help in case he needed to retain his weapon.

The trigger though, is why I have this gun on loan to me. As a huge fan of double-action triggers, I have always wanted to try this gun out. A few years ago, Massad reached out to me on a forum and offered to send the gun to me after its trigger came up in discussion. I declined at the time, though I can’t remember why. A few months ago, I asked Massad if I could borrow the gun for some testing and a write-up. He graciously shipped it out.

If you don’t remember the original article, you are probably wondering why I am discussing double action triggers in the same article as a 1911, a 1911 that clearly has a short trigger on it. Massad asked Dave Lauck to put a heavier-than-normal trigger in this gun. Dave put in a trigger that weighs about seven pounds and has a lot of slack built into the front end of it. The idea was to take the positive attributes of the 1911, and shore up its one downside for domestic defensive use by making the trigger more stress-resistant.

This may seem like a less-than-awesome idea, and certainly it is an unorthodox way to build a 1911. Most guys who carry and shoot 1911’s, do so almost entirely for the trigger it provides. If you want a .45, there are less expensive, more reliable, less maintenance-intensive guns out there. They just don’t have a great single-action trigger. This was not an issue for Massad. He learned to shoot any type of gun fast and accurately and routinely did using all sorts of triggers in various competitions as well as training environments. So, given a guy who can shoot a long heavy trigger well, is this the 1911 to have?

I took my Wilson Combat 1911 out as a baseline to compare to the LFI Special and see how it stacks up. I shot them close up for speed on my Cold Heat drill — 25 yards for slow fire accuracy, 7-15 yards for speed on small and medium size plates. I also shot both at 25 yards for speed and accuracy on small plates. Before I give you the results, Massad answered a few questions about this project for me.

P-T: When and why did you have D&L build this gun for you?

Massad: Mid-90s, don’t remember the exact date. Dave Lauck asked various people “in the business” what they thought would be the ideal 1911. I always thought the 1911, built with that rare combo of accuracy and reliability, would be extremely versatile. Hence the adjustable sights for precision events and to keep POA/POI for a wide variety of loads at various distances. Matches from PPC to IPSC, hunting appropriate game at appropriate distances, duty carry, concealed carry, home defense.

P-T: What was the thinking behind the trigger?

Massad: I wanted a reasonably heavy (read: liability-resistant) trigger that still broke clean and allowed good shooting. Dave Lauck did the rest.

P-T: Did the pistol accomplish what you hoped?

Massad: It did, though I don’t recall hunting with it.

P-T: If you were to commission another build like this one, would you do anything differently?

Massad: I’d lose the FLGR. It’s in that gun because DL feels very strongly that it’s superior.  The LoMount thumb safety was something I just couldn’t get used to, and was swapped early on for its current low-profile ambi.

So, how did the gun shoot? On any timed drill, the difference between my favorite Wilson Combat .45 and the LFI Special was absolutely negligible. It might have been .01 or .02 different here or there, hardly enough to definitively say that it was the weight of the trigger. I actually think the trigger being short, as opposed to my preferred long trigger, made more of a difference in shooting it. With the LFI, I had to place my finger on the trigger more carefully and pull it more consciously each time. Also, the Bomar sights are a little wider and have a little less light than I am used to. That difference alone could account for any run that might have been a hair slower.

The photos below show my results at 25 yards, shooting “rapid bullseye”. At work we sometimes shoot 10 rds from the holster at 25 yards in 20 seconds. Usually, we do this with RDS glocks. These 5 shot groups were shot in 10 seconds from a ready position. I had not adjusted the zero on the LFI Special as it seemed to be on for me, but it might have benefitted if I had. In any event, you can see that making a mistake with the Special sent two of my rounds a bit low left, where a mistake on the longer lighter trigger of the WC only led to a slightly lower shot. Aside from the length of the trigger, I do think the WC trigger, at approximately half the weight of the LFI, contributed to the tighter group I shot, as well as keeping them all in the black. I should also mention that the group and score I shot with the WC is among the best I have ever done, so it may not really be fair to compare it to the LFI. Had I done this drill 10 times with each pistol, the results would likely have been closer.

The trigger of the LFI Special has been described as a double action in microcosm. I think that description is pretty apt, given the constraints of a single action 1911 trigger. Other than the targets above, the area where I really noticed the heavier trigger was in slow fire accuracy. I felt like I had to work harder to get the gun to shoot well compared to my WC. Not to make excuses for the trigger or for me, but I still think the tighter sight picture and short trigger were more of a hindrance than the weight of the trigger.

I’d like to thank Massad for his generosity in loaning me his LFI Special, the first ever built as far as I know. It is a very unique gun, and while the idea of a heavy-trigger 1911 will not likely appeal to many, I think it accomplishes what Massad set out to do. Reduce the chances of an ND under stress, while still providing a very capable gun. I would have no issue carrying a gun set up like this, though I would open up the sight picture and lengthen the trigger. No different than fitting any other gun to the shooter.