Last summer, I had samples of the Springfield Armory AOS 1911 line here for testing. Of the guns that arrived, the Ronin 4 ¼” AOS 9mm PX9118LAOS (Blued / Satin Aluminum). This sub-30oz. 9+1 9mm auto is of the “Commander” form, a full-size frame (albeit in aluminum alloy) with the 4 ¼” barrel/slide of the original Army requested GM replacement for a service gun in 1949. A new pistol was not selected, but Colt went commercial with the new 1911 format, now called the Colt Commander (the “Lightweight” moniker came much later).
I’ve been a fan of the short-slide full-size 1911 for many years. I had one made up, a “Combat Commander,” steel frame 45 by famed Washington state gunsmith John Lawson of Tacoma. The 9mm has some advantages.
First, it’s the original caliber for the shortened lightweight 1911 from 1949. Next, the ammo is available (for now) and is the lowest cost centerfire handgun ammo I can find. Next, for those who have diminished capabilities due to infirmity, age, or whatever, 9x19mm ammo in a near-30-ounce pistol with wonderful ergonomics, can be readily handled.
It’s not so large or heavy to be hard to conceal and the ammo capacity is likely “enough.”
The sights on the Ronin AOS are plenty good; blacked-out rear and fiber-optic front are both of a height to be usable with any number of optics that would fit-in; the Agency Optics System has plates that pretty well cover the ground.
My shooting thus far has been quite limited in 2025 and I wanted to just work a different type of pistol from those I’d spent the most of my short bit of range time with. The Ronin filled the bill.
I also elected to shoot elements of the 2005-era Arizona Daytime Qualification for handguns as a personal evaluation with the single-action, hammer-fired design. I had a TQ-21 target that I cut so I could use a pre-shot IDPA cardboard target as a backer. The target is quite generous – and it’s a good thing. I needed all that space.
I shot from concealment, using a holster from Simply Rugged Holsters, the DEFCON-3. An improved pancake-style belt rig, it hid under the chambray shirt I wore. I used a double magazine pouch, also from Simply Rugged Holsters.
Using the Prescott, AZ Police modification of the Arizona course, I started at 25 yards, shooting cold. I had a leisurely six seconds to make a pair of hits from the holster. I was slightly quicker, but my lack of practice with the platform hit hard. The course calls for pairs from ready at the same distance in five seconds per iteration. I shot those in under five seconds and my lack of accuracy was still in evidence.
I found I had some issues in depressing the grip safety – and my grip lacked consistency. Still, I had only one out of the generous scoring zone – but a more realistic target would have had me crying.
Moving up to three yards – where a total of 24 rounds are fired – was interesting as the timing was vastly shorter. It was still relatively leisurely, but I was shooting from concealment.
Going quicker and putting my focus on where I wanted to hit didn’t create any problems for close-range accuracy. Shooting the 7-yard, three-hits in four seconds from concealment, I changed it up and shot a failure drill in 3.45 seconds. That’s not lightning speed, but it was shooting in assessment time.
I again went off the rails at fifteen yards. Even at that, I found the single hits from ready in 2 seconds were easily accomplished in just over one second. I was finally hitting my stride at the end of the course. Out of the forty rounds fired in my modification of the course, I had one outside the main scoring area. The target isn’t pretty, but it’s a pass on this target on this course.
That’s not great but I know what needs work.
I shot a B-8 repair center from ten yards, with three rounds of Hornady Critical Defense 115gr. FTX ammo. With one “X” and two low 10s, I knew the gun would get me home with that ammo onboard.
And stoppages? This was a 1911-variant, after all.
There weren’t any. The 9mm in the lightweight, short-slide 1911 is a good fit – and Springfield Armory is at the top of its game.
— Rich Grassi