I ordered my Dagger (threaded barrel, RMR, SW1 slide) on 6/17. Picked it up at the store in Columbia yesterday (6/29).
I immediately went out to the parking lot and mounted my Holosun 407CO, then brought it back in to the range. I broke it down and applied CLP liberally. Put it back together and put the first 100 rounds through it.
The first mag full, I turned the red dot all the way down so I couldn’t see it at all and just shot it using the iron sights, looking through the Holosun window. That worked fine. The iron sights are nothing great, but they do work. It looks like the iron sights may have it shooting just a little to the left, but they were certainly close enough for now. I was shooting at 10 yards. 14 rounds inside the 9 ring or better. 1 round in the 8 ring. That was using cheap, remanufactured 115gr FMJ.
Then I turned up the red dot and did the rest of my shooting using that, getting the dot sighted in. After 100 rounds, the groups were still about the same size. Whether I shot 5 rounds or 15, I could only get a group of maybe 5". After 100 rounds I switched to shooting my Canik Rival. I was immediately shooting under 2" - at the same distance, using the same type of target and same ammo and also a red dot. Side note: I think the Canik Rival SFx may just be THE BEST pistol you can buy for under $1500 or so and they’re under $600.
My thoughts:
The trigger on the Dagger is complete, unadulterated garbage. I’m still committed to putting at least another 300 rounds through it before changing anything, but I feel extremely confident that I am going to change the trigger after that. I find it extremely unlikely that it is going to “break in” so much that I’m going to find it acceptable after 300 more rounds.
Accuracy is pretty bad. But, I’m sure a lot of that is on how bad the trigger is. So, I’m withholding judgment on accuracy until I’ve shot it more and then put a better trigger in. I will spend real money on a better trigger, but probably not on anything else for trying to improve accuracy. It kinda is what it is, once it has a decent trigger and an optic.
I had one round that failed to fire, but I’m pretty sure that was just the ammo. It had a good-sized dent in the primer from the firing pin.
I had one round where the slide did not got all the way forward and into battery on the next round. I gave a light smack to the back of the slide and it moved the final 1/8" or so into battery and worked fine after that.
I also put some 147gr ball through it. That is the ammo I generally use in matches. It also worked fine. It was noticeably more pleasant and softer shooting with the 147gr.
So, overall, no complaints with reliability.
With the 115gr ammo, it was quite snappy. Noticeably more snappy than my Rival or the 9mm 4" 1911 I also shoot sometimes. I guess that is mainly down to how light the Dagger is.
The grip was very comfortable to hold. It was okay grippy, but I will probably put a Talon Granulate grip on it, if they ever come out with a version for the Dagger. I have that on my Caniks and you just think the grip is grippy enough - until you try it with that granulate on it. The Talon granulate is awesome. You might have to shoot outdoors on a blazing hot day with sweaty hands before you REALLY appreciate the difference.
I talked to my brother afterwards. He has had his Dagger for 6 months(-ish?). I was talking about the trigger and he mentioned that the Timney Alpha is on sale right now. They are normally $200, but Midway has them right now for $119.99. I couldn’t pass that up, so I ordered one. Now, do I have the patience to keep shooting it with the stock trigger for 300 more rounds while I let the Timney just sit in my bag…? LOL
I will most likely also order the Johnny Glock Combat Conversion kit for the Timney, in order to make it safe for concealed carry. But, I like to know what each thing does, so I expect to shoot it more stock, then shoot it some with the Timney, and then add the JG kit, so I can really compare all 3 configurations.
The first 15 rounds, at 10 yards, using the iron sights:
far away from a Race Gun - Stock.