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G10 Sunburst pattern grip panels.

The Turkish firearms industry has long been established, and in recent decades those with knowledge of firearms have come to appreciate the fine craftsmanship and value offered by the Turkish gun makers. TİSAŞ (Trabzon Silah Sanayi) has been in business since 1993, manufacturing firearms for both military and civilian markets worldwide. TİSAŞ began exporting their products to the U.S. in 2004, and since that time we have seen many TİSAŞ pistols imported under different names and brands.

After almost thirty years in business, TİSAŞ decided to set-up their own U.S. company in order to import their pistols under their own name, and began operations in early 2022 as Tisas USA. Located in Knoxville, TN, just a few hours east of Casa Gunblast, Tisas USA is importing models specifically tailored for the American market, and offers very impressive pistols at very reasonable prices. Headed-up by Americans with extensive experience in the firearms industry, such as our long-time friend Dave Biggers, Tisas USA has a deep understanding of what American shooters want, and they are really doing a great job of providing a lot of bang for the shooter's buck. Recently I reviewed their PX-9 GEN3 Night Stalker SF 9mm, and I was very impressed by that pistol's features, quality, and value. Aside from the PX-9 Gen 3 line, Tisas USA also offers their Faith 13 380 pistol, and an impressive and ever-growing line of 1911 pistols in 9mm Luger, 45 ACP, and 10mm Auto.

To cut to the chase, the Tisas USA 1911 Stingray Carry B9BA offers pretty much everything desired in a 9mm 1911 carry pistol, at the very reasonable MSRP of $619.99. 

Starting with the basics, the Tisas Stingray Carry 9mm is a Lightweight Commander 1911, meaning that the frame is aluminum rather than steel, and the barrel is shortened from 5 inches to 4-1/4 inches, with the slide shortened accordingly. These dimensional and material changes result in a 1911 that is both a bit easier to conceal, and (at least in my opinion) better balanced than an all-steel Commander-sized 1911.

The Tisas USA 1911 Stingray Carry is available at the same price in either 9mm Luger (Model #B9BA) or 45 ACP (Model #B45BA). While the 45 will generally be preferred by 1911 purists (such as me), the 9mm is also a fine choice in a modern defensive pistol. In the early decades of the 1911, the 45 had a definite ballistic advantage over the 9mm because of the increased bullet diameter, as the FMJ round-nose "Ball" ammo commonly used would not expand in either caliber. Modern 9mm ammo is much better than the earlier 9mm loadings, using hollow point bullet designs that allow the 9mm to take advantage of its higher velocity to expand after impact, imparting much greater tissue damage than a round-nose FMJ. Modern 45 ammo also takes advantage of expanding bullets, typically using more effective heavier projectiles, but decades of research shows that lighter-weight expanding bullets at higher velocities are quite effective for Social Work, making the 9mm a great choice for defensive use. Today's 9mm actually has a couple of advantages over the 45 ACP: firstly, the 9mm, thanks to its lighter-weight bullet and Ike Newton, tends to offer less recoil than the 45 ACP, making it easier to master. Secondly, in today's world of diminished ammo availability and skyrocketing ammo costs, 9mm (at least 9mm practice ammo) can be much easier to find, and can cost 30 to 40 percent less than 45 ACP; this should not mean the shooter will save 30 to 40 percent in ammo cost, but rather that the shooter can afford to shoot 30 to 40 percent more.

The Tisas USA 1911 Stingray Carry B9BA's frame is not only lightweight aluminum, but also features the Ed Brown Bobtail®, which is a modification that rounds off the heel of the grip, along with the base of the mainspring housing. This modification is an aid to handling and carrying the pistol, as the bobtail shape nestles into the hand very well, while the rounded corner of the grip really diminishes the grip's protrusion when carried underneath clothing, thus making concealment much easier. The frame also features a trigger guard under cut, allowing the hand to ride a bit higher, thereby lowering the bore axis just a bit in the hand. The frame is finished in a dark grey Cerakote®, which makes an aesthetically pleasing contrast with the black-finished slide, controls, and grip panels.

The barrel is 4-1/4 inches of cold hammer forged steel, featuring an integral feed ramp for reliable feeding using modern ammo. The original 1911 design utilized a feed ramp that was integral to the frame, which created a transition between the frame's feed ramp and the barrel's chamber throat. This design was fine for the time, as the classic loads used in the early 1911s consisted of round-nose full metal jacket (FMJ) bullets; as bullet design evolved into the more modern designs used today, the 1911s would tend to jam, as the flat point of hollow point or flat-nose lead bullets would snag at the transition between the frame's feed ramp and the barrel's throat. A cottage industry sprang up among custom pistolsmiths who would polish the feed ramp and open and polish the chamber throat, and it was not uncommon for the poor shooter who had already spent a fortune on a Colt 1911 to have to spend a few hundred more of his/her hard-earned dollars in order to make the pistol run reliably. 1911 pistols of modern production feature polished frame feed ramps and chamber throats, but in recent decades custom pistolsmiths have taken the concept to its logical next step by making the feed ramp integral to the barrel, thus eliminating any possibility of this sort of feeding malfunction. Tisas USA wisely includes a ramped barrel in its Stingray Carry pistol. 

The forged steel slide, as mentioned, is finished in a nice-looking dull black, contrasting nicely with the barrel. The ejection port is lowered and flared for enhanced ejection, which is another reliability modification that in decades past added substantially to the cost of a 1911 pistol. The serrations at the rear of the slide are in a scalloped "fish-scale" pattern, which looks cool, but more importantly, makes the slide much easier to grasp and rack.

The internals of the Stingray Carry, like all Tisas 1911 pistols, are "Series 70", meaning that Colt's nonsensical "Series 80" firing pin block safety, which mostly served to make a muddy, mushy mess of the trigger, is not included. I applaud Tisas for going back to the much better Series 70 system. The Stingray Carry's trigger is a lightweight aluminum unit which is vertically grooved and skeletonized, with just a bit of takeup and a crisp break averaging 2 pounds, 5.7 ounces on my Lyman Electronic Digital Trigger Gauge. The trigger is quick and easy to stage, making follow-up shots a snap.

The recoil system is standard 1911 spring-and-plug configuration, and that suits me just fine. I have nothing against full-length guide rods, and I own several 1911s that feature them, but the original recoil system was good enough for John Browning, so it is certainly good enough for me.

The sights on the Stingray Carry are excellent, consisting of a dovetailed, windage-adjustable front sight that is contoured to the slide, and a dovetailed, windage-adjustable rear sight of the tapered Novak style, featuring a set screw.  The sights are steel, configured in the "three-dot" sight pattern; just a basic set of quality sights, offering ruggedness along with a crisp and easily-repeatable sight picture.

Components and controls are first-quality. The hammer is skeletonized and rounded, nestling beautifully into the upswept beavertail grip safety, offering zero chance at hammer bite, even for large hands such as mine. The grip safety also features a generous "memory bump", allowing the shooter's thumb to "ride" the thumb safety while firing without fear of failing to activate the grip safety. The thumb safety is ambidextrous, extended just the right amount for positive operation without getting in the way or making concealment difficult, and snaps easily and quickly on and off. The mainspring housing, as previously mentioned, is bobbed and rounded, is smoothly-finished, and very comfortable.

Grip panels are black G10 composite material, attractively patterned in a radial "Sunburst" texture that offers a positive and repeatable hold. The port-side grip panel is relieved to allow easy access to the magazine release.

Magazines are made from steel, with a capacity of ten rounds, and a rounded polymer follower as well as an extended polymer base pad. These are quality magazines, and two are included with the purchase price of the Stingray Carry. Also included are a waterproof lockable fitted hard plastic case, cleaning tools, a bushing wrench for disassembly, a trigger lock, and a printed manual.

Specifications - Tisas® USA 1911 Stingray Carry Lightweight 9mm Semi-Auto Pistol

Shooting the Stingray Carry was a pleasure. The light weight of the pistol was not a factor, as 9mm recoil is pretty mild, and the pistol was easily controllable using everything from sub-sonic to hot +P+ ammo. The pistol ran perfectly using a wide variety of ammunition types, with the only failures being not attributable to the pistol: using remanufactured Super Vel Hush Puppy sub-sonic 147-grain FMJ ammo, one or two rounds per magazine would fail to eject, resulting in a "stovepipe" jam. This is neither the fault of the pistol nor the ammo, rather that the sub-sonic ammo just didn't generate enough inertia to reliably counteract the necessarily-stiff spring tension required to run the shorter slide. As always, make sure you run enough of your chosen ammo through any pistol, especially a pistol that will be used for defending your life and the lives of your loved ones, to be 100 percent certain that the pistol will function with 100 percent reliability, 100 percent of the time.

The Stingray Carry is exceptionally well fitted, with no discernible looseness in slide-to-barrel or slide-to-frame, and this, along with the good sights and excellent trigger, contributed to the pistol's fine accuracy. Five-shot groups fired at fifteen feet (five yards) measuring 1-1/2 inches or less were easily achieved; the Stingray Carry is match-accurate and combat-ready.

For holster options, any 1911 holster will fit the Stingray Carry perfectly, and, if you are like me, you already have a variety of 1911 holsters around the house. Otherwise, there are a great many holster options available, from belt holsters to shoulder holsters to chest rigs, from Kydex to nylon to leather. My preference is always for quality leather, and given the Stingray Carry's size and purpose, I have been carrying this Tisas pistol in a CID Slide belt holster from Rob Leahy of Simply Rugged Holsters in Chino Valley, AZ. Rob designed the CID Slide for a friend who is a Criminal Investigator Detective (CID), as a minimalist belt slide holster offering maximum concealability. The CID Slide is a modified pancake design, with both the grip and muzzle ends of the pistol exposed, adding as little bulk as possible for concealed carry. The CID Slide is available to fit a variety of pistols, and is quality-made from the best leathers, with a starting price of only $55.00 US (as of February 2023) in black, tan, or oxblood colors (oxblood is a $15.00 upcharge). The CID Slide can be had in a variety of levels of ornamentation, from border stampings to full stamping to hand-carving, and made from a variety of exotic leathers, for additional cost; mine is beautifully made from black elephant hide, and it looks as impressive as it works. Simply Rugged also offers several other styles of holsters for 1911 pistols, please check out their web site for more information. I can't recommend Rob and his team's work highly enough. 

The Stingray Carry 9mm Luger and 45 ACP pistols are available now, and should be on dealer's shelves as you read this. They are available through Lipsey's affiliated dealers; if your favorite local dealer does not have one in stock or is not affiliated with Lipsey's distributors, click on the DEALER FINDER at Lipsey's web site to find a dealer in your area who can get one of these for you. You will not regret it.

The Tisas Stingray Carry 9mm is a lot of 1911 for the shooter's hard-earned dollar: reliable, accurate, and beautiful, this pistol offers just about everything a shooter could ask for in a carry 9mm 1911, at a fraction of the price of most of its competition.

Check out the ever-growing line of Tisas 1911 pistols, as well as other pistols available from Tisas USA: www.tisasusa.com

To Find a Tisas® USA Dealer Near You, Click on the DEALER FINDER at Lipsey's: www.lipseys.com

Order Ammo Online at Lucky Gunner: www.luckygunner.com

Federal Premium ammunition: www.federalpremium.com

Double Tap Ammunition: www.doubletapammo.com

Buffalo Bore Ammunition: www.buffalobore.com

Simply Rugged Holsters: www.simplyrugged.com

Lyman Products: www.lymanproducts.com

Boge Quinn

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