Range Report & Review: Fusion Firearms CCO 9mm

[mamcdonald]

I've had a desire for a CCO-style 1911 in the back of my mind for a long time, but it wasn't like a pressing need so I never really looked into getting one. Cut to last month when I decided I'd treat myself to something for my birthday, only to discover that my Right Now options were either a used Dan Wesson on gunbroker or an Ed Brown for $lol. There were also a few stock photo ads on GB for these Fusion pistols, which I wasn't familiar with at the time. I guess the guy who used to run Dan Wesson left and started his own company making 1911 parts and eventually whole guns. I wasn't going to take a chance on a gunbroker ad with a single manufacturer-provided photo, luckily a local shop offered them for order on their version of that sales website every other gun store seems to use.

The Good:

The pistol comes in a big nylon range bag with one mag, a bushing tool, and an extra (lighter?) recoil spring. Inside the big bag, the pistol is wrapped in a plastic bag covered in more oil than I've used to fry chicken.

Build quality is great, very solid. Slide to frame fit is tight but very slick with no binding, the thumb safety has a very tactile click to engage/disengage but isn't difficult to do either direction, it just feels good. The frame and slide both are milled out of steel so it's pretty heavy for a smaller gun which helps tame the mighty 9mm recoil. The front strap is also sharply checkered and the trigger guard slightly undercut which are a nice touch for what is ultimately an inexpensive brand.

Fusion builds these with Series 70 internals so no firing pin safety. The trigger is pretty good; little to no noticeable takeup, crisp break, short reset. My cheapo digital trigger guage measured a pretty consistent ~4lbs right out of the box. I'll take it. This was the first 50 rounds I put through it after I cleaned all the shipping oil out of it. See if you can spot which hole is from me being surprised by the light trigger and sending the first shot prematurely

The Bad:

This thing refuses to feed any type of hollowpoint. It has a non ramped barrel, and even if it will strip the first round from a full mag the next will get hung up. I've tried multiple different types of magazines including some that were recommended with a built in "feed ramp" (really just a little lip on the front to help guide the round) and multiple different ammo brands all to no avail. Ball ammo hasn't given me any problems over a couple hundred rounds but defensive ammo is a no go, which is kind of an issue for what was intended to be a carry gun. I've got an assortment of recoil springs to swap out, in a day or two I should have a magazine catch delivered that will seat the mags a little higher than standard, and I'm going to have to try the Wilson mags everybody raves about. After that, it's going back to the factory.

Final Thoughts:
For ~$800, this is a pretty good range gun. Accurate, low felt recoil, good trigger. Want a defensive gun? Save up for something better.

Edited February 27, 2023 by mamcdonald

[NoBanStan]

Dang! I bought a Mosin with less grease on it!

[Sleep profit]

Good shooting. Nice looking gun it’s a shame it won’t feed hollow points. thanks for range report  I hope the factory guys get you going I would be interested in how they fixed the feeding issue when you get it back 

[Grayfox54]

I think I see your feed problem. Notice that little gap between the frame feed ramp and the barrel. That should be a smooth transition there. Send it back to the factory.  

As for mags, Wilson makes the absolute best .45acp mags. But their 9mm/38 Supers are just so-so. I suggest Metalform mags. They make the Colt factory mags and I've found nothing better for 9mm/38 Super. Completely reliable. 

[mamcdonald]

17 minutes ago, Grayfox54 said:

I think I see your feed problem. Notice that little gap between the frame feed ramp and the barrel. That should be a smooth transition there. Send it back to the factory.  

As for mags, Wilson makes the absolute best .45acp mags. But their 9mm/38 Supers are just so-so. I suggest Metalform mags. They make the Colt factory mags and I've found nothing better for 9mm/38 Super. Completely reliable. 

From what I've seen the ramp there is pretty close to spec, there should be at least a 1/32" gap between the feed ramp and barrel throat to avoid any potential overhang.

 

This thing came with one Metalform magazine and I bought two more that have a built in feed ramp that they make for Springfield. I also have a couple of Mec-Gars that took a lot of effort to load more than three rounds into. I'm going to order a Wilson ETM just to cover all my bases but I'm pretty close to sending an angry email to Mr Fusion.

Edited February 27, 2023 by mamcdonald

[jon1977]

I have one of these exact pistols and I feel your pain. I went through the ringer getting mine to run properly but now it runs 100%. Here is what I did:

1. Buy quality magazines, mine are Nighthawk.

2. Take a soft polishing bob and lightly polish the feed ramp area. Make sure it is light. Do not remove any material or change the geometry of the ramp.

3. Shoot the piss out of it. Mine really started running good after 500-600 rounds.

 

Hope this is helpful.

 

Jon

[ken_mays]

Hollowpoints can have issues as the feedramp depends on an ogive surface hitting and camming up.    With a strong recoil spring and less than strong mag spring, the round can nosedive and get caught on the ramp. A rough feed ramp and weak mag will make the problem more common.  Excessive extractor tension can contribute too, since the round being forced up the feed ramp is what levers the rim under the extractor, but you’ll generally see that later in the feed stroke.  

[Tom B]

I have several 9mm Brownell mags and never had an issue with them.

[chances R]

love 1911's .....hate the problems, thus carry M&P shield.

[Tom B]

I have found anytime I bought a new gun and it had issues that the mfg always took it back and fixed it. 

In fact with a Kahr P380 that I bought used, they took it back and fixed that too.

[mamcdonald]

Put another 250 FMJ through it today with maybe 2 FTFeeds that were by the same magazine (Mec-Gar makes excellent mags for everything except compact 9mm 1911s apparently, these are the worst ones I have). Tried some Federal HSTs that quickly jammed, and bought some 135gr Critical Duty flex tip since they have a longer COAL than the 115s. They fed the first 5 ok from a Nighthawk magazine but jammed on the 6th, other mags didn’t get that far. It’s also shooting a few inches left at 10 yards, verified by multiple shooters from a rest. I put in a service request with the manufacturer so hopefully a stint in the gun hospital will cure what ails it.