The Trident 1911 made quite a splash at SHOT Show and was developed by Bill Laughridge and a career Operator. The need for a pistol that will function under all types of field conditions was realized after said Operator saw all of the various makes of tactical pistols “choke†under real world situations and conditions. Bill’s 30+ years experience in building the 1911 pistol and the 20+ years of real world tactical experience of a career Operator resulted in the development and production of the Trident 1911 Pistol. From what I have seen, including a brief once over at SHOT Show, I am impressed.
The Operator involved has carried 1911s, government as well as personal in combat and took Bill’s course in 2007 to learn the finer points of building and maintaining them. He and Bill wanted to build a real battle gun that could face the current fight with the addition of some of today’s relevant technology but none of the fluff.
The Trident is completely hand fitted and has only the essential, battle tested features needed on the 1911 platform to provide a totally reliable close quarters combat weapon. You will not find many of the “Must Have†features found on tactical 1911 pistols designed for urban street use. Rather, they found that many of these same “Must Have†features detract from the reliability and ergonomics needed in a 1911 pistol that is designed to function flawlessly in the world’s most hostile environments.
Built on the Springfield 1911A1 45 ACP Pistol, the Trident has been coated with the Fail Zero finish that allows the pistol to operate without lubrication. For those who do not need the added protection of the Fail Zero finish the Trident is available with the traditional parkerized finish with a corresponding reduction in price.
Additionally, the Operator wanted a stronger front sight and a slightly enlarged slide stop. Together they fabricated the sight and got the slide stop from Greider. They added the fire control dots to make the weapon more intuitive to younger Soldiers who are generally not well versed in the 1911 platform in case the weapon had to be handed off. They lowered the ejection port and relieved for a bullet nose so there would be no issues unloading the weapon at a DFAC clearing barrel. It comes with or without a Dawson Rail and the rear sight options are either the Heine Ledge or a Warren Tactical rear, and both will incorporate 50 LPI serrations on the front edge for one handed slide racking.
The Trident is test fired at 15 yards after the initial build for function and zeroing of the sights. The front sight is sent out for the tritium insert with white ring and the pistol is sent to Fail Zero for the finish or parkerized in house. After the pistol has had the finish applied, refitted as needed, and the front sight is re-installed the pistol is test fired a second time for a final function check and to recheck the zero of the sights. Both 7 round magazines are fully loaded and fired twice during both test firings. The minimum number of rounds fired during both test firings is 56 rounds. A further 200 rounds must be fired by the purchaser to completely break in the pistol.
This is a no nonsense gun and the individual features that went into the build of this weapon are incredible and could take up several pages. I recommend that you head over to Cylinder & Slide and drool over the features.
To order visit www.cylinder-slide.com.
