Posted on by Sherman A. House DDS

A REAL NON-SHILL GUN REVIEW: THE SPRINGFIELD ARMORY 10-8 PERFORMANCE MASTER CLASS

Look at its sleek profile and Armand Swenson-esque squared trigger guard. It is an elegant weapon, for a more civilized age. 😉 Hilton Yam knows a thing or two about a thing or two when it comes to the operational use of 1911’s, from his experiences on the American streets with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

In the gun culture and training industry, we are surrounded by shills. The definition of a shill, according to Merrian-Webster’s online dictionary is: “one who acts as a decoy (as for a pitchman or gambler) or one who makes a sales pitch or serves as a promoter.” The latter definition isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but since I have a bit of an insider baseball knowledge in how firearm promotions work, from my time in the industry, I KNOW that gun companies send their products to professional reviewers for positive reviews, and often that gun is either GIVEN to that author, influencer or content creator gratis, or at a tremendous discount, in return for a positive review. For experienced gun buyers and gun users, this isn’t a shock, and most savvy folks won’t be easily swayed by the full color and high production values. But the cynics among us, who HAVE bought lemons, or guns that were pumped up to be awesome by fugazi reviewers, know better. “Once bitten, twice shy,” as the old saying goes.

These days, MOST gun, “reviews,” come from YouTube, where the revenue earned by the content creator comes from ad revenue. Meaning that the more eyes their review gets in front of, the more money they make. So good for them! But since making enough videos to produce an income stream takes production, it also takes products. Most content creators don’t want to nor can they afford to buy their own products to video and promote, so they gladly accept free products and I KNOW that they always give objective reviews. I know this because I have seen what was in the actual footage and what they released in the promoted video. There was a large discrepency! I’m not saying everyone who promotes products are shills, and I’m also not saying that all product reviews are promoting products that are crap, but ultimately, buyer beware. Don’t stake YOUR LIFE on someone else’s review thinking, “they did the homework, so I don’t have to.” AND I’m even talking about MY WORD. I bought this firearm, the ammo, the magazines, the holsters, and all the supporting gear you read about in my work. Nobody gave me anything for my time, or my consideration. These are all my experiences and those of my colleagues under my supervision. So here we go…

BACKGROUND

The 10-8 PERFORMANCE MASTER CLASS (in 9mm) is a full size, “Government Frame,” steel frame pistol that feeds from the nine round Mecgar and/or Metalform OEM magazines, and also comes with elegant, yet grippy, Hilton Yam logo VZ Grips (don’t get mad at me Cooper Acolytes and 1911 guys…that is the name of the company; I am aware that Cooper correctly called them, “stocks,” and that, “grip,” is a verb) that are not abrasive on the skin or clothing, but provide a hold that is ready to resist the massive recoil experienced when unleashing a round of 9mm ammunition from a 43 ounce firearm…I’m being a smartass (sorry Mom). This (and all steel frame 9mm 1911’s) are about as close as you can get to using a recoilless pistol. The gun soaks up recoil from the 147 grain Speer LAWMAN TMJ’s I prefer to use for practice, training and competition, as well as the Federal HST 147 grain duty ammo I have the gun zeroed for and carry in it.

I have fitted this pistol with a CHPWS AOS compatible optic plate for the Trijicon RMR family of optics, and to it I mounted the Trijicon RMR-HD with a 3.25 MOA dot. I chose this mounting plate because unlike the OEM plates, the rear sight is NOT adjustable for windage. It is monolithic in construction. On a duty gun, I think it is important to minimize the parts of your gun that take a beating (the beavertail/hammer/rear sight/back of optic) on a duty gun are exposed to the elements/garment abrasion on both concealed and duty holsters, so the less problems they are exposed and susceptible to, the better. The CHPWS plate also uses T-nuts that insert into recesses on the base of the plate, that provide a recoil boss effect AND also provide more screw engagement for the optic. So again, a more rugged option. Yes, it is a more expensive option than the OEM plate (you get a discount coupon with the gun to order the OEM plate) but if you are using this gun for carry/duty/rugged use, I would personally go for the heavier duty plate system. I chose the RMR HD because it is, in my experience, the ruggedized version of the Trijicon SRO. While I love the large field of view the SRO offers, it isn’t the MOST rugged of PMO’s (Pistol Mounted Optic) around. I don’t worry so much about bashing it into the steering wheel of a patrol car, because I don’t work in patrol cars anymore, but I DO worry about knocking it off my nightstand where it sleeps at night, onto my hardwood or concrete floors. Yes…SRO’s still work with the glass cracked, but if I can have an optic that is significantly MORE rugged, with a bigger window than a Type 2 RMR, AND does not have to be removed from the gun to change the battery? Then all the better! This configuration works for me, in practice, competition, carry and testing. And I live in an area where torrential rain is a thing, but the gun continues to function, open emitter optic and all.

Before I get really far down the road with PMO’s, and any other changes to the base gun, I like to make sure that the thing works. I fired 500 rounds of SPEER LAWMAN 147gr TMJ as well as WWB 115gr FMJ before I even thought about mounting the optic. The rounds all went off without a hitch, and I applied some lubrication, liberally, at every 250 round mark. The rear sight worked loose, although the retaining screws come from the factory with yellow threadlocker on them. So if you are going to run just the OEM iron sight plate, I would recommend applying some blue loctite after you degrease the holes and the hardware. The front sight, although it didn’t make a complete escape from the pistol, it DID work itself loose. I remedied this by cleaning it up, degreasing the sight and the dovetail, then laid down a bead of red loctite and then slid it back into place, centered it, and then I applied a coat of red loctite around the periphery of the sight. I let it sit for 30 minutes, and then I cleaned up the excesss. As you can see, it rains alot here, in the great PAC NW, but the cerakote finish on the gun repelled the water just fine. The cerakote is a blessing and a curse…after you begin shooting the gun, it wears off of the slide rails, and when compounded with lubricant, it creates a sludge that can bog the gun down. This is a minor issue and it happens with any of the spray applied finishes. Clean it up throughout the break-in period and you’ll be just fine!
AS IS MY ZEROING CUSTOM, I will get a machine rest (RANSOM MASTER REST) at 10 yards, and then shoot the gun at another clean, 1″ paster square and get a three round group that hits it. As described by my mentor Tom Givens, machine rests test the INHERENT ACCURACY OF THE GUN, and the handheld group tests the accuracy of what I AM CAPABLE OF. I can and have done only handheld zeros before, at 10, 15 and 25 yard, but the Master Rest really does help, “get in the ballpark,” quicker and sooner. And there is almost always (with rare exception) a variance, even if only slight, with elevation when comparing the machine rest to the offhand group. My shooting ability and quality depends on far more variables than the machine rest does! You will notice here that the 10-8 is wearing wood stocks…
These are Herrett’s stocks, in Zebrawood, and if you are a traditionalist, you can swap them out. Of course, these don’t change the mechanical function of the gun(although poorly fitted stocks CAN impede the magazine release and/or the safety), but if you love wood, you’d be hard-pressed to do much better than Herrett’s out of Idaho. My grandfather used Herrett’s stocks back in the day, in the 60’s and 70’s, and they’ve been around for decades now.
I tried these on too…my favorite variety of VZ grips, the, “Aliens.” I don’t know why they’re called, “aliens,” but I imagine it has something to do with the texture being close to the eponymous creature from the Ridley Scott filmography, or at least that creatures hive(s)! These grips were originally specified for use by the USMC on some of their hard-use 1911’s. They’re sturdy and they work well!
This is my typical offhand group shooting these days when I’m on good rip. I usually shoot two, three round groups, which invariably end up being an, “x+1” configuration. Meaning a few are tightly grouped, and one isn’t from a, “yip,” on my part. Poor trigger control, wanging on the trigger, El Snappo, and all exacerbated by too much caffeine! It happens.
I am blessed to have two wonderful, very nice shooting facilities in my area. One, is the Skagit Shooting Range in Burlington WA, and the other is the North Whidbey Sportsmen’s Association in Oak Harbor, WA. This group, and much of my accuracy testing takes place at the indoor range. The lighting conditions vary between the different lanes, but they’re all dark! Definitely would fall within the light variables of what Tom Givens would call, “low light conditions.” So a five round group, not fired particularly slow from 25 yards, off hand, with mediocre quality ammunition into a decent pattern? I’ll take it.

NOT PRACTICE, NOT COMPETITION…TRAINING (aka teaching you how and what TO practice)

This pistol was designed to be a duty gun. Meaning for uniform or concealed carry (it ain’t that big y’all…plenty of people were carrying full sized 1911’s as concealed pieces LONG BEFORE Gaston Glock’s people ever thought up the Glock 43X, so take it easy gang!) is where it is intended to function. I have occasionally helped my dear friend Rick Remington by functioning as a range safety officer in his classes, through his company, FOUNDATIONAL DEFENSIVE TRAINING, LLC. Rick teaches at the aforementioned SKAGIT SHOOTING RANGE and his teaching and their facility is excellent! Rick is a Rangemaster Certified Instructor and all of his curriculum closely follows the Rangemaster/Tom Givens doctrine, which is a further development of the Modern Technique of the Pistol, as delineated by Jeff Cooper (Tom was a student and colleague of Colonel Cooper). Training opportunities are sparse in Washington State, especially outside of Snohomish and King Counties, so avail yourself of Rick’s course offerings! Rick also hosts many other excellent instructors at the Skagit Shooting Range.

The Skagit Shooting Range has an excellent classroom facility!

I had planned to use the 10-8 in Rick’s recent, “Defensive Pistol 2,” class, but local full-time peace officer and friend, Jacob Quarrels offered to run it through the 500 rounds of the course. Jacob is a firearms training officer at his department, and I have competed and trained with him extensively. He is a top level shooter, and this year at the Rangemaster Tactical Conference, he was THE top cop competitor, meaning out of the law enforcement officer competitors, he won! So I instead trusted my 10-8 to Jacob for the class, and I used a Dan Wesson Specialist 9mm, which is very similar except for its more traditional 1911 styling.

Like I mentioned earlier, the range is a bit dark in places! Rick lead the class, consisting of four students. Rick is an excellent coach and diagnostician, and he gives good correction ands advice. He also demonstrates to a high degree of expertise and ATTAINABLE competence, ALL of the drills he requires of his students in class.
Jacob is so serious about being a Hilton Yam fan that he even has the official uniform of 10-8 Performance!
Rick’s DEFENSIVE PISTOL 2 culminates with a timed and scored evaluation consisting of the FBI Firearms Qualification (2019 version) and the Rangemaster Baseline Assessment Drill (BAD). Jacob smoked both!
This is the holster used for the course, which is a CrossBreed Holsters by N8 Tactical IWB worn in the appendix position. This holster is inexpensive, but it works well! I normally use a JMCK AIWB or DARK STAR GEAR holster for my 1911’s but because of the trigger guard, fit with adequate retention is tricky. This N8 was designed to fit the Stealth Arms Platypus, and it works well for it, ALONG WITH the 10-8 without feeling like it is too much gun pushed into not enough holster or being clicky or loose. I’d use this rig for concealed carry without issue. This holster is also available on the SPRINGFIELD ARMORY online pro-shop under, “accessories.”
This is a QVO Tactical, “More Discreet,” AIWB holster with a DCC Monoblock clip and the metal wing. I really like this holster too, and it was made to fit the Springfield Emissary, which just like the 10-8, has the squared trigger guard. I like this rig as well, although I wish there was a sterile version that didn’t feature the QVO (which stands for QUICK VIOLENT OVER) because I don’t like to have any logos which could be seen in an unfavorable light by a malicious prosecutor. I could blast or sand off these logos, with ease. Other than that, the holster is great, and I have several of these for a few 1911 pistols.

CLASS PERFORMANCE

Jacob was easily the top shooter in the class! The 10-8 ran well with his 142 grain 9mm reloads, except for one failure to return to battery, which happened predictably around 250 rounds into the class. As I mentioned earlier, I use 250 rounds as my interval for AT LEAST lubing my 1911 pattern pistols. I don’t always detail clean them (although I do) after every use, but I DO lube them religiously. Aside from that isolated stoppage (which would’ve been around round 800, approximately) there were no other problems. The gun runs well with Wilson Combat ETM 10 round magazines (my preferred magazine, especially in neutered magazine states like WA) and also the OEM magazines it comes with, that only hold 9 rounds.

As I mentioned earlier, I am a fan of full size guns for concealed carry. As I am now older, more mature, dress like an adult (meaning I don’t wear scrub pants anymore) and don’t need to carry the smallest gun I can shoot well because of clothing limitations in the HOT weather, I prefer a full size pistol that is easier to shoot, but also easier to do everything else with. INCLUDING conceal (more on that in the future). Jacob, like me, prefers the same. About the smallest pistol I will carry these days is a FINK’S CUSTOM Gunsite Service Pistol CCO in 9mm, which has a 4.25″ barrel/slide on an Officer’s length alloy frame. That gives me 9 rounds in the gun, in a package that is roughly the same size dimensions as a Glock 48, but it is imminently more shootable and safer to carry, because of the manual and grip safeties. Oh, and a plus is it runs EXACTLY like the 10-8 and the view from my end is basically the same, albeit slightly less cluttered with the irons-forward configuration. I’m not a, “carry rotation guy,” but I have a full size steel 1911, an alloy CCO and a J frame. When I lived in a FREE state, it was a full size M&P, a Shield and a J frame. So just a slight pivot!

This is the ultimate Gentleman’s Carry Pistol. The aforementioned FINK’S CUSTOM Gunsite Service Pistol CCO in 9mm, which has a 4.25″ barrel/slide on an Officer’s length frame.

WHAT I DON’T LIKE

The 10-8 uses a bull barrel with a blind plug, and then a short (GI Length) spring guide which means this 1911 comes apart like a GP35/Browning High Power. You take the slide stop out as you normally would on any 1911 pattern pistol, and then be wary that the recoil spring is going to go BOING when you remove the slide off the frame. I have thought about replacing this with a Dawson Precision toolless guide rod and a flat spring. Flat springs last for hundreds of thousands of rounds (although don’t do that) compared to coil springs and the toolless guide rod is very easy to service. It makes it easier to take the gun apart into two pieces for thorough lubrication during training without a BOING and possibly losing parts in the field.

The sights were a minor issue, but I think with all duty sights, and 1911’s in particular, loctite is important. Once you have found your duty load and have zeroed/verified point of impact, freeze those sights just where they zero! Clean up the excess within 30 minutes of application to avoid a gooey mess.

Anyone who is a 9mm 1911 guy knows that magazines in 9mm 1911’s are weird. I carry the Wilsons, but I train with the Mecgar and Metalform OEM magazines. Because when the instructor or the Match Director says, “You will need three 7 round magazines,” with Wilson magazines, you need a LULA UPloader to download your Wilson magazines by 3 rounds to meet the stage/evolution requirements. With the OEM magazines, you can just thumb out two rounds. NOT the end of the world, and I would use the 9 round OEM magazines for duty carry without issue, but the Wilsons are a BIT more rugged, and they’re stainless too, which is important for on-body carry and also in the chronic rain of the PAC NW. With Wilson mags if you strip a partial magazine from the gun, you will often lose a round out of the top of the magazine, AND the round under that one will be scooted forward slightly. This makes stripping the partially magazine out of the gun a pain. This isn’t an issue with Wilson magazines that are empty; they fall freely from the gun without help. This happens in every 9mm 1911 I have tried Wilson ETM 9mm magazines in. Again, not the end of the world, but something to be aware of!

THE VERDICT

The 10-8 is good to go in my view. I would wholeheartedly recommend it for consideration for folks like me that have the time, money and dedication to give to a premium production 1911. For others that want a carry gun they can treat like they maintain their lawnmower, there are better choices! But for those that like the safety and trigger control a single action pistol offers, this is a great choice. But like I stated earlier, don’t take my word for it. We used to tell students that they needed to test their shotguns with all manner of ammunition to make sure that they were compatible, functioned and patterned correctly and appropriately. Now? I recommend people do that with all of their guns. It seems like post-Covid, gun makers AND ammunition factories have turned out some real turds, and that trend has continued into the current market. The minor issues I had with the sights on this gun were not a big deal. When I volume test guns like this, I have a system and it starts with a Pelican case of twenty five, 10 round Wilson Combat ETM magazines. I load all of them (that’s 250 rounds for my fellow public school grads) and then I shoot them in a freshly lubed 1911. The 10-8 made it through that…twice. It also (unironically) made it through the, “10-8 Function Test,” flawlessly, which measures the extractor function, as well as the fitting on other key 1911 parts.

I realize many folks probably think it is anachronistic to use a 1911 as a carry gun in 2026, and that’s ok. A pistol that was designed in 1908 and fielded in 1911 makes it in common use for 125 years now…and that’s a long time. If there was a better product, I’d use it. But the 1911’s of today aren’t your great great grandfather’s 1911. They are an evolution of that product, but they have significantly changed. Better parts, better construction and for some guns, a return to fitting the barrel to the slide and the slide to the frame. All of this comes together in a package that is easy to use. I’ve often joked with my other colleagues and students that the 9mm 1911 is a cheater gun. It’s very easy to hold it still and align the sights because it weighs almost 3 pounds, but the trigger pull is 4.5 pounds, and it is safer to carry than a striker fired gun because it has a grip safety AND a manual safety that requires deactivation before the gun can be fired. Ernest Langdon said recently that the difference between a striker fired gun or a traditional double action in single action mode and a single action gun with the safety off is that there IS no difference! That’s a little scary. I trust when I carry AIWB that the gun pointed down the front of my body has several passive and active safety devices working to keep me from inadvertently touching a round off into my body, and I like that! Couple that with the fact that 9 or 10 round magazines are legal in every state in the Union, and you have a universally accepted service pistol. Recoil shy shooter? With Barnes 115 grain TAC-XPD duty ammo, the recoil from this gun is MINIMAL. The 10 pound recoil spring is EASY for even the weakest most arthritic person to push through with proper technique. Heck, with a rugged optic or tall iron sights, they can even push the slide against the range bench in training or their dresser at home to load the gun or clear malfunctions! With training and familiarization, it’s a great system, and what I will use for the rest of my trips around the Sun. IF you are a 1911 fan, look at the 10-8 PERFORMANCE MASTER CLASS from SPRINGFIELD ARMORY!

THANK YOU FOR READING! As always, everything in this piece is owned, and was purchased, by yours truly. And all of this was written by me, on my iPad, without the use of Artificial Intelligence of any kind! If you like my work, please like, share on your social media platforms and subscribe to the feed here so that you never miss an article. I proudly have ZERO social media presence now, so if you are reading this, thank you for your landing here and thank you for your continued patronage. -Dr. House