When Girsan announced the Witness 2311 Match X, it immediately caught my attention. On paper, this full-size, double-stack 1911 chambered in 9mm looked like it was aiming squarely at higher-end performance pistols such as the Staccato XC, but at a price that won’t send your wallet into cardiac arrest. With an MSRP around $1,100, the Match X is positioned to compete with mid-tier double-stack 1911/2011-style pistols like the Mac 9DS, Alpha Foxtrot Romulus, and Fusion Firearms XP Pro.
The Match X is a 5-inch bull barrel pistol with an integrated compensator designed to keep muzzle rise flat and manageable. The aggressive grip texture provides a confident hold, while the oversized magwell makes reloads fast and smooth. Out of the box, the pistol comes with a 17-round and 20-round magazine, a full-length rail for lights or accessories, and a tungsten/black Cerakote finish that gives it a true race-gun appearance.
The trigger comes in at about 4.5 pounds. It’s crisp, with a short reset, but personally, I’d prefer something lighter. That’s a personal preference, and tuning is always an option.
Here’s where things got complicated. My first range sessions with the Match X were rough. I experienced multiple failures to feed, often struggling to get through two full magazines without a stoppage. I swapped between both recoil springs included with the pistol, tested different magazines (factory Check-Mates and other 2011 mags), and ran a wide variety of ammunition: Federal, Magtech, Fiocchi, and Velocitas in 115-grain and 124-grain ball, both reman and new, along with 96-grain Velocitas hollowpoints. No matter what combination I tried, malfunctions were consistent.
This is frustrating because when I could string together a clean run, the Match X performed beautifully. It shot flat, stayed accurate, and felt great in the hand. I genuinely wanted it to perform well, and in those rare moments it did, the potential of this pistol was obvious.
For this test, I mounted a Vortex Defender CCW red dot. While not the main focus of the review, the optic paired nicely with the pistol thanks to its rear notch sight that allows for co-witnessing. I did lose the fiber optic front sight during testing—entirely my fault—but that’s an easy fix with a little heat to lock the replacement in place.
At around $1,100, the Girsan Witness 2311 Match X is clearly designed to chase the Staccato XC in style and function, but at a fraction of the cost. That makes it attractive for shooters who want a competition-ready double-stack 1911 without spending $4,000+. However, reliability is non-negotiable, and for now, the Match X has left me with more questions than answers.
When you look at the Witness 2311 Match X alongside other pistols in this category, it’s clear where Girsan is trying to land.
The Girsan’s appeal is simple—it promises features you’d expect on a $4K pistol at a quarter of the price. If reliability issues can be ironed out, it could easily be the budget Staccato XC that a lot of shooters have been waiting for.
The Girsan Witness 2311 Match X has the right specs and an impressive feature list for the money. The ergonomics are solid, the compensator works, and the pistol has the look and feel of a race gun. But the reliability issues I experienced make it hard to recommend at this point without further testing. I plan to keep putting rounds through it and may reach out to Girsan to see if there’s a break-in solution or other fix.
If you’re considering the Match X, know that you may run into the same feeding issues—or you might get a better-running model right out of the box. It’s a pistol with potential, but potential doesn’t mean much if it won’t run reliably.
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Girsan Witness 2311S Match X (Use Code RazorMP15): Scottsdale Tactical
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