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Recommended COAL for an STI 2011 .40 S&W


kcobean

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I shot my "new to me" Eagle for the first time yesterday in a local match and it functioned well using the short-loaded .40 I use in my XDm. This match was literally my first shots with this gun. From an accuracy perspective though, I had a lot of trouble with longer shots that would be no issue with my XDm. I got to the point where I just stood there doing slow fire and was hitting left, right or high on poppers and I had a much higher C count than normal. I'm wondering if the COAL of my rounds is providing too much free space between the bullet and the lands/grooves and this is affecting accuracy. I'm going to get it to a static range for some testing this week, but I'd like to know what other folks are using for a COAL with these guns. I'm using a 165gr plated RNHP.

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Dude, if these were your first shots, that is the reason for your points dropping.

The gun SHOULD run factory length ammo. But most, load between 1.180-1.200" to take advantage of faster powders safely. Longer rounds are less likely to nose dive, but as I said before, a properly built 2011 with the proper mags should run factory ammo. No exceptions.

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Something else to keep in mind is that if you want to keep the XDm as your backup pistol, your ammo will need to be short enough to feed in those mags.

Definitely don't sweat the accuracy issue until you spend some time with the pistol in slow fire. I would be shocked if you find that the cartridge length has much effect on your group size at this point.

As previously mentioned, longer OAL's in .40 S_I's are more for safer pressures and feeding than accuracy.

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I run 1.145" so they work in my glock and my STi. Sti should take factory ammo length no problem. Longer OAL MAY help accuracy. Depends on your load. You'll just have to try different things.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk

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Dont think its the short oal causing the accuracy issues. I'm on my 4th STI Limited gun. All of the guns would shoot factory ammo into nice tight groups, same or better than my long 1.180 reloads. Ironically the tuned Edge was the only one which would run factory length ammo near 100%. The other 3 custom guns would occasionally have a FTF with short ammo but run 100% with 1.180 reloads. The builders are amongst the top names in our sport. The long oal is primarily for feed reliability.

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Thanks for the feedback so far guys. I guess I'm just baffled that I would have so much trouble hitting poppers at relatively close distances. It seemed like I was hitting all over the place despite having an easy time tracking the front sight. I'll be shooting groups with it as soon as I work out a few other issues with the gun. If it proves to be just me, that's awesome because I just loaded almost 2k rounds at a 1.135 - 1.14 COAL. :)

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I agree with the other posters in that the OAL is not likely to cause that amount of accuracy problems. I've found that some barrels just don't like some plated bullets. My longslide 40 will shoot a shotgun pattern with one brand and a knot with another.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Two totally different guns with two totally different triggers. You're probably used to the XD longer trigger pull. And the Eagle has a much shorter single action pull. Your probably breaking the trigger sooner on the Eagle before you're completely on target. Spend more time at the range, and get used to the trigger on the Eagle. In the end you really should shoot it better

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