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STI 2011 for Duty Use (police)


GBTX01

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Am I crazy for wanting to make this leap?   For the last ten years I have carried a Springfield Operator as my primary duty pistol and thoroughly enjoyed it.   The biggest draw back is being limited to 11rds in the gun and 4 8rd mags on my belt (43rd of .45).  

I am strongly considering retiring my Operator and changing to a 9mm STI 2011.   The added magazine capacity is a huge selling point.

NEEDS:

-  Reliable (my life may truly depend on it)

- Light Rail

- Night sights

I understand that the magazines may need to be tuned to improve reliability but is there anything else to this equation that I am missing?

Operator.jpg

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I just picked up a NIB Marauder, it has everything you want out of the box except night sights, the 140mm mags are advertised as holding 19, but all 3 of mine hold 21, I'm only in 440 rounds of breaking it in, and it has been 100% reliable, but and this is a big one for a police officer, hollow points may not feed 100% so tread lightly, my 124FMJ round nose reloads is all I have shot

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I love my Trojan and Atlas Titan as well as a few  other 1911's in my safe but I have seen too many 1911 platforms fail in competition ... Therefore ... I carry Glocks! Sure Glocks can fail but it's pretty darn rare to see one fail. Glocks are the only gun I trust my life with, period!

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1 hour ago, igolfat8 said:

I love my Trojan and Atlas Titan as well as a few  other 1911's in my safe but I have seen too many 1911 platforms fail in competition ... Therefore ... I carry Glocks! Sure Glocks can fail but it's pretty darn rare to see one fail. Glocks are the only gun I trust my life with, period!

 

What he said.  I love competing with a 2011 and since I can take them down after every match to check them over they run near flawless . . . key word near.  But trust my life with it in an environment where it may not get maintained that well and get beat around, sorry, no way.  And it doesn't have to be a Glock if you just can't bring yourself to carry a Glock.

Edited by sitw
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As a LEO myself, my only concern would be the mags taking a set on the springs.  Routine maint. schedule should solve that problem if it would even be a problem.  The key words are " your life could depend on it ".  My Glock mags do well over extended periods, but if I had the chance, I would rather carry a Tactical 5.0.

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Though not allowed to carry one for work, the duty ammo issue can usually be overcome by a good polishing of the feed ramp and maybe a little honing on the barrel. I have put 1000's of duty rounds through my old Tactical 5.0 with not one problem. As far a setting of the mags, that is probably a bit more of a worry with factory springs but good aftermarket I don't think would have as much of an issue.

 

Unfortunately I have to keep my Glock. Not that I am complaining but....

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I appreciate everyone's responses and thoughts.   Our issued duty ammo is Hornady's Critical Defense.  This has been one of my holy grail guns so there is a very good chance that I will get one, whether or not I use it for work.  I am very lucky that our department has a very liberal allowance of sidearms we can carry.   It has been a while since I have been on this forum and it is good to see there is still so much information and help here.  Thank you.

 

 

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I carried a STI Marauder on duty for a short time.  I went to it after being tired of single stack magazines.  The gun was great but the magazines were an issue.  They are not near as finicky as some say.  However, continuously dropping them on concrete ranges and being stepped on in shoot houses took its toll.  Depending on how and where you train is going to be a factor.  My competition 2011's have no issues since all the matches are on dirt or grass and they typically don't get stepped on.  My fix was an M&P with a Apex FSS trigger and RMR for duty (the magazines can take a beating) and an open 2011 for matches.  Good luck with whatever you choose.  

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I don't carry on a daily basis like you do, but I would balk at having to carry a gun as wide as a 2011.   I would build or buy a double stach based on a Caspian HiCap frame in the caliber of your choice.  The frames are no wider than a 1911 unless you put on big grips.  If you just use the supplied (or other) grip tape, the grip is less wide than a standard 1911 with grips.  Use MBX HiCap mags, or the new Capsian mags.

 

My choice would be 40 S&W.  Using Caspian mags you can hold 15 rounds in the Tactical mag and 18 in the extended mag.  The MBX 140mm mags will be available in a couple of months and will hold 20 40sw.

 

BTW, Les Baer builds some guns on the Caspian HiCap frame.

Edited by zzt
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I wish my dept would let me carry a 1911

My takes going to be a bit different, rather than getting it in 9, I would get it in 45

the sti/para mags were built around the 45acp, that's the reason those mags in any other caliber have ribs down the sides to narrow the mag for smaller rounds, 38 super, and run spacers or load the rounds long for shorter rounds, 9mm and 40

 

instead of messing with every variable with mags and ammo to make it work, I'd get it in 45 and find ammo that works

 

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If you do make the choice to get a 2011 the only absolute upgrade I would suggest is dawson base pads. The stock ones are just too flimsy to trust with your life. They are known to volcano at the absolute worst time. As far as mag durability, it's a none issue. I have roughly 6k-8k through my 2011 with stock 126mm mags and dawson base pads. No mag issues to date and that's with a heavy majority of my shooting matches indoors on concrete floors.

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FWIW, when I first decided to get into double stack (years ago) I contacted STI.  I wanted to know the exact differences between their 2011 models.  When I mentioned I wanted to stay with 45 ACP, I was strongly discouraged.  I was told there were feeding problems with 45.  Part of it had to do with the ramp, and part having something to do with the diameter of the round and the problems that caused in aligning the rounds at the top of the mag.  I was told 40sw would be a much better choice.  I wasn't aware of USPSA at the time, so I dropped the matter.

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On 1/27/2017 at 8:09 AM, GBTX01 said:

I appreciate everyone's responses and thoughts.   Our issued duty ammo is Hornady's Critical Defense.  This has been one of my holy grail guns so there is a very good chance that I will get one, whether or not I use it for work.  I am very lucky that our department has a very liberal allowance of sidearms we can carry.   It has been a while since I have been on this forum and it is good to see there is still so much information and help here.  Thank you.

 

 

The critical defense has the polymer tip which should negate the issues usually seen with hollow points.  The bigger issue may be the weight of several double stack mags on the belt.  You LEO's have a lot to hang on there.

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i (not LEO) have and absolutely love my couple of sti 2011's and wilson 1911's for uspsa and idpa, and most have been close to perfect, but my bedside handgun is a glock 31 and carry gun is mostly a glock 32.  that said, if a dept forced a 2011 on me, i wouldn't be broken up too much...

Edited by davsco
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As far as ammo goes, my Eagle in .40 gobbles up factory ammo with no issues whatsoever.

 

On an unrelated note, FBI HRT carried Les Baer's built on Para P14 frames for a long time. They were really nice guns.

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You obviously know how to maintain and keep a 1911 running fine, so I say go for it.  The idea that a high cap STI, SVI, or custom build can't be made to be as reliable as a polymer striker fired pistol has not been my experience.  I own CZ 07/09 and they are great; own Glock 19, 17, 20 and 29 and enjoy them too...but the MCG 2011 style pistols I own are what I carry...and they are 100%.  The only advantage I believe a Glock has over them is cheaper mags and lower purchase price (which is why so many departments started and continue to carry Glock).

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Bruce, did you you have any trigger work done to your CZ 07/09?   I too have a P09 and use it in the single action setup.  I love its capacity and low bore axis but the the long reset is a pain.   After shooting my 1911 a lot i find myself short stroking the trigger at times during stress fires.  I am thinking about sending it to Cajun Gun Works and getting the self defense trigger job.

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  • 2 weeks later...

For what it's worth, I purchased an STI Marauder a couple weeks ago for this use and it's consumed over 1,000 rounds of HST now. Only malfunction was a failure to feed on round number 4 and not a single bobble since.

 

I don't need night sights as I'm not going to be shooting at things that aren't illuminated enough to identify and recognize as a threat. I have a WML for that so the stock plain black rear and FO front work fine for me so far.

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