jmaracing

I have an STI limited gun, which I hate. It is an expensive custom gun with every bell and whistle. I have no real reason why I don't like it, other than my old, cheap, almost stock Para fit my large hand much better. I also loathe the flexible feel of the grip. Is there anyone that makes larger, aftermarket grips for the STI, preferrably out of Aluminum? I keep thinking of figuring out how to legally get a Springfield wide-body and just start over (I'm in CA, and they don't sell them here), but it seems silly when my gun is essentially perfect. Thanks, J-M

Seems to me what they need is a weight limit and fewer restrictions. Then, all the concerns go away. Take a steel framed 5" 1911 with a rail, throw a S&A magwell and a full length steel guide rod and some sights. Weigh it. Make that weight plus an ounce or so the max and you won't have to worry about anything else. To use a full underlug frame, you'll have to have light grips or an aluminum guide rod or something, and the possible gaming advantage is gone. Could a gamer get an Ti frame and add a Tungsten guide rod? Yeah, probably. Will it make enough of a difference to worry about the arms race? No. Will people spend $3k to build something to the edge of the rules? Sure, but people will no matter what you do, including the current rules. I'm also in favor of adding other single stacks. Sigs, Glocks, and whatever else fits should be welcome. Will any people shoot them? Not likely, but we won't have to debate the exclusion of said guns... jm

Oh jeez, forgot about the dreaded rail. Probably wouldn't cost much to get the lugs machined off... jm

If you're thinking of putting together a single stack .45 for the new division, I stumbled on this which mostly pissed me off since I live in California, but for the rest of ya, awfully good deal. Fitted barrel, slide and frame, just add those final pieces and go to town. Probably cheaper than buying a Kimber or SA loaded to boot. More on the Caspian website, but the main points are slide with external extractor, rail frame various parts, and add a barrel already fitted for $650. dont need much more than sights, trigger group, springs, bushing, slide stop, grips and you're rolling. I want one. Here's the url, and I have no affiliation with Caspian. http://www.caspianarms.com/html/specials.html jm

I'm kinda confused. Why all the fuss? I think IPSC has pushed hand gun design and performance from it's inception, and this thing isn't that radical, no more so than full/heavy underlugs and bull barrels were compared to standard 1911s of the day. Imagine you took an Eagle 5.0, slotted the slide to allow for a front sight mounted to the barrel to stick through and took a proper sized bit and milled out the front 3/4 of an inch of the barrel to approximate the recoil reducing properties of the trusight. What's so revolutionary about that? Commander slides aren't exactly revolutionary. As far as I can tell, the only thing this ruling has given us is a more definitive picture of what constitutes a compensator. All I wanna know is if it's much better, and when can we build these ourselves from comp blanks, so we can make our own versions that aren't so uuuuugly!! jm

Hey Bob, I finally installed the "star with bearings" and it does make a difference. I know some people with 550's have to leave slop in the star to make everything work, and you end up with inconsistant primer depth and other less than optimal relationships. This takes care of that. I adjusted it and now it works as before, only with less slop. I like it. I think rifle shooters and revolver shooters would benefit the most, but this 40 shooter would say I give it a thumbs up. jma

Yeah, Aluminum's great if it's strong enough for the dimensions. Anyone know? Also, it's mostly cause I hate the hole in the front of the slide the regular reverse plug makes. The standard steel STi reverse plug offends me, considering how jewel-like the rest of the gun is. I'd love to "seal" the hole, but don't want to have a heavier slide when I'm done. It's perfectly fine now, just, well, it annoys me. I know, I know... jma

Yeah, I'm looking for a Titanium one, as I want something lighter to help decrease slide mass, and I like the 360 support style... jma

Cool, but a little much for me. That's the price for Millenium's version (PVD WCC - Tungsten Carbide/Carbon Finish $300), and it was high enough to start me searching on my own. It should be comparable or cheaper than hard-chrome (Tripp Cobra Chrome $180 steel gun minus barrel includes prep), but I understand that it's mostly new to the firearms industry and you gotta find someone willing to do it, make money, etc. I talked to a couple of places and they were all over right up until I said "pistol." Sigh... jma

What's the price for the TiAlNi? jma

I still haven't found a PVD place that wants to deal with firearms in small quantities yet. Still looking, so let me know when you find it. I think the AlTiNi is the way to go, but here is another option, easy and cheap. http://burlingtoneng.com/melonite.html jma

I know I've seen em before, but can't find em now that I'm looking. jma

That's Awesome! Exactly what I'm looking for. Now I gotta set aside $80 and we're good. I wonder if it fits in the IPSC Standard box... jma

Oh, one other thing. If you do get a grey market 400, they really hold their value. My wife would get mobbed at sport bike gathering places asking questions about her CBR400RR. But, these are bikes that are 10-15 years old and people still get $6000 plus for em.

Hey Rikarin, Did you get something yet? I would not recommend the 250 Ninja, it has a hard time getting out of it's own way, slower than the street-legal 125 2-strokes you rode in Japan. I wanted to mention not to get too caught up in the displacement, and remember that 4-strokes make roughly half the horsepower of their 2-stroke brethren. A twin won't make as much horsepower as a four-cylinder either, as they don't breathe as well, and the 650 twins that many have recommended have roughly the same horsepower and weight as the 400cc sportbikes you began looking for (in many racing organizations they race each other). I think the new Ninja 650 Kawasaki would be a great bike. Light weight, low seat height, relatively inexpensive for a new bike. However, I'd say look for a used 500 ninja twin, or what's sometimes called an EX-500. They should be quite inexpensive, under $3000 used, and are light weight and easy to handle while still allowing spirited performance. Also, if your heart is set on a 400CC sportbike, they are available but hard to find. The FZR400 was made for a few years at the end of the 80s and early 90s. CBR400RR's and RVF400's are around as grey market bikes and many have been licensed. Here's a picture of my wife on one going down the tight side of Mt. Palomar near San Diego (that's me in the background). We sold that bike a few years ago as it wasn't quite fast enough for Britt, but she's a racer, so that doesn't count jmaracing