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SPS Pantera review


Underwood

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I was on fence about getting one of these, but over 2000 rounds , Im glad i got it.  So far I've shot this in Steel Challenge ,3 Gun and USPSA matches. It is now my go to pistol for all my competitions.

Benny Hill  http://triangleshootingsports.com/  did some work on it here recently but out of the box i shot several matches with it with no problems at all.

 

recent upgrades, 

weight removed from front

single safety swapped from ambi

short trigger 

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I've got one in 40 that I've put around 20,000 rounds through it so far. The frame, slide and barrel fit are really good but by 5000 rounds I had basicly replaced every small part in it. I also ended up replacing the grip on mine with a STI DVC grip so I could run a bigger mag well. They must save money on the price due to using all MIM parts on all their small parts. 

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8 hours ago, blaze190 said:

I've got one in 40 that I've put around 20,000 rounds through it so far. The frame, slide and barrel fit are really good but by 5000 rounds I had basicly replaced every small part in it. I also ended up replacing the grip on mine with a STI DVC grip so I could run a bigger mag well. They must save money on the price due to using all MIM parts on all their small parts. 

 

     Why did you replace the small parts?  Did they fail? 

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Yep.....the mag catch on it had to be replaced right out of the box and then the ambi safety broke in 1st match. Everything else lasted until about the 5000 round mark then I started getting really bad hammer follow. A gun Smith buddy of mine took it apart and found out the hammer and sear engagement was just wore out. Then shortly after that the trigger bow broke and since that is the 1st part to assemble in gun basicly I went ahead and picked up a new grip so I could use a bigger mag well. Then in the next couple matches the extractor broke and while we were replacing it we found the ejector was way to loose on the mount and I replaced that to. At that point I went ahead and replaced the firing pin to just be sure.

 

All the small parts are made from metal injection molding (MIM) and are no where near as tough as parts machined from billet or forgings so they wear quickly but are much cheaper to produce. 

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  • 1 month later...
On 11/7/2017 at 6:28 AM, blaze190 said:

Yep.....the mag catch on it had to be replaced right out of the box and then the ambi safety broke in 1st match. Everything else lasted until about the 5000 round mark then I started getting really bad hammer follow. A gun Smith buddy of mine took it apart and found out the hammer and sear engagement was just wore out. Then shortly after that the trigger bow broke and since that is the 1st part to assemble in gun basicly I went ahead and picked up a new grip so I could use a bigger mag well. Then in the next couple matches the extractor broke and while we were replacing it we found the ejector was way to loose on the mount and I replaced that to. At that point I went ahead and replaced the firing pin to just be sure.

 

All the small parts are made from metal injection molding (MIM) and are no where near as tough as parts machined from billet or forgings so they wear quickly but are much cheaper to produce. 

 

After all this would it have been better to pick up a STI Hawk at $1339 and have it run reliably with better parts from the get go?

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 12/29/2017 at 2:21 PM, Descartian said:

 

After all this would it have been better to pick up a STI Hawk at $1339 and have it run reliably with better parts from the get go?

I would say the STI would be the cheaper way to go as long as you are happy with it right out of the box. If you have to start changing things because of shooter preference or reliability issues it will be about the same out come. 

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The SPS Pantera looks like it is a solid gun. The one thing to consider is the biggest selling point of the Pantera is its "reasonable" price tag. But it averages around 1400ish on gunbroker right now. As the OP said the internals all had to get replaced by 5000 rounds. 

 

The STI Hawk is right at the same price point with a little bit more bare bones but better internals. 

 

There's also the tried and true path of getting a used Edge for around 1700ish. Sure it's 300 more than the Pantera, but Edges are tried and true and generally just run with better internals.  

 

When the Pantera first hit the market and was closer to 1000 it was more price competitive.

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  • 4 months later...
3 hours ago, Boot said:

Since this original post, does anyone have some new insight into the pantera? Interested in jumping into a 2011 and this is intriguing. 

 

So I picked one of these up a few months ago and have put about 2K rds through it. The gun itself has never skipped a beat. I have had a couple of magazine issues but that is strictly the factory mags not feeding or nose diving. I purchased 3 STI Gen II mags and have not had any problems with them. Trigger is not 2.5-3.5lbs it's more like 5 so be aware of that. i am not a fan of the grip due to the angles on the front. I intend to get it reduced and maybe have it stempled or the sand textured done to it. Other than those things I am super happy with the purchase and would do it again. Look at the Enos site supporters first if not give Donnie Flowe @ www.stagezeroshootingsupply.com a call and he can help you.

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I have right at 3k on mine. The barrel fit and slide to frame fit is solid on my gun. Should be good to go for a long time.

 

However, I had to replace the ejector because the mag catch allowed a mag to seat to far and broke the nose off. So, I also replaced the mag catch with a Dawson.

 

Replaced the firing pin, the trigger, the extractor with an AFTEC and the thumb safety all for personal preference.

 

I recently filled in the grip with epoxy to accept the Dawson sandpaper. 

 

My trigger was 2.5 lbs out of the box

 

full

 

Edited by James3Gunna
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