cheers623

Hope my post sheds some light. This is not a defect, there are two design issues at play here. First, STI machines their slides with very large ejection ports to aid in allowing the brass to clear the port without hitting the inside of the slide in that area. If you look at older vintage 1911s you'll notice that the ejection port is quite a bit smaller and was one of the first areas to be modified by gunsmiths when building custom 1911s...back in the day. Now every manufacturer designs their slides with much larger openings. STI just happens to open theirs up lower than some others in this area. Because they make pistols in so many different calibers and many have a C-more red dot sight sitting right on top of the port, they really want to give as much room for the cartridge ejection pattern as possible. The second issue at play here is the barrel. Another reason you're seeing brass is because STI machines a relief cut on the right side of the chamber to give ample clearance for the nose of the extractor. STI has gone thru a few different designs with their extractors and all of the various other manufacturers all have a slightly different amount of material or different profile on the nose of the extractor. In some cases the nose will be too long and contact the side of the barrel at the right side of the chamber when a round is chambered. This can keep the slide from going fully into battery at worst, and batter the nose of the ejector and side of the barrel at least. By making this relief cut on the side of the barrel, it eliminates the need to file the nose of an extractor to clear this area. It also can serve as a handy loaded chamber indicator. I've noticed that this seems to be more of an issue with fit on .40 caliber pistols than others for some reason. Most barrel manufacturers do some kind of relief cut in this area, it just depends on how they do it. As an example, on all of my STI pistols that have STI barrels with this relief cut, I can just fit and tune an extractor and never worry about this area needing to be fitted. However, one pistol I have with a KKM barrel and almost no relief cut needs to have every extractor I tune for it filed down quite a bit on the nose to allow the gun to close up and go into battery. It doesn't matter what extractor I use in that gun, they all need to be filed down. I've tried STI, Ed Brown, Wilson, and Aftec and the nose of all of them contact the KKM barrel because KKM does this really shallow, almost dimple-like cut out. I suppose I could have it machined out but just decided to fit a few spare ejectors to that barrel/slide combo and leave it alone. Anyway, I hope that gives you more info than you ever wanted...and helps. Cheers623 DVC

9 lbs recoil spring and 17-19 lbs mainspring. That should run almost all low to medium power factor ammo and also lighten the trigger pull slightly while keeping reliable ignition. Of course, test before taking to a match. Either Wolff or ISMI makes the springs you'll need and they're both high quality. It's really just personal preference. Many folks like fiber optic front sights....I'm not one of them. I've gotten used to black but you may like them. Dawson Ice Magwell or Techwell. Wilson, Tripp, Metalform, or Dawson 10-round magazines. That should pretty much get you up to speed for anything you want to use the gun for. Trigger job is nice but not necessary. Hope that helps, Cheers623 DVC

Magazine definitely CAN have an influence on the ejection pattern. The bullet stack pushing up from underneath on the bottom of the empty case being extracted will influence to some degree how and where the rim of the empty contacts the nose of the ejector. This can be observed in high-cap mags such as the 140 and 170mm mags as you start with a full magazine. Fire the pistol and just watch ejecting empties path as you go thru the mag of ammo. However, this relationship is highly dependent on how much extractor tension you have along with the length, and shape of the ejector nose. My experience is that the longer the ejector is, the less effect the bullets pushing from underneath has on ejection because the case starts to be pushed out the ejection port sooner. This of course needs to be tuned depending on your bullet profile and case-overall-length to allow ejection of live rounds, etc. Regarding the magazine that will feed super or supercomp, there is enough of a difference in how the the rounds sit on top of each other as a result of the rim or lack of rim that a magazine with poorly setup feed lips might favor one over the other. Especially in a magazine of the 170mm length loaded to max capacity, say 29-31 rounds. However, again, my experience is that properly tuned magazines with feed lips adjusted and polished will feed either reliably. It's only been when you start getting to the maximum capacity of the magazine, along with your individual spring and follower combination that you start to see this be more critical to "tune" to the specific caliber. I.E. super versus supercomp. Hope that helps, Cheers623 DVC

Me and another local shooter have 3 Trojans between us and have been using Tripp 9 round 10mm mags with ammo loaded to both factory length and longer and they've run without issue. The only hang up has been when using the Tripp 10mm mags (only the follower is different) and using shorter/factory loaded ammo loaded to the full 10 round capacity. Then the first round nose dives. However, loaded longer (1.180") they run fine when loaded all the way. Hope that helps, Cheers623 DVC

Hey, thanks! I try to give back what I've been fortunate enough to learn here. Cheers623 DVC

Not too snappy. Most folks are using 180-200gr. Some few use 165gr but not many. With a fast powder the 200gr loads feel identical to .45 using 200gr.

9 and 10lbs. Either ISMI or Wolff is fine. Many folks end up with a 9lbs spring but you should try both.

Dan Wesson, Sig and Para make 1911s in .40 as well. Springfield used to but seems to have stopped except by special order from the Custom Shop. STI has probably built more of them than anyone else, and as of their latest Trojan production models seems to have figured out a very reliable design. If you intend to only shoot .40 loaded to SAAMI specs any of the above would probably be fine. If you think you might load longer length ammo to use in a future Limited Division 2011 pistol, the Trojan is probably your best bet. Depending on your magazine selection, the Trojan seems to have the best reputation for reliability. I really like mine. Cheers623 DVC

The area you're circling shouldn't have any metal on metal impact from use. It's the window where the slide stop "pawl" is inserted and travels up and down to engage or disengage the slide. Take a look at your slide stop and see if there is any odd wear on it. If the slide stop is not original, is poorly fitted, or the wrong caliber it might cause issues in this area either during cycling or when inserting or removing it. Without going into all the possible causes, I'd just dress it down with a Swiss file, shoot it more, and keep an eye on the area. It's probably just an inadvertent "idiot" mark. No offense. We all have these happen from time to time when servicing our pistols. Hope that helps, Cheers623 DVC

I have 3 of the old NM serial numbered frames {before they said made in Brazil} and none have that step. Is that the way new NM frames look? From what I can tell on their website, it looks as though they have a NM frame and a "Heavy" NM frame. The link I posted above lets you look at the Single Stack Classic gun that is built on their Heavy NM frame. Look at the pic. Cheers623 DVC

There's a picture of SA's NM frame on their website somewhere. It's very square and blocky. I think the TRP and Trophy match frames have National Match slide rail specs but are not the same as the one SA Custom shop is building Leatham's gun on. If you go to this site and click the tab for "Single Stack Classic" you'll see exactly what I'm describing: http://www.springfield-armory.com/custom/ Magazine-wise, I think it's luck of the draw. If you happen to not ditch your mags in a sandy spot or mud you're probably fine with 5-6. PASA had lots of grassy range surface but as the weather deteriorated thru the week everything got more problematic. I usually come to matches with 6 mags and think I'm covered for most anything. The Single Stack Nats this year, and I assume most years, is designed around lower round counts. Highest round count for a stage was 22 rounds. Basically 4 mags would have been enough. I've only ever shot local club matches in my Area. This was my first National match or even level III match. I shot my last-minute purchased STI Trojan, Wilson 10mm mags, and used my Limited .40 loads. Came in 53rd overall and 2nd "B" overall. I learned more in that one match than a year of shooting club matches and plan on making SS Nats a regular thing! Highly recommended. Cheers623 DVC

Phil S. used a Springfield .40 that he'd won a while back. Dave S. used his Springfield .45 which is more or less a custom Operator. Rob L's gun is obviously a Springfield with the NM frame in .40. Nils J. was a .40 with an STI Rangemaster heavy frame cut back to regular length. Beyond that I don't know. In the top 20 there were no 9mms or anyone shooting Minor. Only 5 shooters shot Minor in the top 50. High Lady Jessie D. used her Taurus chambered in .38 Super and shot Minor. The match stage designs definitely favored Major scoring and didn't give much advantage to having 10 rounds in the magazine unless you just wanted to hose targets. You were usually moving to the next array after 6-8 rounds fired. Not to make any value judgements/statements but it seemed that among the higher classified shooters, most of them shot .40 because their "home" Division was Limited and they had invested time and resources into getting a .40 Single Stack to run the same ammo. As you went down from GM and M to the A,B,C,D shooters you started to see MUCH more concentration of .45 pistols. I switched to a .40 Trojan a week and a half before going in a panic because my primary .45 started puking and my backup gun was at the factory for work. My box stock Trojan ran without a hiccup and I wished I'd made the switch years ago for ease of ammo supply between Divisions. On the squad I was on, every gun that had malfunctions was chambered in .45, though I believe that had more to do with poorly maintained magazines or poor QC on the ammo/reloads, not any fault of the pistols. That's why I can't understand why I'm not a GM yet...I load ammo like a GM! ;-) Interesting side note, there were a lot of the top dogs shooting guns that had heavier dust covers or light rails. I assumed this was because of the added weight and recoil mitigation. While that may play a tiny part of it, I spoke with Springfield's Custom shop manager Dave Williams and he said that it had more to do with high round count guns eventually cracking around the dustcover area if they are the regular design. The heavier profile guns don't crack in this area. The Springfield NM frame is basically just the light rail frame without the picatinny rail cuts machined in. That would also explain why Matt Mclearn used a Rangemaster STI frame cut down for Nils J's pistol. Hope this long-winded post has some interesting info! I really enjoyed SS Nats this year! Oh, and I'm a total gear head... Cheers623 DVC

Would strongly recommend milling the frame for a ramped barrel. Either W/N or Clarke/Para cut is fine. Most quality barrel makers make both types. Many types of thumb safeties but Ed Brown still makes great ones including their new version that is awesome! Either Extreme Engineering or EGW fire control parts, your choice. Grip safeties boils down to Ed Brown, EGW, STI, etc. but there's a ton of nice ones now. Personal preference. Rear Bomar-Style sights should be Wilson, SV, or Champion. There's other options but these are all top shelf quality. Front sights....so many choices. EGW ejector or Brazos. Most folks say AFTEC extractor but Ed Brown, STI, or Wilson are all fine if fit and tuned correctly. That should be a good start. Hope it helps...oh...and go ahead and join the "Edge" shipping club at Brownells.... Cheers623 DVC

For Major I use 4.4gr of Ramshot Competition with Xtreme 200gr RN bullet seated at 1.185". Makes between 172-176 power factor in all my .40 STI guns. When I shoot Minor I use exactly the same recipe except I substitute a 155gr RN bullet seated to the same depth. It makes a comfortable 135-140 power factor. I literally only change the bullets I put in the loading tray on my press. Many folks do the same thing. Hope that helps as a starting place. Cheers623 DVC

After having shot Single Stack with a .45 exclusively for the last 2 seasons and Limited for 8 years previously using .40...here's some thoughts. My primary Single Stack .45 this season started having numerous "issues" and my backup had to go back to the factory. 3 weeks before going to this Year's SS Nationals I panicked and bought an STI Trojan .40. I did a trigger job and started breaking it in and getting used to it. Long story short...I wish I'd done it years ago. Nothing wrong with .45 mind you. It's just that I'd logged so many rounds down range with my Limited .40, both Major and Minor that the new Trojan I'd bought felt like I was home again. I ended up using it at this year's SS Nationals and it ran without issues. Most of the higher classified shooters I squadded with shot .40 as well. I used Wilson 10mm 9-round mags and they worked great. Most everyone else used Tripp 10mm 9 or 10 round "box-length" mags. I honestly only saw malfunctions with pistols in .45. That's most likely because the folks shooting .40 Single Stack guns are a little more "invested" in keeping their gear squared away. Maybe? The ability to now switch back and forth between 8-round major or 10-round minor for club matches has me really intrigued and I'm in the process of retiring my .45 reloading components altogether. I got caught up in "custom" guns and gear for the Single Stack game and spent a lot of money. I really wished I'd kept my mind open years ago when the .40 Single Stack "thing" started catching on. I'd have saved a lot of money just getting a Trojan .40 and tweaking it to run 100% YMMV but hope that helps, Cheers623 DVC

The Marauder with 155gr Minor loads around 135power factor will be fantastic and almost identical to a 9mm 147gr Minor load...perfect for steel matches or IDPA. Install a tungsten guide rod, load a batch of 180-200gr Major loads and you're ready and competitive for any USPSA Limited Division match. Recoil springs would be 9-10lbs for Minor and 11-12lbs for Major. If you wanted to go the extra mile you could have a bull barrel fitted to your Marauder along with using the tungsten guide rod for extra weight toward the muzzle end when shooting Major but it's far from necessary. I'd jump on that pistol. I've always regretted not grabbing special-run/edition pistols that I had my eye on... Cheers623 DVC

I've got a number of 1911s and 2011s with all different length light rails. From full length to half length. They all work well in my 2 Bladetech holsters for the STI Edge. The Edge has a long, wide dust cover that's actually wider than any of the light rails out there. All I ever do is adjust the retention screw in front of the trigger gaurd for the different pistols. You should be good to go. Hope that helps, Cheers623 DVC

Gun looks legit....but. For the same money you could buy a new STI pistol in similar trim with enough money for a supply of magazines, belt, holster, and everything else. Or, get a low-mileage STI Edge or similar from the classifieds here and have money for all the above AND some practice ammo. The pistol looks to be solid, no-frills SV. It's cheaper than new with no 18 month wait. They make fantastic pistols. I guess my opinion is that if you want an SV this price is 'decent'. It's no 'steal' or bargain of the century. For another $1000-1500 you could have a new SV built to spec. If I wanted an SV I'd go all-in and get a new one. I've owned SV pistols, they're great. Hope that provides some perspective. Cheers623 DVC

Enjoy! I'll be thinking of you while I'm in Toronto...its 29 degrees there

Both Kensight and Champion offer Bomar-Style sights with the 45 degree beveled "ears" on the rear blade. You'll have to do some searching but they should be direct replacements...meaning of course that you'll need to do some fitting with stones or files like most 1911 sights. I'd start looking at Brownells and also do a google search of the company's websites. Also, Wilson Combat offers a removable/interchangeable rear sight blade option on their Bomar-style sight and options include a beveled blade. They're more expensive than others but can save you money long-term by letting you try different rear blades, notch widths, etc without having to replace the whole rear sight assembly. Cheers623

I'm coming from Seattle. Looks like Saint Louis is the way to go. Any input or advice? Cheap fares available non-stop on Alaska Airlines. Any help greatly appreciated, Cheers623 DVC

Hey guys, Chris made me some mag pouches that were great. Gonna get some more and remembered seeing he had a website now. But, I can't seem to find it anywhere. Anybody know a link for it? Cheers623 DVC

So, were the silver Basepads ever available or just red and black from the beginning? I got dumped by your ordering system and when you notified me of the problem, only red and black were available as options. Just wondering, as I'd prefer the silver because they show less wear when repeatedly dropped. Any help or info is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance and hoping they turn out to be as good as they look. Cheers

If you think you'll ever want a trigger job...you may as well get it done now. It's like buying a new sports car and putting cheap tires on it to see how it'll drive from the factory. Why not go ahead and have it done now? $250 is right in line with most gunsmiths and your won't have to send it back or be without the gun later on, should you decide you want a trigger job. Plus, you'll be garuanteed not to have "maybe i should've gotten the trigger job" rolling around in your head EVERYTIME you pick up the gun. Buying an Open gun is not the time to save a few bucks...just saying. Cheers623 DVC

The 1911 was designed around a longer COAL round (.38 Super or .45 depending on who you talk to) and so the length of travel of the slide along with other physical dimensions are "too long" to accommodate shorter rounds. However, many work-arounds have been created to address the issue. One is longer feedlips on the magazine. Another is a spacer at the back of the magazine to position the shorter round closer to the feedramp. On 1911/Single stack pistols chambered in .40, usually you'll see the factory send the gun with magazines that have the spacer at the back. Assuming the pistol is otherwise setup correctly you should have no problems running ammo that's within factory-spec lengths. On the 2011/Double stack pistols chambered in .40, it has more to do with the length of the feedlips along with the angle of the feedramp on the barrel. Again, a properly setup gun and magazine should feed even relatively short .40 ammo. All of my 1911/2011 pistols will run any length and bullet shape reliably. However, "should" and "do" are often two separate things with regards to mass produced pistols. My experience is that STI has made huge improvements in sending their pistols out with properly specced magazines and re-designed feedramps that'll feed most factory-length .40 ammo. I can't speak to the other manufacturers. The main reason most of us load long is for lower pressures achieved in reloaded cases along with a more forgiving operational envelope when running our gear at the ragged edge. All of the above is to say....blah, blah, blah...that you'll have to try it and see! However, if you do have problems using the shorter ammo you shouldn't have much problem addressing and fixing the issue by adjusting feedlips, feedramp, or using spacers. Hope that helps! Cheers623 DVC