ck1

I just got an AFTEC installed in my gun today too and it looks exactly the same as yours. Mine was a PITA to set-up to feed correctly, my gunsmith and I went back-and-forth 4 times test shooting/fitting trying to solve feeding issues, finally had to take more than a coil off of the spring closest to the breech face as it had way too much tension... He did the install with me right there and followed the directions to the letter, but it took much more tuning than expressed in the directions to get it to run right, we ended up being very generous with the tolerances and radius-cut to the firing pin stop and it still took clipping down that first spring and some tuning to the exractor claw for it to seem like it's working as it should. Honestly, I don't have complete confidence in it yet but decided to have it put in now rather than wait for my stock extractor to bite me during a match. If there's anyone who'd like to share specific instructions on their successful way of doing the install I'd love to hear 'em as my install didn't go easy at all and I'd like to hear the details in case there was something we missed or didn't get..? To the OP, mine dropped in fine first try and cycled dummy rounds no problem too, but feeding real rounds during test firing was a whole other story, make sure you test it before you go heading out to a match or something.

BTW, here's LD's site: http://www.davidsonknives.com/ - looks like he's in the process of updating it which is a good thing, the guy's just got so many designs that are above and beyond the usual he could show off if he wanted and his old site didn't even scratch the surface.

The grips were $85, but that's more than usual because I had them cut to work with the Techwell, pretty sure Larry's usual price is about $75 with anything you want short of the Techwell recess cuts or other non-standard request.. Trigger is an SVI interchangeable w/ the medium flat. I got the Techwell bt itself sans grips from Shooters Connection, they rule too, and w/ the Enos discount they're a good bit less than most out there.

If you looking for something off the beaten path or even just plain-jane but super high quality when it comes to new grips, Larry Davidson is the man. The guy is such a pleasure to deal with that I just wanted to give him some free advertising (as if he's not already busy enough as it is, he makes a lot of the top-quality OEM G10 grips for most of the top-shelf 1911-makers', while still doing custom orders for us average guys since that's what got him rolling). These are custom ordered "Shredders" precision cut to work with the Techwell system per my request and also with lightening cuts on the back to save a little more weight. He delivered these in 10 days and they only cost $5 more (and in some cases a lot less) than off the shelf G10 grips and they're exactly what I wanted. Custom craftsmanship like this is rarely if ever this accessible and affordable. He's got some pretty unique designs he'll pull off, maybe think up something cool and drop him a line sometime. DVC

Glad you're ok, that doesn't sound very fun.

From what I gather it's a 75B SA frame which is pretty much exactly the same as an SP-01 Standard/Tactical variant feel-wise, the "original" SP-01 Shadow's have a slightly more undercut-trigger-guard and a slightly deeper beavertail cut-out, really so close that they look almost identical even side-by-side. IMHO the honest-to-goodness-Shadow frame is the smallest bit better and it's a shame the new one doesn't have those added subtle enhancements at the price-point of almost double that of a 75B SA, even still it's way awesome and better than just about everything else out there. I want one bad... I had a souped-up SP-01 and if it weren't for the rules about removing the firing-pin-block I wouldn't have had any reason to look at making the move to a Shadow variant as they're close enough where it's really almost unnoticeable.

Congrats. I too came over from the darkside, I still like Glock's, but think I like being twice as accurate with half the effort a bunch more. I predict you may notice the same thing...

IMHO the best thing an ambi-safety does is give a slight boost ergonomics-wise by giving one an easy way to add leverage with one's thumb to the other side of the gun to counteract torquing the gun over to the side when/if one's trigger-press isn't relaxed and perfectly straight-back (like when shooting weak-hans which is awkward as-is). Don't think it's a deal-breaker, but I'd rather have it than not have it, just seems to add stability for me.

If you're getting the Shadow Custom then I'd say it depends more on how patient you are than anything else. The trigger on the Custom is going to be really great already, that 100 bucks just buys some added TLC in the polishing department and maybe some creative bending to the trigger-return-spring to shave maybe another 1/2lb or so off the pull weight... the same things will most likely happen naturally after you've sent a case or two of rounds downrange or get comfortable enough with it to detail strip it and stone the sides of the hammer, trigger-bow, etc. yourself. So question is do you want full potential right now or will 95-98% be ok for a little while? Angus and Co. will earn that $100 so it's money well spent, but the guns are great as-is and those guys are nice enough where they'd probably just tell you how to do it once you know the gun in and out.

+1. The nomenclature is important as that's what distinguishes the different variants; AFAIK these days there's the original SP-01 Shadow ($880) which has a different Champion-esque hammer which delivers a trigger that is much better than any proletarian CZ-75 or SP-01, but not quite as good as CZ-Custom's competition hammer delivers as found on the SP-01-based Shadow Custom ($1200) and Shadow Target's (same as Shadow Custom but with an adjustable BoMar-style rear sight and wood grips instead of aluminum ones) and also the newly released short-dustcover 75 Shadow and 75 Shadow T's... IMHO the competition hammer is worth every penny, even better than the original SP-01 Shadow's hammer (which is pretty darn good) in the trigger-awesome-ness it delivers. If your budget won't allow for the competition hammer install and trigger-work from CZ-Customs, I'd say at least find a way to scrape up the extra $63 bucks and figure out how to install the comp hammer yourself at some point (it's really not that hard), it's really that good, I'll never own another CZ without one.

Should amend my earlier post, I meant: "I don't think you can get a better $1000.00 1911 than a Trojan..." - I'm not crazy, there are better 1911's for sure, but for the money, I don't know...

I don't think you can get a better 1911 than the Trojan which is probably why it may seem sometimes that everyone on this forum owns/runs one, including myself. The fitting and components are really nice at any pricepoint in a pistol that's made to shoot more than be a trophy, the undercut-trigger-guard IMO even puts the Trojan's ahead a few other guns that cost a lot more. .40 in a 1911 can be just as tricky as 9mm, if not more so, so going with a known quantity that has been proven to run is probably not a bad idea IMHO, plus STI makes more non-.45 1911-platform guns than anybody and will make sure you get a pistol that runs. Guns from Baer, Wilson, Nighthawk, etc are nice but most of the premium goes towards cosmetic stuff and a higher attention to detail in fine craftsmanship, performance-wise they're not much better, if any in my experience than a lowly Trojan, sheesh if a Spartan in .40 was available that might be a viable option too (though a ramped barrel in .40 or 9 sure doesn't hurt). As far as upgrades that make the gun more personalized to what you like, you'd probably change the same stuff on any off the shelf 1911, a magwell set-up is really the most expensive add-on, triggers, beavertails and other little stuff isn't so expensive that they're cost-prohibitive to do over time as you decide what you want. For example, SVI ITS trigger system costs about double any other 1911 trigger but even that is under $50 with an insert (highly recommend them too as being able to experiment a bit to find the trigger-reach that works best just plain rules), and a child could put one in. Most little stuff you can do yourself with a little initiative, google, and YouTube, only gets expensive if you're not comfortable doing it yourself. Good luck.

I'd say 12lbs in a smooth operating .45. That said, based on what I've seen I think shock-buffs are just a good way to cause problems and malfunctions, and generally just give you added headaches... I have never really seen a true, honest-to-goodness example of frame-battering in a gun that was properly timed and well-built, the one's I've seen with wear that could be blamed on frame-battering were not the greatest pieces and would've probably ended up that way anyhow no matter what. Still, the few guns I've seen showing wear that one might chalk up to the result of frame-battering were guns owned by shooters who had really shot the crap out of them over thousands upon thousands of rounds and who weren't too distressed that it might be time to retire their specimen. YMMV. I tend to favor the ISMI springs though which seem to run slightly heavier than the Wolff's and from what I've seen seem to last longer.

I ran a slimline S&A for a while, it's the same opening and the exact same as the standard one, works great, just slim and looks better with slim grips.. For weight reasons and because I decided to go to standard width grips I went with a Techwell SP. I wasn't very kind or patient in the fitting of mine, I beat the crap out of it with a rubber mallet to get it flush with the bottom of my gun and then used a pair of channel-locks to get it "just so" ... try as I did to ruin it, it's amazing what a little elbow grease, some 600 grit and a bluing pen will fix... it's actually not in that bad of shape, PM if you want it, I'll probably never use it again and I'll give it to you cheap.

Mine is actually fairly sharp around it's dimples... not as good as checkering but pretty good. STIppling + undercut-trigger-guard > checkering IMHO.

Yeah, I'd guess recoil spring like everyone else. My Trojan 9 would do this every now and again after I had a few hundred rounds through it and once it started to pick up some grime and dry out a little and running a 9lb ISMI spring, I went up to a 10lb spring and it hasn't happened since even under the same conditions, and shoots just about as flat, hardly a difference (actually think I like the feel of the 10 better, seems faster back into battery).

wish I could. It's funny, I'm half-joking yet half-serious... the 9mm 1911 is fun, but it's lots more drama than a Shadow, and I'd be happy to never again experience the pain of not quite deactivating the grip-safety or the utter sadness of a stubborn 10rd mag that doesn't want to seat with the slide closed and a round in the chamber... Might have to find the funds to have both...

Hmm, SSP legal, USPSA production can't be far off... Anyone want to buy a lightly used STI Trojan 9mm?

Also a Trojan 9 owner here, and while I sympathize with your guys' plight of fighting off getting feed jams with JHP, would just like to point out or bring attention to the fact (in-case it isn't already obvious to some) that this is really more of an inherent problem with ALL 9mm 1911's in-general, and not just specifically with the Trojan's. Experiencing jams like the one's being described with JHP is probably more the norm than not, and just another caveat that comes with running the shorter OAL 9mm round in a design that was designed and for the longer OAL .45. Seems to me, no matter what is really done about it, due to the steepness of 9mm feed ramps and the amount of space in the breech allowing the potential for the cartridge to "roam" around on it's way out of the mag, a more blunt-shaped bullet is going to be less likely to chamber cleanly pretty much no matter what, and will probably never be as reliable as FMJ or a bullet with a rounder ogive will be as even those shapes tend to bounce their way into the chamber now and then. The things that can be done to fight the issue are known, but few, and unfortunately none are really 100%, like: load to a longer OAL so the cartridge has a better chance of pointing towards the chamber and not "roaming" on the way out of the mag (assuming the round isn't nosing-down in the mag which is pretty common), use stronger mag springs so the fresh round can be "boosted" up quicker to hopefully put it more in-line with the chamber, etc... I've heard some mention possibly recutting the feed ramp angle, and though I have no experience with this I sure would like to no more about it... I don't see how the ramp could be made more shallow without taking away case support from the back of the chamber, potentially fixing one problem by creating another (like the KaBoom's in .40 cal Glocks), if anyone has info about the process I'd be interested in hearing it? Not trying to be a naysayer, or be like "FMJ or else!", but just wondering out loud if the prospect of running JHP in a 9mm 1911 is really worth the headache or isn't just asking too much from what already is a design compromise? Am I just possibly missing the upside of shooting JHP as mine runs like a clock with FMJ and can't see why it'd be worth the PITA?

Here's a page with video of Henning taking down a Witness and the putting it back together, the Tanfo's are just about the same thing as a Shadow, most importantly for your needs in the case of the trigger-spring: http://henningshootsguns.com/tech/tech.tanfoglio.frame.assembly.html I use Henning's method of clipping a short length of brake cleaner or WD-40 tube to use as a slave pin, makes things much less of a PITA. Good luck.

Personally, the further I've gone in the direction of having my support-hand do most of the work the more my shooting has improved. I have been using a CoC gripper mainly for adding grip-strength to my support-hand for about 6 or so months now and seems the stronger I get and the more I can leave my strong-hand to merely just taking care of pulling the trigger, the better off I am. I don't even consider any of the 60/40 or 100/100 grip-ratio theories anymore, I find good stance and grip technique (hand placement , not strength) take care of most of the recoil-control and shot recovery stuff over any sort of conscious grip-force-recipe. Guess I've just started to look at my support-hand as being kind of like a v-pod/shooting stick/monopod sort of thing like some hunters use with their rifles. I think of it as though the support-hand is responsible for actually holding, course aiming, and controlling the gun under recoil, more tgan anything just providing all the stability really needed and holding onto the gun for me so all my strong-hand has to do is help in the fine aim and final sight alingment while remaining fairly relaxed to pull the trigger cleanly. Now that said, these days my support-hand grip is STRONG compared to how it's been in the past, but because of the grip-strength training it's also much more relaxed... I don't know, I've really become a big believer in grip-strength training for shooting, it's helped me A LOT, probably more than even dry-fire or the other usual things. Also, I find the benefits of a stronger support-hand idelivers particularly well specifically with the Glock, their frame allows one to really make use of a high and strong support-hand grip to drive the gun and frees up the strong-hand to prep and really consistently get a surprise break out of the trigger. Enough so that I've seen my times and accuracy with them start to pretty much rival and cancel out what any and all advantages I get from the sweet SA trigger and heft of my SSTK gun, if I was still shooting Glocks as regularly I bet I'd actually be faster with one now.

Like was said, if you plan on using it the finish is going to show it with whatever holster you choose, I'd go with a Blade-Tech or a Comp-Tac. Mags for a 9mm 1911 are critical, most guys have success with the 10red Wilson ETMs (I use these) or the 10rd Tripp cobra mags, but since the Spartan doesn't have a ramped barrel; I'd consider going with the 9rd "Springfield/Leathem" Metalform mags (widely considered to be the most reliable 9mm 1911 mags available), the one's I'm speaking of have a indented crease running down the front of them, no spacer in the rear of the mag tube, and a little built-in ramp integrated into the followers and are usually kind of spendy ($40+)... try not to confuse them for the other lesser 10rd Metalform mags out there (which are also sometimes marketed as having "built-in ramps" too, but really aren't the same thing at all and don't run nearly as reliably). A 9mm 1911 is heavier than one in .45, so what magwell you go with is important if you want to make weight. There are a couple guys on here that have claimed they're below 43ozs even when using an S&A MS/Magwell and G10 grips, but my Trojan 9 with a Slimline S&A and slim Alumagrips covered in skate-tape (a lot lighter than even "lightened" standard-width G10 grips) was 42.9ozs or over depending if it was clean or dirty so I'm not convinced that can be so. I'm switching back to standard-width grips and am waiting for a Techwell set-up to show up which will allow me to use a polymer MSH to save a bit and with grips+magwell weighs in about the same or less than just an S&A by itself. The Dawson Ice is also popular and is light enough to make it from what I've been told. Seems a 9 or 10lb recoil spring is the consensus for 125-135pf loads around here, I've been using a 9lb ISMI with a 17lb ISMI mainspring shooting cheap factory stuff for over 1000rds and it's been solid reliability-wise while still shooting super-flat (might go to a 10 though for a little extra muscle chambering fresh rounds when the gun starts to get dirty). YMMV here, everybody's different. Good luck, hope this helps, a 9mm 1911 is super enjoyable to run, but you've gotta stay on top of what your mags and springs are doing even more so than with the .45's.

Great, now I know why STI hasn't gotten back to me about my Trojan 9, they've been tied up taking care of you guys! I like the gun, in fact mine happens to run great, but in hindsight I wish i'd been more pragmatic about what parts would have to get changed out to get it up to match form. I could have probably bought 2 Shadows that'd shoot just as well as it with far less drama when I add up what it's cost me to get it to where it's dialed now. 1911's can hurt, they either cost you to get 'em to run or they cost you 'cause you can change out everything that's bugging you (if your wallet is up to it).

Not a gunsmith here either, but IMO feed ramps in 1911's are kinda like a bit of added insurance to sometimes give a little help to get rounds to feed now and then, and that "help" is usually less than ideal, and it's a "sometimes", not an "always". Since I mostly shoot 9mm and .40 out of 1911 style guns I tend to go for guns that are feed-ramp equipped since the round is shorter in a platform designed for a longer .45 and any extra "help" with feeding is welcome. That said, I really don't think I've ever come across a feed-ramp in a 1911 that I ever felt was "right". IMO, most, if not all of the ramps I've seen are too steep, I think they should be more like that of a CZ: less steep and slightly longer; though that would mean 9 and .40 mags with the spacers in the front instead of the rear of the mag where most are located now, and likely other changes that are beyond my knowledge... don't know if there really is even enough room in the gun's design tto allow for a ramp to really do anything good for a.45. As an aside, it seems strange to me that no maker's have really persued making a dimensional-specific design to run 9 and .40 "correctly" after all these years (beyond and further than Springfield's EMP path)... still just fussing around with making JMG's original platform "get by" with the shorter OAL rounds... I dunno?

Been using slim-grips and a slim S&A magwell/MSH on my Trojan 9mm with some success, but I'm going to move to a standard grip/magwell combo just so things aren't so vastly different feeling when I go to a thicker 2011, also, considering changing out my trigger to an SVI... Due to weight issues I've decided to go with a Techwell set-up, pretty much set on the SP as from searching seems my stock ETM basepads will work fine (plus I'm just not really a fan of giant magwells on singlestacks anyways). Wondering if anyone can point out any differences in the Alumagrips vs. the G10 grips as far as grip-performance and profile are concerned (do the Alumagrips run slimmer than the G10? Which has the better grip?, etc.), and, for those who have a Trojan 9 or similar weight 9mm 1911, what specific combo are you using that makes weight (XT, SP, TGO, or Carry and with G10 or Alumagrips)? For the trigger I've been thinking of going to a SVI ITS set-up, it'd be nice to try a few different profiles if I wanted to without my trigger really changing, and, if I'm not mistaken, the SVI pads need a little fitting top and bottom, I like the STI poly trigger just fine but it's pad has a bit of play up and down, am I correct in thinking that getting rid of the trigger's up and down movement would result in it feeling a bit better? I've done some searching and found most of what I'm looking for, but looking for specifics here as I'd like this to be my last parts order for a while. I'm relatively new to running the 9mm 1911 and my "discarded-parts-that-didn't -work-out box" has already grown much faster than I had hoped... TIA. - Chip