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I guess it all comes down to the fact that grip-strength is a relative thing and having more of it on tap doesn't hurt any. Think when people say to avoid death-gripping the gun it's really more about avoiding the tension that comes with squeezing to the point where our hands start shaking and where it affects or trigger pressing ability; but with the increased and greater grip-strength my new "relaxed" grip nowadays is probably twice as strong as my old "death-grip" was, without the negative side-effects. Holding onto and controlling the gun seems easier, because now with the added grip-strength, with less conscious effort I'm doing better...

Curious what you guys are seeing as far as results with working on the grip strength? I've been using the CoC #1 for a while now (4 months?), it's gotten to the point now with it where I can close it 10+ times in a row easily with my support-hand no problem (I had to ask a friend if he thought it was maybe broken or something, he couldn't close it in his strong-hand, it's not broken...), and shooting-wise I feel like I've improved A LOT, I feel like I have much more command over the gun. Now I'm working on the mental uphill climb much more than I used to, i feel like my shooting mechanics are coming together now at a fastr pace, the increase in grip-strength has really paid dividends in my case.

IMHO time and evolving shooting techniques haven't been very kind to the Sig platform, while in contrast the same things have only made CZ's more popular and endeared them to high volume competition shooters. If one executes an IPSC-style/high-thumbs-forward grip while shooting a classic 226/229-series Sig they find themselves encountering problems with both the slide-release and decocker levers beyond the other design specific things like the higher bore-axis and heavy slide/light frame arrangement, with the CZ the same exact grip is rewarded with no control interference whatsoever and a far larger surface for support-hand contact, which when combined with the far lower bore-axis and relatively low-mass slide equals a pistol that lends itself well to fast shooting; think sports cars: an old big-block Chevelle is fast for sure, but it's not beating anything mid-engined that can move around a road track. I like CZs and think it's just a better design, a top of the food chain Sig still shows some of it's flaws while a base CZ-75 with a comp hammer installed can be near as good as anything.

Just a quick update: over 1000rds through the Trojan 9 now and think I'm finally pretty used to the 1911 platform. It's been boringly reliable, I'm well aware 9mm 1911's can be a PIA but this one just runs and runs, my "recipe" has been a 9lb ISMI recoil spring with a 17lb ISMI mainspring and Wilson 10rd ETM mags shooting either WWB or Federal Champion 115gr cheapo stuff from wallyworld, no real gun-related failures of any kind to report and the slide feels like it's riding on ball-bearings, the finish however looks like I've been through a few tours, STI's bluing is a joke, they should come with a coupon towards a refinish... So far this thing doesn't just run good for a 9mm 1911, it runs better than just about any 1911 I've ever been around in any caliber, if you're looking for a 1911 that can take some punishment and run drama-free these Trojans are the truth, I've pretty much decided I'm going to put together virtually the same exact gun in .45 down the road, the combination of the undercut trigger-guard and slim grips make other singlestacks just feel clunky and club-like in comparison, I may go to a long flat SVI trigger just to increase the trigger-reach a bit to keep me honest and strictly using the pad of my finger on the trigger when really pushing it at speed, but thus far the ergos have been working great and at 6'2" 225 I don't exactly have small hands either, the gun's slimness just makes it so I can crush the crap out of it and get really far around it with my support-hand and operate all the controls without shifting my grip. FWIW, I think everyone should try running a 1911 with slim grips for a few hundred rounds to really see how it does on the clock for them regardless of what they may be used to, IMHO there's no reason not to at least give it a try and see if the thin-ness provides any advantages, so many guys pick up a slim-gripped 1911 and go "this isn't right" within mere seconds without really giving it a chance, but I've started to feel that there just may be no real need to deal with the added width and bulk unless one is running a doublestack. YMMV, but worth checking out.

Is this with the SP, XT, Carry, or the TGO Techwell (and on a Trojan 9mm)? And, do you mean the Techwell/Mil-Tac G10's they offer for them, or did you just mod some other one's? Going to be changing out my slim grips and slim S&A for standard grip/magwell and this seems to be the best way to go, trying to decide which model to go with... TIA.

Between those two IMO it's a no brainer, having owned and had lots of trigger-time with both I'd far and away go for the SP-01. Better ergos, soaks up recoil, and likely more inherently accurate than an M&P, install a $65 competition hammer from czcustoms and you're talking about a much nicer piece than any M&P can ever be even after installing everything Apex makes for 'em these days... With the FPB in there compared to a Shadow after doing tge comp hammer you're only looking at about a 1/4" longer reset and that's about it, great gun.

This thread gave me some ideas, thanks. I'm not really new to 1911s but I am a newb to running one as my main platform which is what I'm doing these days... I got lucky and through some bending-luck I managed to get my Trojan 9mm's pull down to around or below 3lbs without it misbehaving, nice and light, but not the crispest pull and the reset was pretty weak. After a bit of experimenting with another sear spring I managed to finally get a bit of a grasp on what's going on and managed to produce a trigger that I think works better, albeit heavier. Just my own layman's terms here but i'm looking at it like this: the leg furthest to the left controls most of your let-off weight, while the middle is mostly reset (but affects break weight sone too), the far-right is for the grip safety. I ended up dialing in my reset first, then got the grip safety in the ballpark, then, finally, got my pull/break about where I wanted it (had to keep it a tad heavier to gain the better reset, but that's ok for me). Ended up around 3-3.5lbs but far more crisp and a way better reset... Anyways, learned that if your sear and hammer are in the ballpark and in good shape, then that leaf spring can do a whole lot, just don't be afraid to not get it right on the first try, plan on a few tries at least, take it apart as many times as you have to and if you're patient you can get it just about where you want. Just be sure to test it and put a fair amount of rounds through it to know it's safe before you run it in a match, wouldn't want any embarrassing/dangerous surprises. Good luck.

You can correct this by removing material from the button/mag side of the mag catch where it is pinching the mag. Pretty sure this is it right here. Just detail stripped and gave it the deluxe treatment, can only replicate the issue if I do the "catch" as described, think I'll polish and de-burr the mag release just to be careful, but thus far, think I'm cured. Thanks!

It's not the bushings or grip screws, not the mags (they're new and in-spec), and not the sear spring sneaking into the mag channel... actually, pretty sure it's the mag release. It's an Ed Brown extended "tactical" mag release in an STI Trojan 9mm, mags are Wilson ETM's... thoughts? (thinking I need to do a little file work or something) TIA.

FWIW, these sights are now called the "Hack" sights, as it seems time has shown that both Ken Hackathorn and I must have the similar taste in fast acquisition combat sights... It's funny though, I posted this a long time ago and my impressions/views on sights have taken kind of a 180 since, and as my skill as a shooter has improved. I still like these sights as an SD/HD set-up, and still recommend them to newer, novice shooters still developing the muscle-memory of picking up the front sight, or maybe shooters with less than perfect eyesight, but for more seasoned shooters, competition/target work, or anything requiring good accuracy beyond 7-10 yards I've become a total convert to running straight up all-black irons... JMHO here, but over time I've come to abhor all/any of the sight options out there that are at all "gimmicky", and think gaining commend of the basic fundamentals is really the best way and where it's best to put in the work, proper alignment works with ANY sights and I find the less information my brain/eyes has to decipher while acquiring a good sight picture, the more accurately I shoot, only practice truly increases speed, not crazy sights. YMMV.

Not really, screws came with the gun... Actually, gotta dig the un-fancy-ness of the skate-grips, won't win any beauty contests, but if anything out there works better I haven't found it.

All the cool kids are doing it... Seriously though, skate tape over a smooth grip works/feels awesome, I went with Alumagrips but any smooth grips will work. The trick to having it come out clean-looking is to cover the grip panel with excess tape over the edges of the panel, then you scratch around the perimeter of the panel with the side of the round rod of a screwdriver, leaving a nice white line that is easy to cut with a blade, after you cut off the excess, go around it again once or twice to prevent peeling and voila, you're done. I'm a former/grown-up skater and it turns out the same technique for gripping new skate decks now comes in handy on my guns... FYI, Jessup brand griptape is the best whether skateboarding or shooting.

FWIW, mine makes it (just barely) at 42.9ozs with the slimline S&A magwell and thin smooth Alumagrips covered in skateboard tape, FLGR in. The opening on the slim S&A is the same as the standard one, so if that's your preference it is a little lighter and will still look ok with standard grips, also, S&A makes aluminum versions of their magwells which are a lot lighter that you can get if you order from them. If none of those options work, Shooters Connection's deal with the Enos discount on a Techwell set-up is the best I've seen and you'll be a couple ounces under easy if you go that route.

I've got around 700 through it now and I'm really digging it, since I put back the properly set-up extractor it's been just about flawless, I've had a couple (literally 2) FTRB that may be caused by my grip-style of pressing my support-hand thumb against the slide coupled with shooting light 125-130pf rounds and using a 9lb recoil spring. I had to change the grip-safety to an Ed Brown as the stock one is cut-in and has a weird corner that didn't work with my hand, and I tweaked the sear spring and installed a 17lb mainspring... now I've got it feeling right and the trigger is about as good as they get. I've done sights, grips, magwell, grip-safety and some minor spring stuff so it is now in "match form". Shooting a match tomorrow and we'll see how it goes, to be fully honest I'm not enough of a 1911-fanboy to forgive very much and I've already spent more on it than I would've had to to get a Shadow running equally as well or better, so if it gives me too much drama there'll be a really nice 9mm 1911 up for grabs... That said, if it runs flawlessly and I do my part and don't completely F' up I'll probaly finish towards the top of the standings, if I don't it won't be because of the gun. Things I've gleaned after now having spent some time with both types: (1) for the money they cost IMHO the STI is the better value for sure, the way it's fit and put together is far above what one gets in the CZ, in fact it's better than most guns period, I've compared my gun to a few Brown's, Baer's, and Wilson's and a couple were as good none were better. The CZ Shadow's pricetag just buys you a more rare model of a $600 pistol, the extra money is what you've hot to pay right now to get the magic configuration, if CZ started making and importing more of their non-FPB models, where they showed up in LGS's for $500-700 instead of $800-1200 through the custom shop they'd get real popular real fast. (2) CZs are even more underrated than I had originally thought, IMHO anyone who really knows what makes a nice gun and can't admit that a non-FPB CZ with a competition hammer installed can be every bit as nice as a great 1911 is uninformed or just wrong

Wow, been running a 9lb ISMI in my Trojan 9mm and while it felt ok I was hoping for a bit more slide velocity as it felt just a tad sluggish (125-130ish pf 115gr stuff). I picked up a 17lb mainspring too when I got the gun but hadn't bothered to try it as I thought it already had a 15lb mainspring from the factory, NOPE, stock spring was much stronger than the 17lber I just dropped in, my trigger was good before, now it's incredible, might have just found that extra slide speed I was after... can't wait to shoot it and see...

I'm having no issue with using 10rds in my Wilson ETM mags with my Trojan, using a 9lb ISMI for 125-130pf stuff, and bought the Aftec too but haven't installed it (may not need to either as the gun runs great as is). +1 on the finish though, I think it's kind of funny actually, everybody's blued Trojans end up looking like they've seen a few tours after only a couple months of use. The only thing that really bothered me about the Trojan out-of-the-box was the weird-shaped cut-in-cornered beavertail-grip safety, had to change it to an Ed Brown as it was pretty uncomfortable for me (FYI the EB was almost a perfect drop-in fit) .

Just picked up a Trojan 9mm recently and so far I'm really impressed, runs great and is crazy accurate and well built. IMHO an STI is an upper echelon piece when compared to any Kimber I've ever seen or shot. Plus, no unnecessary FPB/Swartz nonsense. I really think that $1K buys you a lot more with the STI, fairer to compare a Trojan more to one of Kimber's upper teir guns, not a lower rung Target II anyways. I'd say the biggest thing is you can just tell that someone cared and knew what they were doing when they put it together, it's fit oozes quality, runs like a clock out of the box, no BS break-in excuses. Like was said, don't ignore the Spartan either...

I've been going through this recently too. Been shooting Glocks and CZs and now transitioning to a 1911 for a while... Even running a really light spring (9mm so a 9lb) I've found I can get away with my usual grip so far, I've just gotten out of the habit of applying much if any pressure, thumb just kind of sits there with maybe soft pressure... So far, so good. That said, we'll see what I get with a little grime and match pressure introduced into the mix...

Kind of reverse point-of-view here: just picked up a new gun and knew I was going to have to change out the front sight as the stocker as it comes is too wide for me and I'd also be getting used to a narrower rear notch (STI Trojan w/ Bo-Mar-style rear), nice light bars are what I'm after and I've been really shooting well using a .090"W front with a .125"W rear notch on a slightly shorter gun. The only in-stock option in the width I wanted (.090") that was offered by the shop I was getting my set-up from happened to be an FO, so figured I'd give it a whirl... WOW. After shooting all-black irons exclusively for about a year now the FO is crazy distracting! At first after the install I was kind of digging the "gimmicky/novalty-ness" of that bright glowing dot, and for sure the sight is a well executed design with a small perfectly round dot that's super-bright (Dawson Precision sight), that said, I can't stand it, ordered a regular serrated black front on my iPhone from the range after only 100rds. I found I just could not get my brain to cooperate and focus more on alignment than the stupid dot without trying really hard, also a surprise was the tracking under recoil, following the dot was easy but my second shot of a quick controlled pair was either off from thinking the dot was where it was supposed to be, or just plain slow as I needed extra time to let it "settle down" and not just pull the trigger again with the glowing dot in the notch (felt like I was having to fight it from tricking me). I could tell I was not only way less accurate with the FO, but now, actually slower. Just a guess, but I think the "uncluttered/crisp-ness" of the all-black irons makes it easier for our brains to get the necessary info needed to line up the sights without having to "compute" anything extraneous. Neat experiment for me at least.

Turns out I may have just botched the Aftec install/tune so I'm going to give the Trojan some time to win me over... The CZs are indeed probably a lot less drama like I and others have known all along, just figured for what they both cost it'd be a lot easier to sell the Trojan to pick up the CZ than vice-versa if I changed my mind... I'll see how it goes, this Trojan is definitely a nice gun though and after reinstalling the stock extractor I can already tell by hand cycling it that'd run WAY better, the poorly-tuned Aftec I put in could've been the whole problem giving me the bad first impression.

Ended up going with the Trojan... jury is still out on whether I made the right choice, put 250rds through it tonight and while accurate as hell it ran like complete s**t... I did springs and installed an Aftec before the first round was fired, didn't expect the curveball that my support-hand thumb resting against the slide slows down the slide enough to cause feeding issues, that, and loading from slide-lock worked correctly exactly twice. I'm going to give it another chance, see if i can adapt my grip a little maybe and hope for the issues to work themselves out, but I'm already considering letting it go, taking a bit of a loss and getting a Shadow...I ran 6000rds through my old SP-01 without a single hiccup, the 9mm 1911 has me feeling pretty underwhelmed at this point.

Shadow is it, maybe go a bit further and spoil yourself by dropping in a competition hammer.

I know, I was kidding, I could care less about looks, that said...

What? They couldn't make it any uglier?

Dave, please explain further if you can, this is the message I got back from Metalform when asking which 10rd mag to get that has the ramps: "The only one that has that is the 9FR-794 or the 9FRS-794, the shortie. The shortie has an 8 round capacity, the regular is 9, but both that front ramp. The regular 9-743 does not. They are $41.36 for the 9FR and 44.15 for the shortie. Our website is in transition right now, so if you would like to order, you may call us at 800-818-3318 and either Janice or I can help you. If you have other specific questions, Dan, our Plant Manager is a good reference. His extension is 123. E. Denise McCarthy, Sales Metalform Company 555 John Downey Drive New Britain, CT 06051 Office: (860) 224-2630 X127 Fax: (860)225-8302" Pretty confusing...