jaggy13

Robert, You realize that I am running your old 35 slide on my old 34 frame right? If you take both slide's off and look at the insides side by side, you will notice the 34 slide has more material relieved for lighter overall weight. That's why a 35 converted to 9mm as I have done may need slightly different tuning than a 34. The heavier slide on the 35 will create a different dwell when shooting 9mm compared to the 34. Also the barrel OD's are different between the calibers. You can't drop a 9mm barrel in a .40 slide or vise versa. Unless I'm reading your last post wrong... That's why a conversion barrel is required to convert the 35 to 9mm and there isn't a solution to convert the 34 to .40. I'll be at the match tomorrow if you can make it.

I added my barrel to the parts. I found a thread that Freedom gun works has been doing a similar process for years. I'm gonna take the plunge...

I ran a 9mm single stack tactical for my first comp gun. Honestly it's a 10k pistol at best in my opinion. The metallurgy just isn't there for a high round count pistol. I ran a glock for the last year before I could build my STI and its still going strong. Just my .02 Hope it helps.

A Matt, is it on the feed ramp too? I called STI this morning and they said 650* was right at the danger point... He advised that he has seen slides warp. The overall tone was it should be fine. All the CYAing going on is making me a tad apprehensive.

I had front slide serrations but no windows or thin spots. I'm assuming that's what the heat would damage?

I'm sending off my build for a finish and was told to confirm before I release the pistol that it can handle the coating. I started with an STI slide and frame. I'm confident it should be fine, but the guy sending it off for me asked me to do my research and "release" the pistol to him. He stated it should see temps of 650 to 700 degrees Fahrenheit. It will just be the slide and frame. no small parts or plastic/aluminum. Has anyone finished a pistol with Isonite? Thanks in advance.

If I do, I end up on the bottom curve of the trigger and its not comfortable. That's where I thought the Enos curve might help out. I may just get a gunsmith trigger and play with a bit to see what I like. The main reason for posting was I know what "feels" good and what is "correct" are usually not the same... Thought I would just check in before changing things too much.

Quack, that's a great picture similar to how my hand fits. I'm getting the same contact as your picture with the frame in the top of the trigger guard. I was using a long flat 10/8 trigger in 2 single stacks before. The long flat feels great, just not sure it's fundamentally correct.... I've been slapping away for a while now and it's done great things for my field coarse game. My classifieds and static shooting is atrocious however. It's time to square away the fundamentals and figure out how to "do it right". At least that's the goal!

The big killers I see are solvents, flame touching durring install and ports! When properly installed as in the Dawson video the rod should have the sane tactile feel as the new rod. I can tell if I got solvent on mine by the feel and how dull it gets. Too hot will do the same thing, it gets brittle to the touch. Lastly, I see people stick their gun into a port and the muzzle lift smacks the rod on the top of the port... I run Dawson and warren sights with many thousands of rounds, never have run brazo's but sounds like it should be resolvable. Good luck.

I'm at 3400 rounds today with my 9mm STI build and loving it! I'm finally starting to get used to it and have been really focusing on my fundamentals as of late. One thing I hadn't really worked on much until now was my hand and trigger finger position. I have a high grip and have double undercut the trigger guard. I'm noticing that my trigger finger is still contacting the top of the frame when I pull the trigger. On my Glock this was never an issue because of how the trigger pivoted. The STI on the other hand seems to have that contact point. I've never really spent much time working on it with a pistol but noticed it today doing drills. I'm currently using the standard STI medium curved trigger. To ensure I don't have any contact with the trigger guard or frame I have to put the pad of my finger on the very bottom curved edge of the trigger. I have used long flat triggers in the past but that was more for comfort that correct fundamentals. My hand shape is longer than wide. I have long fingers and with a long trigger gun pointed straight up take up slack the pad of my finger is parallel to the ground. With Medium curve its past parallel pointing more toward ground than sky. (short is to short, I miss the trigger reset) Should I address the contact point my finger is making with the frame? My thoughts are different trigger shape or lower grip. I like the higher grip and have read about the Enos curved trigger. I know enough to know others know more than myself on the subject so I defer to the group. Should I address it at all? With parts? With practice? What are you thoughts? Thanks in advance.

My pistol is finally done! I got to shoot it for the first time last night. New mags worked like a charm. Thanks for all the great advice. STI tubes, grams guts, SS Spacers, Dawson pads. I'm happy!

Marco, Thanks for your insight. Based on your statement I will not shoot this conversion kit until a time that it is deemed leagal. I hope you understand my motivation is to shoot within the rules not to skirt them. My intension is not to arbitrate but to arm myself with the rules and knoledge to avoid those pitfalls. This is just to volatile a subject and the fact the rule will pass at the end of the year, it's not worth fighting for. Thanks to all for your opinions, it was refreshing to know and understand the bigger picture that I was not aware of. I have a 34 top end lined up to borrow for the level 2 match planned for the end of the month.

Not to split hairs... but that link is for Production. I was asking about Limited.

Well I just got approval from the RM at my next major match that it would qualify for Limited. That makes me happy, I can carry on and this will be mute by next year anyway.

(AD) my bad...

We have discussed it at length and it don't interpret the rule the way Amadon does. I brought it up to make sure I was volunteering the situation and asked of i need to register as Open for the next few matches. I'm just relieved to know I'm not the only one that thinks this should be legal per the written rules. We are not trying to circumvent any rules here, quite the contrary in fact...

Thanks Flexmoney!

Thanks for the replies, I can tell this is a touchy subject. I understand the rule will change and can live with it. I am curious though, it seems the reason it is illegal is the fact that the slide is heavier, not the fact that there is a conversion barrel.( based on the article I refferenced) So if I lightened the slide would that make it leagal? As I said I know it's semantics at this point and have a g34 top end lined up for my next major event. My local MD has cleared my pistol for local matches, just satiating my curiosity at this point. Thanks.

Sorry to bring this back up but... this months front sight, page 5 in the middle of the page, a user writes; "I am thinking of competing in USPSA and wanted to ask if I can use a Glock 23 with a 9mm conversion barrel in it (so it would be effectively a Glock 19) Is that OK? or would I need to actually purchase a Glock 19 if I wanted to compete using 9mm?" John Amidon answers "A conversion barrel like that currently violates both the production Division rules, and the Limited/Limited-10 rules for 2012..." He goes on but that is the smoking gun, that I am concerned about. What bothers me about his answer is that he quotes Appendix D4 item 21.3 which is for Production and is similar but different to the verbiage for Limited. The exception being "same caliber" I currently shoot limited minor with a G35 and conversion barrel. It's a standard length barrel and I thought I was within the rules until I read this. Also I understand the rules are going to allow the conversion barrels in the 2013 rules, but I would like to know that I am compliant. So what say you? do I need to register for open for the remainder of this year? Thanks in advance.

I am on my 3rd 9mm ejector. My latest is the Fusion. its rolled stock and the shorter design so it shouldn't take the abuse from mag changes that the longer ones do. It ejects flawlessly, I recommend it. It's not as easy and just dropping in though, you may want to have a smith install it. I had to drill out the edge once installed to pin it.

Nice! Thanks for the link! I'm looking for reliability over capacity so I think the +1's are the smart move.

I own a single stack 9mm and love it. I would have said go that route until I had fired a couple of tuned CZ's. I considered the CZ over a 2011 in 9mm for a while before deciding to build a limited gun. If you can, shoot them both. But I would say the CZ isn't a bad way to go.

Thanks for that addition, I have some parts coming from dawson and wanted to at least save on the shipping, so I think I will just run the standard +1 dawson pads. I've heard the dawsons are a little more robust than the Grams, so I feel good about that decisoion. Thanks for all the help!

That was my though but do the rounds even reach the base pad? Other thought I had was if they are larger, and my spacers end with the mag, would it allow the follower to catch on the spacer? Thanks!

Thanks for the replies. Once I saw the "no 9mm or 38 super" on the snl's I hit the breaks... I have those spacers Eric. So how are the standard +1 pads different from the SNL's? If I use the SNL's and spacers, will the follower hang in the basepad? I know I am probably over-thinking it.. thanks for your patience..