IHAVEGAS

Thank you Poppa Bear, that makes sense. And now, back to the regularly scheduled program.

I'm hoping to learn something here. I've got 6 stock STI mags, 40 cal Eagle. I can understand that some folks would be willing to spend time and $'s to get an extra round or two, beyond that it is a mystery to me why anyone would mess with them beyond occasional cleaning or eventual replacement of worn components. The stock mags just seem to do everything that a good mag is supposed to (although for what they cost a few witness holes don't seem out of the question) and if I got one that did not work I think I could send it back for free repair. Don't want to hijack the thread, but if there is something going on that I'm clueless about then a quick explanation would be appreciated.

I use an Eagle 40 for IDPA and USPSA, it works but I don't think it excels at either. Perhaps I could work up a 40 minor load that would make it an excellent IDPA gun and then the only real drawback would be a bit more muzzle flip than necessary when shooting USPSA major, and maybe the need to remember to change springs when changing between major and minor loads. An Eagle 9 and an Edge 40 is where I'd really like to be, if you are not in love with the STI double stack platform then maybe 2 glocks (40 and 9) or xdms for about the same price of 1 Eagle is the way to go. A backup gun is a good thing.

Welllll, my glocks never gave me a lick of a problem, my Fusion and the pain of getting it fixed is a different story. Can't wait to hit 50 posts

It worked so well for Japan partially because Detroit was arrogant & lazy, I'm not sure that describes STI.

I shoot an Eagle 40 for IDPA & USPSA, it does the job well, so far has been very reliable, and other than a trigger job, which it needed badly, all the working parts and the mags are completely off the shelf. One day I hope to have one of the the options mentioned above as a USPSA only gun. The Aperio for sure if I can handle the cost, after shooting my friends gun, that gun is just way cool. I don't know what the "Island" barrel gets me in hard performance data but I'm durn sure that I want one. If I was shooting minor I think I'd just hang onto the Eagle.

+1

I think I've come to the conclusion that I really do not know what to look for in an IDPA / USPSA 1911-2011. My priorities are reliability, then accuracy, then as a far distant 3rd , looks. Reliability includes the need to run a minimum of 300 rounds of reasonable but imperfect (cleaned range brass and good lead bullets for example) reloads before cleaning is needed. I can tell if the trigger feels right and if the gun feels good in my hand, beyond that: 1. Some folks want a very tight slide to frame fit. I don't know if a very tight gun is going to run dirty as well as a loose gun. I also don't know if you should look for a different fit based on specifics like caliber and whether you want to run light loads with light springs or etc.. I also don't know if there are other aspects of fit that are meaningful for function and observable by a layperson. 2. Some folks look for clean lines and lack of any surface imperfections. I don't know if there are any particular imperfections to look for, or feel for, that would tell you how to expect the gun to perform. Anyway, for those of you who might have similar priorities, if someone hands you an unknown gun how do you make the determination of whether it is likely to be a good competition gun?

It is interesting to ponder. The appearance issues can not be seen unless the gun is disassembled, & many of us would rather pay STI pricing & get the gun as is than to pay another 50 - 150% and get something like an SV or a Wilson, assuming that the gun runs like it should. I guess this makes the case for your local brick and mortar store so you can inspect to your hearts content & then make your own decision based on your own priorities. Last year I bought a S&W 625 over the counter with similar build cosmetics issues, the cosmetics were very irritating but the gun works well (and they look like crap once you bob hammers & etc anyway) so it was a buy decision for me.

I groused about the slide to frame fit on my 3 - 4 month old Eagle 40. I've now put about 3000 rounds through it and it just runs well and shoots straight and keeps running when fairly dirty (ran it for 400 rounds without cleaning with no issues, more than that would make me crazy), so I'm now really wondering if a tighter fit would make for a less reliable gun. In other words I'm wondering if for a competition gun the folks that fit things new what they were doing. The factory trigger was way bad and I don't think there is any excuse for that though, weight was not that bad but creep was very bad and inconsistent, this was fixed quick and for a very reasonable price by my local gun smith but it is something that should not be required on any decent 1911 - 2011. My back up gun is a Fusion (or it will be if they ever send it back from repair). It is more cosmetically appealing than the STI and fit tighter, but it breaks (or broke, assuming it comes home fixed) barrel link pins every 1500 rounds or so (just enough so you never could trust it at a match) and Fusion didn't know to do things like dimple around the rear sight pin pivot hole, so parts tend to come out while shooting (STI, Les Baer, etc all know to do this). After a certain amount of use the cosmetics are what they are for a competition gun for many of us. My Les Baer seems to have everything (form and function out of the box). It started life a lot tighter but it is a 45 (less persnickety than 9's or 40's in my limited experience) and it took a few hundred rounds before it seemed free of the infrequent ftf. I'm not sure that comparing a well built 45 to a well built 9 or 40 is apples and apples, I do know that LB does not seem anxious to go away from 45 and my friend with an LB 9 seems to only have about average reliability.

Last time I was an s.o. (April I think, rain outs have been a problem this year) I gave procedurals to two guys for not engaging their 1911 thumb safety's after load and make ready, and stopped them from drawing until this was done. One person commented that he had been shooting a different gun and wasn't automatic with the safety and the other one did not comment. For what it is worth. In February I had to DQ a guy because he lost control of his gun on the draw and literally threw it out on the range (20 degree weather likely played a part). My only point being that stuff happens. The safe action trigger guns are what they are & I choose to accept them, I'd rather not shoot with folks who were disabling the trigger safetys on those though. If anybody feels like the safety pinning stuff is ok, heck, it is a free country and I wouldn't choose to debate or try to control what they want to do. I do feel that I and other like minded sissy's should be told about it and given the option of going to a different squad or just leaving though.

At an IDPA (or any other) match, if a guy told me that he had disabled the grip safety because he was not getting a consistent grip on the gun, I would be scared to shoot with him and would try to make sure I was on a different squad & that the folks he was shooting with knew about it. That is not meant to be a rude reply in any way, I just don't think it is safe to disable a safety for that reason.

I broke down and bought a tactical, needed something legal quick for the Tennessee regional match this weekend. I'd pronounce it 'ok I guess' for IDPA purposes. Width is about 1.51 instead as big as could be and still fit the IDPA box (1.625), price seems way too high for what you get, front of magwell could be a lot closer to front edge of magazine opening, side cutouts seem more to reduce the effectiveness of the magwell than to provide a high probability of usefulness, sharp edges do not seem to be a problem on reloads as magazine stock basepads stop you. If I wanted tactical carry instead of IDPA I'd still think it was overpriced and the front edge should better match the grip, but would like it otherwise. I think the way to go for the IDPA game with the magwells I've seen is to copy cat lksyotas magwell shown above, which is what I will likely do after making sure that the IDPA box size doesn't change to match IPSC when the rules are revised this year.

Thank you. That is a way sharp looking gun!

The magwell looks interesting in pictures and seems like the IDPA stuff you worry about would be aok (fits in box, total gun weight, works with stock everything else on STI Eagle). Have not seen a picture of one on a gun though or found review type comments from anyone who has used one. Any pic's or commentary or suggestions for a preferred alternative would be welcome, cheap people like me hate to just drop the bucks and hope.