troupe

All of the builders that have been mentioned are great builders. Depends on your location, but two more that need to be mentioned are Glenn at Lonestar Innovations in Texas and Jeff at Tommy Guns in North Carolina. Both are stand up guys and reasonably priced. Stay away from a stock STI. The difference that you pay in a true custom is worth the extra.

Polish the pin in a drill. Then the vise. Polished parts have less friction !!!

Great looking serrations and mill work. Keep up the good work. Tommy Roupe

Thanks Eric, you are the only person that mentioned the recoil spring and mainspring. I thought I had fallen on deaf ears. Tommy Roupe

I have done thousands of grip mods over the years, but the metal grips are the way to go. Plastic wears out. I hate to cut my own throat, but that is how it is. Metal won't wear like the plastic and PT has options on the grip weights (Stainless,Ti,or Aluminium). SV makes a small angle cut on their steel grips that really helps the spring to stay in place. Tommy Roupe

The steel grip will stop the stuck mags coming out, but as mentioned earlier if you get lazy on the mag insertion, you will get it stuck. You mentioned that you are squeezing the grip so hard that the grip wont drop. You have one of two problems. One you either have a contoured grip that is to thin, or you are shooting to tense. The metal grip will help and relax more on your grip, you will do better with both. PT is a great group of people to work with, Brian and Tiffany are great. Tommy Roupe THR Technologies/Roupe Grips

Aftec are great to work with, call them and they most likely will swap it out if it has not altered.

I think that it will be worth the wait Michael, hope it will be sooner.

Years ago when the C-Mores were the new hot ticket, there was a lot of extraction issues. Mainly shells bounching of of the mount. I know this is not the issue you are speaking of, but Matt Mclearn told me to cut my ejection port lower. From the bottom of the slide rail to the top of the lowest part of the ejection port should be cut to .340 . It solved my problem.

Try Gary Schneider in Az. His barrels are used on one of the most demanding Gov. Agencies rifles going.

Are these 18" barrel choices rifle length gas systems. I would like a LW 18" rifle gas system myself.

The gun will shoot softer because of the added weight. Think of the weight like a pendulum in your hand, it will absorb more recoil because it takes more recoil to move it. Simple physics that works. Well worth the money. PT grips are a drop on for the STI's.

I spoke with DPMS today and asked if they have a date on a 6.5 Creedmoor in the Hunter model. They said that it would be out in 2 months. I will be waiting for it. I also heard a rumor that DPMS will be moving to North Carolina to be with Remington. Anyone else heard anything to verify ?

If you don't compensate for it, you will need the barrel re-fitted. You can't duplicate the cycling action by hand.

It is in your barrel lock up and fitting. No matter how hard you rack your slide for the first round, you can't duplicate the firing of the gun, period.

Jeff Abernathy in North Carolina is worth a call if you have not contacted anyone. Jeff is a super guy with great morals in the industry, plus he was taught by one of the best ! Jeff will help you with a small job like that. Tommy Roupe

After doing thousands of grips mods on the STI/SV grips that has been shot all over the world, I do like the steel grips. Steel is the way to go. SV and PT grips are your options. Get the aggressive model, you can always take the texture down if it is to sharp, but you can't put it back on. The weight is a plus for recoil control. Think of the weight as a pendulum, the weight is where it needs to be in your hand. Tommy Roupe THR Technologies/Roupe Grips

Any one have a contact number for Fred Craig. I was thinking about calling him to see if I could get one of his 6 port comps for a open build that I going to start.

Bump fire at its finest. Would be great to do it on command. With a little practice on the technique , you should be able to unload the gun much faster.

Received my MOA Precision Stoeger work yesterday. Put the shotgun back together and all I can say is that Tom and crew is money well spent. MOA is the "go too" for the Stoeger work , period. The turn around time is above average and the work is hidden so well, that a untrained eye will not notice. My shotgun was the turkey model, since that was what I came across at a good deal. What a sleeper !! The loading port work is very smooth and the trigger work is great. I can see some great splits in the future. MOA Precision is a class act in the shooting world. Thanks, Tommy Roupe THR Technologies/Roupe Grips

Cut and blend it. There is a lot of metal that can be removed.

Gen III's are in the works. I have a good friend that told me today that he has by passed the digital switch and just pulls the battery. he has four of them that all shut off in a stage.

PT frame and a Caspian slide makes a great combo. Check with Glenn at Lonestar Innovations.

Wayne Novak had a similar set up that was a one piece main spring housing and beavertail all in one. I don't know if his shop is still doing it or not. It was pricey, but you get what you pay for in good custom work, and Wayne has been around along time. Go Eers ! The work can be done like you are showing in the pic, but it is a lot of cutting and blending. The pic looks like a one piece to me, just painted.

Here is another idea for you. Since you are speaking of a $1200 pistol, buy a Rock Island 10mm , change the barrel to a 40, do your trigger work, and have a custom built gun. Since Armscor makes the STI frames and slides, you would be in the same boat. Send the 10mm to Doug Jones at Accurail, he can make tack drivers and is very reasonable and a straight up guy to boot. The slide to frame fit on the Rock Islands are very good. Just an idea.