parvusimperator

FWIW, the laugo doesn't "look" (yes, I know looks can be deceiving) all that much flatter than a Shadow 2.

From an engineering standpoint it's cool. From a game standpoint (specifically an open gun standpoint), I'm not seeing anything it does better than a well tuned Honcho/Chaos/Infinity/Limcat/other fancy custom 2011. Maybe I'm wrong. Of those, the Honcho is interesting because it costs a lot less to make, right? So if this can be made in not-super-expensive limited runs, and then need fewer mods to be awesome, then it might go somewhere. It would also help if it got out in the wild so that fancy custom smith guys could start messing around with a couple, see what they can do to make the trigger better, how it responds to excess pressure, getting the weight right, etc.

Double Alpha makes one too: https://www.doublealpha.biz/us/daa-1911-2011-ambi-safeties-with-shield And Brazos makes a shield that you could have fit to your frame: http://www.1911store.com/thumbguardbcg.aspx

If you want a 2011 pattern gun, that's reason enough to get one. For limited, you'll be better off shooting it in .40 for major. Anyway, you'll also get a much better gun from the smiths listed above instead of STI. And it won't need anything done once you get it besides putting ammo in.

Thanks for the videos. These are fantastic.

A buddy of mine got porting work done by Mod K armory https://www.modkarmory.com/ It shoots pretty nicely. Big disclaimer, he's NOT running a comp on it or major ammo. So I'd talk to them a bit if you/the OP want to send your barrel in. Maybe send it with the comp. I think ideally you'd find a gunsmith near you who could port your barrel, then add ports until you got something that worked right for you.

Maybe see if there's anyone local to you? That's often the most convenient way to do it.

Anything but STI these days. CK is good bang for buck. Lots of the smaller smiths can build you something nice in your price range, and they won't steer you wrong. Don't forget to take a peek at the classifieds.

Thanks for the pictures. That's a nice way to look at it. Same shooter and load too.

The Honcho might really mess with the pricing now that you can buy it in just the caliber you want. I'm looking forward to it. And I kinda want one.

Also, can you add weight to that mount under the barrel?

Oh, fair point. This gets expensive to try, but maybe add barrel porting? That puts gas toward fighting rise instead of recoil.

Have you tried adding weight, maybe the brass SJC magwell to help stabilize things?

I think that the marketing plan is to push the "elite"/swat types towards their guns, since those guys might have more budget/leeway for a $2000+ service pistol, and might appreciate something nicer than a stock Glock/P320/whatever.

It's a damn shame, because one of the great things about getting an Edge used to be that it was a pretty good platform to start with for not a ton of money, and then you could have a gunsmith customize it once you figured out what you wanted. And yeah, I'm not spending $4k+ on a plastic gripped limited gun that probably needs trigger work.

Ish? Veprs and Saigas tend not to like low brass target loads very much from the factory. I think you can tune around this, but I'm not entirely sure on that. Anyway, my guess would be that if you had one built, you'd get the gas system tuned and then listen to what your smith said the gun should shoot.

Yup! I forgot that one. Good catch. The Vepr is self regulating, the KS-12 has an adjustable one. Factory guns have two settings, not sure if Dissident changed those.

I think it's based on the Kalashnikov USA KS-12, which is Saiga-ish. Apart from being made here, and so being able to come with a pistol grip from the factory, the big change from Saiga 12 to KS-12 seems to be the deletion of the last round bolt hold open.

Here's a thread with some pics if you haven't found it already:

Alternatively, if you find a rest you like, you might ask the manufacturer if they'd send you/your smith one with no holes drilled.

E.g. https://www.speedshooter.com/product_detail.cfm?id=AA18750FB&n=Arredondo-Thumb-Rest--Frame-Mount-No-Hole https://gogunusa.com/products/copy-of-gas-pedal-racer-cut-thumb-assist-1?variant=12229652971616 Basically, just try searching for 'thumb rest gunsmith fit' or 'thumb rest blank'

Thanks for the details on that. And I won't be getting those standalone sleeves.

I stumbled upon this a little while ago. It's a tungsten bushing that can be fit to a barrel: https://deeprivercustoms.com/product/tungsten-tapered-sleeve-bushing/ Site says it weighs 0.4 lbs. Which probably gives some rough notion of the approximate weight gain that you might gain with an Akai tungsten setup. Not saying this is where Akai gets their stuff or anything.

visiting a multigun match would also let you see if there's lots of e.g. crawling, which might make a holster that exposes less of your gun better. Also, here's an example thread where someone made their own kydex holster for an open gun with framemount optic:

Ohh, also it's a little harder to find a good frame mount if you're starting with a polymer framed gun.