NamesNotMike

I spent 75% of the first day and 25% of second day of Ben Stoeger's class with a paster in front of my dot. He noticed during the practice stage that I was dot focused or following the dot and not target focused. It took me awhile to, see around/through the dot to see the target but once I did it helped to call the shots better and transitions improved. It does make you look at the target to confirm that you are not moving your eyes too soon to the next target on transitions. I dry fire and live fire practice now and again with the dot covered to reinforce target focus.

With STI gen 2 tubes, Grams guts and TTI 3mm base plates I get 29 reloadable in 2 of them and 29 but not reloadable in the other 2. But it took a little while before I could reload the 2, they were too tight at first. The other 2 are just too tight so I use them to start with and save the others if I plan on reloading to big stick.

I'm a fan of the Nitro Fin, I have it on both my open and limited guns. For me I like my thumb along the slide, it feels better and I get a better grip. When I had one mounted to the dots mount it felt like I was reaching to far for it and the heel of my hand was not making as much contact on the grip. If you are want something smaller this would be a good one to look into.

It depends what you want to do with the gun, if you want something to use in matches then the Atlas. However if you are going to have a safe queen in hopes the price will increase or a cool looking gun for competition then the STI. I like flashy guns that stand out, I have a hard chrome open and a limited gun for competition, so I get it if you want something that stands out.The STI is cool looking, I would love to have one and a Glock Combat Master just because. As far as how the guns perform, I have a open STI and my son has a open Atlas, both have been back to the builders, both shoot great so only assume the limited guns will be the same. The as far the metal grip I could take it or leave it, I have not found the metal grip to make that big of a difference to put one on mine, especially when it's cold. However the texture on his metal grip is great when your hands are sweaty. Whatever you get will be fun to shoot, good luck on your decision.

Would a REALLY good reason be that you wanted a limited 9mm that matched your limited 40 and open gun? Asking for a friend.

Thanks it is brand new again, I hope it last this time.

Update on the cracked comp, it took exactly 3 months, the frame and slide are new, grip and SV trigger are the same ones. I got the old, now new again dovetail slide racker on it which is fine with me, they aren't doing the screw in any more, I was told it was not received well. This one locks up tighter then the old one when it was new and the trigger is lighter, it was right at 2# before now it's averages 1.7# which is lighter then my Limited. I shot several hundred rounds through it, also chrono some rounds and it seams to be a faster barrel, its shooting over 1400 fps now with my old loads, around 50 to 80 fps average faster. The aftec extractor was returned and so was the firing pin and spring which was stock so I have those as replacements in the range bag. They replaced the hard case that had gotten broken and gave me two more 140 mags so overall other then the time it took I'm happy with the outcome, hopefully this comp last. If not this post will be resurrected

I'll add my 2 cents it may help someone that is undecided. I recently added a Nitro Fin 2 to my limited gun and really like the flatter thumb rest compared to the RHT that is on my open gun. For me it feels better then many of the other thumb rest I've tried. I don't care for the up right feel of the others and it seemed like I would hit my thumb on them more when I was building my grip. I moved the Nitro Fin to my open gun and ordered another one for the limited. They both feel the same when I draw and my thumb feels flatter more like shooting without a thumb rest.

Sorry for your loss, hang in there.

Glad you are enjoying it, I like my Limited in 40 a lot, great shooting gun.

Best advice is to listen to Steve Anderson's podcast and or get his books, I think he explains it better then anyone. Calling the shots in dry fire is about being honest about having an acceptable sight picture on target, if it's not acceptable then shoot it again as if you are in a match. Steve explains what accuracy mode, speed mode, match mode is and how to use them to coach yourself.

Yep, surprised me also, I hope it's new they are going to have it 3 months a least. They said that it had all been fit once and if they fit another barrel to slide and slide to frame the metal can get to thin and could crack later. So I'm told I get a new gun with my grip, Aftec and mount with the RTS2, if it comes back with the new style of slide racker then its new. If not I should be able to tell if the slide is new because I had a spot that I polished out a scratch by the slide stop. They tried to talk me into the black barrel but I want the TiN/gold color to match my Limited gun, which they said they would recoat the Limited black to match if I would like. But I like the look of the chrome and gold a lot better then the chrome and black. I'll do another up date when I get it back, hopefully in the next couple of weeks.

STI gets beat up pretty good on here due to problems they have had. I have an open and limited DVC's, the limited 40 has run great however the open is back to STI with a cracked comp. Which I knew would be happening because of how the comp was cut and the problems others have had with that same cut. When I get it back it will be all new except the grip. How old is the guns you are talking about? I have not read anything on the chamber issue that you and the other two are experiencing but maybe they all were manufactured round the same time. I haven't had any problems with FTF pointing up mine were nose diving and I had cause that problem be tuning the mags to the wrong specs. As soon as it was called to my attention that I was using the wrong numbers and tuned the mags again the problem disappeared. The idea of the steel open gun was to shoot factory ammo, since there is no PF required, the longer OAL is just something that 2011's are known to like. I load my rounds to the 1.16" for major that you have found to work in yours.

Update, Well it been since December 6 (almost 2 1/2 months) that STI has had my open gun. When I talked to them in January they said 12 weeks so hopefully I get it back at the end of the month. They also said that the only thing I'm get back from my original gun is the grip and RTS2 with the mount, everything else will be new. So I'm guessing it will have the new charging handle.

You can get the barrel support for the Double Alpha holsters, I have one on mine and like it. Not sure if it's needed but I feel better having it.

I,ve never had a bad match result...… some just aren't as good as others!

The only thing I changed on my 9mm DVC Open was the recoil spring, I put a 7# in , Aftec extractor with both springs and everything else as far as springs is stock. It has an SV flat trigger, RTS2, a RHT thumb rest and a heavy LimCat magwell. I use CCi small pistol primers with HS6 powder, OAL 1.65"

Open gun 2.2 average. Limited gun 1.11 average. Both STI DVC's

I'm glad you said that, because we have tried different powers and I could not tell the difference. When I LOOk at the dot it goes up does a very slight upside down teardrop shape and back to the same spot, it never leaves the glass. Now that being said I could usually tell when we tried more powder as in higher power factor with the different powders, then it becomes a different feel to me. I'm not opposed to tring different power to see how they feel or the accuracy of them, that's some of the fun of reloading.

I'm putting to good use all of the information that you are sharing with the rest of us, especially the shot calling. First part of Dec. my open gun was sent in to get repaired so I'm shooting my Limited gun again. After the first 2 indoor matches with it, it dawned on me that I was not seeing the sights like I was the dot. Around that time I discovered your Podcast and that lead me to buy AND reading your books. I now realize that towards the end of the first season of shooting open, I was starting to call shots with the open gun during a match because when scoring targets I would say "I think I missed one on that target". Hmmm I ask myself now if I thought I missed it, why didn't I shoot again... thanks Steve! So I now have a dry schedule and the callus on my support hand index finger to prove it and shooting live fire once a week, goal is learning to call the shots with confidence. Outdoor live fire is on hold due to the cold weather however the indoor range is my once a week home and I now go with a plan on what I'm going to work on that day. Thanks again Steve

I have some thumb pain on and off myself. I personal like the thumb rest that are flatter more like the original one on the DVC's that mounted under the ret dot mount. It felt better then the GoGun to me, GoGun just felt to straight up and down, the RHT feels better because its flatter. So maybe removing it or a flatter one is the answer for you also.

Yes, I put the brass heavy one on my open gun and the lighter one on my limited gun, both STI DVC plastic grips. The lighter one (all SS I think) made the limited feel better, it add 3+ oz compared to the Dawson. The brass on my open is GREAT it added 6oz more to the grip and made the gun feel balanced even without a mag in it. In case anyone is wondering the color of the silver LimCat matches the original STI magwell. My son put the SS LimCat on metal grip and the last time we talked about it, it has eliminated the mags hanging up.

^^What Eric said.^^ My Open gun is getting fixed so I'm shooting Limited again, shooting iron sights again has been an eye opener. Shooting open I look at a target with the dot on it, this does not work so well with iron sights! I've had to practice live fire and slow down and look for\at the sights again, so now my splits were slower. I'm starting to track the sights again now and my splits are coming back. Sounds like the reason you are not confident is you just need to practice more. As you practice fast you will become faster. Good luck.

Not geared just for open but a great resource is Steve Andersen's podcast That Shooting Show.

After 2 seasons of shooting my Open gun I've had to go back to my Limited gun because my Open gun was sent in with a cracked comp. I've shot two indoor matches with the Limited gun and have found that I am not seeing my iron sights like I use to. I've been dry firing a lot but during the match I don't think that I'm looking at my sights but more through or over my sights like with the Open gun. I could call my shoots when seeing the dot but without shooting iron sights for 2 seasons it became a lost skill that I need to practice to get back. It looks like I need to start shooting dots to get back to seeing the sights again. So tomorrow is dot drill day.